LINDEN, Texas -- An inmate who injured a guard during an escape is back in Cass County custody, but the woman accused of aiding his flight remains at large.
Charles Obin Spraberry, 44, was returned to Cass County on Friday, Sheriff Larry Rowe said Wednesday afternoon. Spraberry had been held at Caddo Correctional Center in Shreveport since his arrest by Caddo Parish deputies Aug. 30 near Mooringsport, Louisiana, about 40 southeast of Linden.
Spraberry is charged with first-degree felony escape, first-degree burglary of a habitation, assault on a public servant, unauthorized use of a vehicle and theft of a firearm. Total bail is $1.1 million.
Shea Smith, 37, is accused of helping Spraberry in his escape. She is wanted on warrants of theft, burglary and aiding a felon, Rowe said.
"We've been getting leads on her," the sheriff said, adding that Smith is believed to still be in the Cass County area.
Spraberry fled from the jail Aug. 29 after allegedly attacking a male guard with a homemade knife and forcing a female guard to open a door to the outside, according to earlier reports. The male jailer needed three stitches to close the wound to his face.
Based on information called in to the Sheriff's Office, deputies focused their search for Spraberry on a section of state Highway 8 between Linden and Red Hill.
About midnight Tuesday, Spraberry allegedly stole at Cadillac SUV from an unoccupied house in the search area. The owner of the house is in a nursing home, Rowe said.
Upon learning of the theft, the Sheriff's Office informed other agencies to be on the lookout for Spraberry and the SUV. Caddo Parish deputies located him in the SUV near Mooringsport. The vehicle's onboard technology was used to disable the Cadillac, allowing officers to apprehend Spraberry.
Smith was a passenger in the SUV. She was arrested by Caddo deputies on a charge of possession of stolen property and later released after posting bail.
Spraberry also is a person of interest in the deaths of two people whose charred remains were discovered March 13 in Cass County. He was arrested several days later in DeRidder, Louisiana, by Beaureagard Parish Sheriff's Office on unrelated charges and extradited to Cass County.
The bodies were found in a burned-out camper off County Road 4667, near Bivins, Texas. They were burned so badly it was initially impossible to determine their genders or ages, Rowe said in an earlier Gazette article.
A crime lab in Mesquite, Texas, determined the bodies were a man and woman. The investigation into the deaths is ongoing.