In the early morning hours of October 30, 2024, officers from the Douglas Police Department arrested two individuals with active warrants sleeping against public buildings in separate incidents. One subject had warrants in Coffee County while the other subject was a fugitive from justice wanted out of Florida.
The first incident happened around 3 a.m. at Ollies. An incident report from the Douglas Police Department states that an officer saw a male subject, identified as Ryan Smith, 35, of Douglas, laying against the building. The officer turned around to speak to him and noticed that Smith had stood up and was collecting his personal items. According to the report, Smith said he was trying to get some money on his phone. The officer ran Smith’s information and discovered that he had several active warrants out of Florida and was showing full extradition. The officer had 911 contact authorities in Florida and they said they wanted Smith. He was transported to the Coffee County Jail.
About an hour and a half later, an officer was patrolling near the city pool when he noticed someone sleeping against the building. The officer questioned the subject, identified as Michael Ertley, 21, of Nicholls, who said that he had been kicked out of his house by his stepfather. The officer ran Ertley through 911 and he came back with several warrants through the sheriff’s office, one of which was for aggravated assault. He was arrested transported to the jail, where he was served with the warrants. He remains in the Coffee County Jail.
