Photos show captured prisoner, drainage pipe where he was found hiding

JESSUP, Md. - New images released by police show what captured prisoner David Watson looked like when he was taken back into custody. The photos, released by Howard County Police on Thursday, were taken following his capture Wednesday night and show the prisoner's face bloodied and covered in scrapes. Two images also show the drainage pipe Watson was taking cover in when he was found by authorities.

Watson escaped police custody last Friday when he managed to push guards aside and flee into the woods while being transported to the Clifton T. Perkins Psychiatric Hospital in Jessup, Maryland.

His escape launched a massive search effort involving bloodhounds, K-9 units and helicopters.

Yesterday, authorities launched a new ground search after police received a report of a possible sighting. An employee of a business in the Jessup area called 911 around 9:30 a.m. and said they spotted a man near the railroad tracks behind a building in the 8200 block of Dorsey Run Road. The caller told police that the man was wearing a white hard hat and a safety vest and ran when he was spotted.

The search continued into the night when officers finally located Watson in a small drainage pipe a few hundred yards from the morning's sighting. Watson was inside of the pipe, which was about 18-20 inches wide, and was detected by officers using night vision equipment.

Watson sustained minor injuries and scrapes during his time in the woods but was otherwise in good condition when taken back into custody. He faces charges related to the escape and will be transferred back to the correctional facility in Delaware where he is currently serving a sentence of over 100 years for attempted murder. He also faces additional charges in Maryland for the attempted murder of police officers in Wicomico County, Md.

Police say Watson was constantly moving over the six days he was on the run and believe he had traveled a distance of at least a mile in different directions. They also say he broke into a business and stole the vest and hard hat he was wearing when spotted.