WAYNE CO.—Thanks to the fact that Wayne County is so closed off form the rest of the world (and there’s probably good reason for that), when something as explosive as an incident requiring the presence of a SWAT team happens, it’s cause for a pause.
However, under the circumstance of what happened to Nathan Easton last night, it’s not really clear whether a SWAT team was warranted.
Here's Nathan, susceptible to the obligatory Facebook/MySpace bathroom shot
According to published reports, law enforcement was called about a “person being at someone’s house in Geff and his presence was unwanted there,” code for dude had been told to leave and refused to do so, this occurring shortly after midnight last night, Dec. 30. There was also a scanner report of someone having run into a tree with a gray vehicle, and someone wanting to ‘pursue charges’ against this individual.
Not much was available until this morning when the official report came out that one Nathan A. Easton, 28, of Geff, was arrested in the early morning hours at a location in Geff. He had allegedly barricaded himself inside this home and from 12:15 until 4:50, refused to come out. At that time he finally apparently did emerge (or was apprehended by force, reports aren’t clear) and was taken into custody. He was preliminarily charged with disorderly conduct, home invasion, domestic battery, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal damage to property, theft, criminal trespass and resisting arrest…quite the laundry list of charges when we simply haven’t been advised of what the young man was accused of doing.
The sad thing about it is that people who were listening to the scanner were treated to the initial report of Easton allegedly screeching tires and running through a yard striking a tree. The whole thing ended so much worse, with home invasion, of all things, and theft….and a report, albeit unconfirmed, of the local version of a SWAT team (ILEAS, or, Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, something that might be needed but only for really significant threats, like ‘terrorism,’ but which have been composed of such glory hounds as the likes of Trent Masterson and Danny Ash in Lawrence County) being called in. What the hell? Was he armed? Were there people in the house with him? Was anyone in imminent danger? Was anyone evacuated from the surrounding homes, or was this some remote location out in the country? Who knows? Because God forbid any of Wayne County’s authorities release any information such as that….and when we ask for it, we’re stonewalled. This has, in the past, resulted in complaints to the attorney general’s office, and responses from same, telling Wayne County to get off their asses and provide information. But they still never LEARN.
...and here's Nathan's mugshot, in which he looks none the worse for wear (with that head abrasion notwithstanding).....but the shower curtain just made the pic above, don't you think?
So anyway, here we go headlong into the new year, and we still have archaic reporting from certain counties that you’d think would know better. Let’s hope that in the coming year, these people start doing a better job of informing the public….because as we like to say, the perps know what’s going on, the victims know what’s going on, the cops know what’s going on….the only people who DON’T know what’s going on is the public, and under many circumstances, that could be bad, for them, and for apprehending the crims that seem to plague us more frequently these days.