By Aaron Miller-
A CCTV footage from Benton County Superior Court in Washington has captured the audacious escape of 24-year-old Gerald A. Hyde II, who managed to slip away from custody with a seemingly simple maneuver.
Hyde, convicted of possessing methamphetamine, was being escorted out of the courtroom by a guard when the escape unfolded. The guard briefly turned away, providing Hyde with the opportunity to make a quick getaway.
In the video, Hyde is seen sneaking backward out of the hallway, bolting through the courtroom, and dashing out into the courthouse foyer.
In order to avoid detection, Hyde strategically stripped off his prison-issued shirt and left behind his shoes. The audacity of the escape was further highlighted as he exited the courthouse wearing only a white vest and his jail-issued pants.
The incident was first reported by UNILAD before being spread on social media in what has become an embarrassment to the courthouse.
Despite the successful escape, Hyde’s freedom was short-lived as law enforcement tracked him down a few hours later at a friend’s apartment a couple of miles away.
Hyde was promptly taken back into custody and charged with second-degree escape for his bold actions.
Commander Jon Law at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office explained that Hyde exploited a ‘blind spot’ in the officer’s surveillance, stepping into a corridor where he momentarily went unnoticed. Law acknowledged the need to address such vulnerabilities, stating, “In a perfect world, we would have caught it, and he wouldn’t have been able to get to that void and blind spot.”
In a somewhat unconventional move, Hyde chose to represent himself in court, arguing that he technically did not escape from a detention facility since he was within the courthouse when he made his getaway.
However, the jury was unconvinced and took only 13 minutes to convict him of evading corrections officers after a court hearing.
While Hyde managed to have his original methamphetamine charge dismissed, the guilty verdict on the escape charge resulted in a sentence of two years and two months in prison.
In response to the incident, the sheriff’s office implemented corrective measures, positioning corrections officers to eliminate blind spots and ensuring courtroom doors are locked when not in session. The escape serves as a cautionary tale, prompt