WATCH: TikTok captures Texas jail inmates escape from police
An inmate stands outside with their broken handcuffs.
Chanin Nont/Getty Images
A Texas man is back in jail this week after his attempt to escape from police was caught on multiple videos posted to TikTok showing the man running in an orange jumpsuit. The man, Timothy Chappelle, was a Smith County jail inmate who took the opportunity to escape from a transport van on Tuesday, January 3, in Tyler in East Texas.
Chapelle kicked the windows out of the transport van while it was stopped at a red light, according to Tyler station KLTV. The man was then caught on videos sprinting across a parking lot and into a neighborhood.
One video from user MeekLing shows the man running through a shopping center parking lot in his orange jumpsuit while the woman filming laughs. A jail officer is not far behind as she follows Chapelle as he jumps a fence next to the shopping center. The officer appears to give up at the fence.
“He said ‘Not today,'” the woman filming says.
She then shows the transport van with its window and metal grating completely busted out saying, “He lost the inmate y’all,” referring to the jail officer.
Another video from TikTok user chadroo76 followed the escaped inmate in his truck as Chapelle cuts through a neighborhood. When the driver gets close enough he yells that the inmate will eventually be caught.
“I know man. Give me a ride,” the inmate asks the truck driver.
“Hell no!” the man filming yells back.
Chapelle can then be seen running in between two homes. KLTV reports that he broke into two homes, one of which was occupied at the time. Chapelle was eventually caught and is facing felony criminal mischief charges as well as escaping and two charges of burglary of habitation.
