An escaped prisoner who prompted an hours-long manhunt in the Easton area Tuesday afternoon is back in custody, authorities said.
Blair Cressman, 42, was apprehended by police just before 6:30 p.m. near Interstate 78 in the area of the Morgan Hill Road interchange in Williams Township, just outside Easton’s South Side, according to Trooper Nathan Branosky, a state police spokesperson. Cressman was spotted by a police helicopter in a wooded area along the highway where police had converged, Branosky said.
Additional charges against Cressman related to the escape are pending, according to Branosky
Cressman, of Williams Township, was first arrested earlier Tuesday on charges of strangulation, simple assault, harassment and resisting arrest, authorities said.
After he was formally arraigned on those charges at the district court on Philadelphia Road on Easton’s South Side, Cressman escaped state police custody around 3:15 p.m., according to Branosky. A trooper attempted to apprehend Cressman, but he got away.
One trooper was injured in the incident, Branosky said.
State police led the manhunt along with Easton police and the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office.
The manhunt drew a large police presence to the neighborhood surrounding the district court office, as well as the area around the I-78 interchange.