FAIRFAX, Vt. -
Randy Devine checked out his garage door Tuesday morning before work after his security alarm had gone off the night before.
"I pulled it and the door clicked shut," he said.
That told the 61-year-old someone may have broken broke into it. And upstairs, Devine found another surprise.
"Right here in the middle of the floor-- a blanket was right here," he said.
Devine thought it was suspicious and called police. Moments later, a man leaped 15 feet from the second story of the garage.
"The door swings open and this guy just jumps out of this door, lands right here on his feet like a cat, and when he hit the ground he took off running," Devine said.
It sparked a daylong manhunt throughout Fairfax. Investigators believe it was the man who burglarized a salon in Georgia just a few hours before. He got away following a police chase that ended when the suspect crashed and ran away on foot.
"Apparently I am missing a set of blue coveralls. They were hanging right there," Devine said.
Police now believe the man sleeping in the garage was Jason Cannon, 30. He is wanted by the Vt. Corrections Department after cutting off his electronic monitoring bracelet.
Cannon is also a person of interest in three armed robberies last week in Colchester and South Burlington. The clerk claims he pulled the trigger several times in one of the stickups, but the gun did not go off. Police also believe he may be responsible for more than a dozen break-ins at businesses over the past few days in Chittenden and Franklin counties.
"The information we have collected from the scene, physical evidence and some statements from people we have been interviewing in days since the robberies and burglaries, pointed us in the direction of Mr. Cannon," Colchester Police Det. Sgt. Charles Cole said.
Police right now are focusing their efforts around Fairfax and Chittenden County where Cannon has ties. He is considered armed and dangerous.
"He actively cut off his monitoring bracelet. Any time that happens, I would say yes, the public should be cautious," Cole said.
Devine says he feels uncomfortable that he had such a close encounter with a dangerous man on the run.
"It makes me concerned," he said. "I am not as safe as I thought I would be living here."
Police say Cannon appears to just be looking for cash, most likely to support a drug addiction. They believe he is in the Fairfax area or in Chittenden County where he has connections. Anyone who sees Jason Cannon is asked to call 911 immediately. Authorities say do not approach him because he is considered armed and dangerous.
Jason Cannon
