Smith County inmate arrested after escaping from jail transport van

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A man who was booked into the Smith County Jail the day after Christmas on a lesser charge is now facing additional charges and a hefty bond after officials say he escaped from custody

Timothy Chappelle, 41, of Killeen, was being moved from the north jail to the central jail facility in downtown Tyler when he escaped the transport van while it was stopped at a red light on Gentry Parkway, according to Smith County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Larry Christian. Sgt Christian told the news that the inmate kicked the passenger side window and broke the barricade.
Video captured by witnesses shows a handcuffed Chappelle running barefoot in an orange jumpsuit. He jumped a fence and broke into two homes in a nearby neighborhood before he was arrested.

Chappelle was booked into the Smith County Jail on Dec. 26 for criminal mischief worth between $2,500 and $30,000 charge from October in Lindale, according to online jail records. That bond was set at $50,000, but now Chappelle has an additional $1.3 million added to his bond total.

His bonds now total $1.38 million, including the two new felony counts of burglary of habitation and one felony charge of escaping custody while arrested or confined, according to jail records.