Inmate Escapes Diving Through Service Window of Sheriff's Office Booking Area
According to the Garland County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), 33-year-old Derrick Estell was speaking on the inmate phone in the booking area near a service window, when William Harding engaged the two deputies in conversation that diverted their attention from the window.
As the deputies stepped away to find answers to questions Harding was asking, Estell jumped on the counter, slid through the window and started running.
A deputy chased Estell through the parking lot into a nearby alley, where GCSO says Tamara Upshaw was waiting in a car with the passenger door open.
Estell closed the door and Upshaw drove away as the deputy tried to bust out the passenger window, causing injury to his hands.
The vehicle that he was able to get into was recovered a few minutes after the escape, but there is no current vehicle information or possible location(s) to pass along.
The GCSO does have one subject in custody, 58 year old William Harding, for assisting in the escape.
The only previous charges we have had on Harding is Domestic Battery and Public Intoxication.
Investigators are following up on numerous leads and we do expect warrants to be issued for others and more arrests to be made in relation to those who have assisted in the escape.