Sex offender who left Fort Worth halfway house apprehended in Oklahoma

A sex offender in the state’s civil commitment program who walked away from a Fort Worth halfway house Wednesday morning was arrested Friday at an Oklahoma casino, authorities said.

Charles Sprague, 44, was taken into custody without incident shortly before 9:45 a.m. at the WinStar casino in Thackerville, Okla.

Sprague was being held at the Love County jail in Oklahoma on Friday and is expected to be returned to Texas on Monday, said Sgt. Lonny Haschel, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Investigators are talking to Sprague to try to reconstruct his steps after he cut off a tracking device and walked away from a Henderson Street halfway house. The facility is operated by Avalon Correctional Services.

Sprague is a twice-convicted sex offender who was placed under civil commitment after he served prison sentences for his crimes. Sprague has served two prison sentences since 1991, one for aggravated sexual assault and the other for aggravated kidnapping/sexual abuse.

Sprague is also being investigated in connection with a carjacking in North Richland Hills on Wednesday.

“There’s a strong connection between the individual that was arrested and the suspect in the kidnapping,” said investigator Keith Bauman, a North Richland Hills police spokesman.

A gunman confronted a woman in the parking lot of a call center in the 5200 block of Rufe Snow Drive and forced her to get into her Toyota 4Runner while he took the wheel, Bauman said earlier.

He drove the SUV around the corner and let the woman out behind a vacant building in the 6500 block of Iron Horse Drive, Bauman said.

U.S. marshals, the Lighthorse Police Department in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol assisted in Spague’s apprehension, Haschel said.

This report includes material from Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Sex offender who left Fort Worth halfway house apprehended in Oklahoma."