Inmate flees from custody, still on the loose

Danie M. Huffman

wdrepoter2@yahoo.com

WEATHERFORD — A 23-year old Parker County jail trusty remains at large after fleeing from the Parker County Justice Center Sunday morning.

Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said the inmate was assigned to trash detail and bolted from custody while at the jail.

An area-wide search was initiated around 1 a.m.

Fowler said the trustee, identified as Justin Lavon Berry of Scurry, Texas, was being escorted by a corrections officer to dispose of jail trash in a dumpster just south of the jail’s sally port when he escaped.

Berry led the officer on a foot chase across Fort Worth Highway behind the Weatherford City Garage.

Deputies and Weatherford Police officers cordoned off an area south of the viaduct early Sunday before Berry was sighted again by WPD officers on the railroad track toward Interstate 20.

A Department of Public Safety helicopter was used in the search.

Immediate efforts to recapture the man were unsuccessful.

Fowler said an escape warrant was issued for Berry.

He added Berry would be captured and charged with the additional offense, which carries a punishment of up to 10 years in the Texas Department of Corrections.

“We are making every effort to locate and apprehend the inmate and have him back in custody soon,” Fowler said.

Fowler said Berry’s known family members and associates are being interviewed locally and in the Metroplex.

Berry was jailed on numerous misdemeanor charges and was waiting to be transported to a state jail facility to begin serving a two-year sentence for a probation violation stemming from a burglary of a building conviction.

Sheriff’s investigators and the Fugitive Task Force with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service are involved in the ongoing investigation.

Berry is described as 6-foot, 1-inch and 170 pounds. He has light brown hair with patches of white, brown eyes and tattoos on his right arm and right shoulder.

He was last seen wearing an orange jail-issued shirt and orange and white striped jail-issued pants.

Anyone with information regarding Berry’s location should immediately call the Parker County Sheriff’s Office at (817) 596-3131 or their local law enforcement agency.