Atlanta TV news crew alerted cops to escaped murder suspect

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A television news crew reportedly tipped off Georgia cops to an Arizona murder suspect who escaped at an airport, ending a multiagency manhunt that lasted nearly 16 hours.

WSB-TV general assignment reporter Matt Johnson and photojournalist Joe Booker were prepping their story late Thursday on J’Saan Carlos Strover, 20 — who sports a neck tattoo that reads “RISK” — when the murder suspect ran past their live truck and darted into some nearby bushes.

Johnson called College Park police after spotting Strover and video shows several officers taking Strover into custody.

“Bro, that’s him, get out with the camera, bro,” Johnson told Booker, video shows.

Johnson said the experience was “incredibly surreal,” adding that Strover was taken into custody about a half-mile from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, where he escaped earlier Thursday.

“We were, of course, very aware about the massive manhunt for the suspect,” Johnson said during a live report recalling the freak encounter.

Strover, who was still in handcuffs, was taken into custody without incident, video shows.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office tweeted that Strover was back in custody early Friday, en route back to the county jail. He may face additional charges, department officials said.

“Tonight, College Park Police received a tip of a man fitting Strover’s description seen walking down the street, barefoot with his hands behind his back,” the department tweeted. “A patrol unit spotted the fugitive and he ran into the woods. Police used night vision technology to locate the 20-year-old.”

Strover was arrested by US Marshals in Fulton County on April 12 and escaped custody Thursday while being extradited to Arizona, where he’s wanted by Phoenix police on charges of murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault.

He managed to escape from the airport’s rental car area at about 7:15 a.m., running away from two Maricopa County, Arizona, deputies after they removed his leg restraints so he could walk down a set of stairs, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The leg shackles were put back on when he was rearrested.

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