Prisoner on run after escaping shackles
A brawl in a Harris County courtroom Tuesday morning gave a prisoner sitting in another courtroom a chance to escape, according to the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office.
A manhunt was underway for Michael Devon Combs, 32, an accused domestic abuser who sheriff’s officials said slipped out of leg irons while left unattended by deputies around 10 a.m.
The deputies left the courtroom in which Combs was awaiting his hearing on a motion to revoke his bond because they were responding to a panic alarm coming from the 174th Court. It was there the families of Frank DeLeon Jr. and Diamond Alvarez got into a physical fight soon after DeLeon pleaded guilty to murdering Alvarez in a 2022 shooting.
The chaos in that court apparently caused deputies assigned to other rooms to respond to the fight. But in an apparent breach of protocol, Combs was left alone, said Major Lynette Anderson, the major over detention support services.
Combs, who wasn’t handcuffed, was able to open his leg irons and walk free.
“The deputies left to go assist and he was sitting there,” Anderson said. “In some kind of way, he got out of the shackles and he walked out of the courtroom, got out of the elevator, and once he got out of the building, he took off.”
Anderson said Combs shouldn’t have been left unattended, despite the panic alarm.
“Someone should have stayed with him at the
time,” Anderson said.
Mark Lipkin, Combs’ appointed defense attorney, said Combs appeared upset during the proceedings that happened before his escape. Lipkin and the sheriff ’s office said Combs appeared in court by his own volition, but was ordered
to be shackled by the judge because of the alleged bond violation.
Lipkin said Combs left the courtroom while his back was turned while he was dealing with another
matter.
“He was in chains and the next time I saw him, the deputies were running,” Lipkin said. He said deputies were coming back to the courtroom as Combs was heading in the other direction. “I think he was running away as they were coming back.”
Combs had been in court after being accused of violating the terms of his bond set after a 2022 arrest for domestic violence. Court records show he was accused of turning off a GPS monitor for four hours and not paying some court fees. In 2022, he was arrested and accused of grabbing the throat of a woman he was dating, according to court records.
Officials said they didn’t have any information about where Combs might have gone after leaving the downtown courthouse. He was wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants, Anderson said.
Public records show he has a home address in the Greenbriar Place North subdivision in north Houston.