By Dale Lezon
The Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON -- Police found a stolen truck abandoned in a hotel parking lot in the Texas Medical Center this morning that had apparently been used by an escaped prison inmate from Beaumont.
Medical Center police discovered the white Chevrolet pickup at the Extended Stay Deluxe at 1300 S. Braeswood about 1 a.m. Friday, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department or Criminal Justice.
Police with a search dog were checking areas near the truck on Friday morning.
Clark said authorities believe David Puckett, who escaped from the Stiles Unit about 6 p.m. Wednesday, had been driving the truck, which was reported stolen in Nederland near Beaumont.
Puckett has not been found, Clark added.
Puckett, 27, was seen about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and may have been spotted later at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, said Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
He left hospitals quickly when he saw law enforcement officers on duty, Lyons added.
She said authorities believe he went to the hospitals to get treatment for a cut on his arm he got as he climbed over a security fence at the prison during his escape.
Prison officers found material from an inmate uniform and blood around the perimeter fence, which is topped with razor wire, Clark said. He added that Pucektt had been alone in a recreation yard before his escape.
Puckett is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 155 pounds and has a scar on his right arm. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white prison inmate uniform.
Puckett was serving a 30-year prison sentence for aggravated assault of a public servant out of Lavaca County.