The ethics call on this story is easy, though it is tempting to say otherwise.

Anthony S. Darwin was on the lam for six years in Wisconsin, eluding law enforcement authorities who were seeking to arrest him on pending charges of aggravated battery, bail jumping, battery, robbery with use of force, substantial battery and identity theft. Then he suddenly surrendered… because he realized he needed treatment for a life-threatening cancer.

The Rock County sheriff, however, wasn’t having any of it: he wanted to tell Darwin to get someone else to pay for his testicular cancer surgery.  He asked a court to order Darwin released, essentially saying, “You wanted your freedom? Great: here it is, and good luck with your cancer, jerk. This time, we won’t be wasting our time chasing you.”

Would that have served Darwin right? Oh yes. This is playing the system for sure: Darwin refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes, makes the state spend money chasing him, and then, when being in state custody can save his life, he decides to give himself up. Makes you want to scream.

Nevertheless, according to the Janesville, Wisconsin Gazette, the sheriff didn’t get his way. Darwin had cancer surgery in Madison last week. The state authorities did the right thing, and the only thing they could do.

Wisconsin can’t refuse its duty to enforce the law. It can’t let an occasionally violent felon like Darwin run free, threatening the safety of the public, even if he won’t be running long. And once he’s a prisoner of the state, Wisconsin can’t avoid the responsibility of taking care of his health needs, no matter how much the state would love to avoid it, and no matter how much it would seem like a fair punishment for Darwin, who jumped bail and refused to meet his obligations as a citizen, to be denied treatment by the very undeserved freedom he sought. Darwin hasn’t even been convicted yet; officially, he’s an innocent man. The state has to save his life, before they lock him away.

If it’s any consolation, the taxpayers would have to pay for Darwin’s treatment whether he checked into prison or an emergency room. The one advantage of being a fugitive from justice, it seems, is that you can stop being one whenever you choose. You’re the bad guy, and you’re surrendering to the good guys, who have a duty to keep being good, as much as they might like to do something else.

But it still is awfully aggravating.