Man deemed violent predator caught after removing GPS monitor, escaping and prompting 3-day search

SEATTLE — Officials are investigating how a man convicted of assaulting a woman was able to turn off his GPS monitor and escape from a restricted housing complex in Washington state, prompting a multi-state search until he was captured Thursday.

Damion Blevins, 33, was arrested outside a supermarket in Portland, Oregon, after a three-day search and will be extradited to Washington. the Seattle Times reported.

Blevins was convicted in 2017 of second-degree assault on a woman and was considered a “sexually violent predator,” according to the newspaper. He was committed civilly to a treatment facility surrounded by barbed wire on McNeil Island, about 14 miles away. ) southwest of Tacoma, Washington. He had recently received permission from the court to live in a Tukwila neighborhood in less restrictive conditions.

The Department of Corrections and the Department of Social and Health Services will investigate what went wrong.

Department of Corrections spokesman Christopher Wright said the agency is gathering details about what has happened since he was last seen Monday at a Seattle station, where he likely took a train to Portland.

The incident is among the most serious failures in the supervision of social housing placements in recent years, the newspaper said.

No attorney was listed for Blevins in court or jail records. He will have a hearing in Portland on Monday.