A manhunt was underway in Harris County, Texas, on Tuesday after a clerical error led to the accidental release of an inmate over the weekend, according to the authorities. It was the second time this year that the jail had accidentally released an inmate facing felony charges.
Troy Dugas, 36, who had been serving a five-year sentence for assault, was accidentally released from the Harris County Jail in Houston on Sunday around 4:30 a.m., the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Mr. Dugas was booked into the Harris County Jail on Aug. 14 for separate charges that have since been dismissed, the deputies said. He was supposed to be transferred to a state prison to start his sentence for assault, said Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Jail staff appeared not to have properly documented his state prison sentence in his file, leading to the “mistaken assumption” that he was eligible for release, the sheriff’s office said. A jail employee realized the mistake while reviewing records Monday morning, Mr. Spencer said.
Mr. Dugas had been serving a five-year sentence for family violence assault impeding breathing or circulation and a two-year sentence for evading arrest, according to court records and the sheriff’s office.
Mr. Dugas had initially been sentenced to three years’ probation for the assault charge, said Wesley Wittig, an assistant district attorney for Fort Bend County. But his probation was revoked after he was arrested for additional charges, including evading arrest in Brazoria County, another assault charge in Harris County, and failing to pay several fines, Mr. Wittig said.
A judge resentenced him to five years in prison, Mr. Wittig said.
The sheriff’s office did not specify which county charges were dismissed. A lawyer for Mr. Dugas did not return a request for comment.
The sheriff’s office asks anyone who sees Mr. Dugas to call 911.
It was the second time this year that Harris County Jail had mistakenly released an inmate. In February Justin Tompkins, 21, facing a capital murder charge, was erroneously released when jail staff “mistook Tomkins for another inmate with the same name,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release at the time.
Mr. Tompkins turned himself in a day after being released and as a search was underway, the authorities said.
A lawyer for Mr. Tompkins told The Houston Chronicle that Mr. Tompkins had tried to tell jail workers the release appeared to have been a mistake.
Mr. Tompkins had been arrested and booked into the jail in December 2022 after being accused of shooting a man during a robbery involving narcotics, authorities said. His case is still pending, according to court records.
Rylee Kirk reports on breaking news, trending topics and major developing stories for The Times.
The post Manhunt Underway After Texas Jail Mistakenly Releases Inmate appeared first on New York Times.
