Soccer Dad

This warrants your attention

Legal contact blogs about permissible deception. Authorities in Anne Arundel County sent letters to people with outstanding warrants promising them tax refunds. Those who showed up to collect the bounty were promptly arrested.

The authorities in North Dakota were a little more creative and promised the outstanding warrant folks a pre-concert party with Ozzy Osbourne.

Ozzy wasn't amused.

"Instead of holding a press conference to pat himself on the back, Sheriff Laney should be apologizing to me for using my name in connection with these arrests," Osbourne said in a statement.

"It is insulting to me and to my audience and it shows how lazy this particular sheriff is when it comes to doing his job," Osbourne said.

This is a guy who once bit the head off of a bat during a concert and he's worried about his reputation?

Well not everyone was so put off. Some of the fugitives were actually ... impressed.

"Three people called to say, 'I got one of those letters. Since you're being so creative, I'm turning myself in. Give me a court date,'" Laney said.

Not all authorities resort to trickery.

Over the past three days, more than 475 people have come to a Northwest Washington church to turn themselves in to a government-run "safe surrender program" for fugitives, including a man who walked from Landover, a woman who had been wanted for 20 years for shoplifting and a father encouraged by his son, who had just finished a 15-year prison sentence.

John Carrington Jr., 39, said he held his father's hand as the two walked into Bible Way Church on Friday. John Carrington Sr. had been facing a drug possession misdemeanor for three years but didn't want to turn himself in until his son got out, "so we could be together without any bars between us," Carrington said yesterday.

"When I heard about this program on the radio, I said, 'Dad, I heard something that I think is really meant for us,' " said the younger Carrington, who was released three weeks ago. He was convicted of possession of a firearm during a violent crime.

The rationale behind the program is this:

The program is aimed at getting nonviolent cases dealt with, as experts say fugitives -- even those wanted for minor offenses, such as traffic violations -- tend to be isolated from society, not wanting to apply for jobs, pay child support or sign up for drug treatment programs because they fear their records will be checked. About 28,000 warrants are outstanding in Washington, 15,000 of which are misdemeanors, the population Fugitive Safe Surrender is targeting.

Of the hundreds who turned themselves in, 10 were arrested. The rest saw their cases resolved or got a future hearing date. Thirty percent of the cases involved traffic violations, and the rest were criminal. Although the program focuses on nonviolent offenders, several people turned themselves in for more serious crimes including armed robbery, escape from a correctional facility and domestic violence, Sipes said.

criminal justice.