You can run; you can hide; you can even attempt to swim across a bayou, but what you can’t do is get away from St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies.
Wednesday (February 8) afternoon, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies and detectives assisted the U.S. Marshal’s Service in apprehending a wanted individual.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of Ernest Day (DOB 11/12/1984) when he failed to show up for court in December 2022 after he was arrested in February of 2022 for one count each of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender and Disarming a Police Officer and two counts each of Resisting a Police Officer with Force or Violence and Batter of a Police Officer Resulting in an Injury that Required Medical Attention. Day had been released on bond for those charges in November of 2022.
In December 2022 another warrant was issued for his arrest for failing to make proper notification as a sex offender. Day was convicted in 2005 in Florida of a sex offense requiring him to register as a sex offender and make proper notification to neighbors. He did not complete that requirement after his November 2022 release.
On Wednesday, members of the Marshal’s Service, working with STPSO detectives, learned Day was possibly staying at a residence on East Porters River Road with his girlfriend, who had been reported missing. STPSO detective accompanied marshals to the residence in an attempt to take Day into custody and to locate the missing girlfriend.
When they arrived at the home, Day exited out of a rear door and ran into the nearby Brock Ham Bayou, where he apparently underestimated the depth of the water and literally got in over his head.
Members of the STPSO Marine Division were called to the scene. They launched boats and rescued Day from the bayou, where he was clinging to tree branches. Day was taken into custody and booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center for the above listed warrants.
The girlfriend, who was located inside the home, was deemed safe, removed from the system as a missing person and released.
“This is a perfect example of agencies and divisions working together to use every resource available to ensure a very dangerous criminal with a history of victimizing a child and injuring deputies is located, captured and taken off our streets so he can be held accountable for his crimes,” Sheriff Randy Smith said. “I thank everyone involved.”