Man Wanted For Burglary Surrenders During Standoff With Another Suspect

Police officers will tell you, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, and that was the case over the weekend. They were in a standoff with one suspect, when another surrendered.

The officers were surprised, but didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so they gladly put both men in jail.

Police were in a standoff in West Tulsa Saturday afternoon with burglary suspect Jeremiah Seals. Police say he had broken into a house and stolen a car, then went to his aunt's house. They say Seals had a rifle and claimed to be suicidal, and was hiding in a shed in the backyard.

11/2/2013 Related Story: Tulsa Burglary Suspect In Custody After Hiding From Police For 5 Hours

"Jeremiah has been a person of interest in a number of cases--some violent, some not. He was involved in another SOT (Special Operations Team) call out earlier in the year, so he's on our hot list," said Detective Brandon Bennett.

Some officers were assigned to cover the wooded area in the back of the house. As they were waiting and listening to the officers out front, yelling through a bullhorn for the man to surrender, lo and behold, a different man came up to them and did just that.

"He said, 'Hey, I know you guys are looking for me,'" Bennett said.

And, sure enough, they had been looking for Michael Watts.

10/30/2013 Related Story: Police Search For Burglary Suspect Shot By Tulsa Homeowner

Police say Watts had broken into a house in midtown Tulsa weeks earlier and was shot six times by the homeowner.

Police interviewed Watts in the hospital and say he confessed, but they didn't arrest him, because if they would have, then citizens would've had to pay the hospital bills. So, since he wasn't considered violent, they decided to get a warrant for him instead.

Two days after surgery, Watts left the hospital and officers had been looking for him since last week.

But they never expected him to surrender while they were trying to arrest another guy.

Reporter Lori Fullbright: "Any time you can get two for one, it's a good day?"
Detective Brandon Bennett: "It's a great day, a great day."

Both Seals and Watts are in jail for burglary related charges.