Man was able to escape leg shackles when brawl broke out in another courtroom, HCSO says

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A search is underway in Harris County for a man who reportedly managed to escape his leg shackles and walk out of the courthouse after his bond was revoked.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the escape happened at about 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

HCSO Major Lynette Anderson told Michael Devon Combs had a court appearance at the Harris County criminal courthouse, where a judge revoked his bond, and he was put into shackles.

He was said to be on a bench inside a courtroom when a brawl broke out in one of the other courtrooms. Eyewitness News cameras captured that fight between the family members of a murdered teenage girl and her alleged killer and then-boyfriend.

Anderson said the panic button went off, and the deputies went to take care of that. That’s when the suspect took advantage and took off.

How the suspect was able to get the shackles off is being investigated.

“He just walked out,” Anderson said.

The search is now on for the 32-year-old, who has a history of domestic violence, according to records.

Most recently, in 2022, Combs was charged with assaulting his girlfriend and the mother of his children.

According to records, the two had been dating for more than seven years.

Then, in March of last year, records show the girlfriend told him she couldn’t date Combs anymore, which upset him and prompted a fight.

At one point, she told investigators Combs grabbed her throat with one hand and used his other hand to punch her in the face multiple times. She said she thought she was going to die.

Combs has been out on bond but reportedly violated his bond conditions by testing positive for meth and shutting off his GPS monitor.

 asked authorities who was going to be held accountable for the escape. The sheriff’s office said it is reviewing surveillance video.

Anderson said Combs’ ex-girlfriend is safe and aware that he’s missing.

 Combs’ mother, who said she heard from him Tuesday morning, and her son mentioned he did not want to go back to jail. She added he felt helpless that no one was listening to him.

“I feel like my child is backed up in a corner,” Kimberly Combs, the suspect’s mother, said. “He was begging the lawyer to please listen to him and give him a chance.”

Kimberly Combs said she has not spoken to her son since their conversation in the morning and is pleading with him to turn himself in safely.