Woman captured 5 days after fleeing courthouse; bailiff allegedly struck by her truck during escape
Sentenced Friday by an Ohio municipal judge to 180 days for stealing from a Walmart store, Stephanie Rybkoski asked for permission to step outside the courtroom to make a cellphone call to her family.
She exited the courtroom, followed by a bailiff, and placed the call. Then, while still on the phone, Rybkoski made a successful escape attempt, WEWS and WLS report.
She sprinted downstairs and out the front door of the Berea courthouse, with the bailiff in hot pursuit, police said, then jumped in her 2001 Chevrolet Blazer. As she was reversing out of her space in the courthouse parking lot, she allegedly bumped the bailiff’s leg, knocking him down, reports Northeast Ohio Media Group. She was captured on Tuesday, five days after her escape, by U.S. marshals in Canton, WKYC reports.
Rybkoski, whose age is variously given as 42 or 43, is now facing new charges of assault, escape and resisting arrest. The bailiff was not seriously injured.
“After learning of Rybkoski’s altercation at the Berea Court, our task force immediately made her capture a priority,” said U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott in a press release. “When a person shows no regard for the safety of law enforcement or the public, we must do all we can to ensure they are taken off the streets as soon as possible.”
The article doesn’t explain what led authorities to look for Rybkoski in Canton. It appears from news reports that she may live in the area.
