BELFAST – An all-points bulletin was issued Friday for Randall Burton, 25, of Bucksport after he escaped from Belfast District Court.

Burton, who was at court to answer to drug charges, apparently crawled through a window in an attorney interview room and made his getaway in a waiting car.

Burton’s green shirt and sneakers, issued by the medium-security Waldo County Jail, were found a few blocks away from the courthouse near Jack’s Grocery. His jail-issued pants were found nearby on Penobscot Terrace.

“It looks like he jumped out the window and got into a vehicle and got away,” Belfast Police Chief Allen Weaver said. “We found the clothes within minutes and there were no footprints around so he probably threw them from the vehicle.”

Although Burton’s driver’s license shows him as having a Bucksport address, when he was arrested on drug charges Wednesday by Belfast police he gave the Bangor address of his girlfriend as his residence.

Authorities believe the woman, Rachel L. Spencer, 21, of Bangor, may have assisted Burton as she and another woman were observed speaking to him two minutes before the escape, according to Weaver.

Spencer and the other woman also are being sought by authorities.

The city’s police station is just down Church Street from the courthouse, and Burton’s escape was captured on the department’s video surveillance tapes. The tape shows Burton leaping from the ground-floor casement window, landing on his feet and running in the direction of the court parking lot on Beaver Street at 12:13 p.m.

Burton was arrested at 10:36 p.m. Wednesday on charges of acquiring drugs by deception and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Belfast Police Officer Michael McFadden arrested Burton at the Waldo County General Hospital where he allegedly attempted to obtain the painkilling drug Percocet for a fictitious toothache. It was the third night in succession that Burton had showed up at the hospital looking for drugs.

Waldo County Jail Administrator Ray Porter said Burton was making his initial court appearance on the charges when he bolted from the building. A jail transport officer brought Burton and two other inmates to the jail shortly before noon.

The three men were placed in the interview room while the guard waited outside the door. One of the men went to use the bathroom, and it was at that point that Burton opened the window and left the building. The other prisoner immediately alerted the guard of the escape.

“We don’t leave them in handcuffs unless they are violent or known to cause trouble,” Porter said.

Porter said the jail may have to reconsider its policy of bringing prisoners to court early to meet with their attorneys. He said the jail may want to require attorneys to meet with their clients in secure interview rooms at the jail. Most of the rooms at the courthouse do not have bars, and the windows are not secure. Only one room is secure and windowless.

Sheriff Scott Story said he already had ordered a complete review of the jail’s policy toward prisoners at court. He said the court has become a much busier place, and policy changes may have to be instituted.

“We historically have tried to be as courteous and civil and humane as possible when dealing with individuals being taken to court,” said Story. “When we take prisoners down there, we try to accommodate a lot of people, the court, the lawyers. But with the court being as busy as it is, we’re certainly going to have to reassess how we do business down there.”

Besides the drug charges, Burton may have had additional motive to escape. Porter said Burton was wanted in Tennessee for theft and failure to appear. He said authorities there indicated that they would extradite Burton, and he was made aware of that fact.

“He knew they were coming for him,” said Porter.