Duane Phillip Ranthum, a Live Oak County jail trusty working in the kitchen, escaped while a jailer was making the rounds between 7 and 7:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, according to Live Oak County Jail officials.
A Department of Public Safety helicopter and Texas Department of Criminal Justice canine units were dispatched but, as of this writing, Ranthum had not been found, officials said.
Live Oak County Sheriff Larry Busby said Ranthum apparently slid down a pipe from the second story in front of the courthouse. Busby said, “He was a helper in the kitchen. While one jailer accompanied another helper to take the trash out and the other jailer went to make his rounds, Ranthum escaped. When the jailer came back, Ranthum was gone. He [Ranthum] was at the courthouse a number of times. I am sure he looked around and decided how he was going to do it. He slid down a pipe. It was obvious because the dust moved,” said Busby.
“I don’t think he had outside help because our jail phones have been down since Friday [Dec. 19] and he didn’t know if he was going to be working. My guess is he planned on trying to escape the first chance he got.”
Ranthum was wearing a jail uniform but he had a T-shirt with him, said Busby. Additionally, Ranthum was wearing brown shoes, not the usual jail sandals, because he was a trusty. “We believe he is on foot, hitched a ride, or stole a car, because there was no chance he could have hopped the train or a bus. We checked with the railroad officials and no train was going through at that time and we checked the bus too,” Busby continued.
Ranthum is 50 years old, 5’11”tall, 185 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes and tattoos on both arms. He has family in Craddick, Texas as well as Louisiana.
Ranthum was originally arrested on Feb. 23 by Three Rivers Police Officer William Jones, accused of trying to run down his previous employer with a vehicle.
He was indicted on April 4 on a charge of aggravated assault with a vehicle and later sentenced to 2-10 years in prison for the third degree felony.
Ranthum was awaiting transfer to prison from the county jail when he escaped.
Post a Comment