Three of four Alabama prisoners recaptured after escape; Man who murdered parents still on the loose
Published 11:11 am Friday, March 19, 2021
Three prisoners who escaped from the Cullman County Jail were recaptured, including one who authorities said led officers on a chase in a stolen car, but a fourth man convicted of killing his parents remained on the loose early Friday.
Leo Chavez, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in January after being convicted of murder in the slayings, was the subject of a manhunt and a $5,000 reward, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Chavez, 20, escaped about 6:30 p.m. Thursday with Tyler Dooley and Justin Long, who were captured quickly. Robert Alan Peak was captured later in Cullman County near Berlin after a pursuit that began in neighboring Blount County.
Sheriff Matt Gentry said the prisoners escaped through an air vent beside the showers, The Cullman Times reported. They kicked their way through a brick-and-metal wall and jumped from the second floor, with Long breaking his foot in the fall, Gentry said.
Chavez was charged in the fatal shooting of his parents, Ricardo Santiago Gonzales and Adalberta Chavez Ruiz, during a robbery at their home in December 2017. Their bodies were found buried in a shallow grave.