We came home from the grocery store on a summer weekday about 11:30 am to find police scattered all over our yard and the surrounding yards, shotguns out. Actually, some friends of ours were passing through the area and decided to stop by and they ran in to the scene first, then called us. We were at the checkout line with the groceries when he told us of the situation, so we came home.
We live on a court and couldn't drive the full way down our street, so I rolled down the window and spoke to the first officer I could find. They told me that they chased a bank robber toward our development and lost him, then found his getaway car parked in my next door neighbor's driveway.
They had dogs on the scene and were picking up a scent leading away from the scene. One of the officers noted that I had a pretty upset and barking dog in my house and he told me that it was a good bet that my dog helped to make up this guy's mind not to enter my house.
He told me they searched all around my house and saw no signs of entry, but that they did not enter my house.
Then he told me that they did not plan to enter my house and clear it, so he suggested that I leave my family in the car and clear my own house!
I wasn't really sure about whether or not they'd be willing to assist me or do it for me if I asked, but I figured what the hell, I'd go ahead and do it. So I unlocked the door, looked around and went directly to my safe. My dog was acting predictably, exactly the way she does when someone is outside of our house. I relied heavily upon the dog and her actions/attitude that it was prudent for me to go to the safe and arm myself. (this was before I had my carry permit) I took my 12 gauge and loaded it, took a flashlight, and cleared my house 100%.
Then I put the shotgun back in the safe and went outside and told the officers that we didn't have anyone in there and no signs of trouble, nothing out of the ordinary. They let me drive the car in to our driveway and let our friends in, and they continued their search.
There was at least a couple of officers on the scene for about the next three hours. At one point about 90 minutes after we arrived, we had a knock at the door and one officer told us that they caught him about 2 miles away, on foot. They had the car torn apart with a lot of stuff piled in the neighbor's driveway.
Hope I'm not drifting the thread too much, just didn't think my little story warranted it's own thread. I found all the officers to be professional and calm, but I was kind of surprised that when I arrived, they didn't ask nor want to enter my house first, or hell, at all. Perhaps it was because they already had the dogs on a scent, I don't know, but they didn't seem to think that there would be anyone in my house.