Ronnie Stackhouse was serving time in the District of Columbia Jail for the robbery of a D.C. liquor store.  He escaped by pretending to be another inmate due for release.  When the guard called out the name "Lagovawitz," Stackhouse yelled "here." The real Lagovawitz was in the shower and never heard his name called.

This happens in nearly every jail.  But that's not the point of the story.  How Ronnie Stackhouse spent his escape time is what makes this yarn a bit different.

Ronnie's girlfriend, Suzette La Cov, was being tried for robbery and she wanted her boyfriend near her during the trial as sort of her legal advisor.  This was not the same robbery that Ronnie went down for, but an attempted stick-up.  Suzette was the getaway driver.  But the D.C. cops had the place staked out.  She and the two inside guys were arrested without incident before there were any fireworks.

Okay, back to Suzette's trial.  Court can be painfully slow, as anyone who has ever had jury duty can tell you.  This day was no exception.  During the noon recess, Ronnie went out for sandwiches.

He'd been sitting around in open court right behind Suzette-big as life.  He wasn't worried.  "Who'd expect to find a jail escapee in open court? It's not natural," he later told police.

While Ronie was out getting lunch, Suzette wanted to ask him questions about how she should testify-whether she should lie or tell the truth about knowing the two guys with guns inside the store.  Basic stuff.

Feeling a sense of urgency, Suzette had Ronnie paged on the courthouse publicaddress system.  Sounds like a dumb move-paging a jail escapee.  It shouldn't surprise you that Suzette never made it past seventh grade.

A couple of cops from the Metropolitan Police Robbery Squad recognized Ronnie's name, and hung out for a while, waiting to see if Ronnie would actually answer his page.  He did and they cuffed him.  At the same time they recovered the Lexus he stole to get the sandwiches.

The detectives advised Suzette to plead out, because she wouldn't be seeing her boyfriend for at least seven years.  His new address would be Lorton Penitentiary in Virginia.