Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - 2 Men Escaped From Jail And The Judge Chases Them Down

Episode Date: February 1, 2025

This is the story of Tanner Jacobson and Kodey Howard, the 2 men who tried to escape jail and are caught by Judge Buzzard.

On December 12, Disney Plus invites you to go behind the scenes with Taylor Swift in an exclusive six-episode docu-series. I wanted to give something to the fans that they didn't expect. The only thing left is to close the book. The End of an Era. And don't miss Taylor Swift, the era's tour, the final show, featuring for the first time the tortured poets department. Streaming December 12, only on Disney Plus. So one night, this guy, he's out and he's driving, and he's driving a bit recklessly, and police they pull him over, and they see that not only was he driving like a turd,

but he's also driving with a suspended license. So then, bam, they arrest him, and they throw him in jail. Now the guy, his name's Tanner, and I don't have a mugshot of Tanner, but here he is in real life, in jail. Now, he's not locked up for very long before he has a quick hearing to go to. So he's in the courtroom, in handcuffs, sitting next to a bunch of other alleged criminals, waiting in line for the judge to hear their case. And there he is here on the left.

Now here's where it gets good, though. Tanner happens to be sitting next to this guy. His name's Cody. And Cody, he's in court for theft charges because I guess he stole some woman's purse or something and he got busted. Regardless, neither of them have really major charges against them. it's not like they went out and committed murder or something. But while the two guys sit there, the judge, this guy, Judge Buzzard, no, Judge Buzzard is sitting here,

and he's setting the conditions of their release, meaning they're likely just about to be released. But Cody, I guess, this whole process just isn't fast enough for him. Like he wants out of all this right now. And Bro comes up with a brilliant plan to basically just make all this worse. He turns to Tanner, and I don't think they really know each other. But he turns to Tanner and he says, I'm gonna run. And so Cody looks around and he sees his chance and boom, he sprints for the exit.

And as you can see, for some strange reason, Tanner is also like, that's a great idea. And you can see in the courtroom footage he runs too. So now these two turds are on the run. And pow, they make it out into the hallway and, oh, Cody falls. and he leaves his prison crock behind, but he is able to get up and they are out. Now, I mention Judge Buzzard is overseeing both their cases. Here's the thing about Judge Buzzard, though. I guess Buzzard, he ain't no punk,

and he is not about to let these two clowns get away. So, as Tanner and Cody are running out, Buzzard literally stands up and rips off his judge's robe like he's fucking Superman, and boom, he runs after them. And if you look at the footage, the two attorneys here, they're like shocked. They're like, so should we call a recess or... But anyway, the chase is on. And Tanner and Cody, they actually make it to the stairwell, and they sprint down the flight of stairs.

Now, Judge Buzzard, he's still determined to get them, and he is right behind them. And boom, he busts through the door. And now he's in the stairwell with them. But the two guys, they've now made it down to the second floor. But they aren't fast enough because Buzzard is closing in. But then, finally, they make it to the bottom floor, and Tanner actually makes it first, and he gets out the door, and he keeps running. But then Cody makes it to the bottom floor.

But not before, Judge Buzzard grabs his ass as he's trying to run out the door. And pow, he tackles him just outside the building. Moments later, a couple of deputies catch up, like, oh, hey, did you need our help? And so, bam, they, well, I guess they can't really arrest him because he's already under arrest. So they just escort Cody back to his cell, where I'm sure he sits there all ashamed that his escape plan didn't work. But there's still Tanner, who's still running, still in handcuffs, and he's now about four blocks away. But then suddenly, Tanner does something he should have done a long time ago. His brain starts firing on all cylinders, and he actually starts thinking about the consequences of what he's doing.

Like, does he really want to break out of? a jail like this? Does he really want to go on the run and be an outlaw? So with all these thoughts going on in that moment, he thinks hard about these things and he's suddenly like, nah, this isn't worth it. And he just stops. And pretty quickly, police catch up to him and I like to imagine they tackled him and roughed him up a little bit, but I honestly don't know if that happened. Regardless, bam, they grab him and they take him back to his cell. Here's the thing, though, to police, And to Judge Buzzard, it doesn't really matter that Tanner stopped on his own. All that matters is that he was in the middle of a court proceeding and he decided to make a run for it like an absolute turd.

So for the both of them, they went from basically misdemeanor charges, driving without a license or whatever, to being charged with second degree escape, which is a felony. So now they're both felons. Now, you might be asking, why did they suddenly run when they're likely just about to be released anyway. Well, according to Tanner, it was just a split second decision. I don't even know why I did it. Like, I would be out of here if I wouldn't have ran. So he doesn't even know why he did it. While Cody actually has a better explanation. I didn't try to escape to get out. I tried to escape to get well and I tried to do what I do what I could do to get my drug addiction. So anyway, eventually they go back to court and Tanner is sentenced to a full year while Cody is actually

sentenced to three years. Wow. Short video today, but It's a fun story.