MDPD head to Dallas to check on stabbed officer

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Miami-Dade County's deputy mayor and a police division chief are heading to Texas as the search continues for a fugitive who stabbed a Miami-Dade police detective.

Alberto Morales, 42, is the prisoner who has been on the run since Monday night. Morales was being extradited to Las Vegas from Dallas on Monday night by two Miami-Dade Police officers in a rental sport utility vehicle.

The officers parked the SUV at a Walmart for a bathroom break. During the pit stop the inmate, who faces charges involving violent crimes including rape, escaped custody. Police say, while the SUV was parked, Morales took off his eyeglasses, broke them and used a part of those glasses to stab 54-year-old Miami-Dade Police Officer Jaime Pardinas.

Morales stabbed him several times in the neck and back. Morales then took off running. The officer was rushed to a Dallas hospital. Pardinas is now in the hospital recovering from a collapsed lung and remains in serious condition.

On Thursday morning, the deputy chief of the Miami-Dade Police Department and Miami-Dade's deputy mayor left Miami to head to Dallas.

Miami-Dade Police Department Division Chief Juan Perez said, "The purpose of the trip is to check on the welfare of the officer and to see what investigative leads they have, what requirements we need to provide them, if we need further assistance. We have some personnel on the ground, part of a task force with the Marshals that are currently trying to locate the subject. We are going to do whatever it takes to assist in that part of the investigation."

Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Chip Iglesias added, "We want to be there for the family, to make sure their needs are being taken care of and that support is being provided."

About ten Miami-Dade officers are in Texas helping with the search for the fugitive. Police say they have no evidence that Morales has left the North Texas area. They are asking everyone who lives in Texas to be on the lookout for the fugitive. Police in Grapevine released a photo of a tattoo Morales has on his left arm. The tattoo is of an indian riding a horse.

Police are also urging people not to approach Morales if they happen to see him, instead they should call 911 immediately. Morales is considered extremely dangerous.

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