A Marbury man ran from the Chilton County Courthouse to escape authorities Thursday afternoon after trying to avoid a drug test.

Sven Wayne Stovall, 28, came before Chilton County District Judge Rhonda Hardesty Thursday afternoon to request community service to help relieve the financial burden of court costs and fines associated with a drug charge from March.

Stovall pleaded guilty April 29 to misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, which led to roughly $700 in fines and court costs.

Stovall submitted a letter to Hardesty requesting community service on May 30, according to court documents.

When Stovall appeared before Hardesty on Thursday, she told him if he could pass a drug test administered by a court referral officer she would consider letting him do community service.

“If you can pass a drug test I will put you to work,” Hardesty told Stovall. “Can you pass a drug test?”

Stovall told Hardesty he “thought” he could pass the urine test.

Hardesty told Stovall she didn’t want to hear “think;” she wanted to hear “can.”

Stovall left the courtroom with a CRO and returned less than 10 minutes later, hanging his head down, with a small, clear, plastic cup in hand containing a small amount of clear liquid.

The CRO told Hardesty that she found Stovall attempting to scoop liquid from the toilet to pass for his drug test.

Visibly irritated, Hardesty instructed Stovall to sit off to the side of the courtroom after she filed a probation revocation hearing for July 10 at 1:30 p.m.

When Hardesty left the courtroom to discuss another case with lawyers, Stovall bolted out of the back door of the courtroom, down three flights of stairs and out of the front door of the courthouse.

Several individuals screamed, “Catch him!” as officers from the Chilton County Sheriff’s Department ran after Stovall.

An individual who was sitting in the courtroom caught Stovall running down the sidewalk from the courthouse, and he was handcuffed and taken away by officers.

Stovall could face an escape charge, which is a felony.

When Hardesty returned to the courtroom she said, “You can’t say this job is boring.”