Security heavy at court appearance of jail inmate who escaped last week
There were several extra law enforcement officers on hand for Nigel Sanders' court appearance. Prosecutors want him held without bond but his attorney disagreed.
Credit: KHOU A jail inmate who escaped from custody in downtown Houston last week appeared before a judge Monday morning for the first time on new charges.HOUSTON — A jail inmate who escaped from custody in downtown Houston last week appeared before a judge Monday morning on new charges of aggravated robbery and escape.
Security was heavy with several extra law enforcement officers in the courtroom when Nigel Sanders was brought in.
Prosecutors want Sanders to remain jailed without bond.
"We certainly will fight that or ask for a reasonable bail," defense attorney Todd Dupont told us.
There will be another hearing to address the bond motion later this week.
Court documents detailed how Sanders escaped last Thursday while being transferred from the courthouse back to jail through a secured tunnel. He wasn't handcuffed at the time, HCSO said.
A deputy watching surveillance cameras said he saw an inmate in a jail uniform and black hoodie leaving through an unsecured door in a separate area.
"This behavior was extremely unusual and alarming because it indicated that an inmate had escaped from the jail," the deputy said in the charging document.
The jail immediately went into lockdown mode. A headcount using barcodes on bracelets determined it was Sanders who had escaped.
The deputy who noticed the inmate leave began searching for a breach. He found a hole in a ceiling on the secure side of the tunnels. HCSO said Sanders climbed through the hole and crawled through the ceiling to the unsecured side on his way back from court.
Sanders reportedly found an unlocked room where he was able to steal a custodian’s sweatshirt and pocketknife.
Then, prosecutors said he carjacked a female employee of the Harris County DA's Office at knifepoint. After she crashed her SUV, Sanders took off on foot and was the target of a 12-hour manhunt that shut down several downtown streets.
Hours later, Sanders was found hiding behind a couch at his mother's house and arrested.
His mother and another woman accused of helping Sanders hide also appeared in court Monday. We were previously told the second woman was Sanders' sister but the HCSO now says she's a family friend.
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