The inmates overpower civilian workers and a guard in the maintenance shop and fool a guard in the prison tower in their escape. After leaving prison, they drive to the Wal-Mart parking lot in Kenedy and abandon the prison pickup for a getaway vehicle parked in the same lot. Rivas and Newbury are suspected of robbing a Radio Shack in the Houston suburb of Pearland. Police radio scanners, audio equipment and electronic equipment are taken. At least three gang members rob an Auto Zone store in Pasadena, another Houston suburb, police say.
Investigators say the escapees stole several thousand dollars.
The gang arrives in the Dallas area and checks into an EconoLodge at Interstate 35 East and Valley View Lane in Farmers Branch. The convicts are accused of robbing Oshman's SuperSports USA in Irving, using the stolen scanners to monitor police activity and killing Officer Aubrey Hawkins when he responds to a report of suspicious activity at the store. Rivas and Newbury are injured. An autopsy report later shows that Officer Hawkins was shot 11 times and was run over. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms charges the escapees with weapons violations.