Seven Prisoners Escape Texas Jail

K E N E D Y, Texas, Dec. 13 -- Seven inmates, including two SanAntonio-area convicted murderers, escaped from a South Texas prisontoday after overpowering seven civilian employees anda Connally Unit corrections officer.

They made their getaway in a stolen pickup about 2 p.m. local time and arebelieved to be armed with guns stolen from the prison, said TexasDepartment of Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Todd.

“It appears this escape was well-planned,” Todd said.

The prison is about two miles south of Kenedy, which is 50 milessoutheast of San Antonio.

The agency identified the escaped convicts as Joseph Garcia,Michael Rodriguez, Randy Halprin, Donald Newbury, Larry Harper,George Rivas and Patrick Murphy Jr. Garcia, 29, was serving 50years for murder and Rodriguez, 38, was serving a life sentence forcapital murder.

Well-Orchestrated PlanThe seven male civilian employees working in the maintenanceshop with the inmates, who were trusties in the shop, sufferedminor injuries and were left locked in a room after the breakout.They were treated at the unit infirmary, Todd said.

The inmates, dressed in civilian clothing stolen from theworkers, were able to surprise a guard near the back gate andoverpower him, Todd said. They stole his gun and several weaponsfrom a nearby guard tower.

“The weapons are a shotgun and some pistols,” Todd said.“They did escape with an unknown number of weapons.”

The convicts also stole the officer’s uniform and fled in thewhite prison system truck, which later was found behind theWal-Mart in Kenedy. There were no immediate reports of othervehicles being stolen.

“We’re still checking for not only all of our vehicles at theunit, but employee vehicles,” Todd said. The inmates mixed othervehicle keys in a pile to hamper efforts to follow them, Todd said.

Prison authorities were questioning the three trusties who wereworking in the shop but did not escape.