Police in Texas have recaptured an inmate who escaped on June 13 after an appearance at a Houston court.
The man, who was believed to have been armed with a knife, escaped after holding an employee of the district attorney’s against her will. According to officials, the man also attempted to take the employee’s car.
“As of 3 a.m. on June 14, escaped inmate Joshua Nigel Thomas Sanders has been captured. Sanders was apprehended by the Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force in East Harris County,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office posted on X. Two other individuals were also arrested at the scene, and are believed to have been associates of the suspect.
Law enforcement had been searching for Mr. Sanders, 35, after he escaped on Thursday afternoon at about 3:30 p.m after leaving court.
After being captured at what police believe to be a relative’s house, the suspect was subdued and later taken to hospital, as he sustained minor injuries due to his resisting arrest when officers detained him, according to a police press briefing.
Police said Mr. Sanders had been in custody on charges of carrying out three burglaries, along with one charge of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.
“He went to court today, and it appears on his way back from court he was able to facilitate an escape,” Harris County Sheriff’s Assistant Chief Phillip Bosquez said at a news conference following the escape.
“He accosted a woman during that escape, once he got out on the street, and he jumped in her car. She wrecked that car within just a few feet,” he said.
The suspect then jumped out of the disabled car before running down the street, Mr. Bosquez said. Police confirmed that this was the last time he was seen on camera.
The woman, who was leaving work in the court building, did not sustain any injuries. “She was, of course, shaken up, but she was not injured,” Mr. Bosquez said.
The Sheriff’s Office confirmed prior to the suspect’s arrest that they had multiple resources from the Sheriff’s Office searching for the individual, and that police were confident they would capture him.
While investigators believe the suspect had been armed with a knife, it remained unclear how he had obtained the weapon. Mr. Bosquez added that he could have obtained the weapon “anywhere once he got outside the jail.”
Mr. Bosquez said that the incident was unusual, and that he had not experienced a similar incident since he had joined the force.
Mr. Sanders is due to be taken back to prison following his release from hospital.