By Fox News (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-01 09:50:23 | Updated at 2025-01-04 04:57:32
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The past year was filled with several shocking and viral police encounters and courtroom moments, whether they involved a suspect who flung his entire body at a judge, or police officers who were ambushed while investigating a 911 call.
Here are some of 2024’s most viral police encounters and courtroom moments.
Clark County, Nevada, inmate attacks judge in court
Deobra Redden is seen launching over the desk of Judge Mary Kay Holthus during his sentencing in a felony battery case on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024 in Las Vegas. (AP)
A Clark County, Nevada, judge and a marshal were injured in early January after a defendant who had been denied bond threw himself over the bench and attacked the judge, video shows.
In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, Redden’s attorney requested the judge give his client probation.
"I think it’s time he got a taste of something else," Holthus responded.
District Judge Mary Kay Holthus becomes emotional as she testifies against Deobra Redden during Redden's trial at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP)
Redden is then seen flying in the air over the bench with his arms and legs outstretched, before landing on the judge.
The defendant, who had grabbed the judge's hair, had to be wrestled off her by her clerk, Michael Lasso, and several court and jail officers, some of whom threw punches. Lasso was treated for cuts on his hands, and a marshal was hospitalized for a dislocated shoulder and a gash on his forehead. Holthus suffered some injuries but was back to work the next day.
Redden ultimately pleaded guilty but mentally ill in September to attempted murder and other charges shortly after Hothus testified that she feared for her life when he jumped over her four-foot-high bench and landed on her.
In December, a judge sentenced Redden to serve between 26 and 65 years in a Nevada prison for the attack.
Courtroom erupts in chaos as son bursts in, shoots dad's killer
A man attending the murder trial for his father’s killer in Brazil interrupted court proceedings to shoot the suspect half a dozen times and assault him.
Video of the attack was captured on CCTV from the courtroom in São José do Belmonte. The video shows the judges and jury scattering for cover as Cristiano Alves Terto, 27, opened fire at Franscico Cleidivaldo Mariano de Moura, 38.
It remains unclear how Terto had made it into the courtroom with a .38-caliber revolver. The attack occurred on November 29, 2023, but police only released the video on April 1, 2024.
WATCH: COURTROOM CHAOS AS SON BURSTS IN, SHOOTS DAD'S KILLER
Cleidivaldo Mariano de Moura, 38, stands trial for the murder of Francisco Alves. His son, Cristiano Alves Terto, 27, shot Moura during his court appearance on Nov. 29, 2023. (Jam Press)
Terto chased Moura across the courtroom and continued his assault by striking the defendant in the head. Police who were onsite chased him out of the room and eventually arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder.
Moura survived the attack but had to go to a local hospital and then transfer to a larger facility for treatment. He has since been discharged, according to Jam Press.
Jurors help stop Maine man attempting to flee courthouse in handcuffs
A Maine man attempted to flee a courthouse while in handcuffs after he was convicted for assaulting a one-year-old when two jurors and a detective managed to prevent his attempt to escape.
Nicholas Carter, 31, was seen in September bolting out of the courthouse in the town of Skowhegan while handcuffed.
Carter was found guilty of aggravated assault against a one-year-old child, according to the Portland Press Herald. His conviction came after a three-day trial at the Somerset County Superior Courthouse.
According to the outlet, Carter jumped a bar with handcuffs on and exited through the rear door of the second-floor courtroom. The door is used by members of the public to enter and exit the gallery.
JURORS HELP DETAIN MAINE MAN ATTEMPTING TO FLEE COURTHOUSE IN HANDCUFFS AFTER HIS CONVICTION
Several videos show Carter, while still in handcuffs, running down a hallway in the courthouse and dodging a lawyer who unsuccessfully attempted to stop him from making a run for it.
He was then seen running out of the courthouse's main entrance as he was being pursued by multiple people.
Video footage also shows Carter running across a parking lot and across the street before eventually tripping and falling in a yard, where two bystanders, who were also jurors during his trial, held him until the detective caught up.
Carter was taken back into custody and now faces a charge of escape in connection with the incident.
Michigan judge astonished when defendant with suspended driver's license calls into Zoom hearing while driving
A Michigan man who went viral for driving with a supposedly suspended driver's license while attending a virtual court hearing never had a license to begin with, a judge said in June, adding a new twist to a story that has been met with laughter and surprise at every turn.
Corey Harris made a splash on the internet when video of his May 15 Zoom hearing regarding his suspended license went viral. In the footage, Harris is seen driving, which baffled Judge Cedric Simpson, who revoked his bail and ordered him to turn himself in to authorities at a local jail.
The legal proceeding quickly spread like wildfire online in the days that followed. In an interview with WXYZ-TV, Harris said he did have a legal right to drive and that an error had been made.
But during a subsequent hearing, in which Harris was present in the courtroom, Simpson said Harris never had a driver's license at any time, Fox Detroit reported. The Michigan Department of State told Fox News Digital that Harris has never been issued a state driver's license.
Illinois suspect opens fire on deputies
Dramatic body camera footage from Ogle County, Illinois, revealed the frightening moments three first responders were shot during a confrontation at a home in Dixon.
Officials say 32-year-old Jonathan Gounaris, who allegedly shot at law enforcement when they entered his home, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and several weapons offenses.
The Sheriff’s Office in Ogle County, a rural community 100 miles west of Chicago, was originally called on June 12 to check on an individual who had threatened suicide and homicide. The owner of the home made the 911 call, warning that her son was in possession of multiple firearms.
Hours after hostage negotiators tried to contact that person no fewer than 60 times over the phone, an emergency response team entered the home.
ILLINOIS BODYCAM FOOTAGE SHOWS SUSPECT OPEN FIRE ON DEPUTIES
Released footage shows they were shot at immediately as they opened the doors. "Shots fired!" one of the deputies shouts in the video. The deputies returned fire and managed to incapacitate the suspect.
During the exchange of gunfire, tactical medic Tyler Carls of the Rochelle Fire Department was struck in the armor, City of Oregon Police Sergeant Tad Deminsky took a gunshot wound to the upper arm and Lieutenant Jason Ketter, of the Ogle County Sheriff's Office, was struck in the face.
The body cam footage shows Emergency Response Team members attending to Ketter.
The suspect, Gounaris, was found inside the home with a gunshot wound to his stomach. He received surgery for his injury at a local hospital, authorities said.
All three deputies who were shot have since been released from the hospital.
Police said Gounaris was in possession of multiple firearms, a fixed-blade knife, pepper spray and ballistic armor.
Fort Lauderdale police, gunman exchange fire in hotel
A police officer yelled, "I’m hit. I’m hit pretty good," as a barrage of gun blasts echoed on the sixth floor of a Florida hotel.
Fort Lauderdale police received a "911 text" at 7:39 a.m. on March 21 from a hotel guest who said, "Murder," without context, and the caller didn't respond to law enforcement's followup attempts to make contact.
By 8:42 a.m., the Holiday Inn was cleared, and responding officers – unsure whether there was another person in the room – ordered the suspect to come out with his hands up, newly released bodycam video shows.
When the door opened, the gunman opened fired on a squad of police officers, who were trapped on a cramped hotel floor with no space to take cover.
The gunman – later identified as Karl Chludinsky – slammed the door, but the gun battle continued through the closed door.
Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Jack DiCristofalo was shot as the hail of gunfire raged.
DiCristofalo was injured, but his vest saved his life. He was treated at a hospital and released the same day, according to police.
Bodycam shows wild Houston gunfight as officers respond to active home invasion robbery
Houston police released a series of bodycam videos showing officers responding to an active home invasion robbery when one of the suspects ambushed them with gunfire in front of a mother and her children.
Three men were arrested, including two gunmen who appeared inside the home on video and their alleged getaway driver, according to authorities.
A mother on the floor pleading for help inside warned officers that "there's another" when they entered the home and encountered the first suspect in her kitchen.
A second later, the second man popped out of a back doorway and opened fire.
One of the officers suffered a gunshot wound to the leg after police say Raymond Perez, 35, began shooting.
Video shows that he immediately returned fire as he collapsed to the ground. At the same time, the other officer handcuffed Michael Perez, 38, in the kitchen of a home on Alderney Drive. The video shows that he recovered a handgun during the arrest, and Perez can be heard telling the officer that he also had a knife.
Raymond Perez fled out the back door, but backup officers captured him on the street about a block away, the video shows.
The wounded officer, Scott Durfee, struggles through the pain on the floor as he keeps his weapon up in an effort to protect a woman and her children who were just a few feet away during the exchange of gunfire.
His partner handcuffed Michael Perez and then raced over with a tourniquet. An ambulance arrived a few minutes later to take Durfee, an eight-year veteran of the department, to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. He was treated and has since been released.
Police later arrested a third suspect, the alleged wheelman identified as Brian A. Garcia Chavez, 18, on Hollister Road.
Fox News Digital's Peter Aitken, Landon Mion, Louis Casiano, Chris Pandolfo, Chris Eberhart and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
