Florida Police Say They Caught Prisoner Who Escaped From Puerto Rican Jail Roughly 39 Years Ago

A fugitive who had escaped justice in Puerto Rico almost 39 years ago wound up in the police net in southwestern Florida in just over two hours, authorities said Friday.

Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) deputies identified Jorge Milla-Valdes 15 minutes after the Puerto Rico Department of Justice said the suspect could be living in Lee County under the pseudonym Luis Aguirre and handed over his fingerprints, according to the LCSO’s statement.

The LCSO said it learned that Milla-Valdes had escaped from a Puerto Rican jail in 1987 and had a criminal history that included robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in Florida’s Monroe County under the same false name.

Fifteen minutes after the LCSO’s Fugitive Warrants Unit received Milla-Valdes’ fingerprints taken in Puerto Rico in 1986, latent Fingerprints Supervisor Tina Carver found that they matched those the department had also obtained from Monroe County, according to the LCSO. (RELATED: REPORT: Most-Wanted Fugitive Known As ‘The Devil’ Found 20 Years Later Working As Police Officer)

Two hours later, officers arrested Milla-Valdes in Fort Myers Shores in Lee County, the press release said.

A bodycam video of the arrest accompanied the statement.

“You go by the name Jorge?” an officer asks the suspect in the video.

“Yeah, I used to —” he says.

“Yeah?” the officer interjects.

“Years ago — about 40 years ago,” the suspect continues.

“Okay. Was that when you escaped from, uh, jail?” asks the officer.

“Puerto Rico?” the man volunteers when the officer pauses briefly. “Yeah.”

“Okay, okay. Well, this is what this is about, okay? You got a warrant for your arrest out of Puerto Rico for escaping prison down there, okay?” says the officer.

“Yeah, but they kill me, they don’t want me back …” the suspect says in part.

“Now they do,” replies the officer. “They changed their minds, okay?”

LCSO Sheriff Carmine Marceno praised his officers for the swift arrest.

“Thanks to the hard work and determination of my Fugitive Warrants Unit and Latent Fingerprints Supervisor Tina Carver, a positive fingerprint identification was made within MINUTES,” Marceno said.

“My team’s skill is unmatched at every level; even if your crimes don’t start here in Lee County, I promise, they WILL end here,” Marceno added.