A bench clearing brawl
Leaping con attacks judge
A convict leaped over the bench in a Las Vegas courtroom and attacked the judge at his sentencing hearing Wednesday after she denied him probation, wild footage shows.
Deobra Redden, 30, a three-time felon, was being sentenced by Judge Mary Kay Holthus in Clark County District Court after he was convicted of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm, KLAS TV reported.
Around 11 a.m., Redden’s attorney asked Holthus to sentence his client to probation — but Holthus had something different in mind for the repeat offender.
Disorder in the court
“I think it’s time he got a taste of something else because I just can’t with that history,” she said.
Suddenly, Redden sprints up to the bench, springs himself over with outstretched arms and tackles the judge, video shows.
An American flag and a Nevada state flag came crashing down in the ruckus. Other people can be seen wrestling with Redden in the chaos before as he yells profanities at Holthus, according to the stunning footage.
Court officers appear to drag him away, but he breaks free and tries to go back after the judge, while she’s down. He and others can be seen exchanging punches in the struggle.
“What the hell’s wrong with you, man?” someone yells.
“Where’s Mary Kay — is she OK?” a man asks when Redden is finally put in handcuffs.
An alarm blared for several minutes alerting others to the incident, according to KLAS.
Holthus suffered a minor head injury but was doing OK, sources told the outlet. A marshal was also injured in the fracas.
After Wednesday’s attack, Redden is facing new charges of battery and battery on a protected person — with the latter charge indicating the victim was “substantially harmed.”
He’s due back in court — hopefully in handcuffs — on Thursday at 9 a.m. He is being held at the Clark County Jail.
Redden previously appeared before Holthus on charges of malicious destruction of property, according to court documents. He also spent a year in prison on a domestic-battery charge in 2021.