This story almost vanished, like the man who tried to flee sentencing for his role in the January 6 riot. Christopher Worrell, a member of the Proud Boys, was convicted for his actions that day, which involved pepper spraying a police officer and then lying about it in court. Worrell faced a lengthy jail sentence for his actions arrest before he vanished.
He was incarcerated in a jail in DC before being released on house arrest in November 2021. Worrell alleged that the DC prison conditions were atrocious, where he was reportedly mistreated for a broken wrist and other ailments. Yet, before his sentencing hearing, initially set in August, he disappeared, setting off a manhunt. Worrell was facing up to 14 years in prison.
After nearly a month on the run, he was arrested by police yesterday. A resident of Naples, Florida, it would seem Worrell didn’t even leave Collier County at the time of his disappearance (via ABC News):
👀 Prosecutors are seeking 14 years for Proud Boy Christopher Worrell, who sprayed cops with chemicals and, per DOJ, lied about it at trial.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 13, 2023
A steep recommendation just two weeks before Enrique Tarrio is due to be sentenced. pic.twitter.com/o7ihAsD2J4
According to a spokesperson for the Collier County Sheriff's Office, the FBI arrested a member of the Proud Boys who went missing just before he was sentenced for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"We can confirm the arrest of Christopher Worrell," the spokesperson told ABC News in a statement Thursday evening. "The FBI arrested him and the Collier County Sheriff's Office assisted."
[…]
A judge found Worrell guilty in May 2023 of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, and obstructing, impeding, or interfering with officers during the commission of a civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, engaging in physical violence with a deadly or dangerous weapon all felonies, and an act of physical violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings, a misdemeanor. The verdict followed a five-day bench trial.
I don't know what to say if he could leave the immediate area and then come back. Prosecutors were going to throw the book at him initially. Now, he’s been apprehended trying to escape sentencing. Expect a few more years to be tacked onto the 14-year recommendation.
