Man who fled court arrested in Georgia Girlfriend may have aided in escape

BELFAST – A Tennessee man who fled District Court by sneaking out a window earlier this month has been captured in Georgia.

Randall Burton’s eight days of freedom ended on a highway in Chatham County when the Georgia State Patrol pulled him over on a routine traffic stop Saturday afternoon.

Burton, 25, was in the company of his girlfriend, Rachel L. Spencer, 21, of Milford, and her friend Jamie Woodman, 18, of Bucksport when he was captured. Police said the two women helped Burton make his getaway after he sneaked through a courthouse window Feb. 1 and fled the state.

Burton and Spencer were riding in his 1994 Ford Thunderbird when they were picked up. Woodman was following the couple in Spencer’s 1991 Ford Explorer and stopped for police when their vehicle was pulled over. Burton was taken into custody and the two young women were allowed to proceed to Florida, where they contacted relatives.

Waldo County sheriff’s Detective Bryant White said Spencer’s mother flew to Florida on Monday to escort her daughter and her friend back to Maine. Both women will face state charges of aiding an escape when they return, White said.

Waldo County Sheriff Scott Story complimented the Georgia State Patrol for running a check on Burton when they pulled him over about 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

“We’re tickled to death that we’re getting him back,” Story said. “Obviously, some good police work was done on this, and we appreciate the way Georgia handled it. We stop a ton of cars, and this agency is certainly in the habit of checking each individual, but it doesn’t happen everywhere.”

Burton escaped while in 5th District Court on charges of acquiring drugs by deception and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was arrested by Belfast police at Waldo County General Hospital on Jan. 30 after attempting to obtain the painkilling drug Percocet by faking a toothache. It was the third night in a row Burton had gone to the hospital looking for drugs.

When police ran a check on Burton’s criminal history they learned he was wanted in Tennessee on theft charges. When Tennessee authorities informed Maine of their intention to extradite, Burton indicated he would fight being returned home. White also speculated he might fight extradition to Maine.

Burton was making his initial appearance on the drug charges when he escaped. He was with three other prisoners in an unsecured, ground-floor interview room. When the jail guard took one of the men to the restroom, Burton opened a casement window, popped out the screen, and ran off.

Spencer and Woodman picked up Burton outside the court and the three left the city in a hurry, Burton tossing his jail clothes out the Explorer window as they fled. White said that after talking to Spencer’s mother, it appeared that Burton planned the breakout.

“He called his mother in Tennessee and asked her to call Rachel at her home and tell her he was going to be in court that morning and to meet him there with his vehicle,” White said. “Her mom told her to take her own.”

After escaping, Burton and the two women drove back to Milford, picked up his Thunderbird and headed south. They got as far as Georgia.

Burton was being held Monday in the Chatham County Jail in Savannah.

“He certainly put some space between himself and Waldo County,” the sheriff said.