Texas Inmate Mistakenly Freed From Jail

A Texas inmate convicted of family violence assault and evading arrest was accidentally released just as he was about to begin serving his sentence for the crimes. Troy Dugas, 36, had been at the Harris County Jail since Aug. 14 on other charges, which were ultimately dismissed, after which he ended up released on Aug. 17, KHOU reports. He had previously been sentenced to a total of seven years for the aforementioned crimes in other counties, but apparently his prison sentence had not been properly documented in his file, USA Today reports. The Harris County Sheriff's Office is asking the public to report any sightings by calling 911.

"A thorough investigation will be conducted to determine the circumstances that led to Dugas' erroneous release from jail," the office says in a press release. "Preliminary indications are that jail staff did not properly document his state prison sentence in his file, leading to the mistaken assumption that Dugas was eligible for release once his Harris County charges were dismissed."