A man wanted by police in Florida tried to ward off police by putting up a large sign outside his house that read, “Johnny Yates Doesn’t Live Here!!”
It didn’t work.
Yates, 41, was wanted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal mischief, but was ultimately taken into custody.
Deputies showed up at Yates’ Lakeland home around 2:45 p.m. Saturday after receiving information that Yates was trapped indoors. The sheriff’s office made the announcement on Facebook..
“When deputies arrived, they noticed a note written on a whiteboard in front of the window that read, ‘Johnny Yates does not live here!!’” the post reads. “Oh…the dry erase board has never lied to us before. Should we believe it?”
Police questioned someone who came out of the home and confirmed that Yates was inside, but after surrounding the home for an hour and calling for the fugitives to come out, police decided to take the next step. It was necessary to proceed, the department said.
“Having had enough, ‘surrender smoke’ was spread inside the house and the four people left the house, but Johnny was not there,” the sheriff’s office said.
“Deputies made more calls, but there was still no response from Johnny, so we put another round of ‘Surrender Smoke’ into the house and let it waft out a little.”
“Still no response from Johnny,” the post reads. “Finally, officers and K-9 Dexter entered the home and found Johnny hiding in a converted dresser.
“Johnny was arrested and taken to jail.”
The agency said it had also dealt with four other people who had initially barricaded themselves in the house with Yates.
“As for the four who did not cooperate with deputies, each received a farewell charge of resisting and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Grady Judd Bed and Breakfast.”
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.