COLUMBUS, Ind. — A local defendant being sentenced in Bartholomew Superior Court 2 attempted to escape the courtroom and led sheriff deputies on a pursuit while a stun gun was used repeatedly in an attempt to stop him.
Sheriff department spokesman Sgt. Dane Duke said courthouse security was sent to Superior Court 2 at 2:30 p.m. Monday in anticipation of a defendant, identified as Trevin LittleJohn, 35, Columbus, being taken into custody after receiving a jail sentence.
During the proceedings, Judge Jon Rohde was in the process of giving LittleJohn a sentence of 200 days in jail when the defendant said loudly that he was not going to jail, Duke said.
As the court security officer approached LittleJohn to take him into custody, he ran towards the door to the rear of the courtroom. The court security officer ordered LittleJohn to stop and made attempts to physically restrain LittleJohn, however he made use of courtroom chairs to obstruct the officer and made it to the hallway. Duke said. The security officer made an attempt to tackle LittleJohn, but was unsuccessful. The court security officer then made contact with the other security officers in the courthouse via his radio and informed them of LittleJohn attempting to escape.
At this time a probation officer who had also been in the courtroom had grabbed LittleJohn near the top of the stairs. The security officer gave a warning that he was going to deploy his stun gun if LittleJohn did not stop resisting, Duke said. LittleJohn was able to escape the grasp of the probation officer at which point the court security officer deployed the stun gun but LittleJohn began to move down the stairs.
The court security officer again warned LittleJohn that if he did not stop resisting he would use the stun gun again. As LittleJohn continued to attempt to make his way down the stairs, the court security officer reactivated the already deployed stun gun prongs but these had little to no effect on LittleJohn. After this second attempt to subdue LittleJohn, he approached the court security officer who retreated to create space believing that LittleJohn was attempting to take his stun gun. The court security officer then deployed his stun gun device’s second cartridge after LittleJohn turned and began to attempt to escape again, Duke said.
After this deployment LittleJohn fell to the floor. LittleJohn grabbed a sign pole in the area however the probation officer began to wrestle it away from LittleJohn when additional court security officers arrived. At this time LittleJohn was placed in handcuffs during which he was uncooperative, Duke said. During this incident, the initial responding court security officer suffered minor injuries in the form of abrasion to his arms.
LittleJohn was transported to Columbus Regional Hospital for evaluation/treatment and was later released. As LittleJohn was being transported from CRH to the jail, corrections staff found him attempting to strangle himself using the seat belt of the corrections transport van, Duke said. He was taken to jail on the charge of resisting law enforcement where he remains in custody.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
