By Jaime Adame
Abilene Reporter-News
STONEWALL COUNTY, Texas — Police captured a 32-year-old man Monday at a home in Lubbock after he escaped Sunday from the Stonewall County Jail in Aspermont.
Shannon Carl Mcdowell, 32, fled around 3 p.m., said Senior Trooper Sparky Dean of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Stonewall County Sheriff Bill Mullen did not respond to a request for comment, and Dean said he did not know how Mcdowell left the jail.
Sgt. Jonathan Stewart of the Lubbock Police Department said he had no information about how Mcdowell traveled the approximately 115 miles from Aspermont to Lubbock but that a tip from a resident led police to him.
Stewart said Lubbock police and the Texas Rangers arrested Mcdowell without incident inside a home just after noon Monday.
“We received information that he was in town, and we were able to track him to that location,” Stewart said.
Late Monday afternoon, Mcdowell was in custody inside a holding cell at police headquarters, but Stewart said he expected Mcdowell to be transferred to the Lubbock County Jail. Stewart said that a felony theft warrant had been issued for Mcdowell by Swisher County authorities and that Mcdowell also was wanted for outstanding traffic warrants issued in Lubbock.
The town was buzzing with activity Sunday, said Ellen Helscel, manager for the Lawrence Bros. grocery in Aspermont.
“I saw a helicopter, and the DPS troopers were all over town,” Helscel said, adding that fliers with a photo of the escaped inmate had been posted at the grocery store Sunday.
Before his capture, Mcdowell was last seen wearing gray sweatpants and a gray hooded sweatshirt, but Dean said he may also have left the jail with black sweatpants and a white thermal shirt.
Stewart said that he had no description of clothing worn by Mcdowell upon his arrest but that initial reports did not list him as having any weapons when found by police.
Stewart said he also didn’t know why Mcdowell may have traveled to the home where he was arrested.