Man convicted of eluding police takes off during court hearing
TACOMA, Wash. -- Leroy Scott had just been convicted of eluding police when he took off again, this time from the courtroom.
The Tacoma man fought with a Pierce County sheriff's deputy before fleeing through an emergency exit on Wednesday. It happened just moments after Scott was found guilty of felony eluding.
"At first, I thought the officer had him under control. But then I could see that things were getting out of hand," said court reporter Karla Johnson.
Johnson said the incident was the culmination of a three-day trial during which Scott had been free on bail. But with the guilty verdict, the judge ordered Scott back into custody with a low bail amount of $10,000.
That's when Scott apparently panicked.
"I'm so nervous. Now I'm scared," he said.
Officials tried to calm Scott, as did his family who told him they'd bail him out within a couple hours. But Scott, who could not be assuaged, smashed through the exit, breaking the glass.
The jurors were in the jury room instead of the courtroom when the incident occurred.
"All of a sudden, we just heard a lot of crashing sounds, yelling, a lot of profanity," said juror Lisa Saavedra.
Saavedra said the jurors huddled in fear Scott might get the deputy's gun and come looking for them.
"We all huddled back in the corner and so we were all quite frightened. We didn't know what was going on," she said.
Deputies used a Taser on Scott to no avail.
"I mean, it was just a matter of a few seconds and then he was gone," said Johnson.
Scott was last seen running up South 11th Street, missing one shoe.
The county says the emergency door in the courtroom can't be blocked in case of emergency. But officials said they plan to tighten security around Scott in the future.
The Tacoma man fought with a Pierce County sheriff's deputy before fleeing through an emergency exit on Wednesday. It happened just moments after Scott was found guilty of felony eluding.
"At first, I thought the officer had him under control. But then I could see that things were getting out of hand," said court reporter Karla Johnson.
Johnson said the incident was the culmination of a three-day trial during which Scott had been free on bail. But with the guilty verdict, the judge ordered Scott back into custody with a low bail amount of $10,000.
That's when Scott apparently panicked.
"I'm so nervous. Now I'm scared," he said.
Officials tried to calm Scott, as did his family who told him they'd bail him out within a couple hours. But Scott, who could not be assuaged, smashed through the exit, breaking the glass.
The jurors were in the jury room instead of the courtroom when the incident occurred.
"All of a sudden, we just heard a lot of crashing sounds, yelling, a lot of profanity," said juror Lisa Saavedra.
Saavedra said the jurors huddled in fear Scott might get the deputy's gun and come looking for them.
"We all huddled back in the corner and so we were all quite frightened. We didn't know what was going on," she said.
Deputies used a Taser on Scott to no avail.
"I mean, it was just a matter of a few seconds and then he was gone," said Johnson.
Scott was last seen running up South 11th Street, missing one shoe.
The county says the emergency door in the courtroom can't be blocked in case of emergency. But officials said they plan to tighten security around Scott in the future.
I think his bond just went up........
At least Bull from Night Court would've stopped Leroy. Judge Harry would've saw this coming.Â
Run clown RUN.... | ... and some chew me out for having no faith in the justice system.. these people that break the laws with any sort of frequency just need to be discarded... they are next to no good for anyone and if the punishments were more permanent perhaps we would not have one of the largest prison populations on EARTH!
(sung to the tune of Bad Bad Leroy Brown)
And he's bad, bad Leroy Scott
The fastest man on the whole damn block
Badder than old King Kong
Meaner than a junkyard dog
Now he has an escape charge on top of the other one ! Reminds me of the show lockup raw - get 2 years in prison and get another 30 years while doing your time .
you go law enforcement!
"Scott was last seen running up South 11th Street, missing one shoe." You couldn't make that up!
How's the old saying? Â Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on ME.
Eluding police is a sport back home. They treat it as such.
@ETSubmariner Use to be around here to in the good old days. Back when one county hated the other county and all you had to do was cross the county line to be free.lol Use to be just a misdemeanor, which is all it should be. Felonies should only be used in cases of violence.
I wonder if he yelled "LEEEEROOOOOOOOOYYYYYYY JEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNKKKIIIIIIIIINNNNNNSSSSSS!!!" as he bolted through the door....
"Scott was last seen running up South 11th Street, missing one shoe."
Um...something tells me this guy is more in need of some mental health help instead of jail time. This dude is a little too scared of things.
@Sovereign Ummm "Scott" has a huge background and LOVES to play games.......... He knows exactly what he is doing ................
@DISPATCH911 @Sovereign That just further strengthens my belief that he needs mental health help. If he has such a history as you say, then it doesn't appear that serving jail time has any effect on him.
