A search began at about 12:00 noon Monday for a man who escaped from a law enforcement officer. The search began in the area of Highway 190 East at East Houston Street in Jasper, and has fanned out in all directions.

According to Sheriff Mitchel Newman, officers are searching for 51-year-old Marcell Thomas, a short/thin black male who stands about 5’05” and weighs about 160 pounds. He was wearing a bluish/greenish (turquoise) jacket.

Thomas had been taken into custody as a suspect in a burglary of a Jasper County precinct barn and was on his way to jail when he somehow escaped from the back seat of a patrol car.

KJAS News will stay on top of this story and provide updates as they become available.

Written by Steve W Stewart