Assistant county attorney Thomas Laehn is still settling in to his new position and is taking opportunities to learn whenever he can.
Laehn told the supervisors earlier this month of accompanying Jefferson police officers as they executed a search warrant on Dec. 3. He didn’t tell any specifics about the warrant, but from matching his story to the daily report provided by JPD chief Mark Clouse, it was the search of the house at 902 N. Pinet St.
Officers had stopped to assist two males who were pushing a car in the 700 block of W. Wall St. One of the males was unable to provide identification and fled on foot, running to the house on Pinet.
The officer knocked on the door and as he spoke with the male who answered, he could smell marijuana. The 16-year-old who had run came back outside and was arrested for interference with official acts and providing false identification to an officer, both simple misdemeanors.
Officers and sheriff’s deputies waited outside until a search warrant was obtained, and one of them called Laehn and asked if he wanted to see a search executed. “It was good. I got to see what they’re doing on their end,” he said.
“It’s good for me to see what they do and have a better appreciation of what they do…. To see the interaction with the public, to see what it entails, the amount of manpower it takes. It helps me understand where the police are coming from when they invest a lot of time and the frustration when they don’t get to present evidence in court. The put a lot of effort into their jobs,” Laehn said.
He added that he may do that again from time to time, as his schedule allows.
