VERMILION PARISH — A man who escaped custody was captured Friday after a two-day manhunt that spanned parishes and crossed state lines.
23-year-old Gavin Garnica escaped from the Vermilion Parish Correctional Center on December 3rd, scaling the facility's fence close to midnight on Wednesday.
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"The night he escaped, we didn't know about it until 8 and a half hours later. He used a technique to try to fool the people that were checking, the corrections officer, and it worked on his behalf," Sheriff Eddie Langlinais with the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office said.
Garnica made it miles away with help from family members. His 18-year-old sister allegedly helped transport him to Texas and was arrested.
"She's being charged with accessory after the fact for escape and I think there are other pending charges as well," Langlinais said.
After escaping to Houston and being there for over 24 hours, Garnica made his was to Jennings for unknown reasons.
"They had received information that the subject that was escaped from Vermilion Parish was in the Jennings area," Danny Semmes, Chief of Police tells KATC.
Officers spotted Garnica at a Shop Rite store. When they approached his vehicle, he fled on foot to a nearby Hampton Inn hotel, where he allegedly carjacked an employee's vehicle.
"The suspect approached the vehicle and pushed the owner of the car and carjacked her vehicle from her," Semmes said. "Pursuit ensued and he led my officer on a 120 mile hour chase eastbound on I-10."
Police executed a PIT maneuver that knocked Garnica's vehicle off the roadway and into the trees. He was taken into custody without further incident.
According to the FBI New Orleans, one of the agencies that aided in the case, Garnica's state drug and weapons charges could make way for potential new federal charges including carjacking.
Sheriff Langlinais noted that law enforcement was careful about information released to the public during the manhunt.
"I knew time was very critical for this, but I also knew that information that we gave out is also information he would know about. So we were very strategic in the information that we gave out to the public," Langlinais said.
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