A Brazos County jail inmate who is mistakenly released after impersonating another inmate is recaptured 16 hours later.
According to a Brazos County sheriff’s office news release, Burns was released Saturday during the midnight hour. That was after Burns provided several documents that were fraudulently signed, identifying him as another inmate who shared the same cell, shared the same last name, and was the approximate age.
Burns, who was found Saturday afternoon just before 5 p.m. in College Station in the area of George Bush East and Harvey Road, was charged with escape and possessing fraudulent documents.
His escape followed his arrest Friday night on a charge of family violence assault. A College Station police arrest report says a witness saw Burns punch, kick, and strangle a woman. The witness also said Burns “actions were so bad that numerous parties were yelling at him to stop.” Burns told a CSPD officer according to the arrest report that “I don’t want to talk, just take me to jail.”
Counting his return to jail following the escape, it is the fourth time in 18 days that Burns went to the in jail.
Online records show Burns spent ten days after his arrest by College Station police October 3rd for violating a protection order, and parts of two days after he was arrested by Bryan police September 27th on a class “C” misdemeanor charge of family violence assault.
Bonds on Burns’s latest charges totals $128,000 dollars…$100,000 for the escape, $20,000 for possessing fraudulent documents, and $8,000 for the family violence assault.
News release from the Brazos County sheriff’s office:
At approximately 12:38 am, Inmate Terry Burns B/M 40 years old, was released from the detention center after impersonating another inmate that shared the same last name and was approximately the same age.
The other inmate was scheduled to be released and was sharing the same cell at the time of the incident. Several documents were fraudulently signed leading officers to believe this was the inmate scheduled for release. As a result of this, Inmate Burns was mistakenly released from jail.
The Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies immediately began a search for Burns. At approximately 4:41pm, Inmate Burns was located near George Bush just south of Harvey Rd. Inmate Burns was taken into custody without incident.
An internal investigation will be conducted to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. Inmate Burns is being charged with Escape and Fraudulent use or possession of identifying information.