A Houston man who had successfully hidden from authorities inside a hollowed out couch in his living room was charged last week after he was discovered inside a closet and fled.
Chad A. Kirk, 26, of 727 Dooley Street, was charged by the Houston Police Department following a 2 p.m. incident April 11 at his home. His wife, Amber D. Kirk, 23, also faces felony charges for her role in helping her husband elude officers.
A South Central Drug Task force officer who suspected Chad was at the residence went to the location in an attempt to serve a pair of active Texas County warrants ––– one for stealing more than $500 but less than $25,000, and another for failure to appear. When the officer asked Amber if Chad was there, she reportedly told him he wasn’t.
While still at the residence, the officer discovered that Chad was in fact there, hiding in a closet. The officer ordered him to come out, at which time Chad fled from the house.
The officer pursued and eventually tackled him near a home on Augusta Street.
Officers from both the HPD and Texas County Sheriff’s Department had reportedly been to the residence several times in last few months looking for Chad, but were never able to find him.
Authorities said that one of the methods Chad used to avoid law officers was hiding inside a “hollowed out” couch in the living room. On one occasion, Amber reportedly stood in front of a cabinet in which Chad was hiding while a TCSD officer searched for him.
Following his arrest, Chad completed a written statement implicating himself in a burglary that occurred earlier this year in which more than $2,500 worth of electronic equipment and other items were stolen from a Houston residence. In addition to the two warrants from the previous charges, Chad was charged with fleeing from law enforcement.
Amber was charged with hindering the prosecution of a felony. Both were taken to the Texas County Jail, with bonds set at $150,000 apiece.