Former Bowie County jailer charged with helping Omarion Owens escape from hospital
TEXARKANA, Texas — A former Bowie County jailer was arrested Friday on a charge of permitting or facilitating escape after investigators said he helped inmate Omarion Lamon Owens slip his restraints and run from CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System on Wednesday night.
Michael Alexander Flores was booked into the Bowie County Jail, and his bond was set at $75,000, according to a Bowie County Sheriff’s Office news release. He was arrested without incident.
“Our former jailer failed this task, and as a result of his actions — so have we,” the sheriff’s office said in the release.
Owens, 22, escaped about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday while he was being treated at the hospital and was captured about 2 a.m. Thursday at an apartment complex off Kennedy Lane. The sheriff’s office said jail transport procedures were broken so often during the hospital trip that investigators suspected the jailer had helped him get away.
‘Go, because he didn’t care’
After his capture, Owens told investigators he had been allowed to escape, and he still had a restraint key on him, according to the release.
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Owens said he told Flores he needed to “leave,” and that Flores told him to “go, because he didn’t care,” the release said. Owens told investigators Flores let him take a handcuff key from Flores’ bag and hide it on his body, then let him go into a restroom, where he took off his restraints.
Investigators found that Flores let Owens talk with family and friends by cellphone, according to the sheriff’s office. When those people arrived at the hospital, Flores allowed physical contact with them that is prohibited, and he let Owens go into the restroom unsupervised, where Owens removed all of his restraints, the release said.
Statements ‘defy logic,’ sheriff’s office says
When investigators interviewed Flores the night of the escape, he denied any involvement or knowledge of how Owens got out of his restraints, according to the release.
In a later interview, Flores said he had forgotten to mention that he put a borrowed handcuff key on his bag where Owens could see it, and he said that was how Owens was able to escape, the sheriff’s office said.
“Former jailer Flores’ statements to investigators defy logic,” the release said. “Every action he took in violation of policy and procedures benefited the inmate’s ability to attempt escape.”
The sheriff’s office said Flores lied or left out important details to cover his actions, and that Owens’ account is backed up by its investigation and the evidence.
“One of our most important responsibilities to this community is the secure operation of the Bowie County Jail,” the release said. “Our employees are expected to act professionally and if needed, sacrifice their own safety to ensure the safety of the public.”
The sheriff’s office said it hopes Flores’ arrest will serve as a warning and that it will arrest anyone, including its own employees, who helps an inmate escape.
Owens held without bond
Owens was in jail awaiting trial on charges that include aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. He is accused of shooting into a Texarkana home in March 2025, wounding a woman and her 10-year-old daughter.
On Thursday, Judge John Tidwell of the 202nd District Court denied bond on the new escape charge, revoked Owens’ bonds in his other cases and moved his trial up to Dec. 7.
Wednesday’s escape was the second escape charge filed against Owens this year. In June, he was one of several Bowie County inmates charged with escape after they allegedly used strips of blanket fabric to defeat their cell door locks. Earlier this month, he was charged with having a deadly weapon in a penal institution.