Deputies: Tampa man punches police officer while trying to flee court hearing

TAMPA — Adam Manuel Lee Raicies, 25, really didn't want to go back to jail.

And he wouldn't have, authorities said, if he hadn't tried to run out of the courthouse during his sentencing hearing and punched a police officer in the face.

Now, he is sitting in jail without bail and has racked up three additional charges, police said.

Raicies, of Tampa, was in court at a 9 a.m. Monday hearing to be sentenced for giving false information to a law enforcement officer.

Circuit Judge Dick Greco gave him probation.

That's when Raicies lost it.

According to deputies, Raicies became "loud and belligerent" and refused to complete his court paperwork.

When the judge threatened to have him arrested for contempt of court, he took off running.

Bailiffs and two police officers chased him through hallways of the courthouse annex. He made it all the way to the second-floor elevators, where he was stopped by three more officers.

Raicies struggled and punched Tampa police Officer Josh Baar in the face, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

No one else was injured, and Baar, who had a cut on his lower lip, did not seek medical treatment.

Raicies was taken back before Judge Greco, where he was charged with assault on a police officer and resisting arrest without violence.

He will return to court Wednesday for a contempt of court hearing.

According to jail records, Raicies was arrested in 2007 for carrying a firearm without a permit and again in 2011 for forgery and tampering with evidence.