Court Security

Defendant flees courtroom after not-guilty plea, pursued by security officers and his mother

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  • Print.

After pleading not guilty to charges of armed violence and burglary on Monday, a defendant fled a suburban Chicago courtroom with security officers and his own mother in hot pursuit.

Dylan E. Draut, 39, didn’t get far in his orange jail attire and flip-flops. Although he hadn’t even escaped the building before he was captured, he could face additional charges in McHenry County over the incident, reports the Northwest Herald (reg. req.). No one was injured.

Such attempts to flee justice are rare, because they are likely to be futile, a court officers tells the newspaper. In 2002, a now-convicted murderer, Christopher Swan, didn’t even get out of the courtroom before he was tackled by an assistant state’s attorney, Daniel Regna, as the Chicago Tribune reported at the time.

Both incidents occurred in Circuit Judge Sharon Prather’s courtroom.

Give us feedback, share a story tip or update, or report an error.