| Statistics
for 1998 |
| In 1984, the TDC recorded 1,678
attacks on guards by inmates. For the first three months
of 1985, the TDC has recorded 948 attacks on guards. More
than 100 inmates have been stabbed by fellow prisoners,
and 12 have been stabbed to death. At the time the prison
population was about 37,000 offenders with 6,900
correction officers. (Houston
Chronicle) |
| December
13, 1998, Abilene. . . Robertson Unit |
| A female corrections officer is dragged into a cell and allegedly raped in an Abilene prison. The hyper,
demanding inmate kept other officers at bay by
threatening her life with a makeshift, 8-inch knife and a
homemade noose around her neck before surrendering after
a two-hour standoff. According to a 11-page report, the
inmate stuffed trash into his cell door's lock and looped
a shoestring over its hook-like bolt, preventing the
mechanism from dropping securely into place. A red
warning light flashed in a central command center as the
door opened, but he was still able to snatch the officer
as she conducted a routine body count. He raped the guard
while negotiating with prison officials for his surrender.
Responding officers found the inmate controlling the
guard with a homemade noose looped around her neck and an
8-inch blade he had fashioned from a discarded three-ring
hole puncher. (Abilene
Reporter-News) |
| Nov.
26, 1998, Huntsville. . . Ellis Unit |
| A death row inmate makes
the first escape
from Texas' death row since a member of the Bonnie &
Clyde gang broke out in 1934. Six other death row inmates
fell to the ground and surrendered when a guard spotted
them jumping from a roof inside the prison complex and
fired 18 to 20 shots, but one inmate cleared two razor-wire-topped
perimeter fences and avoided bullets to escape. Prison
officials say they believe the inmate and the six others
stuffed pillows and blankets in their beds ahead of time
to make it appear they were in their cells, then hid
somewhere inside the prison after their outside
recreation period ended about 8:45 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
After an extensive and lengthy search, the escapee was
found dead Dec. 3rd in a nearby river. Autopsy reports
indicate he drowned. (Abilene
Reporter-News) |
| Aug.
7, 1998, Huntsville. . . Holliday Unit |
| A Huntsville prison guard is held hostage for an hour by an inmate with a
smuggled handgun. During the altercation, the inmate
kicked another guard, giving him a black eye. The gun was
a small, two-chamber derringer-style pistol. Both
chambers were loaded. The Holliday unit is locked down for the
weekend following the incident. (Abilene
Reporter-News)(Corpus Christi Caller) |
| Aug.
8, 1998, Centerville |
 A prison guard was killed and 16 inmates were
transported to East Texas hospitals Friday after a prison
bus careened out of control, turned over and skidded off
a two-lane road. The
bus was traveling from the Hughes Unit at Gatesville to
Huntsville when it crashed at 9:55 a.m. The bus clipped a
utility pole and was resting on its left side when
sheriff's deputies and troopers arrived at the scene. (Abilene
Reporter-News) |
| June
28, 1998, Huntsville. . . Wynne Unit |
| Convicted killer Robert James Hudspeth Jr.,
47, snuck away from his post as a trusty at Huntsville
Municipal Airport and stole a car. He was found to have
committed suicide several days later in Llano State Park.
(The
Huntsville Item) |
| Mar.
5, 1998, Abilene. . . Middleton Unit |
| Correctional officer was assaulted while conducting a dayroom security
check when one of the inmates became angry and attacked
him. Another inmate joined in the attack, with a third
also possibly involved. Responding immediately, nearby
officers quickly quelled the assault with tear gas. The
CO received stitches for a cut on the back of his head.
He returned to work later that night. (Abilene
Reporter-News) |
| Feb.
3, 1998, Abilene |
| A Garza County inmate who
escaped while on his way back to prison fatally shot
himself in a plowed field. He was roughly 15 miles short
of delivery to the Middleton prison unit near Hamby when
he bolted. With a hidden .22 caliber handgun, the inmate
hijacked a Garza County squad car after ordering the
deputy and his wife out of the car. He later abandoned
the car. After being surrounded by authorities, the inmate killed himself the deputy's service revolver. (Abilene
Reporter-News) |
| Feb.
1998, East Texas |
| A prisoner holds four hostages after he overpowers a deputy in East
Texas on the way back from a dental appointment. He is
later caught in Dallas after chaining two deputies to a
fence. (Abilene
Reporter-News) |
| Jan.
30, 1998, Amarillo... Neal Unit |
| Two convicted robbers who escaped from the Neal Prison Unit held a woman hostage Thursday at her home before
surrendering peacefully to Amarillo police. The two men
left the breakfast area and went to the back of the unit
where they forced open a maintenance gate and escaped
over a fence. (Abilene
Reporter-News |