North Las Vegas police admitted Wednesday they messed up majorly by letting an accused killer flee their custody — and released the footage of his escape just to prove it.
The video shows Alonso Perez — who was accused of killing a man who didn’t hold the door for a woman at McDonald’s — alone in an interrogation room after his arrest last Friday.
With no one to guard him, Perez is seen using his body weight to snap the handcuffs right off his wrist. Some time afterward, police briefly checked on Perez — but didn’t notice the broken cuffs.
Left alone for another 40 minutes, Perez eventually put a chair against a wall, punched out ceiling tiles, climbed into the rafters — and ran from the buildings.
North Las Vegas Chief of Police Alexander Perez admitted Wednesday that no one was even watching the live surveillance footage during Perez’s escape.
“We are very aware mistakes were made,” he said at a press conference, according to News3LV.
“There weren't constant eyes on the interview room ... Nobody was monitoring the live feed.”
The chief has not announced any internal punishments for Perez’s break, but said there will be changes to how suspects are interviewed.
“We're not perfect. The police are simply not perfect,” he said.
Alonso Perez, left alone in police custody, broke his handcuffs and climbed out of the interrogation room.
“However, we will learn from our mistakes so they are not repeated and that's the goal.”
The accused killer spent five days on the lam before officers finally recaptured him Tuesday night. He has been booked on charges of murder with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm into a building, escape and grand larceny auto.
As of Thursday, he has not escaped again.
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