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Defendant Flees Court After Judge Revokes Bond, Is Caught Not Far Away

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 29-year-old man facing drug possession charges made a break for it at the Leighton Criminal Courts building on Tuesday, after a judge revoked his bond, but he didn't make it far before he was arrested again.

Martell Pettis was free on bond when he appeared in court Tuesday, but when his judge learned he had not reported to pre-trial services as required, the judge ordered him locked up.

"Before our deputies could take him into custody, he ran from the courtroom, and got out of the building, and about half a block north on California before he was apprehended in the back yard of a home on that block," said Cara Smith, chief policy officer for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

Smith said no one was injured as Pettis was taken into custody.

"Deputies were following him the entire way and got him within minutes of him leaving the building," she said.

Pettis now faces a likely escape charge.

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