When we say come out or we will come in, we're not joking

Last week detectives were working on a case that involved stolen property, and during the investigation they discovered a suspect in that case was staying at a house with another person who also had warrants. The Detectives decided to try an old technique called "knock and talk" at the house.

This technique involves walking up to the door and knocking. Once someone answers, you simply talk to them. This method would have worked great, but the only problem was that no one would answer the door. The lights were on inside the home, and the strange silence that fell inside when the detectives knocked led them to believe someone was inside the home.

This is where some of the confusion started. The detectives told the occupants inside the home that a search warrant would be obtained if they did not answer the door. After about 30 minutes of knocking and asking them to come out, the detectives obtained a search warrant to enter the property and arrest the people believed to be inside with warrants.

Additional deputies arrived and again knocked on the door multiple times and announced who they were and that they had a search warrant and would kick open the door if they did not answer. There was still no sound or movement inside so the deputies kicked open the door. Just inside the entrance of the home were multiple people sitting around, and of course gave the most common answer we get every time we must get a search warrant because "no one was home." They all said they did not hear us and didn't know we were at the door. They also must have failed to see us in the security camera they had facing the front porch.

It was no surprise that we found illegal drugs and people with warrants in the home. Every time this happens, it reminds me of a little child who covers their face hoping you will not see them. Did they think if they got quiet really fast when we knocked, we would think they magically disappeared?

What is ironic is that they did not want us to come in because there were drugs in the home, but if they had answered the door and come outside, we would not have had any reason to enter the home. So again, we must say thank you to the criminals for helping us find their drugs. It was not as much help as the guy that hid his drugs in the presence of his own security camera (for us to watch later), or the guy who told his girlfriend on a recorded jail phone to go get his money and re-hide it, but it was still some nice help nonetheless.

I have said before, you can't outrun paper. If you have a warrant for your arrest, it will follow you around wherever you go, and eventually you will get caught. Hiding under the covers won't work, wearing a hat and shaving your beard won't work, and holding your breath and not making noise after we knock on your door won't work. When we say we have enough evidence to get a warrant to come in and get you if you don't come out, we mean it.

We also had a person who had been on the run contact us and tell us they wanted to turn themselves in, but would never say where they were or actually come in. They had one warrant for their arrest, but after running from us and continuing to hide, they still ended up in jail, except with multiple other charges that resulted from their running.

It doesn't pay to run; it only puts people's lives in danger and delays something that will happen anyway. If you have charges against you, don't make it worse by running; come to the Sheriff's Office and face your accusers in a court of law.