Freedom was short lived for a Rutherford County Drug Court participant who tried to flee rather than go to jail Monday.

But sheriff’s deputies apprehended suspect Julian Wright, 23, of 1009 Arlene Drive in La Vergne within minutes and delivered him toRutherford County Adult Detention Center where sheriff’s Lt. Chris Deal charged him with escape.

Wright appeared in Drug Court where Circuit Court Judge Don Ash advised him he would be going into custody for two weeks until the judge decided if he would serve his sentence and be terminated from the Drug Court program.

When Judge Ash advised Wright to go with Deal, Wright ran out of the courtroom.

“I radioed to Court Security that I had one running and gave a description of Mr. Wright,” Deal reported. “Mr. Wright ran down the stairs and pushed open the back door.”

Judicial Building Deputy Ashley King ran out the back door after Wright and ordered him to stop. Off-duty Deputy Scott Baker and Judicial Building Deputies Darrell Long and Mark Nolen ran out the front door and nabbed Wright in his vehicle.

“During the attempt to open the car door, Deputy Baker pulled the door handle completely off the vehicle because the suspect would not open the door,” Long said.

Nolen reported he and King escorted Wright back to the Judicial Building.

“Wright stated the reason he ran was due to he was going to be terminated from Drug Court and that he had seven years to do,” Nolen reported.

Detention Capt. Derrell Cagle said the Judicial Building’s back door malfunctioned, allowing Wright to flee.

County Maintenance Supervisor Ben Mankin and his crew fixed the door immediately.

Wright was previously convicted of theft offenses.

Sheriff Robert F. Arnold said the deputies assigned to the Judicial Building perform a valuable job in the criminal justice system.

“This is a perfect example of how dangerous their job can be,” Arnold said. “They did an excellent job in this situation to regain custody.”