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Exclusive: Ride Along As Deputies Search For Escambia’s Most Wanted

A Century man named as one of Escambia County’s most wanted remains free. Friday night, NorthEscambia.com hit the streets with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office for routine patrol as the search continued for Shawn Demarcus Simmons, 30, of Ivey Street, Century.

Updated: Simmons was captured after this story was originally published. Click here for that story.

During our five hour ride along with Deputy Tod Day, Simmons was target number one. As we drove the streets of Century, Day pointed out the places that Simmons was known to frequent in Century. (Pictured: Deputy Tod Day radios an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher.)

“He’s been known to hang out over there,” Day said as we drove through Simmons’ Ivey Street neighborhood.  Simmons is wanted for aggravated battery, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and robbery with a firearm in connection with the February 25 robbery of another Century man. He is also the prime “person of interest” in the March 4 armed robbery of Moyes State Line Food Mart.

We drove past the home of one of his relatives on Backwoods Road multiple times during the night and checked at another Century home that he is known to frequent.

“We are going to clear this house,” Day said as we stopped in front of a run-down house. Day and Sgt. Mike Workman were going to check the abandoned house where tipsters said Simmons would sleep some nights. “If you see him run out, yell at us,” Day said as he trained the spotlight from his vehicle on the house.

Weapons drawn and using just flashlights to see, Day and Workman carefully and methodically checked each room of the house for Simmons. They found lots of birds that flew out of the open doors of the old house, but no Simmons. (Pictured: Sgt. Mike Workman returns his weapon to his holster after clearing an abandoned house in the search for a suspect.)

Since NorthEscambia.com ran a story on March 10 that Simmons had been named one of Escambia County’s most wanted by the Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers program, dozens of tips have come in.  Deputies in Century frequently check out those tips, and tips led to a manhunt for Simmons recently in Brewton, another town he is known to frequent.

In the deputy workroom at the Century precinct of the Sheriff’s Office, there is one wanted poster hanging alone — Shawn Demarcus Simmons.

“He’s the one we really want right now,” Workman said. “We are going to get him; his time will run out.”

A Quiet Friday Night

Last Friday night was a rarity of sorts for the deputies of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Century Precinct. During the average Friday night, deputies answer multiple calls, often faced with traversing 25 to 30 or more miles between simultaneous calls for help. But last Friday night, the total number of calls between 6 and 11 p.m. was zero.

“It was really quiet; it’s not always like that,” Day said as he took a late-night dinner break at Whataburger. The eight-year deputy has been in Century for about a year; he knows that nights with no calls don’t happen often in North Escambia.

Our ride along started on the streets of Century. We were greeted and waved at by many outdoors enjoying the warm early evening. Day was in one of the department’s new Chevrolet Tahoes — a big step up from the older Crown Vics. One of our first stops was a ballpark off Jefferson Avenue and Front Streets where Day said drugs are sometimes a problem. We found a gentleman on a bicycle. (Pictured: Deputy Tod Day is seen on the video monitor in his new Chevrolet Tahoe as he shakes hands with a Century man near the town’s sewage treatment plant.)

“Good evening sir, how are you doing?” Day said before asking him for his identification. Alone on a bicycle and headed toward Century’s sewage treatment plant, he was a “suspicious person”. Finding nothing unusual about the gentleman and no problems with his ID, Day wished him a good evening as we continued our patrol.

At the Cottage Street railroad crossing, the crossing arms were stuck in a down position. We stopped, got the identification number off the railroad’s signal control box and radioed dispatch. An ordinary occurrence with the crossing arms — the dispatcher was already familiar with the box number as he called CSX to report the problem. (Pictured: Deputy Tod Day returns to his patrol vehicle after checking stuck crossing arms on Cottage Street in Century.)

Our patrol continued to Fischer’s Landing, but the flooded river blocked access. Returning along Highway 4, Day came within a short distance of putting a scratch or two on the brand new Tahoe as a trashcan blew off a passing trailer. Blue lights on, Day slowed traffic he removed the can from the roadway.

The next hour was quiet as we patrolled Century, across Highway 168 to Bratt and then to Walnut Hill. As we traveled south along Pine Forest Road, we began the search for the source of a large amount of smoke seen to the south. Our ordinary evening continued as we located an ordinary trash fire on Doran Road.  Darkness began to fall as we headed back to Highway 97 and to Molino.

On the way back to Century from Molino, we checked several side roads toward the Escambia River. Most were flooded. Along Dawson Road in Bluff Springs, Day pointed out a location where a few drug users had been busted in the past. Nothing unusual on this Friday night.

Another Century unit went out on a traffic stop — four miles away. We headed that way for backup. Everything was fine with the other unit, as we turned around on Highway 29 to do a traffic stop of our own near Glover Road about 8 p.m. due to a vehicle with improper lights.  The driver only received a warning.

Headed back into Century, Day spotted a vehicle with no tag. Blue lights were on, and the vehicle stopped in the parking lot of the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. The driver’s excuse for no tag turned out to be valid — he had just purchased the vehicle earlier in the day and had not had the opportunity to purchase his tag. The driver was prepared with his insurance information and bill of sale. (Pictured: A traffic stop in Century.)

Things did not turn out as well for the driver on our next traffic stop — he was off to jail. We found him on Freedom Road near Camellia Gardens Apartments. He had just a paper dealer tag on his new used car. Day followed him into the parking lot of the apartment complex before turning on the blue lights.

A records check determined our driver was driving with a suspended license, and he had a trespass warning that forbid him from being on the apartment complex property. The suspect had his son in the backseat of his car. Sgt. Workman joined Day as they waited for a relative to arrive to take the child as dad was arrested. (Pictured: A man accused of driving with a suspended license and trespassing is taken into custody by Sgt. Mike Workman, left, and Deputy Tod Day at Camellia Gardens Apartments in Century.)

The suspect, charged with driving with a suspended license and trespassing, had the unique honor of being the first prisoner placed in handcuffs in the back of the new Tahoe. He was transported back to the Century Precinct for paperwork and fingerprints before his ride to jail.

Then it was back to the streets to look for Simmons.

“We are going to get him,” Workman repeated.

Updated: Simmons was captured after this story was originally published. Click here for that story.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.