Convict Knocks His Mom To The Ground To Make Courtroom Escape

Convict Knocks His Mom To The Ground To Make Courtroom Escape

By Lisa Bose McDermott

TEXARKANA, Ark., April 2 (Reuters) - A Texas man was the subject of a two-state manhunt after he fled a courtroom by knocking over his mother and making a dash for the door just minutes after being convicted of drug possession, officials said on Thursday.

Daroyce Rodgers, 32, of the Texas-Arkansas border city of Texarkana, Texas, was convicted on Tuesday in a court on the Arkansas side of possession with intent to deliver cocaine. The jury sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

After the sentence, he was allowed to hug his mother over the courtroom railing. He jumped the rail, pushed his mother to the floor, losing a shoe and a Bible on his way out the building.

"This guy was offered probation and went to trial and got 20 years," said Miller County prosecuting attorney Stephanie Potter Black. "Sometimes they freak out after they get sentenced."

The U.S. Marshals Service and local sheriffs were on the hunt for the escapee, who now faces additional charges of battery for injuring bailiffs and escape from custody. (Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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