SAN ANTONIO – An inmate at the Bexar County Jail was caught in a closet, wearing a spare deputy’s uniform in what appeared to be an escape attempt, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. Thursday after deputies were alerted to a fire alarm sounding off on the fifth floor of the jail.
It was around that same time that inmate Aaron Allen Voyce, 22, was scheduled to appear in a Zoom court hearing on the seventh floor.
Voyce is charged with cruelty to a non-livestock animal and aggravated assault after allegedly beating his family’s dog to death with a baseball bat, according to Salazar.
A search spawned for Voyce after he didn’t appear at the Zoom court hearing. Deputies also searched the fifth floor to see what may have tripped the fire alarm. That’s when they found a pair of inmate sandals abandoned.
It wasn’t long before they tracked down Voyce, who was hiding inside of a closet near a vacant office, dressed in a spare deputy’s uniform and barefoot. The uniform was adorned with patches but had no nametag or insignia on it, according to Salazar.
Voyce’s inmate uniform was found nearby, and he was taken back into custody without incident.
Salazar said some ceiling tiles were also found missing and the sheriff’s office suspects that Voyce may have been trying to escape the jail, though it’s still pending further investigation.
Voyce was taken to the infirmary for evaluation. It’s unknown if he’ll face an additional charge at this time.
Salazar said all inmates and deputies were accounted for after the incident.