By Christy Arnold, Charlotte Sun-Herald (Charlotte, Fla.)
Charlotte Harbor, Fla. -- Running from the police is never a good idea. But leading law enforcement on a foot chase outside the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge is bound to end with a free ride to jail.
And that’s exactly what happened Friday morning when Jeffrey Lynn Cain tried to flee from Charlotte County Sheriff’s officials.
Members of the sheriff’s felony warrant squad went to a Charlotte Harbor home Friday morning with three arrest warrants for 29-year-old Cain.
When they arrived at his door, Cain shoved a detective, flew out the door and started running in only his shorts, said Sgt. Rick Goff.
The 20-minute pursuit included the sheriff’s helicopter, new K-9 Titus and several deputies as Cain dodged in and out of a canal, around homes and, of course, past the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 66 on Harper Avenue.
Cain’s already bad day was about to turn even more unlucky.
Retired police Sgt. John E. Sansbury, from the Prince Georges County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland, was painting the front door when Cain emerged from a canal.
And the retired police sergeant picked up the chase.
“I chased him down to the buildings,” Sansbury said. “He was just about winded.”
With Sansbury on his tail, Cain ran into a business in the neighborhood and locked himself in the bathroom.
Dead end.
Goff caught up and kicked the door down, finding a wet and tired Cain inside.
After spending 15 years in law enforcement, Sansbury didn’t expect to become involved in another foot chase.
“It’s been awhile,” he said. “I’m still catching my breath.”
In addition to the three charges of violation of probation (original charges: uttering a forged instrument and obtaining property by false representation), Cain now faces more trouble with the added charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence.
Cain has been in trouble with the law before. He has been convicted of driving without a valid license, violating his probation on numerous occasions, petty theft and grand theft.
And resisting arrest isn’t new to Cain either. He was convicted in 2002 of resisting without violence. He violated his probation on that charge in May 2003.
After deputies took Cain back to the Charlotte County Jail, where he was booked without bond, Sansbury went back to painting the front door of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge.
“It was fun,” said the 47-year-old retired sergeant. “I don’t miss the paperwork though.”
Sheriff Bill Cameron recently created the agency’s new felony warrant squad, which targets those in the community with active felony warrants.
With the help of citizens offering tips to Southwest Florida Crimestoppers, law enforcement agencies were able to close nearly 300 cases in Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Hendry and Glades counties.