Don't Like Your Fine? Threaten to Kill the Judge.

David Hughes doesn't like to pay fines. Or so one might assume, given his recent behavior.

In January, Hughes was convicted of disorderly conduct and ordered to pay a $281.50 fine. He paid $10 of it, and apparently thought that was enough. Beaver County, Pennsylvania District Judge Joseph L. Schafer issued an arrest warrant for Hughes, summoning him to the courthouse to explain why he hadn't paid the rest of the fine. Mr. Hughes offered to retrieve a gun from his van and shoot everyone in the office, then dashed out of the courthouse, jumped in his van, and drove away.
The police caught up with him quickly enough, and he pulled over. But rather than surrendering, he threw the van into reverse and backed into a police cruiser before taking off again. A second police car managed to pull him over a few blocks away, but he backed into that one, too. Finally, he turned onto a dead-end street and abandoned the van. The police chased him down on foot and took him into custody. At the police station, with one hand shackled, Hughes further endeared himself to law enforcement by punching an officer in the mouth with his free hand and trying to take the officer's pistol.

At some point during the chase, Hughes also flipped his middle finger at the pursuing officers. "He could have been killed," said Police Chief Barry Kramer. "He can thank his lucky stars it wasn't something shiny," that he waved at the cops.

Hughes has been charged with four counts of making terroristic threats, two counts of aggravated assault on police officers, and one count each of reckless endangerment, fleeing and eluding police, disarming a law enforcement officer, and careless driving.

And he still owes the county $271.50.

(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)