From Thomas Tracy, Tina Moore, Rachelle, Blidner, and Jason Silverstein, New York Daily News
The search for the suspect wanted for a sadistic slaughter in a posh Washington D.C. family home ended late Thursday when cops nabbed the fugitive in northeast D.C.
The massive manhunt for Daron Dylon Wint, 34, landed his girlfriend in police custody in Brooklyn and had the NYPD on edge as authorities believed he might try to hide out with her.
Wint’s girlfriend, who hasn’t been identified, added to the chaos by claiming Wint planned to give himself up, sources said.
Federal marshals tracked Wint Thursday night as he traveled from College Park, Md. to D.C. in a white Chevrolet Cruze, cops told the Washington Post. Two women were in the car, one of whom was driving, and vehicle was following a white box truck.
Two males were in the truck, one of whom is believed to be a Wint relative.
Federal marshals pulled over both vehicles near 10th St. and Rhode Island Ave. and found at least $10,000 cash in the truck. All of the people with Wint were taken into custody, and Wint has been charged with first-degree felony murder while armed.
“Just got him,” Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said around 11:30 p.m.
Earlier she’d said “just about every law enforcement officer across the country” was hunting the suspect.
Wint was wanted for killings of Savvas Savopoulos, the 46-year-old CEO of American Iron Works, along with the man’s wife, 10-year-old son and a housekeeper.
The doomed foursome was held captive for a day, and then the family’s $4.5 million home in a ritzy section of the nation’s capital was torched, authorities believe.
The dead businessman’s blue Porsche was found in a Maryland parking lot about two miles from Wint’s listed address.
Wint, who has ties to Queens and Brooklyn, worked for American Iron Works as a welder, although it’s unclear how long he was there.
Washington police pinged Wint’s girlfriend’s phone and tracked her down Thursday, sources said. She was picked up at a Brooklyn fast food joint and brought to the 69th Precinct stationhouse, where sources described her as cooperative.
NYPD sources said Thursday afternoon that Wint was department’s “No. 1 priority” and cops were if he’d go down “in a blaze of glory or just quietly call up and surrender.”
“We’re preparing for every eventuality. We don’t think he’s mentally fit,” a source said.
Lanier called NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton on Thursday morning to report that Wint had made his way to Brooklyn.
A task force of U.S. marshals that includes NYPD officers was leading the search for the suspect, said city Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
“We do believe the person was in Brooklyn at some point,” said Boyce. “He has some relatives and some friends here.”
But after his arrest, a police source said the NYPD was never completely sure if Wint was ever in New York City.
Wint was linked to the murders by DNA found on the crust of a pizza that was delivered to the house on May 13 while the victims were kept captive inside, authorities said.
The Domino’s deliveryman dropped off two pizzas, which were ordered online, at the front of the house, where money was left outside in an envelope, according to MyFoxDC.
An employee at the same Domino’s told the Daily News that management instructed staff not to talk to the media.
The same night, a personal assistant to Savopoulos dropped off $40,000 in cash to the house, police said.
The money was designated for the opening of a martial arts center in Chantilly, Va., another housekeeper said, noting Savopoulos’ enthusiasm for the sport.
Police said the money was gone by the time they arrived at the burning home.
Days after the killings, police said the house in a well-secured neighborhood showed no signs of forced entry, and authorities speculated the killer could have been familiar with the family’s routines.
Wint goes by multiple names, including Dillion, according to his Facebook page. He is listed as self-employed and living in New York City.
The 5-foot-7, 155-pound man has been in trouble with the law before, with arrests ranging from assault, domestic violence, theft and alcohol violations, according to court records.
“He doesn’t listen,” his stepmother, who was not identified, told ABC News.“You try to tell him and guide him the right way, but he thinks he knows the law … more than anybody else. He was very argumentative. Everywhere he goes there’s an argument … very arrogant.”
