Waltzing Matilda

Yet another story in today's paper regarding a suspect making a brief escape. This time it was Ron Tastet, guilty of cocaine possession, who escaped from a courtroom while waiting to be sentenced. Well, of course, the Times-Picayune reporter who wrote the story dressed it up a little, to help the typical plot stand out a bit more:

"A Covington man who pleaded guilty to cocaine possession man waltzed out of his sentencing hearing in the St. Tammany Parish courthouse Thursday night and was caught by deputies early Friday, authorities said."

Waltzed! Maybe it's just me, but that description seems more appropriate a for a novel on the Best Seller's list than in an otherwise run-of-the-mill news story. An especially odd word choice when the story further acknowledges that "Nobody noticed Tastet had gone until his case came back up at about 6:30 p.m." I don't know, you'd think somebody would have noticed the guy's departure if he was waltzing his way out of the courtroom!

By 2 a.m., Tastet was back in police custody, having been found in the most obvious hiding place -- his girlfriend's house. I'm guessing one reason it didn't take very long to find him is because the waltz is a traditionally slow dance. Tastet should have done the twist or the electric boogaloo -- he might have gotten further away from the police who were after him!