Update: Fleeing Suspect Found Amid Large Cache Of Drugs

HARTFORD, CT — The suspected drug and guns felon police charged in connection with skipping out of a court hearing Thursday is being held on $1.8 million bond, state police said Friday afternoon.

And, in detaining the suspect, police also confiscated a massive cache of illegal narcotics at the apartment building in East Hartford, where the suspect was hiding out.

The manhunt for 24-year-old Marico Ellis of Hartford ended at about 9:40 p.m. Thursday in an East Hartford apartment building, Connecticut State Police said in a statement released Friday afternoon.

Late Thursday night, police announced via Twitter they had detained Ellis.

"Marico Ellis has been located and taken into custody without incident in the town of East Hartford," state police wrote via Twitter at 10:52 p.m. Thursday.

The manhunt started in Hartford Thursday afternoon, when state police at Troop H in Hartford were notified at about 12:04 p.m. that Ellis exited Hartford Superior Court at 101 Lafayette St.

In the statement released Friday afternoon, state police said Ellis ran out of court during a judicial hearing, during which his bond was being increased for prior charges.

Due to Ellis leaving the court prior to the conclusion of the hearing, the judge issued three felony re-arrest warrants, with a total of $1.8 million in bonds, police said.

The underlying charges for which Ellis was at court include firearms, narcotics and felony assault violations, according to police.

State police Friday afternoon released additional details about the incident, including how the manhunt transpired.

Police said Troop H, the Central District Major Crime Squad and the Connecticut State Police's Bureau of Special Investigations, assisted by the Hartford Police Department, initiated an investigation to locate Ellis after he reportedly fled court.

"During the investigation, information was developed indicating that Ellis was hiding out within a multi-unit apartment building, located on Ginger Lane, in the town of East Hartford," wrote police.

At about 9:40 p.m. , with help from East Hartford officers, state police made contact with Ellis, who came out of an apartment and was taken into custody without incident, state police said.

While taking Ellis into custody, investigators developed probable cause to obtain a search warrant for the apartment Ellis was located in.

A subsequent search of the apartment resulted in the seizure of about 2,300 bags of fentanyl, 23 grams of raw fentanyl, 46 grams of crack cocaine and suspected drug-dealing revenue, according to police.

Ellis was subsequently transported to Troop H, where active re-arrest warrants were served.

Police said Ellis was transported to the Hartford Correctional Center, where he was held on bond pending his arraignment at Hartford Superior Court.

Charges related to the narcotics inside the apartment are pending further investigation by the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, police said.

For the full, CSP news bulletin on the suspect's arrest, click on this link.