Monday morning, Grapevine police continue to sort out the details about how an escaped prisoner managed to avoid capture for five days.
Convicted rapist Alberto Morales got away from officers last Monday, after stabbing one of the Miami-Dade police officers who was transporting him through North Texas to Las Vegas.
Morales’ run from the law ended late Friday night. Investigators say they found Morales armed with sticks, less than four miles away from where he escaped.
Investigators say a Grapevine police officer and two US Marshals shot and killed Morales when he lunged at them.
That Grapevine officer is on routine leave as police investigate the deadly shooting. A grand jury will decide if the shooting was justified.
Meantime, the girlfriend of the Miami-Dade police officer who got stabbed by Morales is opening up to NBC5 about the attack. Marinka Stuvel said her boyfriend, Officer Jaime Pardinas, is out of the hospital, but doctors have not cleared him to fly back to Florida yet.
"I always tell him in the morning, ‘Hey honey, be careful, be vigilant, be safe, and I’ll see you when you get back,’" said Stuvel. Last Monday, Stuvel got the call that Pardinas had been stabbed six times in the neck and back in the Grapevine Wal-Mart parking lot.
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"Very, very scary," says Stuvel. She flew to North Texas to be by Pardinas'bedside and said he didn’t tell her much about the attack. Stuvel said when the veteran officer went up against Morales, he did fight for his life.
Pardinas has a collapsed lung but is alive. "That’s survival. It’s either him or the other guy, and it wasn’t going to be him," said Stuvel.
Morales did get away, but not for long. The manhunt, which terrorized the community for days ended early Saturday morning. The dangerous and desperate fugitive broke into a home near Lake Grapevine and stole some clothes.
Officers say when confronted, Morales refused to surrender and charged at officers armed with sticks.
It was a deadly decision. It’s a relief for Pardinas and his family. "That gave us tremendous closure. Knowing this man, the end just gave us closure. We can now completely move forward and heal spiritually, mentally and physically even more," said Stuvel.
Officer Pardinas has planned to talk with NBC 5 on Monday, but ultimately wasn’t up to it. His girlfriend said he hopes to get home and back to the department quickly. "He’s still going to have to recover in the next few weeks by taking it easy, slowly physically getting stronger," said Stuvel.
A Miami-Dade Police Department spokesman tells NBC 5 that Officer Pardinas isn’t facing any sort of disciplinary action for the escape
