The escapee who used a smuggled gun to break out of a state prison van and spent a week on the run gave Texas Rangers the names of three Estelle prison unit employees he alleged helped arm him or assisted in his getaway, community activist Quanell X said Wednesday.
Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr., 49, of Houston, identified two guards and a nurse at the maximum-security prison in Huntsville as accomplices, Quanell X said. The Texas Rangers gave those names to Texas Department of Criminal Justice investigators, who were still trying to verify Wednesday whether the three work at the Estelle prison unit and in what capacity.
The three have not yet been questioned, and no criminal charges have been filed, said TDCJ Inspector General John Moriarty. Investigators would not release their names publicly.
Comeaux also led the Texas Rangers Wednesday to a spot in northeast Houston, where they recovered a shotgun and ammunition stolen from the two transport officers Comeaux overpowered during his Nov. 30 escape. The shotgun, which was found after Comeaux escorted officers to its hiding spot under brush about 35 yards off Little York near Wayside, was the only weapon still missing.
The Texas Rangers had no comment, but Moriarty predicted a lengthy investigation. Several TDCJ staffers already have been cleared after the tips about them proved false, he said.
“The allegations, everything, are still being verified,” Moriarty said. “We’re not turning our head on anything. We’re looking at all possibilities.”
State Sen. John Whitmire, the Houston Democrat who has demanded an independent task force to review prison policies and procedures, said Wednesday that there will be legislative hearings next year on the matter.
Comeaux told Quanell X during their meeting Wednesday, their second in two days, that one of the three prison system employees smuggled the .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol into the prison and another passed him the weapon, which he hid in his cell for three weeks, the activist said. Comeaux alleged one of the employees also assisted in his escape from the wheelchair he was shackled to.
Beyond that, Quanell X would not specify the help Comeaux alleged he received from the three employees or detail who did what, saying he couldn’t discuss specifics because of the ongoing investigation. A Texas Ranger also attended the meeting.
Texas Rangers allowed Quanell X to meet with Comeaux after the prisoner refused to speak otherwise.
Left pistol in van
Comeaux, who is serving three life sentences for sexual assault of a child and stabbing his wife and another man during a prison visit, escaped while being moved from the Estelle unit in Huntsville to the Stiles unit in Beaumont.
He used his smuggled gun to take control of two officers driving the prison van when they reached Conroe. He then handcuffed them and drove the van to Baytown. There, he walked away wearing one officer’s uniform and armed with the officers’ three guns. He left his smuggled pistol behind.
Says he sold contraband
After eight days on the run, he was captured Monday, barefooted and hungry, in northeast Houston. Comeaux has said the two transport officers were not among those who helped him.
“He mentioned being part of a prison gang and said they had corrupted the guards at the unit — and this is a maximum-security unit,” Quanell X said Wednesday, declining to identify the gang. The activist added that Comeaux worked his way up in the gang and earned money to buy the gun “from the selling of contraband and particular drugs.”
Comeaux has alleged that inmates sell drugs and cell phones to each other inside the prison, then use the sale proceeds to pay guards for corrupt purposes.
Comeaux, who is in the Montgomery County Jail because he took control of the prison van in that jurisdiction, said he is concerned about his safety after giving names and details to investigators, but TDCJ has made no assurances, Quanell X said.
“He is a tremendous embarrassment to them, and he has brought a huge spotlight on them,” the activist said. “So, trust me, I don’t think they want to do anything to accommodate him, even though there’s real legitimate reasons why they should.”
TDCJ officials said they will soon begin disciplining five or six employees who were “negligent or complacent” in their duties related to Comeaux’s escape and did not follow proper administrative procedures before or during his move. However, that is unrelated to Comeaux’s allegations that two guards and a nurse helped him escape.
Via: Houston Chronicle
