A suspect hiding from police in his bathtub in Florida attempted to give cops the run around by directing them to a neighbor’s home, but the ruse was unsuccessful.

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, in late February, deputies responded to calls from a neighbor at around 1 a.m. regarding a criminal mischief complaint in the Lakeland area of Fitzgerald Road and South Florida Avenue.

The neighbor told police that the suspect, a 38-year-old named Stephen, had smashed their car’s windshield during a dispute and ran back to his home.

According to police, Stephen had also threatened to “hang” his neighbor’s family one by one.

“When deputies arrived on scene, (the suspect) was advised that a warrant for his arrest was obtained and that he needed to exit the residence and surrender,” a deputy reported in the affidavit.

However, “(He) refused to do so and barricaded himself in his residence. While on scene, I was advised by dispatch that (he) called 9-1-1 twice. In his first call, he advised the residents of (a nearby home) needed assistance, despite law enforcement being at that location at the time of the call. In his second call, (he) advised his mother needed EMS. At the time of this call, law enforcement was at his mother’s house and she was in active conversation with law enforcement.”

“Long story short (okay, maybe somewhat short. It’s not Pat the Bunny short, but it’s still … fewer words than a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book), deputies eventually went inside the house, led by K-9 Albi, and found Stephen hiding in the bathtub,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.

Stephen was later charged with aggravated stalking, felony criminal mischief, violation of probation, two counts of misuse of 9-1-1 and resisting officers.