A teenager is facing criminal charges some two weeks after he escaped and a 16-year-old boy both escaped from facility for troubled teens.
Cameron County Sheriff's Department deputies arrested 17-year-old Sergio Lamar Garcia on an escape charges on Tuesday.
Court records show that Garcia and a 16-year-old boy jumped over a security fence at the AMI Kids facility off Buena Vista Road in Bayview back on February 27th.
Authorities conducted a mass search in the area and found the teens eight miles away on Avila Street in Laguna Vista.
Records show that the two teens told a Laguna Vista police officer that they wanted to return to the facility they had just escaped from.
AMI Kids Bayview Facility Executive Director Javier Ibarra could not immediately be reached for comment.
But court records show that Ibarra did not want to pursue criminal charges against the Garcia and the 16-year-old.
Ibarra told deputies that if the teens did not complete the program at AMI Kids, that they would be sent into the state prison system.
Court records show Garcia was sentenced to facility for a burglary in Jim Wells County while the 16-year-old was sent there for a burglary in Aransas County.
According to their website, AMI Kids is a non-profit organization that serves as an alternative to the juvenile justice system.
The organization was founded in Florida but now has 56 facilities in Texas and eight other states.
Company spokeswoman Sherri Ulleg told Action 4 News that the decision to file escape charges against Garcia was made by officials in Cameron County.
Ulleg said that the organization's goal is to transform kid's lives and that the Bayview facility is evaluating its procedures following the incident.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT