A Texas Inmate Escaped A Transport Van & Went On A Wild Chase Throughout A Town (VIDEOS)

He even asked someone for a ride.

The inmate running in a TikTok video. Right: The inmate running in front of a house.

The inmate running in a TikTok video. Right: The inmate running in front of a house.

Texas Staff Writer

An inmate escaped from a jail transport van in Tyler, TX, and went on a wild foot chase around the town on Tuesday, several social media videos show.

Timothy Chappelle, of Killeen, TX, was arrested on January 5 and accused of escaping from a vehicle belonging to the Smith County Sheriff's Office and burglarizing two homes while on the run, local media outlet CBS 19 reported.

Chappelle was originally booked on December 26 for criminal mischief charges.

A TikTok clip posted by user @meeklingg shows seconds after the prisoner smashed through the window of the van, and continued to sprint through a busy thoroughfare, barefoot, eventually outrunning a law enforcement officer after hopping a fence.

@meeklingg

#inmateescape #inmatesoftiktok #fyp #tylertx

The clip posted Tuesday has since received 1.4 million views and was viral video proof of Chapelle's escape. Several other viral TikTok posts show the rest of his hot pursuit through the north Texas city.

Another sighting of the escapee posted by user @chadroo76 shows the man running in a residential neighborhood through the yards of houses.

Chappelle then slows down at one point and even asks the driver for a ride, which was declined.

The post has received over 600K views and thousands of comments from users shocked at all the different perspectives Tyler citizens filmed of the man.

"I can’t stop laughing. I’ve seen about four videos, and homeboy is still on the run," one user commented, echoing what many others were sharing.

However, the man was eventually apprehended in one of the neighborhoods that day.

According to CBS 19, Chappelle now faces bonds of a total of $1.38 million on charges of criminal mischief, two counts of burglary, and escaping custody while arrested or confined.

  • Staff Writer

    Brittany Cristiano (she/her) was Narcity USA's first full-time Texas Staff Writer. She's a lifelong Houstonian but enjoys every corner of the Lone Star State. Brittany is passionate about highlighting the beauty and rarities in the places we live in or visit–whether it’s showing North American readers something they never knew existed in the South, or helping Texans appreciate the beauty that’s been there the whole time. Oh, and she also loves to spill the tea on the latest trending figures in Texas and beyond. She previously served as an Editorial Intern for Houstonia magazine and as Editor-in-Chief of the University of St. Thomas’ student newspaper.

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