Grand jury indicts Comeaux on escape charges

CONROE — A grand jury has indicted a man on escape charges in connection with using a gun to hold two guards hostage and commandeering a transport van taking him from Huntsville to Beaumont.

The Montgomery County grand jury indicted Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr, 49, on two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of felony escape.

Investigators say Comeaux was in a transport van November 30 en route from the Estelle Unit in Huntsville to the Stiles prison in Beaumont when he pulled out a gun, held two prison guards hostage, commandeered their van and drove it to Baytown.

Comeaux claimed to be partially paralyzed and was in a wheelchair on the transport van. But he managed to run away in Baytown and elude authorities for a until a salesman spotted him hitchhiking in northeast Houston and called police, who arrested him December 7.

Comeaux, a convicted sexual predator, is serving three life sentences.

A correctional officer has been recommended for termination for establishing a relationship Comeaux.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons says 45-year-old Cynthia M. Allen is the fifth prison employee to lose a job after Comeaux Jr. escaped Nov. 30 while being transferred.

Investigators say Allen acknowledged that she placed several phone calls to Comeaux's ex-wife at his request.

Two employees were recommended for termination last week and two transportation officers retired rather than face disciplinary action.