GREGG COUNTY, Texas — The Gregg County Sheriff's Office says the inmate who escaped from the Gregg County Jail was missing days before it was discovered he was not in his cell.
According to the sheriff's office, Jace Martin Laws escaped from jail on the evening of Dec. 23. He was found to be missing on Dec. 26.
Laws, 34, escaped the jail by carving out portions of a brick wall, gaining access to the building infrastructure, and making his way to the exterior Gregg County Courthouse.
He was recaptured on Friday morning, Dec. 27 in Gladewater near Laws Collision Repair, a shop owned by his family.
Sheriff Cerliano says Laws made quite the journey before being captured by multiple law enforcement agencies, including DPS, the Gladewater Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.
"Obviously, he had some help getting around. We do know that. We have identified some methods in which he traveled," said Gregg County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano. "As you know, we were following his steps yesterday 50-60 miles from here in Marion County, and he was able to get back here."
He says around 3:30 a.m. Friday morning, the sheriff's office received a call about a possible sighting of Laws near the Gladewater Municipal Airport. The Gladewater Police Department responded to the call and spoke with a witness who provided a positive ID. However, Laws has moved on before police arrived.
"There was another sighting at 4:30 a.m. at a cabin on the river. Subsequently, a perimeter was setup," said Cerliano. "Apparently he was able to get through the perimeter or escape the area prior to the perimeter being put in place. He actually has relatives that lives in Smith County about three miles down the road."
He says Laws returned to Smith County to his family-owned repair shop, which is where is was eventually captured by law enforcement, despite having nearly a 12-hour head start.
"It's been a difficult 24 hours, I'll tell you. We're fortunate that we had people working around the clock. He was somewhat overwhelmed due to the amount of resources that had been deployed to be able to get him. We feel like that that also contributed to little to no resistance."
According to the sheriff, it is believed that Laws had help after escaping from the jail. His head appeared shaven and he was said to be wearing different clothing.
He was arraigned in Smith County Friday afternoon before being returned to the Gregg County Jail.
"He’s already been sentenced on his assault on a public servant charges. He has a combined 70 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He had two other charges pending which included an evading detention and a burglary. He’s now been charged with escape which is enhance able. We have discussed how we proceed from here regarding a grand jury indictment for escape and then, a subsequent trial related to that.”
The sheriff told CBS19 off camera there was a delay in his staff noticing Laws had escaped the jail. He called it, "a staff issue". Sheriff Cerliano says he has alerted the Texas Jail Commission and an internal investigation is underway.