By JEFF NEAL, CJ News Editor
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
A man who fled from the Pulaski County Courthouse in April and spurred a four-day manhunt was arraigned yesterday in Pulaski Circuit Court.Gary Wayne Courtney, Jr., 42, of Ky. 192, Somerset, was indicted earlier this month on escape charges in connection with the April 29 incident in which he slipped out of the courthouse unnoticed while awaiting a scheduled date in Pulaski District Court.
Courtney’s new trial is set for July, according to Pulaski County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eddy F. Montgomery.Courtney fled the courthouse when he and another defendant were pulled into the hallway to discuss their cases with a public defender — a common practice during court days in which a significant number of inmates are shuffled in and out of the courtroom.
Courtney was facing theft and receiving stolen property that day in connection with a rash of thefts in the eastern part of the county. He was indicted on eight counts of theft by unlawful taking over $500 in May.
Courtney allegedly entered a woman’s home on East Oak Street after he left the courthouse and stole clothes belonging to the woman’s husband and a vehicle. After leaving a pair of prisoners’ pants and white velcro shoes at a downtown business, Courtney fled in the vehicle, still handcuffed.
Authorities caught Courtney several days later in northern Kentucky, after detectives with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies tracked Courtney’s whereabouts through cell phone transmissions.
Courtney’s criminal history includes a conviction in another Kentucky county for burglary. He is also a registered sex offender for a conviction of sexual abuse of a 12-year-old.
Courtney was indicted on June 3 on one count of second-degree escape and one count of first-degree persistent felony offender. He’s being held in the Pulaski County Detention Center on a $100,000 cash bond.
