
A judge denied pre-trial release to a felon who attempted to escape by running out of a Lake County courtroom in Waukegan, down seven flights of stairs, before being captured as he nearly exited the building.
Allen V. Jefferson, 24, of North Chicago, appeared in Courtroom T-712 at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan on Monday morning.
Jefferson, who was on pre-trial release, appeared for hearings on four separate criminal cases against him, court records show.
Those cases involve charges of multiple counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and three separate criminal damage to property charges.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon said Lake County Judge Mark Levitt ordered Jefferson to be tested for illegal substances during the status of a petition to revoke hearing.
Prior to the court hearing, Jefferson attempted to defraud a urinalysis test by submitting urine at unusually low temperatures, Cannon said.
When he tested again at the direction of the judge, the urinalysis showed he was positive for marijuana and he was brought back to Courtroom T-712, Cannon said.
Levitt ordered Jefferson to be taken into the custody of the Lake County Jail.
Cannon said Jefferson was in the custody of multiple deputies in the courtroom while they inventoried his belongings and waited for jail staff to come get him.
Jefferson fled from the courtroom and the court security officer assigned to the courtroom attempted to stop him, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli.
Covelli said Jefferson defeated the officer’s efforts and made it to the stairwell where he jumped down each flight of stairs — clearing the stairs.
The court security officer called out the situation on the radio.
Multiple deputies and court security officers responded to the radio call.
Covelli said Jefferson made it quickly down the seven flights of stairs to the first floor of the Criminal Court Tower.
Cannon said Jefferson saw deputies approaching so he turned around and ran the other way.
One of the Court Emergency Response Team (CERT) deputies was able to apprehend Jefferson and take him into custody as he attempted to run toward an exit door.
A Fox Lake police officer and a Round Lake Park police officer both saw the commotion and offered their assistance as well.
Covelli said Jefferson was given an opportunity to catch his breath before he was walked back to Courtroom T-712 where he was turned over to corrections officers and remanded to the jail.
No injuries were reported to any Lake County Sheriff’s Office staff or Jefferson during the incident.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Jefferson with escape by a convicted felon, a Class 2 felony, and filed a petition to detain him pending trial as well as petitions to revoke his release in his other cases.
Prosecutors said in addition to Jefferson’s multiple active cases, he was also charged with child abduction and unlawful use of a weapon in North Chicago in September 2023. Those charges were later dismissed.
“This defendant’s actions in clearly attempting to defraud a urinalysis prior to fleeing from the remand, directly in the view of the court who ordered it, show he will not follow any condition or combination of conditions this court could order to mitigate the risk he poses of failing to appear or committing new crimes,” Cannon argued during a detention hearing.
Attorney Geoffrey Wexler, who is representing Jefferson, said his client’s anxiety “piqued” after not taking his medication on Monday and he made a “huge mistake” by fleeing.
Wexler sought Jefferson’s release and said he is not a flight risk as he has not missed any recent court hearings.
Lake County Judge James Newman granted the petition to detain Jefferson and petitions to revoke his pre-trial release following the detention hearing held on Wednesday afternoon where Jefferson was accompanied by numerous deputies.
“You ran from a judge inside of his courtroom with a deputy at his command and next to you,” Newman said, adding that he could not think of how there could be any conditions of release to mitigate the risk he poses.
The judge also called Jefferson’s decision to escape “monumentally stupid.”
Jefferson, who remains held in the Lake County Jail, is scheduled to appear in court again for a status of preliminary hearing on February 4.