Convict escapes from courthouse

Fugitive on probation could face 15 years for fleeing justice

Still image from security camera video.

A Spartanburg man with a five-page rap sheet added an escape charge Friday morning when he bolted from custody at the Spartanburg County Courthouse.

Multiple law enforcement agencies combed the area near Victoria Gardens and Oakview apartments on Howard Street but called off the extensive search for Brian Christopher Young by 1 p.m.

Spartanburg County Detention Facility Director Larry Powers said Young, 23, of 650 Howard St., Apt. 218, will be charged with escape once he is located. Under state law, an escape conviction is a felony that carries a sentence of one to 15 years.

Young last was seen wearing a black shirt, baggy jeans and a set of handcuffs latched on one arm. He is listed as 6-feet, 4-inches tall and 170 pounds.

Young is accused of freeing one arm from a handcuff and breaking free from a detention officer, causing a minor shoulder injury for which the officer was treated. Young then ran from the courthouse out a set of glass doors that face Library Street on the building's north end.

Powers said Young was serving a one-year probation sentence for criminal domestic violence, second-offense conviction, and he came to the courthouse under his own will for a probation hearing. A judge found Young in contempt of court after he failed a drug test and for failing to report to the public defender's office, Powers said. The judge sentenced Young to 30 days in jail, and an officer with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services handcuffed Young's arms in front of him, and transferred Young to a Spartanburg County Detention Facility officer assigned to the courthouse.

The detention officer was escorting Young to a holding room when Young broke free, and the officer hurt his shoulder trying to grab Young.

Jodi Gallman with S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services said Young started his one-year probation sentence in August 2008. Gallman said Young had not been on electronic monitoring.

Young's criminal history includes about 20 arrests and eight convictions, ranging from driving under suspension to drug possession to domestic violence, in the past four years.

The 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office has charges of grand larceny and breaking and entering a vehicle pending against Young.