A man accused of frightening pedestrians in downtown Philadelphia while wearing a “Chucky”-style mask has been arrested in Las Vegas following a search that stretched across multiple states, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Zymire Hughes, 22, was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Philadelphia office with assistance from the Nevada Violent Offender Task Force, according to the agency. He is being held at the Clark County Detention Center while awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.
Federal authorities said Hughes left the Philadelphia area on Aug. 19, traveling from Trenton-Mercer Airport in New Jersey to Orlando, Florida, before making his way to Las Vegas, FOX5 Vegas reported.
Surveillance video shows a masked man wanted for allegedly chasing and threatening people near Philadelphia City Hall while wearing a cracked baby doll Halloween mask. (Philadelphia Police Department)
Hughes had reportedly been living in Las Vegas since February and had work connections in both Nevada and California, according to FOX5. Investigators said he shifted between locations in an effort to evade capture and spent five days hiding inside an apartment complex in southeast Las Vegas.
Task force officers eventually tracked Hughes down using surveillance footage from the apartment complex, the report said. During the arrest, Hughes allegedly questioned why he was being taken into custody and resisted officers before deputies subdued him.
“Nothing was recovered upon arrest, and he did not make any statements about his motive,” the U.S. Marshals office told Fox News.
U.S. Marshals arrest Zymire Hughes in Las Vegas on Tuesday. (X/@USMS_Philly)
Philadelphia police had been searching for Hughes in connection with a series of confrontations near City Hall in the early morning hours of Aug. 12. Authorities allege he approached, chased and threatened multiple people while wearing a cracked doll-style mask and recording the encounters on a cellphone.
In one incident, police said Hughes allegedly asked a 40-year-old female jogger, “Are you ready to die?” while keeping his arm behind his back as though he had a weapon. The woman fled and suffered a leg injury requiring extensive treatment, authorities said.
Philadelphia police say the suspect wore a “white baby doll-style Halloween mask with black hair” and carried a black-and-blue plaid backpack during the incidents. (Philadelphia Police Department)
Hughes was wanted on an active aggravated assault warrant, FOX5 reported. Philadelphia officials had previously said he faced felony and misdemeanor assault charges and was already on probation in an unrelated Montgomery County case.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had warned Hughes last week that authorities were closing in.
“If Zymire Hughes was trying to scare people, make them run — who’s scared now? Who’s running now?” Krasner said at a news conference.
