Warrant: Hennepin Co. Jail escapee broke window, scaled building and got a ride to Little Canada

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (KMSP) - A search warrant filed in Hennepin County District Court shines further light on how a man escaped from Hennepin County Jail Wednesday morning and ended up in Little Canada.

According to the search warrant, at approximately 7 a.m., Michael Frank Simon, 57, broke a window on the 7th floor of the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility using a blunt object and jumped out the window, according to an employee who witnessed it.  

Simon made his way down the exterior of the building, crossing 4th Street on top of the skyway headed toward the Haaf parking ramp.

Law enforcement searched for Simon, but he was not immediately found.

Simon was eventually located in Little Canada with a person who picked Simon up at a department store in New Brighton after he called and asked them to do so.

A review of jail phone calls showed that Simon asked for the person’s cell phone number, which they gave him. It’s the same number he called Wednesday morning.

The search warrant seeks cell phone data from the person who picked Simon up, which police believe may contain evidence of the crime.  

Simon was booked into the jail Sept. 25 for financial transaction fraud and a Department of Corrections hold for burglary.

Simon has now been booked at the Oak Park Heights Correctional Facility.