You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

It's been a long Monday. I suppose every Monday that follows a good weekend is long ... but this one felt extra-long. A lot of that probably was due to the fact that I left home about two hours earlier than normal to head to Duplin County on a wing and a prayer ... hoping to catch the first court appearance for a former DMV theft prevention supervisor who has now been accused of being part of a theft ring. Go figure.

Heading to the courthouse a few hours earlier than the DA's scheduled press conference was a risk because suspects don't always show at their first court appearances. Sometimes their lawyers show up and take care of business for them. And, depending on the judge, sometimes it can take hours upon hours for first appearances to happen.

When I got to the Duplin County courthouse, Chelsea Donovan from WITN was also there. Apparently, we'd both taken the same risk. Little did we know, it was about to pay off.

As she and I stood squarely in front of the yet-to-open district courtroom, Bill Toman Jr. and his lawyer walked up the stairs. Chelsea and I were caught off guard, so our cameras weren't rolling. We were getting prepared to get some shots ... and then Toman and his lawyer went into the bathroom.

And stayed.

For 30 minutes.

To hide.

From two TV cameras.

Every once in a while, you'd see a sliver of light appear when Toman's lawyer cracked the door to see if the courtroom had opened up yet.

It was so comical the cowardice went mostly unnoticed. When bailiffs finally unlocked the courtroom, Toman and his attorney had to emerge. Despite their best efforts to make a run for it, we managed to get some 20 seconds of video as he walked in to the courtroom ... the former veteran law enforcement officer, now accused of abusing his power and the public trust.

Avoiding us by fleeing into the loo is just plain silly. We weren't going to attack him. We already had his mug shot. And there was no way in to the courtroom without passing by us.

If anything, it made it look like Toman had something to hide.

But it sounds like he's learning (on several levels) that you can run, but you can't hide.

Check out the video player below for my story: