A 20-year-old assault suspect escaped the Ector County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon, but was quickly captured near the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said Noah Fidencio Flores was on the third floor of the courthouse for a plea conference in a case where he’s been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest. After he was handcuffed on a warrant for failing to appear in a separate misdemeanor assault case, Flores took off.
“Apparently he flew down those stairs,” Griffis said. “I was told he busted through the doors on the north side of the courthouse, breaking all of the glass.”
Deputies gave chase and caught up Flores about a block away near the hotel, Griffis said.
The sheriff’s office will be seeking escape charges against Flores.
According to Ector County court records, the misdemeanor case was filed after a member of Flores’ family accused him of hitting her with his hand.
Records also show that Flores was arrested in the felony aggravated assault case last Thanksgiving.
Officers received a shots fired call around 2:45 a.m. from the 1200 block of Pueblo Street, according to Odessa Police records.
When officers arrived, they were told a 19-year-old man was visiting his brother when he got into an argument with Flores, the report stated. The teenager told officers Flores hit him in the back of the head with closed fits and then chased him out of the house with a black knife.
Officers found a black knife in Flores’ pocket, the report stated.
Flores was arrested less than a month later on the evading arrest charge.
