Escape following fainting spell prompts charges

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- A Missouri man is facing charges after apparently fainting in court, then escaping custody following observation at a hospital.

The Daily Journal newspaper in Park Hills, Mo., reported that 24-year-old Timothy James Hawkins of Mexico, Mo., is charged with escape from confinement.

The new charges stem from a sentencing hearing in April in St. Francois County. A judge had just sentenced Hawkins to 15 years in prison for assaulting a corrections officer.

After hearing the sentence, Hawkins fell to the ground, apparently fainting. Court officials suspected he was faking but he was sent to a hospital in an ambulance, accompanied by a bailiff.

Tests found nothing wrong, but as a deputy was escorting Hawkins to a patrol car, he took off running. He was captured within 20 minutes.