Adam Raicies faces jail time after running from a courtroom, punching officer who tackled him

TAMPA, Fla. - Adam Raicies makes no apologies for leading police on a high-speed Tampa courthouse foot-chase Tuesday morning.

Agitated when asked to sign forms for a probation sentence, Raicies ran out of a courtroom, over a staircase, through a nearby hallway, where seconds later, officers tackled him.

"I just believe I'm innocent," Raicies said. "I'm not going to sign something for something I didn't do."

According to Raicies, one of the TPD officers who tackled him, Josh Baar, was out to get him from the beginning. Officer Baar recently arrested Raicies for giving false statements to law enforcement after a fight with his roommate.

"Just being a straight jerk since the day he met me," Raicies said. "He told me in the car when that charge went on that he was going to try to find a reason for me to go to jail."

However, TPD Spokesperson Andrea Davis says Officer Baar only encountered Raicies three times, all by the court's or Raicies' prompting.

"For them to be targetting him, that sounds a little crazy," Davis said. "Since the police officers had no knowledge of this person, period, before his 911 call, it would be a little outrageous to think they had some kind of vendetta against him."

The subject of a long list of police reports, Raicies claims he'd turned his life around.

Now he's not only accused of contempt of court, he's also accused of punching Officer Baar with his elbow during the courthouse scuffle.

Raicies argues he's innocent of that too, his hands cuffed and unable to move. Now, though, the man who chose to run from a probation sentence faces jail time, but says he'd do it all over again.

"I didn't hit nobody. I'm innocent. I'll fight this to the end of it," Raicies said. "I will have that cop's badge before we are done."