Faced with the sudden realization he was going to prison to await trial on a felony shoplifting rap, a Beaver County man made a mad dash out of a courtroom in Cranberry Township, authorities said.

But the not-so-great-escape attempt last month didn’t turn out well. The numerous police officers who packed the hall outside the courtroom made sure of that.

While Park D. Lutton Jr. managed to shed the tackle of one Cranberry Township policeman and get out the door, he was sacked by a team of other officers.

Lutton, 38, of Beaver Falls on Monday in Butler waived to court a felony charge of attempted escape and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

He remains in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail.

Lutton’s ill-fated getaway on May 10 played out at the office of District Judge Dave Kovach in Cranberry, where he appeared for a preliminary hearing on a felony retail theft charge, police said.

Kovach ordered Lutton, who acted as his own attorney, held for court in the shoplifting case.

Free on his own recognizance at the time, he apparently thought he would remain out of jail as his case awaited trial.

However, county prosecutor Russ Karl, citing Lutton’s 25-page criminal record, asked Kovach to set bond for Lutton, according to court documents. The judge complied, setting it at $25,000.

Lutton turned to Cranberry Patrolman Christopher Maloney and asked, “Why are you putting me in jail?” according to a police affidavit.

Then the suspect spun around in his seat and darted toward the closed courtroom door. “Stop him,” Kovach yelled.

Maloney lunged to grab Lutton but Lutton got to the door and opened it. He didn’t get much farther. Several other officers jumped in and took him to the ground in the lobby of Kovach’s office.

Because of an unusually high number of criminal cases that day, authorities said, there were seven or eight police officers and several more sheriff’s deputies in and out of the courtroom.

Lutton on Monday briefly appeared at District Judge Pete Shaffer’s office in Butler, where he was to have his preliminary hearing in the attempted escape case.

Since Kovach witnessed that alleged crime, he had to recuse himself from hearing the case. Instead, it was reassigned to Shaffer.

However, Lutton, who was represented by a court-appointed attorney, Patrick Casey, opted to give up his right to the hearing.

He will now face trial on both the attempted escape and shoplifting cases.