Dashing Defendant Results In Criminal Justice Center Lockdown
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- For about 20 minutes Tuesday afternoon, the routine of court hearings at the Criminal Justice Center abruptly stopped as it went into lockdown, when a defendant became a "runner."
Sheriff's deputies sprang into action once the alert went out on their hand-held radio's: a defendant who was not in custody became what court personnel called a "new commit."
At his bail hearing for assault and reckless endangerment charges, 26-year old Stefan Noble was about to be held for contempt of court when he suddenly bolted out of court room 606.
The CJC was quickly locked down, with everyone either sheltered in place or escorted out.
The inside atrium gates where quickly closed and sheriff's deputies swept the building. Sheriff Jewel Williams says within eight minutes his people found the defendant and apprehended him, two floors up in a eighth floor bathroom.
When jurors and court personnel returned from lunch, it was back to business as normal.
