Escaped Charleston Inmate Nabbed Along Mexico-Texas Border

CHARLESTON, WV — Todd Wayne Boyes, the Charleston, West Virginia, inmate who escaped from jail two days before his sentencing, was captured early Sunday along the Mexico-Texas border, authorities said.

Boyes, 44, of Caldwell, Ohio, was captured about 4 a.m. Sunday, state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety spokesman Lawrence Messina said in a statement. He was trying to cross the Rio Grande River at Laredo, Texas, U.S. Border Patrol agents told West Virginia State Police. Boyes received a medical assessment and was then taken to the Webb County Jail in Texas, Messina said.

Boyes changed into civilian clothing and escaped the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston on Wednesday. Jail staff didn't notice he had disappeared until Thursday evening. A review of the facility's jail's security video showed Boyes leaving the facility the previous morning.

Boyes was slated to be sentenced Friday to up to two decades in prison on charges including fleeing and possession of a stolen car.

He was initially charged with attempted murder after Charleston police Cpl. Renee Smith was hurt during a pursuit to arrest him. That charge was dropped in a September plea deal.

According to investigators, the 5-foot-6, 220-pound Boyes obtained khaki pants and a dark green or grey jacket he wore to escape by posing as a civilian or jail trusty.

Three end-of-shift head counts failed to alert jail staff to his disappearance.

Messina said four jail employees have been suspended without pay pending the results of an investigation.

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