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Man who ran from county courtroom, judge gets four years
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The man who ran from a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court courtroom earlier this year and out of the courthouse will not be running anywhere for awhile.
Brandon Jones, 26, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison by the same judge he bolted from in February – Lou A. D’Apolito – on two counts of burglary, two counts of kidnapping and intimidation of a witness in one case and escape and obstruction of official business in his other case.
As family members looked on – his mother cried throughout the entire hearing – Jones apologized for running and for the charges that landed him in court in the first place.
Judge D’Apolito chastised Jones for being selfish and said he was “amazed that someone who has such support from his family would get in trouble and then compound that trouble by running out of a courtroom.”
“I’ve never seen a young man with as much support from his family or success in his future than you,” Judge D’Apolito said. “The only thing I can think of is you’re a spoiled young man. There is absolutely no reason for you to be here today.”
In February, Jones was before Judge D’Apolito for a pretrial hearing on his charges from a December standoff with police in Lowellville, where he was accused of taking his girlfriend’s car and their 8-month-old child that prompted a SWAT call to his home.
Free on bond in that case, Jones was told his bond was being revoked because of a warrant for a misdemeanor crime from Girard Municipal Court.
In front of family members, Jones pushed a deputy, ran down four flights of stairs and out the front door of the courthouse before anyone could stop him.
He eluded deputies downtown and was arrested several days later while visiting a family member at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. He ended up scuffling with police at the hospital.