Inmate escapes after pulling gun on guards

December 01, 2009|Associated Press

HOUSTON - A convicted sex offender sentenced to life in prison pulled a gun on two guards during a prison transfer yesterday and held them hostage temporarily before fleeing on foot in one of the guard’s uniforms, authorities said.

At the time of the escape, the inmate was in a wheelchair, which he said he needed to help move him around, officials said.

The guards were transferring Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr. from a prison in Huntsville, north of Houston, to one in Beaumont, in southeast Texas, when he pulled out a gun and told the guards to stop the vehicle, said Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

“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,’’ Lyons said.

Comeaux, 49, took the officers’ weapons and handcuffed them together in the back of the vehicle before fleeing on foot, Lyons said.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Comeaux was serving a life sentence after being convicted of indecency with a child, aggravated sexual assault, and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Comeaux has prior arrests for assault, drug possession, and theft, according to court records.