New Haven Independent

The separated couple, who were awaiting a ruling on child support for their three kids, said they’d been at New Haven Superior Court since 8 a.m.

At 2:50 p.m. Wednesday, they were ordered to evacuate.

They walked down the stairs from the third floor and waited on the sidewalk with all the other lawyers, plaintiffs and defendants who were busy solving problems at 235 Church St. that day.

New Haven Fire Captain Bob Gilhuly said the problem traced back to a bathroom on the court’s seventh floor.

“A toilet overflowed,” said Gilhuly. The water flowed down into an electrical box. The power shut off. Everyone in the court had to be evacuated, Gilhuly said.

Three fire trucks pulled up along side of the court, setting Church Street alight with flashing lights.

A maintenance crew entered the building with a wet vacuum to suck up the water from the floor.

One defendant said she heard the leak as she walked by a utility closet on her way out the building.

“You could hear the water gush down like Niagara Falls,” said the woman.

The problem was quickly under control, said Gilhuly. The fire trucks pulled away at about 3:30 p.m.

Will and Ney said their court date was continued to another day. The court house closed, and everyone was sent home.

The judicial marshal on the right was kind enough to go back inside to retrieve a briefcase that an attorney (also pictured) had left in the library on the seventh floor. The briefcase weighed 25 pounds, said the attorney. “He’s a very nice guy.”