A Twin Lakes woman charged with reckless homicide made a last ditch effort to escape justice.
Kenosha County sheriff's deputies say Elizabeth Cooper, 30, managed to slip one hand out of a pair of cuffs before bolting down the courthouse staircase.
Cooper was in court last Thursday on a reckless homicide charge. Investigators say she provided heroin to a friend who died from an apparent overdose.
Instead of being allowed to go home, a judge revoked her bond and ordered the deputy in the courtroom to take her to jail until trial.
"He (the deputy) handcuffed her and was walking her to the elevator," Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said. "He got a call on his radio and got distracted for a moment."
With the deputy standing right next to Cooper, she still managed to break out of the handcuffs and make a run for it.
“All of a sudden it hit home that she is going to jail and spend some time there so during the transport part of it, she panicked and then took off," Sheriff Beth said. “She was handcuffed properly in the back but especially with women who can have very small hands and features, they can actually pull their hands out of a set of handcuffs."
Surveillance video obtained by TODAY'S TMJ4 shows Cooper making it down the stairs before a security guard up front tackles her.
“About 25 years ago almost the exact same situation happened to me too," Sheriff Beth said. "As I looked away, a person in the courthouse took off from me. I was able to catch him a short time later. It does happen but it’s not a common occurrence.”
Sheriff Beth said the deputy who chased Cooper down the staircase injured his knee, but is expected to be okay.
Cooper is now charged with three felony counts of bail jumping, escaping criminal arrest and resisting in officer.
She has a preliminary hearing scheduled for these charges on January 19 at 9:45 a.m.
Cooper will also appear in court for a pre-trial conference on Feb. 16 related to the 1st Degree Reckless Homicide charge. She was also charged with Possession of Narcotics and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
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