Shortly after their arraignment following an alleged car theft, two men escaped from a holding cell at 52-2 District Court on May 19. After they escaped, the two suspects stole another car and were arrested a second time.
Maurice Derrick Ledbetter, 34, of Detroit, and Gregory Lanier Bryant, 35, of Pontiac were arraigned over the weekend in 52-2 District Court on charges of unlawful driving away of an auto and fleeing and eluding, fourth degree. They have a preliminary exam set for June 1 before Judge Kostin.
According to Undersheriff Mike McCabe, the two men were contained in the same holding cell when they managed to ‘defeat the locking mechanism? using materials inside the cell. The two men, arraigned on May 19 before Magistrate O’Brien on an auto theft charge, were able to run out a back door of the court building. McCabe said the men were seen in their cell at 3:30 p.m. and were discovered gone around 3:40 p.m.
As stated in police reports, the men than allegedly stole a gray four door 1994 Pontiac Sunbird from a business parking lot on Main Street and drove off. McCabe said Ledbetter and Bryant were spotted by the Berkeley Public Safety Department. After the two men bailed from the car during pursuit, they were arrested by the Department of Public Safety for Berkeley and Huntington Woods, approximately 45 minutes after their escape, explained McCabe.
The men were first charged May 19 with an unlawfully driving away a vehicle in 52-2 District Court after allegedly stealing a 1989 Chevy Suburban from a Deerhill Drive residence around 6:30 a.m on May 16. They were captured as suspects in the first theft by the Troy Police Department. The Troy P.D. caught the men fleeing on foot after stopping the vehicle on Crooks Road.
There were no injuries or damage reported as a result of Ledbetter’s and Bryant’s escapes and thefts, explained McCabe.
According to McCabe, Ledbetter had previous 1991 convictions for possession of cocaine and receiving and selling stolen property over $100 in Detroit. He also had a delivery and manufacturing of a controlled substance conviction in 1999.
Bryant also was convicted on prior offenses including: a 1987 felony firearm charge as a result of an armed robbery conviction in Livonia, and receiving stolen property over $100 and habitual offender in 1996, said McCabe.