A handcuffed defendant attempted to flee a Maine courthouse moments after being convicted of child assault but was quickly arrested by two quick-thinking jurors. Nicolas Carter, 31, leapt over the bar and ran out of a second-floor courtroom in Skowhegan on Wednesday while still in handcuffs, as dramatic video footage captured the scene.
He dashed down the stairs and through the main hallway, dodging at least one person as a detective and several others pursued him, the New York Post reported.Â
“All of a sudden, we hear this huge bang. Crash. Boom,” Skowhegan’s town manager told the Portland Press Herald, describing the chaos.
“This guy comes running down the stairs, handcuffed or shackled, trying to escape. He’s gripping the railing, jumping three stairs at a time. His feet weren’t shackled.”
Carter made it outside the courthouse and across the street before tripping and falling, allowing two jurors and a detective to catch up and detain him.
He was taken back into custody without further incident and now faces an additional charge of escape, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Carter had just been convicted of aggravated assault against a 14-month-old child, a Class A felony, after a three-day trial at Somerset County Superior Courthouse. Following the verdict, the judge ordered him into custody at Somerset County Jail, where he will await sentencing next month, Chief Deputy Mike Mitchell said.
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