Man who fled court in Austin takes plea deal
Published 10:48 am Tuesday, October 13, 2015
AUSTIN — The man charged for beating a pizza delivery driver to steal his money and who later escaped from court reached plea deals Friday.
Dylan Leeper, 22, entered plea deals and pleaded guilty for one charge of felony theft, one charge of felony escape from custody, one charge of felony aggravated robbery, one charge misdemeanor theft/shoplifting, and one charge misdemeanor fleeing an officer in a vehicle — the result of multiple cases.
Dylan Leeper
Other charges were dismissed in his multiple cases.
One of Leeper’s most recent court cases stemmed from charges that he stole from and beat a pizza driver with a metal baton in July.
According to a court complaint, Leeper approached a pizza driver on July 31 at the 900 block of Third Avenue Northeast. The driver later told police he tried to deliver pizza to a home, but no one answered the door.
The driver spoke to Leeper then returned to his car to wait. After about 15 minutes, Leeper went to speak with the driver and suddenly reached inside the car to grab the driver’s bank bag.
Leeper took off running while the driver chased him, according to the complaint. At one point, Leeper turned around to hit the driver with a black metal baton just below his ear. Leeper eventually outran the driver.
The driver later identified Leeper due to the tattoo over his right eye.
Then on Aug. 2, police were called to the 300 block of Seventh Street Northwest for a domestic dispute involving a man beating a woman in the street. Officers found Leeper hiding in the basement. Leeper allegedly resisted arrest at the time, according to the report.
Then Leeper was in Mower County court Sept. 4 for multiple cases before he managed to slip a hand out of his handcuffs and ran from the courtroom and the Mower County Jail and Justice Center.
A Rochester attorney and deputies pursued Leeper and caught up to him in the parking lot south of the jail and apprehended him.
Leeper was on probation for allegedly stealing cars and getting into several accidents in southwest Austin earlier this year. He had also been charged with shoplifting in another case.
Leeper has not yet been sentenced.
