Search continues for escaped Texas prisoner from Leon County accused of assaulting officer
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is asking the public to keep an eye out for a man who escaped police custody in Leon County.
Gonzalo Artemio Lopez, 46, “assaulted a correctional officer on a transport bus, and then fled from the vehicle,” the TDCJ said in a tweet Thursday afternoon.
Authorities said Lopez managed to get out of his shackles and stabbed the bus driver’s hand before taking control of the bus and crashing it.
The search continued Friday.
Multiple law enforcement agencies were searching for Lopez near Highway 7 westbound, about a mile and a half from Interstate 45 near Centerville in Leon County. The area is about 145 miles southeast of Fort Worth.
Lopez was serving a life sentence for capital murder after he was convicted of killing a man with a pickax in Hidalgo County.
The bus was on its way to Huntsville from a prison in Gatesville.
Officials said if Lopez is seen, he should not be approached and that 911 should be contacted.
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 9:54 AM.
