Inmate caught on video running from police in Texas while being taken to jail

A Texas inmate who escaped a police van was caught on video running away from officers and then being apprehended. 

Timothy Chappelle was being taken to a different jail by a Smith County Sheriff’s Office detention officer in Tyler, Texas, on Jan. 3, when he kicked out the passenger side window and cage of the van, the sheriff department’s public information officer Larry Christian told CBS News.

Chappelle jumped through the opening and ran along a parkway, police said.

A woman was able to film Chappelle running through a parking lot and hopping a fence, with his hands still seemingly in handcuffs. She shared the video on TikTok, where it went viral with more than 3 million views. It appears the video was filmed from a nearby strip mall.

Her video also shows a sheriff’s officer running after Chappelle as well as the van, with the cage that had been covering the window askew.

The TikTok user, @theyenvyjanae, shared a part two of the video, showing Chappelle being apprehended on the front lawn of a house. 

Chappelle unlawfully entered two private residences before being apprehended by sheriff’s office personnel, Christian said. 

Chappelle was originally incarcerated in the Smith County Jail on a charge of criminal mischief, but his charges have been upgraded to include escape while arrested and two counts of burglary of a habitation, police said.