A Lakeland man tried to evade deputies through … unconventional means when they tried to arrest him for aggravated battery, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.
The sheriff’s office said at about 2:45 p.m. Saturday, deputies went looking for Johnny Yates, 41, at a home on West 10th Street, only to be greeted by a whiteboard with the message “Johnny Yates does NOT live here!”
Seems legit, right?
Well, the deputies didn’t think so.
The sheriff’s office said deputies saw a person leaving the home, who told them that Johnny was inside with several other people.
The deputies used a loudspeaker to command Yates to leave the home, but after about an hour, they used smoke to get the occupants to get out.
After still getting no response, deputies used a K9 to search the home. The sheriff’s office said the dog sniffed out Yates, who was hiding “in a modified chest of drawers.”
Deputies said Yates and four other people who did not cooperate were arrested in the incident.