BRAZORIA, Texas — An inmate who escaped Brazoria County prison Sunday got out with help from his mother, a former correctional officer, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
According to the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office, Robert Yancy Jr., 39, was captured in Matagorda County County on Monday morning around 8 a.m. He was found leaving River Park on FM 521. Authorities said he was on foot. He was taken to Matagorda Jail and will face felony escape charges.
Yancy, who was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for continuous sexual abuse of a child out of Victoria County, escaped from the Clemens Unit along Highway 36 in Brazoria, officials said.
The TDCJ said Yancy's mother, Leonor Priestle, went to the Clemens Unit for visitation wearing a black sweater. They said Yancy put on his mother's sweater, walked out with her, and drove away in a white 2021 Nissan Versa.
The Brazoria County Sheriff's Office said they put the plate number into a statewide license plate reader system and got a hit in Victoria County just after 6 p.m.
According to the Victoria Police Department, officers stopped a white Nissan related to Yancy's escape on Sam Houston Drive around 8:25 p.m. Sunday. Officers found Priestle driving the car alone. She was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant, police said. She was later charged with permitting/facilitating an escapee. Russell Williams, a man investigators said is Priestle's boyfriend, was also arrested and charged with criminal intent to escape, according to TDCJ.
Yancy was captured after he was spotted by two people at FM 521 River Park in Bay City. When Yancy was found, he had an ID that the TDCJ believes he showed when leaving the unit.
The TDCJ said Priestle was a former corrections officer herself. She was employed at the McConnel Unit from March 2010 until September 2011.
Priestle's neighbors said she loves her son and would do anything for him. The usually quiet complex where she lives was bustling with police activity on Sunday night as investigators worked to find Yancy.
"It's still hard for me, it is," Mary Ann Galindo said.
Galindo said she's upset because of Priestle's role in her son's escape even though she believes she was just trying to do what she thought was right for him.
"I think it's very sad because she's a very sweet lady. She's very caring," Galindo said.
Bryce Peterson is a research scientist with the Center for Justice Research and Innovation, which compiles data on prison escapes.
"Anytime a prominent escape occurs, we talk about it in the media, it captures our attention," Peterson said.
He said that most escapes involve inmates who have access to the outside world, like trustees.
"But the things like what happened in Texas, with someone using maybe more ingenuous methods, you know, a more complex plan, these are much more rare," Peterson said.
It's something that Galindo said she can't imagine doing for her own children.
"I'd do all that I could, but wouldn't go that far," she said.