Information and Photo from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice: Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials are searching for an inmate who allegedly took two transport officers hostage Monday morning before fleeing the vehicle on foot in the Baytown area.
Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr., 49, is described as a black male, standing 6-feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. He is serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault out of Brazos County and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon out of Fort Bend County.
The transport van carrying Comeaux and two correctional officers departed the Estelle Unit in Huntsville at approximately 4:45 a.m. Monday, en route to the Stiles Unit in Beaumont, where Comeaux was being reassigned. He was shackled and was in a wheelchair, which he had claimed was needed for mobility.
At about 6:30 a.m. in Conroe, Comeaux brandished a pistol. He ordered the officers to drive south, arriving in Baytown. Comeaux took one of the officer’s grey uniforms and was wearing black boots. He handcuffed the officers together and placed them in the back of the van, and then fled on foot at approximately 9 a.m. He left his own weapon behind, but took the officers’ weapons with him – a 12-gauge shotgun and two semiautomatic pistols.
The officers were located by law enforcement officers at approximately 10 a.m. and were unharmed.
Comeaux has been in and out of the Texas prison system for the last 30 years. He initially was received on Feb. 13, 1979, on three 10-year sentences for rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child and burglary of a building with the intent to commit theft, all out of Harris County. He was released on mandatory supervision on Aug. 29, 1983.
His supervision was revoked and he returned to prison on May 9, 1984 with a new charge of indecency with a child out of Harris County, for which he received 20 years.
He was released on mandatory supervision on June 15, 1991, and returned as a violator on Oct. 29, 1991. He was paroled on Dec. 1, 1993, and returned as a parole violator on Dec. 1, 1994. He was again paroled on Feb. 16, 1996.
Comeaux returned to prison in June 1998 with a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault out of Brazos County. He has been incarcerated since.
While in custody at the Jester III Unit in Fort Bend County in July 1999, he stabbed his wife during a visit. Apparently, he used his wheelchair to pin her against a wall and then began stabbing her with a handmade metal object. She sustained injuries to the head and chest but survived the attack. A male visitor who was seeing another inmate tried to intervene and also was stabbed. He sustained minor injuries. For those attacks, he was convicted on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and received two additional life sentences.
Anyone who believes they have seen Comeaux should call 911 or their local law enforcement authorities.
TDCJ officials will conduct a Serious Incident Review to determine, among other details, how Comeaux was able to obtain a firearm.
For more information, contact the Texas Department of Crminal Justice.
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Pease Note: All suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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