Escaped felon captured in Lake Helen

LAKE HELEN, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - A wanted felon escaped from police Monday in Lake Helen, despite having on handcuffs, and an elderly woman helped cops bring him in.

A gut feeling was all it took for Sharen Camacho to call Lake Helen police Tuesday.

"I watch a lot of TV, so I thought ok he shouldn't be in this neighborhood right? The first thing I said is this is not an emergency but there's some weird guy in our neighborhood," said Camacho.

That "weird guy" was Matthew Stocker. Police say he escaped from them Monday after they handcuffed him in a Family Market parking lot. Stocker was wanted for a few burglaries and thefts.

"It was just a split-second that the guy made that decision and took off on him," said Lake Helen Police Chief Michael Walker.

That led Lake Helen, DeLand and Volusia County cops on a chase for hours deep in the woods, with choppers and K9s called in. At 1:30 in the morning, the chief called it.

"I explained to them he'll come out in the morning. He's laid down. He's one of our local guys. And he did," said Chief Walker.

The next morning, Sharen Camacho spotted Stocker knocking on her neighbor's door.  

"He looked very sneaky, and he was carrying his hands like this with something over them."

That "something" police say was a cloth to cover the cuffs. When Camacho called it in, Chief Walker knew it was their guy.

"That was my first clue, that was the first thing that I asked, did he have a shirt over his hands," said Chief Walker.

Police came back out with the K9s, leading them to Stocker in minutes.

Camacho says she's no hero. She just happened to make the right call.

"I didn't know what had happened the night before so I just called the police, that's what we do."

According to the police report, Stocker tested positive for THC and methamphetamine. He is locked up in Volusia County, charged for his warrants and now escape, resisting an officer and theft for stealing the handcuffs.