Reward Increased to Find Missing Prisoner

BAYTOWN, Texas - People in College Station feared that an escaped prisoner known to harm children was eating at an area fast-food restaurant, but a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman has confirmed that the man at the restaurant was not the escapee.

As much as $16,000 has been offered as a total reward for anyone who provides information that leads to the capture of escaped prisoner Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr.

The U.S. Marshal's Office is offering a reward of up to $10,000, in addition to a reward of up to $5,000 from Crime Stoppers of Houston. An additional reward of up to $1,000 has also been offered by the Office of Inspector General with the TDCJ.

Anyone with information concerning the Comeaux case is asked to contact the TDCJ Crime Stoppers at 1-800-832-8477 (TIPS).

FOX 26 News has learned from the TDCJ that Comeaux and his ex-wife Leola have maintained a close relationship and have continued to communicate throughout his incarceration.

On Monday night, patrols heavily patrolled 12 square miles in Baytown looking for Comeaux, who allegedly pulled a gun on two guards during a prison transfer Monday and held them hostage temporarily before fleeing on foot in one of the guard's uniforms, authorities said.

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

"Supposedly, he was paralyzed on his left hand side," Jason Clark Department of Criminal Justice said. "He had been in a wheelchair for something better than a decade. Certainly, that's something we're gonna look at."

The guards were transferring 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.

Comeaux took control of the transport van at 6:30 a.m., nearly two hours into the trip, as the vehicle was going through Conroe, just north of Houston. He told the guards to continue driving until they reached Baytown, a refinery town east of Houston, officials said.

"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.

At the time, Comeaux was shackled and was in a wheelchair, which he had claimed was needed for mobility, Lyons said.

Comeaux, 49, took the officers' weapons and handcuffed them together in the back of the vehicle before fleeing on foot at around 9 a.m., Lyons said.

The officers were later found unharmed about an hour later.

The incident had forced a lockdown order at Lee College as well as Goose Creek ISD's Robert E. Lee High School, Peter E. Highland Center and Carver Elementary School.

But Baytown police are recommending schools to remain open Tuesday.

"Now, here a lot of people are fools. God knows what he's doing now. They need to catch him,"
Robert E. Lee High School parent Vicki Smith said.

Comeaux was wearing one of the officer's gray uniforms and black boots and took the guards' weapons, a shotgun and two semiautomatic pistols, Lyons said. He left his own weapon behind.

There were several unconfirmed sightings of Comeaux in the Baytown area, said Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

State troopers, the Texas Rangers and a Department of Public Safety helicopter were helping search for Comeaux, Block said.

The 6-foot, 200-pound 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 while she visited him in prison. She survived the attack.

"Apparently, he used his wheelchair to pin her against a wall and then began stabbing her with a handmade metal object," Lyons said.

Comeaux also injured a man who was visiting another inmate at the time and tried to stop the attack.

Authorities said he should be considered dangerous.

The escape triggered a lockdown at Lee College and three campuses in the Goose Creek school district, in and around Baytown.

"TDCJ officials will conduct a Serious Incident Review to determine, among other details, how Comeaux was able to obtain a firearm," Lyons said.