A Texas inmate armed with a knife escaped Thursday after an appearance in a Houston court after holding a district attorney’s employee against her will and trying to take her car, officials said.
Joshua Nigel Thomas Sanders, 35, was wanted by police on Thursday evening after the escape that occurred around 3:30 p.m.
“He went to court today and on the way back it appears he was able to facilitate an escape,” Harris County Sheriff’s Assistant Chief Phillip Bosquez said at a news conference.
“During that escape, he approached a woman once he was on the street and jumped into her car. She destroyed that car within a few feet,” he said.
Sanders got out of the disabled car and ran into the street, and that was the last time he was seen on camera, Bosquez said.
The woman held at knifepoint was later released unharmed, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said.
“She was obviously shocked, but she wasn’t injured,” Bosquez said. The woman was leaving work in the building when the incident occurred.
Sanders, described as a transient, was in custody on three counts of burglary and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, Bosquez said.
“We really believe we’re going to run him into the ground,” he said. The sheriff’s office asked for the public’s help in finding him.
Investigators believe Sanders had a knife with him during the escape, but Bosquez did not indicate where it might have come from. “Everywhere he ever went outside of prison,” he said.
An investigation is underway into how the escape could have taken place.
Anyone who sees Sanders should not contact him but should call 911 or Crime Stoppers. He is described as about 6 feet tall and 140 pounds.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
