Zion man seen in escape attempt video pleads guilty to original charge
A Zion man whose dash for daylight caused a considerable stir last week in the Lake County Courthouse settled his differences with the legal system in a more subdued manner Thursday.
Travis Copeland, 19, was placed on probation for two years after pleading guilty to aggravated battery, the charge that landed him in the courtroom he tried to escape from Jan. 13.
Copeland joined the growing ranks of instant video sensations when courthouse security cameras recorded him scampering down a hallway and trying to hurl himself through a window when sheriff's deputies cornered him.
Fortunately for Copeland, the bullet-resistant glass he tried to shoulder his way through held against his slight frame because he would have fallen 30 or more feet into midday traffic on Washington Street in Waukegan had he busted through.
Copeland was out on bail on the aggravated battery charge and appeared before Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak for a pretrial hearing Jan. 13.
During that hearing, Copeland was informed he had tested positive for marijuana and he was going to be sent to jail for violating the conditions of his bond.
Instead, he bolted from the courtroom and onto television screens throughout the country as the tape of his futile flight circulated like wildfire.
He was charged with escape and was facing a sentence that would have had to be served consecutively to any sentence he received on the aggravated battery charge.
The more than a week that passed between the escape attempt and Thursday's hearing gave everyone a chance to calm down, and Assistant State's Attorney Tim Niehaus had a plea offer in hand when Copeland returned to court.
Citing Copeland's youth and lack of a prior record, Niehaus agreed to allow Copeland to plead to the aggravated battery and get probation. The escape charge was dropped.
Wearing manacles and leg irons, Copeland pleaded guilty to attacking a Zion police officer who was trying to break up a fight involving one of Copeland's friends on Aug. 16.
In addition to the probation, Potkonjak ordered Copeland to perform 150 hours of public service and pay $1,456 to cover the officer's medical care.
And perhaps in silent recognition of the fleeting nature of fame, neither Copeland nor Potkonjak brought up the escape try during the hearing.
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