Wanted man placed sign saying he ‘does not live here’ in front of house in bid to throw off police
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Polk County Sheriff's Office
A man wanted by Florida cops attempted to hide from them by posting a sign outside his home.
Johnny Yates was wanted on aggravated battery, false imprisonment and tampering charges and attempted to avoid arrest by posting a sign outside of his home reading 'Johnny Yates does NOT live here'.
Seems legit...
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Unsurprisingly, the sign failed to work and Yates went on to be arrested after police received a tip off that he was in fact hiding in the home.
Florida's Polk County Sheriff's Office have since taken to Facebook to share Yates' unique attempt at hiding from them.
"One of the worst things about being a cop is you always have to be open to the possibility that people are going to lie to you," they penned.
"No matter how sweet and innocent they seem.
"On Saturday, October 14th at around 2:45pm, PCSO deputies went to a residence on West 10th Street in Lakeland, after receiving a tip that a wanted person was at the residence.
"When the deputies arrived they noticed a note written on a dry-erase board in front of a window that said, 'Johnny Yates does NOT live here!!'
"Gee… a dry-erase board never lied to us before—should we believe it?"
Someone then exited the home and, when asked by police, they confirmed that Yates and a few others were holed up inside.
Deputies proceeded to surround the house and urged Yates to come out via loudspeaker.
Their efforts failed however, sparking them to use 'surrender smoke' (AKA tear gas) in the property.
Four people then left the home, but Yates was no where in sight.
Dexter the K-9 then managed to sniff out the wanted man, who was found the be hiding in a modified chest of drawers.
He was ultimately arrested and taken to jail.
In regards to the four others who initially refused to come out, Polk County wrote: "Each one received a parting gift: a charge of resisting and an all-expense paid trip to Grady Judd’s Bed & Breakfast."
The police have since been applauded for their efforts.
"Great story and greater job using the surrender smoke!! Thank you officers for Not Giving Up!!!" wrote on person on Facebook.
"Great job, congrats to you all!" said someone else.
A third further gushed: "Great job Polk County Sheriff's Office…. You guys are awesome and always get that job done."
Elsewhere, Yates was praised for his penmanship - even though the sign failed miserably.