AULANDER – Seek and ye shall find.

An Aulander man sought a hiding place in the attic area of his home here Monday in an effort to elude local law enforcement officers.

However, after receiving a tip to his whereabouts, Alvin Barnes, 20, of 209 South Commerce Street, was taken into custody without further incident.

According to Aulander Police Chief Jimmy Barmer, he was in the process of questioning Barnes after stopping the man’s vehicle on East Main Street for improper license tags.

“When I asked him to take a seat in my patrol car, Mr. Barnes took off running,” Barmer said.

The police chief chased the suspect to Commerce Street where Barmer saw Barnes enter a residence.

“A while back, I had received a report from that same residence concerning gunshots, so I wasn’t about to enter the residence without back-up,” Barmer stressed.

Help was on its way in the form of Bertie County Sheriff’s deputies, Lewiston-Woodville Police Department, North Carolina Highway Patrol and Bertie Community Corrections.

Prior to their arrival, Barmer went to the front door of the residence where he was greeted by a teenage girl. She informed Barmer that Barnes was hiding in the attic.

When Barmer’s assistance arrived, several officers went into the residence and following a brief search, they discovered that Barnes had crawled through a hole in a closet and made his way into the attic area.

Bertie Sheriff’s Deputy Everett Gamble and Detective Kenny Gilliam made their way to that area and took Barnes into custody.

Barnes was charged with resist, delay and obstruct as well as no operators license. He was taken to the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail under a $5,000 secured bond. His court date is set for Feb. 22.

During the search process, Barmer said he had contacted Ryan’s Caf\u00E9 on Main Street and asked if someone there could go stand by his patrol car in order to secure the vehicle.

“When I got back to my car, there were 12 people standing around it,” Barmer said. “That made me feel good to know that the fine people of Aulander were helping law enforcement in a time of need.”

Barmer thanked the citizens for their help as well as the responding agencies. He added thanks to Town of Aulander workers who also assisted.