A handcuffed defendant fled a Maine courtroom moments after being found guilty of child assault, but was quickly caught by two quick-witted jurors.
Shocking footage of defendant Nicholas Carter, 31, jumping through bars and escaping from the second floor of a Skowhegan courtroom while handcuffed was captured on video on Wednesday.
He ran down the stairs and through the main hallway, where he dodged at least one detective and several others following him.
“All of a sudden we heard a loud noise. A crash. Boom,” Skowhegan said. He told the Portland Press Herald Of the commotion.
“And this guy came running down the stairs. He was handcuffed or shackled. He was trying to get away. He was literally holding onto the banister and coming down and trying to jump down three steps at once. He didn't have his feet shackled.”
Carter managed to leave the courthouse and cross the street, but tripped and fell, causing two jurors to catch up with him, followed shortly by a detective.
He was re-detained without incident and now faces an additional charge of escape, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Carter had recently been convicted of aggravated assault, a Class A crime, on a 14-month-old infant.
Jurors returned the verdict Wednesday after a three-day trial in Somerset County Superior Court.
Following the verdict, the judge ordered Carter taken into custody and sent to the Somerset County Jail to await sentencing next month, Deputy Sheriff Mike Mitchell told the Portland Press Herald.
With post wire
