They’re Going to Get You

     Something unusual has happened for the 2nd time this year in Cook County.  A person trying to avoid the long arm of the law thought he may be able to escape to the Gunflint Trail or possibly Canada.  The details of the incident are sketchy and unconfirmed at this point but I have pieced together my story that I will tell here.

     On Saturday a man paddled up to a dock of a cabin owner on nearby Gull Lake.  He was lost and wanted to go over his map with someone.  The cabin owner looked at the canoe and noticed it was his canoe that he normally kept at Way of the Wilderness near the Trail’s End Campground.  He vocalized this to the man in the canoe who replied that he had just purchased the canoe.  The cabin owner was doubtful and suggested they go to Way to figure out what had happened. 

     Together they made their way back to Way of the Wilderness.  The man wasn’t going to stick around to see what anyone at Way would say and fled in a vehicle.  A call to 911, a couple of road blocks and combined forces of the US Border Patrol and Cook County Sheriff’s Department stopped the man in his tracks.

     It was determined there was a warrant out for this man’s arrest and he was supposedly armed and dangerous.  Best guess is he was trying paddle to Canada but he didn’t get more than a half of a mile before getting lost.  Who knows if he had gear to paddle and camp but with the bad luck he had I doubt he would have made it to the border. 

     I wonder what the odds are of stealing a canoe only to be discovered moments later when you stop to ask the owner for directions.  Crazy stuff.  I hope people who have done illegal things will quickly learn Cook County isn’t the place to come to disappear.  A couple have tried this year and both have failed.  I’d suggest giving up, because if you come to Cook County then they’re going to get you.