Wheeling man caught after fleeing Lake County courtroom
Leon Spektor's decision to go on an impromptu jog of a few hundred yards Thursday was an expensive one.
The Wheeling man, charged with drug possession and retail theft, bolted from a Lake County courtroom as a judge was in the process of setting a $20,000 bond in Spektor's case.
By the time the sheriff's deputy assigned to Circuit Judge Fred Foreman's courtroom ran down Spektor and returned him to face the judge, the bond had jumped to $1 million cash.
Assistant State's Attorney Scott Hoffert said Spektor, 31, of the 700 block of River Mill Parkway, was arrested Oct. 8 by Vernon Hills police.
Hoffert said Spektor was originally set free on a signature bond, but was ordered to report regularly to a probation officer and abide by an 8 p.m. curfew.
Spektor did neither very well, Hoffert said, and Foreman was presented Thursday with the probation office's eighth letter citing Spektor with a violation of his bond conditions.
Foreman said he had had enough, and shortly after Spektor was told he was going to be held on the $20,000 bond, Spektor was off and running.
But Deputy James Sebastian wasted no time in starting the pursuit, chasing Spektor down the Waukegan courthouse's second floor hallway into a secure area used for storage by the recorder of deeds office.
Sebastian tackled Spektor and put handcuffs on him as about a dozen other deputies converged on the area to assist.
Spektor told Foreman he was sorry for the flight, but claimed he had been having family problems and was afraid to go to jail.
Unmoved, Foreman set the $1 million bond and ordered Spektor to appear in court Aug. 11. He is held in the Lake County jail.
Hoffert said he would likely file escape charges against Spektor after a review of the incident.
<div class="infoBox">
<h1>More Coverage</h1>
<div class="infoBoxContent">
<div class="infoArea">
<h2>Video</h2>
<ul class="video">
<!-- Start of Brightcove Player -->
<div style="display:none">
</div>
<!--
By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and C
found at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/.
-->
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script>
<object id="myExperience309239246001" class="BrightcoveExperience">
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<param name="width" value="300" />
<param name="height" value="255" />
<param name="playerID" value="18011347001" />
<param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/>
<param name="isVid" value="true" />
<param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true" />
<param name="@videoPlayer" value="309239246001" />
</object>
<!--
This script tag will cause the Brightcove Players defined above it to be created as soon
as the line is read by the browser. If you wish to have the player instantiated only after
the rest of the HTML is processed and the page load is complete, remove the line.
-->
<script type="text/javascript">brightcove.createExperiences();</script>
<!-- End of Brightcove Player -->
<!-- Start of Brightcove Player -->
<div style="display:none">
</div>
<!--
By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and C
found at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/.
-->
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script>
<object id="myExperience323592698001" class="BrightcoveExperience">
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<param name="width" value="300" />
<param name="height" value="255" />
<param name="playerID" value="18011347001" />
<param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/>
<param name="isVid" value="true" />
<param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true" />
<param name="@videoPlayer" value="323592698001" />
</object>
<!--
This script tag will cause the Brightcove Players defined above it to be created as soon
as the line is read by the browser. If you wish to have the player instantiated only after
the rest of the HTML is processed and the page load is complete, remove the line.
-->
<script type="text/javascript">brightcove.createExperiences();</script>
<!-- End of Brightcove Player -->
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>