Laredo Police confirm detainee escaped custody after councilmember addresses incident

LAREDO, Tx. (KGNS) - The Laredo Police Department has confirmed that a man under police custody escaped from them and was arrested 48 hours later, but it wasn’t until Monday’s council meeting that the incident came to light after it was brought up by a council member.

The incident was something no other council member was aware of including the city manager; however, District Two Councilmember Daisy Campos addressed it Monday night.

During a discussion related to ongoing audits or irregularities, Campos-Rodriguez mentioned one detainee escaped police custody on Friday, April 28 at around 2:30 p.m.

When asked about this, Acting Police Chief Steve Landin confirmed the incident did happen but said it was unnecessary to report it since police officers were in the area.

“The error happened with the officer. The question that she asked was if I had notified the City Manager, or the Mayor and the Council, and I did not do that. I did not feel like I needed to, the public was never at risk, and notifying them is a courtesy to let them know of what’s going on within the organization. It’s not required in any policy,” said Chief Landin.

Meanwhile, Councilwoman for District Two believes it’s a matter of public safety, especially after the detainee entered a clinic on Pappas Street.

“This individual went into Gateway, and I got a text from an employee where this individual went on foot, with only one tennis shoe wearing, asking to use a phone. And police were just in there asking if you had seen this individual, but he wasn’t caught there and then,” said Campos-Rodriguez. “Chief Landin made it seem during Monday’s council that he was caught within minutes, that he was picked up within minutes. He was picked up within minutes by someone to take him into another part of town, but he was not picked up by P.D.”

Campos said the detainee was caught in an abandoned apartment complex in her district saying that tragedy could have struck again with the detainee possibly harming students, kids in parks or his victim.

The council voted for an internal audit on this incident; however, District Three Councilmember Melissa Cigarroa spoke out and voted against it.

She told the council that she is proposing to first hear a report from the police department before making a vote.

As for the detainee, Laredo Police say 22-year-old Alfredo Santana Loza was originally being processed for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

For more headlines. click here.