Man accused of escaping court while shackled taken into custody in Pittsburgh
CLAIRTON, Pa. (KDKA) — A man accused of busting out of police custody and escaping a court hearing was arrested in Pittsburgh.
Clairton police said Branden Cohen got away by running over a constable while he was shackled.
"I come running through the door, and all I saw was my partner lying here on the ground," Pennsylvania State Constable John Borkowski said.
Borkowski said he could not believe his eyes when he found his partner on the ground near an open door outside the holding cell at Magistrate Armand Martin's office in Clairton.
Cohen, whose bond was revoked, asked to use the bathroom and took his chance. With his feet shackled and one hand free, Cohen ran through the constable and out the back door.
"He had one cuff on with a belt," Borkowski said. "Leg irons on his feet. He walked up to the table to grab something and the constable said over here so I can cuff you. He said he turned around and ran right through me."
KDKA-TV was there when Borkowski, Clairton police and Allegheny County sheriff's deputies swarmed the area.
"We are knocking on doors, hitting abandoned houses," Borkowski said. "They went through the school across the street. Nothing there."
Cohen was at the magistrate's for a simple assault charge after being accused of hitting the mother of his children in April.
Witnesses in court documents told police that violence between them is frequent and loud. One person said they could hear the victim's body being slammed off walls and children screaming.
Sources told KDKA-TV that the judge found Cohen violated his bond, and Cohen apparently did not want to go back to jail so he ran.
The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office said Cohen was found at a home in the Hill District. He was arrested without incident. Sources told KDKA-TV that after he escaped, a family member picked him up and took him to the home in the Hill District.
Cohen will face more charges after Tuesday's escape, sources said.