Local Fugitive Caught in an Austin Walmart

Agents from the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force apprehended Darren LaTodd Houston on Thursday, Feb. 2 in Austin.

Houston, 41, had been on the run since Jan. 12, when he walked out of the Fayette County Courthouse during his trial for brutal case family violence. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 60 years in prison despite his absence. La Grange Police Chief David Gilbreath said the U.S. Marshals Service had been looking for Houston since the day he skipped court.

Gilbreath said police found Houston’s car abandoned at a residence in Schulenburg shortly after he disappeared. The Marshals tracked him to Austin and arrested him at a Walmart without incident.

“They’ve been watching him for about a week, making sure it was him, and apprehended him when he went to Walmart,” Gilbreath said.

Gilbreath said the Marshals Service did not tell him how they located Houston.

“He will be formally sentence before the judge now that he is in custody,” Gilbreath said.

After that, Houston will begin serving his sentence