Judge Throws Off Robe And Chases Two Suspected Criminals Who Ran From Courtroom

If standing handcuffed in a court room could be used as a metric of how well your life is going, then I think it's fair to say it's not going quite the way you planned.

That's definitely how two alleged criminals felt about their court appearance in Winlock, Washington, last week.

Rather than hire a lawyer to fight their case for them, Tanner Jacobson, 22, and Kodey Howard, 28 decided to take the law into their own hands and made a bid for freedom.

Footage released by an American news channel shows the two men standing next to dock, waiting in line for their case to be heard. But with no guards in sight, the pair seize their opportunity and make a mad dash for the exit.

WPVI-TV ABC6

As they burst through the doors one of the men unfortunately tumbles to the ground, losing his shoe, but he didn't make it that far to be let down by shoddy footwear, and scrambles back to his feet before heading out towards the staircase.

But like all good American courtroom dramas, things didn't end there.

In a bizarre twist, Judge R.W. Buzzard leapt from his chair, whipped off his black gown and chased the assailants out of the room, and even continued his pursuit down the staircase in order to foil their desperate escape.

According to reports in the Daily Chronicle, the all-action lawman managed to catch Howard just before he was able to make it out the back door of the courthouse - and things didn't end too well for his mate either, as he was pinched just a few blocks away.

According to Sheriff Rob Snaza, this is the second time a prisoner has attempted to make a run for it while in custody but they have monthly meetings about courthouse security.

The sheriff said there was a deputy in the room at the time if the incident but they were unable to give chase because they had two other inmates in his care.

Snaza added: "We're very aware of what's going on at a moment's notice.

"These things don't happen very often. They're few and far between."

The pair have now been charged with second-degree escape - Howard was held on a $50,000 cash bond, and Jacobson on a $100,000 cash bond.

It's true that not all heroes wear capes - some have to whip theirs off to give chase, as this judge proved.

God, I really miss America's Dumbest Criminals.

Topics: crime, international news

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom