By Jason Renard Walker

Following the May 12, 2022 Gonzalo Artemio Lopez escape; in which he freed himself from arm and leg shackles; cut through the gate separating him from the driver; stabbed a transportation officer; stole the bus; wrecked it and got away. The rumors and conspiracies circulated at the Hughes unit where we both lived.

Among the most common was that Lopez was able to escape through the assistance of connections he had with the LA Mana Cartel. Others suggest a female guard gave him a handcuff key, a cellphone and a shank to assist him.

But what has yet to be run through the rumor mill was the false start announcement staff made during the unit lockdown that took place around two hours before Lopez escaped.

Between 10:30am and 11:00am guards announced it was time for us in 3 building A pod to eat lunch. As we were walking past the commissary room a guard from 1 building stopped us in our tracks and made us go back to our pod. The unit was being locked down for a special count, he said.

What was odd about the announcement was that it wasn’t made over the radios so the building staff could round up the cellblocks. It seemed more like a situation where he didn’t want to use the airwaves.

Keeping things off the airwaves is very common when one foul guard needs a foul rank to respond to a situation that warrants a ranking staff to temper the situation. In this regard the situation will be escalated and the prisoner, more likely, taken to a blind spot, beaten and written a bogus disciplinary for assault.

Around an hour after we were locked down a pod officer doing the special count mentioned to another prisoner that he thinks we are being locked down because of an escape. Not on the Hughes unit, he said, but somewhere else.

At the time his statement was just a rumor. It was our buildings commissary day so those who hadn’t gone wanted to remain optimistic. Those who had gone began predicting how long the lockdown would last.

Just after 12:00pm a Black female guard came on the cellblock and announced that someone from this unit had escaped off of the chain bus and was at large. She suggested that it happened around around 10:30am.

The reason I have come back to revisit this incident is because after looking at the September 2022 Lopez Escape Review recently, this manual itself prove that high ranking staff at the Hughes unit were well aware of the escape before it happened, but someone jumped the gun and initiated the post escape lockdown before the escape happened.

A REVIEW OF THE LOPEZ ESCAPE REVIEW

The Lopez Escape Review is an independent report compiled by CGL for the TDCJ which is suppose to be an exhaustive investigation into the escape, how it happened, and recommendations to prevent another one. It is similar to the JFK assassination Warren’s Commission report and the 9/11 report, as it covers up a lot and raises more questions than it answers.

The first thing that stands out in this report is the times. At 1:15pm transportation officer Randy Smith, who was driving the bus, felt something tug on his handgun. He looked down and saw Lopez coming through the bottom of the restricted housing compartment door.

According to the report Smith covered his gun with his hand and hit the brakes to stop the bus. The momentum pushed Lopez into the driver’s compartment where the struggle began for possession of Smith’s gun. Somehow they crashed against the bus’s door, it opened and they fell on the ground where Lopez repeatedly stabbed Smith with an 8 or 9 inch metal shank. Lopez pressed the quick disconnect on Smith’s holster and got the handgun from his duty belt.

Another thing in the report that looks fishy is the account of officer Jimmy Brinegar. He stated that he thought the bus came to a close because of a wreck, so he grabbed his 12 gauge shotgun and exited the back door.

That’s when he saw Smith and Lopez tussling. When he asked Lopez to stop, Lopez jumped up and entered the bus with Smith’s gun still in the holster.

As he helped Smith to his feet Smith told Brinegar that Lopez had his gun and was trying to escape. The report suggests Lopez couldn’t remove the gun from the holster so he pointed it at Brinegar anyways, but didn’t fire a shot.

Despite claiming he exited the bus with his shotgun in his hand. The report states Brinegar drew his handgun and fired a total of four shots at the bus. As the bus was driving away Smith took Brinegar’s shotgun from him, ordered Lopez to stop and when he didn’t he shot the back tire, blowing it out.

Ironically as this action packed great escape took place, the Hughes unit had been on lockdown two hours already for an escape that was still in progress.

If one was to review the commissary computers for the time the commissary staff stopped processing transactions. They will see this is the same time the unit was placed on lockdown.

Jason Renard Walker #39219-177

The Joe Corley Detention Center

500 Hilbig Road
Conroe, TX 77301

Jason Renard Walker is a prison journalist who has published articles and essays in various print and online media outlets since 2016. His work can be viewed at: www.jasonsprisonjournal.com You can also purchase his paperback book ‘Reports From Within The Belly Of The Beast: Torture And Injustice Inside Texas Department Of Criminal Justice’ available on amazon.com