Woman flees Lone Tree courtroom, later faces new burglary charges

A woman who had just been sentenced to 10 days in jail in Lone Tree municipal court on April 9 allegedly slipped out of the courtroom through an emergency exit, ran through a nearby neighborhood and forced entry into a residence near Wildflower Place before officers caught up with her.

The City of Lone Tree said the woman had been sentenced for a prior theft conviction and became combative with officers as they tried to take her into custody. After she fled, officers pursued her through the neighborhood and later found her attempting to climb over a fence. She was taken into custody at that point.

What began as a short jail term quickly escalated after the escape. Once she was returned to municipal court, the city said she faced additional charges and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.

Those new charges included felony burglary, resisting arrest, obstructing government operations, escape to avoid prosecution, two counts of trespassing and criminal mischief. The sequence of events has drawn attention because it involved a courtroom escape, a chase through a residential area and a forced entry into a home in Lone Tree, all in the span of a single case.

Lone Tree Municipal Court is a court of limited jurisdiction that handles traffic, misdemeanor, parking, animal and other municipal code violations. Court sessions are held at the Lone Tree Civic Center, 8527 Lone Tree Parkway, in Lone Tree, Colorado 80124.

The incident has also put a spotlight on security and procedure inside a local court system that is built to process lower-level municipal cases, not high-risk custody situations. In Douglas County, where residents rely on city and county agencies to keep public spaces and neighborhoods safe, the episode raised immediate questions about how an apparently routine sentencing turned into a courtroom escape and a neighborhood pursuit.

The Lone Tree Police Department said its non-emergency number is 303-799-0533, and the department is located at 9220 Kimmer Drive in Lone Tree, Colorado 80124.