A TikTok video captured an inmate fleeing from police after allegedly escaping a van in Texas

• A person filming happened to capture an inmate fleeing from police in Tyler, Texas.
• The escape happened at a light as the man was being transported between facilities, KLTV reported.
• The TikToker's video has garnered almost three million views in a couple of days.

A TikTok video captured an inmate in Smith County, Texas fleeing after escaping from police, before he was later re-detained by authorities.

The inmate escaped from a police transport van at a red light in Tyler, Texas as he was being driven between facilities, according to the local ABC and Telemundo affiliate KLTV. Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith identified the man as Timothy Chappelle, who he said was initially arrested on two charges of burglary. Chappelle now faces an additional charge for escaping detainment. 

By pure happenchance, the escape was all captured live and posted to social media. A TikTok video uploaded earlier this week by user @theyenvyjenae showed Chappelle running past an AutoZone and pawn shop down the road while women could be heard screaming in the background. He ended up climbing over a fence, while someone who appeared to be a police officer chased after him.

"He said 'not today,'" a woman joked during the video, which has amassed almost three million views and 316,000 likes.

Later in the video, the TikToker showed what appeared to be the Sheriff Smith County van that the inmate escaped from — its window was clearly tampered with.

"He lost the inmate, y'all," a woman behind the camera said as the police officer walked back to the van, while others asked where his backup was.

The TikTok creator posted a follow-up video that featured additional footage which appeared to show Chappelle being re-arrested by police in front of a house.

Smith said the incident occurred because of "poor upfitting" of the vehicle, KLTV reported.

The Smith County Sheriff's Office did not respond to Insider's request for comment.