ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 8, 1996 TAG: 9608080044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
A MAN CHARGED with traffic misdemeanors escaped from a courthouse - and now faces serious jail time.
A Pittsylvania County man awaiting trial on four misdemeanor traffic charges made a daredevil escape Wednesday from the Bedford County Courthouse, climbing out a third-floor window and down a refrigeration pipe to freedom. He was still at large Wednesday night.
"He upped his ante," said Sgt. Rick Wiita of the Bedford County Sheriff's Office. "He went from criminal traffic charges, which are a misdemeanor, to being wanted for escape, which is a felony.
"Now he's looking at one to five. Duh!"
Donnell P. Cook, 21, was to be tried Wednesday on charges of reckless driving, eluding police, hit and run, and driving with a suspended license. At most, he would have faced four years in jail for all four charges, said Commonwealth's Attorney Joe Kuster, but that doesn't often happen.
He was in the third-floor holding room with two other prisoners, waiting for his case to come up. A sheriff's deputy locked Cook and the other inmates in the room and left for about 10 minutes to do some paperwork. When the deputy came back, Cook was gone.
The remaining two inmates told the deputy that they had tried to talk Cook out of escaping, but Cook climbed out the window, which was left open for ventilation. It's not the first time inmates have escaped from the courthouse lockup, which is scheduled to be redesigned when the courthouse's long-delayed renovation begins.
Sheriff's deputies, Bedford police and state police were searching for Cook on Wednesday, and police in other jurisdictions have been notified. Wiita said he was confident Cook would be recaptured soon.
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