Quick snapshot
After nearly a year of playing hide-and-seek with the law, 29-year-old Daquhan Cromer was finally picked up in Lowell, Massachusetts. The arrest came shortly after noon on Wednesday, a day after officers in nearby Salem say he slipped past them during a tense overnight encounter.
The run and the roundup
Cromer had been wanted on an escape warrant tied to New Hampshire State Prison and on multiple felony counts connected to Salem. His movements set off a shelter-in-place order in Salem late Tuesday, which was lifted by the following morning once the immediate threat passed. About 15 miles away in Lowell, police were able to surround him and take him into custody without a tussle.
Where he was hanging out
Police say they received tips indicating Cromer had been spending time at a residence in the Salem area, and that he also had ties to a girlfriend whose home was in Lowell — the same neighborhood where he was arrested. Authorities aren’t saying whether anyone actively helped him evade capture, only that he had been seen with a woman.
The halfway house escape
Officials say Cromer ran from a halfway house in Manchester back in December 2025. Those kinds of walkaways are uncommon: halfway houses are intended to be the last stretch before full freedom, when people are easing back into daily life and counting down to release. That makes his decision to bolt especially eyebrow-raising.
What’s still unknown
Despite the arrest, officers admit they don’t have a full play-by-play of what Cromer was doing during the roughly 11 months he was on the run. His attorney declined to comment. For now, investigators will be filling in the blanks as the case moves forward.
Parting note
It wasn’t a high-speed soap-opera chase—just tips, police work, and the kind of quiet resolve that ends a long game of cat-and-mouse. Cromer is back in custody, and the towns that watched for him can breathe a little easier (for now).
