Comeaux Escape Prompts Lawmaker Backlash

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) _ The chairman of the Senate corrections committee is calling for a major shake-up at Texas’ prison system after a 49-year-old convicted sex offender remained on the run.

Democratic Sen. John Whitmire, of Houston, says Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr.’s escape Monday shows Gov. Rick Perry needs to shake up the state prison system and its oversight board.

Comeaux — who was in a wheelchair at the time — pulled a gun on two guards as he was being transferred from a prison in Huntsville to one in Beaumont. Both guards were released unharmed after being forced to drive to the Baytown area.

The Houston Chronicle reports Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials couldn’t explain how Comeaux got the gun he pulled on the officers or how he convinced medical personnel that he needed a wheelchair for the past decade.

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