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Prison Escapee On The Run Since July Caught In Louisiana; He Carjacked Minivan In North Escambia

An Alabama prison escapee accused of a July 2019 armed carjacking in North Escambia was captured Wednesday by U.S. Marshals in St John Parish, Louisiana.

Travis Wyatt Dawson, 41, escaped from Loxley Work Release at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 10, 2019. He remained in the St John Parish Jail Thursday morning.  According to St John Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Angel Thompson, Dawson does not face any charges in Louisiana and is awaiting extradition back to Alabama.   (Dawson is pictured in his Alabama Department of Corrections mugshot, and his mugshot from Wednesday in Louisiana.)

He was allegedly armed with a machete when he took a minivan from a relative on Miller Road just off Rockaway Creek Road on July 14, 2019. The vehicle was later found abandoned in Mobile. No one was injured in the incident.

Days before, he eluded authorities in a manhunt led by U.S. Marshals in North Escambia and Atmore.

Authorities believe he was in the area of a relative’s home last Friday morning on Miller Road near  the Florida community of Nokomis. A manhunt in the area later shifted focus north along Rockaway Creek Road into Atmore, Alabama. By late afternoon, authorities closed Highway 31 west of Atmore after a reported sighting.

Dawson was sentenced to 20 years in 2013 on a possession of a controlled substance conviction in Escambia County, Alabama.

Officials said he has previous local ties to the North Escambia and  Atmore areas. He reportedly attended Ernest Ward High School. In 2003, he was sentenced in Escambia County, Florida, to one year in state prison for possession on drug paraphernalia and trespassing. Once released, he told the Florida Department of Corrections he was living on Washington Avenue in Atmore, according to state records. Information on his Alabama criminal history was not available.

Pictured top: Officers from the Alabama Department of Corrections speak to an Escambia County (FL) deputy and a citizen a roadblock on Miller Road in Florida in July 2019. Dawson allegedly carjacked a minivan just a few yards from this location.  Pictured below: An Escambia County (FL) Road Prison K-9 team searches near a Rockaway Creek Road bridge that spans the Alabama-Florida state line. Pictured bottom: An Escambia County (FL) deputy helps maintain a perimeter around a neighborhood along Rockaway Creek Road at Grubbs Street in Atmore. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.