Officers Find One Teen Who Fled From Center

CAMDEN — After a nine-block chase that began in a public housing project last night and ended in a junkyard, officers of the Camden County Sheriff's Department apprehended David Collazo, 17, of Camden, one of four youths who escaped Saturday from a Camden County juvenile detention center, authorities said.

A massive manhunt for the two youths still at large - Felix Perez, 17, of Camden, and Robert Campbell, 16, of Sicklerville - was continuing last night, Camden County Sheriff Michael McLaughlin said. Perez is one of the suspects charged with the June shooting death of a construction worker at an East Camden bar. A fourth youth, whom police would not identify, turned himself in on Sunday.

Law-enforcement officials were combing a large area of South Camden, McLaughlin said, adding that a helicopter probably would be brought in to aid in the search.

Acting on a tip, he said, Sheriff's Department officers went to a public housing complex in the 200 block of Branch Village and entered an apartment. He said they found Collazo, who fled.

After a brief chase that covered about nine blocks, officers saw the 6-foot-1 Collazo scale the fence of a junkyard, McLaughlin said. He said police used bolt cutters to enter the facility and apprehended Collazo.

McLaughlin said Collazo told him that Perez and Campbell had been with him in the apartment, although officials had not seen them. Police went back to the apartment after Collazo's arrest but did not find the youths.

Law-enforcement officials could not say who owned the apartment.

The four juveniles escaped Saturday by knocking out a window at the one-story Camden County Youth Center in Blackwood, police said, and an intensive search ensued. Police have offered $1,000 for information leading to the apprehension of Perez.