A prisoner who made an attempt to escape following a hearing in Schuylkill County on Friday found his freedom to be short-lived.

Two prisoners were being escorted Friday from the Schuylkill County Court house after a hearing before Senior Judge D. Michael Stine.They were to be returned to the Schuylkill County Prison across the street on Sanderson Street, Pottsville, when one took off in an attempt to escape.Andrew Charles Bakerofskie, 21, whose hands were handcuffed, suddenly bolted away. The sheriff's office quickly mustered a force of deputies who went into action.Bakerofskie headed west in the parking lot of the courthouse for about 50 yards then bolted down a steep bank about two stories high towards the high rise low income apartment house.Several deputies gave chase on foot after him while others in sheriff cars drove from the parking lot onto Laurel Boulevard which the courthouse building fronts.When Bakerofskie reached the ground on Laurel Boulevard, he was apprehended.His freedom lasted less than five minutes and he was able to travel only about 1,000 yards before he was caught.Bakerofskie was committed to the prison a few days earlier when he was charged with violation of the terms of his bail. After the hearing Friday, Judge Stine revoked the bail and ordered Bakerofskie remanded to the county prison without bail to await disposition of charges filed against him.Bakerofskie pleaded guilty last December 21 to five counts of statutory sexual assault. His guilty plea was accepted by Judge John E. Domalakes, but sentence was deferred as the court ordered he submit to an evaluation by the state's sexual assessment board on whose findings the court would impose its sentence.He was free on bail while awaiting a ruling but violated the terms and was brought to the prison and a hearing held.