BAYTOWN, Texas -- Baytown was put on alert Monday morning after officials said an inmate riding in a medical transport vehicle held two prison guards hostage, took their guns and escaped.
Rifle-toting lawmen and K-9 units combed the streets for hours as police helicopters flew overhead in search of Arcade Joseph Comeaux, 49.
"Our priority right now is getting him back into custody," said TDCJ Spokesman Jason Clark. "As the night goes on, the perimeter is going to be expanding so we'll be looking throughout the area and througout the state for this guy."
Officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Comeaux was being transferred early Monday from a prison in Huntsville to one in Beaumont, when he pulled out a gun, fired a shot at the two guards and commandeered the prison vehicle.
"At some point he brandished a firearm -- we do not know how he was able to obtain that firearm -- and ordered officers to pull off to the side of the road," TDCJ spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said.
Clark said Comeaux apparently handcuffed the guards together in the back of the van, grabbed their weapons, put on one of their uniforms and started driving.
Comeaux ended up in Baytown, where he abandoned the van -- and the guards. He took their weapons, a shotgun and two semiautomatic pistols, and left his own behind.
There were several unconfirmed sightings of Comeaux in the Baytown area, said Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Lee College was put on lockdown for several hours after the escape. School officials lifted the lockdown Monday afternoon, but they canceled all evening classes.
Lockdowns were also put in place and later lifted at Carver Elementary, Lamar Elementary, Lee High School and the Peter E. Hyland Center in Goose Creek ISD.
State troopers, the Texas Rangers and a Department of Public Safety helicopter were helping search for Comeaux, Block said.
After Comeaux fled, the handcuffed guards kicked out a prison van window to escape. They were not harmed.
Though Comeaux was in a wheelchair and purportedly paralyzed on his left side, Clark said he fled on foot.
Comeaux was also wheelchair-bound in 1997 after suffering a stroke. He was imprisoned at the Jester III Unit in Fort Bend County, when officials said he used his wheelchair to pin his wife down during a contact visit. He stabbed her with a piece of the chair, and her injuries were so severe that Life Flight was called to the scene, officials said.
"He got up and was telling somebody that, he got up out the chair and walked and began to chase me under the table when he was hitting. And he walked and did everything," Comeaux’s wife, Leola, said of the attack.
Comeaux has been in and out of the Texas prison system for the last 30 years, Lyons said.
He was serving a life sentence after being convicted in June 1998 of aggravated sexual assault out of Brazos County, located northwest of Houston.
He was first sentenced to prison in 1979 on three 10-year sentences for rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child and burglary of a building, all out of Harris County, where Houston is located. He was paroled four years later, Lyons said.
His parole was revoked and he returned to prison in 1984 to serve a 20-year sentence on a new charge of indecency with a child out of Harris County. He was paroled in 1991 but was in and out of prison for parole violations until 1996.
Comeaux was given two extra life sentences after being convicted for stabbing his wife and another person in 1999. Comeaux also injured a man who was visiting another inmate at the time and tried to stop the attack.
While Comeaux was still on the loose Monday afternoon, authorities were looking for answers to two major questions: How handicapped is he, and how did he get a gun in the first place?
Clark said inmates are thoroughly searched before they are transported anywhere.
"TDCJ officials will conduct a Serious Incident Review to determine, among other details, how Comeaux was able to obtain a firearm," Lyons said.
He stands about 6 feet tall and weighs approximately 200 pounds.
He was last seen in a gray correctional officer’s uniform and black boots.
Authorities said Comeaux should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call 911 immediately. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. They're offering a $5,000 reward for tips leading to Comeaux's capture.
Source: The Associated Press also contributed to this report
