DADE CITY — Deputies showed up at Dennis Durkop's house to arrest him.

He told them he wasn't going.

An investigation indicated that Durkop, 58, had been viewing child pornography, according to the Dade City Police Department. A warrant for his arrest went to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Deputies arrived Thursday morning at Durkop's rooming house at 37641 Church Ave. and slapped on the handcuffs.

Durkop refused to put his legs into a deputy's patrol car, the Sheriff's Office report said. He carried sovereign citizen documents and told deputies he is a world citizen of the Iowa Republic. He said neither law enforcement, nor their warrants, had authority over him, according to the report.

Although sovereign citizens may live in a country, they believe they are not subject to its laws. There are about 300,000 sovereign citizens in America. Some show their independence by refusing to pay taxes or put license plates on their cars.

And some refuse to be taken into custody.

The Republic of Iowa's website refers to the United States as "they" and calls citizens slaves. It justifies its cause, saying "trickery [by] a powerful group of bankers moved the people out of government and into a corporation as if they were worker bees. To really have a free country as the founders planned it we must be a part of that republic and not stuck in the corporation as a worker bee."

On Thursday morning, deputies moved Durkop's legs into the car, the report says, and took him to jail on a charge of possession of child pornography. They tacked on a charge of resisting an officer and requested a high bail.

Durkop, who is cringing and appears to be struggling in his mugshot, remained in Land O'Lakes jail Friday in lieu of $10,500 bail.

Alex Orlando can be reached at aorlando@tampabay.com or (727) 869-6247.