@Sovereign @DISPATCH911 >>> Then just let me say this ,. cuz I cant say anymore ..  then if mental health is what he needs as you say ..  get a big room ready .. he got lots of siblings
Sounds like a Reno 9-1-1 episode.Â
Nice work deputy.
and the point of an ARMED deputy IN the court room ? ok so he probably didn't have a safe clear shot opportunity ? and the other 2 or 3 men in the room - pretty much staying out of the way. it's kind of "amusing" how easy it was for him to get over the wall, out 2 doors and down the street.
@justme Are you suggesting he should have been shot for trying to run away?
uhmmm.....resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, elude ? i dunno - maybe.Â
Hey Keith Eldridge.  Did you ever think for a minute that that TASER probe might be a bio hazard? Like in AIDS, HEP A, B or C?, etc. Maybe next time you could be a little more dramatic and put in between your lips.
probably the probe did not penetrate his clothing....which is why it didn't stop him.
Good old Leroy ...HUGE history ...does it again ................
run Forest RUN!
Emergency exit?????? I guess he was supposed to stop when the alarm sounded...... Cinderfella probably won't get far.
I guess he has found the thing he is best at.
Now this brilliant low life has more to be afraid of and more time in the hoosgow. All criminals facing Jail should be secured, freaking bleeding hearts. Bring them all in in chains, they are crooks WHO CARES!
@Nothingbutnet Sorry, Nothing, but in a trial, you are innocent until proven guilty. At least for now...
@TheBronze @Nothingbutnet You are PRESUMED innocent with the burden of proof on the state or crown (US or Canada), not taken as innocent-as-the-pure-driven-snow unless the jury votes otherwise. .
@Nothingbutnet Oh I know, but then all the professional social justice types and their impressionable college students would be tearing at their own clothes wailing over what they claim would be some sort of racism because you don't want people who have been found guilty of a crime to escape. You can only imagine the space The Stranger would devote to an article.Â
Brilliant cops !
I do not see any humor in this at all. Ya'll should be shot.....oh wait that is inappropriate. But really there is a human being out there that may have injuries from smashing through glass, he may have barbs stuck in him and he has one shoe. The guy has to be hurting, where is our love? Where is our compassion? Where is our sense of finding Cinderfella and giving him a shoe?
I don't understand why Deputy of the Year didn't shoot him in the leg, he wouldn't run too far after that. They shoot everyone else why not Cinderfella? I can only hope it was Orlando's courtroom.
No, Wrong answer... Typical "progressive" though that you would suppose it is somehow a BAD thing that those of us who are being law abiding and productive with our lives should be upset that one of the lowlife leaches in the world escaped being held responsible for his actions.
Its further typical that that you would prescribe something for the law abiding and responsible ones that usually is reserved for those who CANNOT get through life in a lawabiding manner.
Hypocritical as all get out...but that is a general description of the "progressive condition".
@Magicalwoman Oh cry me a river, hes a crook. He chose to again, BREAK THE LAW, who cares if he went through glass. It was HIS choice as it was to break the law in the first place, I have not one ounce of sympathy for him
@Magicalwoman What? Valium can do wonders you know
@Lrry*x*K @Magicalwoman probably one of his baby mommas, and the drug isn't valium, bet the farm its crack
Well, did they catch him?
RUN FORREST RUN
@Can't Spell Don't Care ...love the username +1
@schramalot @Can't Spell Don't Care I'm a Dumbass and I don't Care
@Lrry*x*KÂ ..that is ok ...you are still welcome here.
I swear.......sometimes (well most of the time) the "real' news is way more entertaining than the Onion. You can't make this stuff up!!!
Ok....I just have to cut and paste the headline!!!!!!:
"Man convicted of eluding police takes off during court hearing"
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
@ReallyRUSerious Yep! I only clicked on the article because the title sounded so funny! Awesome!
I think this guy has a legitimate fear of prisons. He was going to crack.
So yeah.
emergency exits cannot be blocked - that's their point. This one is on the guards.
The county says the emergency door in the courtroom can't be blocked in case of emergency. But officials said they plan to tighten security around Scott in the future.
So now that the cow got out we are surely going to close that barn door huh?
How the hell was he able to get away from what should be the most secure place? "But officials said they plan to tighten security around Scott in the future." Well I think they'll actually have to actually put some there before they tighten!
"But officials said they plan to tighten security around Scott in the future." Now there is some top notch police work fer ya.
The guy should have shown some Patience, the court system in this state would have let him off lightly when sentenced.
This guy had had enough lol. This article is funny... definitely goes to show that people do crazy stuff when they panic.
Wait, so they didn't catch him? Â He was literally able to run out of a courtroom, out of a court house, and run down the streets without getting caught?
Nice job TPD.
@Sheridan Actually courthouse security and jail bookings are usually handled by a particular branch of county sheriffs that only do court security or jail, they don't go out on patrol or do detective cases ect. So this wasn't TPD.Â