Houston boxer says escaped inmate charged with gym break-in

HOUSTON — A 35-year-old escaped inmate is back behind bars after a 12-hour manhunt after escaping while at the Harris County Courthouse in downtown Houston , THURSDAY.

Nigel Thomas Sanders, 35, was captured after the manhunt that led to the closure of downtown streets and the lockdown of UH-Downtown. He was arrested at 3 a.m. Friday in the Cloverleaf area of ​​eastern Harris County.

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“We believe the part of us is not married and can escape and get out of the yard,” said Maj. Saul Suarez of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office early Friday morning.

The sheriff’s office said they believed he was in an area where he was not handcuffed.

According to court documents, Sanders escaped tunnels used to transfer inmates from the Franklin Street jail to the courthouse for hearings and back.

Dozens of inmates are usually transferred at the same time but exits are secure, according to HCSO.

A deputy watching surveillance cameras said he saw an inmate dressed in a jail uniform and black hoodie exit through an unsecured door into a segregated area. The prison immediately went into lockdown mode. A count using barcodes on bracelets determined that it was Sanders who had escaped.

The deputy who noticed the inmate exit began looking for a breach. He found a hole in a ceiling on the secure side of the tunnels. HCSO said Sanders climbed through the hole and crawled through the ceiling to the unsecured side while returning from court. The deputy followed the path and found orange slippers and other clothing left behind by the escapee.

Sanders then walked out of the building toward a parking lot.

Investigators said an administrative assistant with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office saw Sanders trying to enter several vehicles. She told investigators he then got into his unlocked vehicle, threatened her with a knife and told her, “Get the (expletive) out of the car or I will, I will.”

According to court documents, she grabbed his hand that held the knife and, during a struggle, she crashed into three parked vehicles.

The woman jumped and ran away. She flagged down two deputies, but when they found her vehicle, Sanders was missing. They found the knife he had used nearby, according to court documents.

When Termite Watkins saw that Sanders had escaped from the courthouse, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“You can run but you can’t hide,” said Watkins, the founder of Fighter Nation.

Sanders was in court for this burglary of a building located in a church gymnasium.

“We help all kinds of people. Young children, children in difficulty. Children who are not disturbed,” Watkins said.

Watkins is the founder of the gym called Fighter Nation. He said two burglars caused thousands of dollars worth of damage. In one video, a person who resembles Sanders is seen looking directly at the camera during the burglary.

“Very unfortunate when they stole from us,” Watkins said. “It hurt the kids.”

Now that Sanders is back in custody, Watkins said he forgives him.

“I hope I can go visit them tomorrow. Maybe (there is) a way to help them,” he said.

However, he said he hasn’t forgotten what happened and knows Sanders will now have to face justice.

Sanders will be in court again on Monday. That’s when his preliminary hearing will take place for the additional charges of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and evading arrest.

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