Running, hiding and going to jail

It takes a lot of talent to run through the woods from law enforcement and manage to miss every tree as you run, so it was no surprise when the guy I was chasing was stopped by a mid-sized oak tree after he had made it about 100 yards into the woods. Once he hit the tree he decided to try the opposite of running, so he lay down on the ground with his head buried in the leaves to help conceal himself. This method would have worked better than running through a thickly wooded area if he had only remembered to hide the rest of his body as well.

I was recently talking to a citizen who asked how many people run from us, and as I began to tell him a few stories of people who ran over the years, it reminded me how many people we had caught because they did not put very much thought into getting away. We have arrested people in vehicle pursuits after their car ran out of gas, because their car was broken and would not drive more than 15 miles per hour, and because of my favorite, they turned down a dead-end road and had nowhere to go. When they turn down dead-end roads or people’s driveways they thought were dead-end roads, we have had people stop in front yards, almost drive into steep ravines, and in one case, into a muddy cornfield where the mud was so deep, the driver only made it a few feet from his truck before he too became stuck.

Although it seems most criminals prefer to flee in a motor vehicle, they never hesitate to run on foot if a vehicle is not available to them. When this happens, they often try to run into wooded areas or cornfields in the hope of getting away, but that seldom works except for making sure they are completely tired when we find them and take them to jail. We once arrested a person who ran for nearly a week on foot and stayed in the woods each night and drank out of streams and an occasional water hose when he could find one. He almost made it to his destination when he was arrested while crossing a road. Although he stayed “free” for a few days longer, he was covered in tick and chigger bites when we found him. He was also very hungry and thirsty when he arrived at the Vernon County Bed & Breakfast. We have arrested people who ran into stranger’s homes to hide, they have laid down in corn fields for hours hoping we would give up and go home. We had water, food, and time on our side while they only had time and soon gave in to the need to find water.

We have found people hiding in bathtubs, under beds, in beds under the covers, under houses, in the attics of houses, and one of my favorites, in a closet full of women’s clothes with their feet sticking out in plain sight (they had large feet). Many times, they find out the hard way that attics are not stable places to crawl around and hide, as we have had several fall through the ceiling. They find out the hard way that bathtubs are not good places to jump into if they are filled with bathwater (we can hear the splash), and they never seem to learn that we are always going to check under the big pile of laundry in the middle of the floor. It can be hard to stay on the run, and some give it more effort than others. If you have made a bad choice that is going to land you jail, do not make it a chain of events. Do not take that step and create more problems that will also affect your ability to move past the first mistake and live a life that is free from running from the police.