The week started off slow, but built up to a very busy Thursday night in my new beat. Lots of accidents and more property crime seemed to be the theme for the week.
B and I rode together for two nights and I was the print unit on Friday. B and I rode together on Monday and it was extremely slow. Not a single call for service dropped in our beat for the entire shift. We checked by with some units in nearby beats on their calls. In my area of town, land is scarce. It is not like the suburbs, where acres are purchased by a developer and then divided into lots where homes are then built. Where I work, most if not all of the land has been spoken for. New construction is build where something else has been torn down. In an effort to maximize revenues and utilize the space, townhouses are being built everywhere. Late in the shift on Monday, we checked by on a suspicious person call. A townhouse resident who had been up and out early, had seen someone in a nearby townhouse that was under construction. We checked the townhouse, but whomever had been inside, left before we arrived. No damage had been done to the house. The home had four floors with a bathroom on every floor. You would not want to have to use stairs to go to the bathroom, would you? There was also a nice little deck on the roof with a great view of a power pole. Maybe that is why this unit was the last one to sell.
Tuesday night, B and I rode together again. Early in the shift we were dispatched to a burglary of a residence in progress. We arrived at the address and found, a four story townhouse. The gate was unlocked, so we checked the front door and then the rear patio doors. B climbed a spiral staircase to the second floor patio. He was met at the door by the homeowner and her 13 year old son. We finished checking the house and everything was secure. The 13 year old had been startled awake by a loud noise in the kitchen. He then heard some more noise, got scared, and called the police. The mother told us that they recently had an intruder in their home, so the son is understandably nervous. We spoke with them for a little while, and gave them a chance to calm down. I told the son that he did the right thing by calling the police. We don't mind checking houses for citizens, just part of the our job.
A few hours later we were sent to a kidnapping that had just occurred. The call slip read that at an adult entertainment establishment that is close to our district, a waitress had been kidnapped by a customer. A security guard saw it happen and jumped into the bed of the customer's truck. The security guard then called the police and kept updating his location until we found them. When we arrived, the truck had stopped and the waitress and the customer were talking and the security guard was across the street waiting for the police. The waitress, who by the looks of her probably danced in the past, told me that the man driving the truck was one of her best customers. He comes into the club at least 3-4 times a week and tips very well. However, a few weeks ago he told her that he is going through a divorce (shocker). What wife would not want her husband at the strip club three of four times a week? Since he told her about the impending divorce, he has become very possessive and jealous of her in the club. He does not like her to serve or service other customers while he is there.
So, tonight she had been talking to him after getting him another drink. She had to leave to take care of another customer, and he started to complain, telling her that she was not going to come back. In an effort to appease him, she gave him her cell phone. Her thinking was that way she had to come back and he would relax. It worked, but she forgot to get her phone back before closing time. At closing time she realized that he still had her phone and she ran out to the parking lot. She saw him getting into his truck. She ran over and opened the passenger side door. A loud conversation ensued and she ended up getting into the truck. As soon as she got in, he started driving away. The security guard heard the loud conversation and started running toward the truck. When the truck started to leave with the waitress, the security guard thought that she was being kidnapped and jumped into the back.
The waitress told me that she just wanted her phone back and that she was not ever in fear for her life and that she did not feel that she had been held against her will. So, we got her phone back from the customer. Since she had not been kidnapped or held against her will, we did not have any charges on the customer for the incident. However, in the course of talking to the customer, we noticed a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath. He admitted to 5 beers, which was amazing since everyone always says, "2". I called a DWI task force officer who then did the field sobriety tests and arrested him for the suspicion of DWI. The customer was then given the opportunity to take a breath test and blew a .17, over twice the legal limit of .08. The moral of the story is do not get too attached to your waitress, and don't drink and drive.
Wednesday night I was riding solo and was dispatched to a burglary of a motor vehicle that had just occurred. The call slip said that a neighbor had witnessed the burglary and gave a description of the suspect. When I arrived, the owner of the truck said that he had just seen a male on a bicycle matching the suspect's description. So, I set out in search of the suspect. I found him on his bicycle a few block away riding away from the area. I stopped him and took him into custody. In the process of searching him, I found two baseball sized rocks in his pockets. I tossed his bicycle in the trunk and took him back to the scene to see if he could be identified by the witness. The witness was hesitant to get involved, but did eventually decide to look at the suspect. The witness only saw the suspect from behind, so he could not positively identify him as the person he had seen break the window of the truck. No property had been stolen out of the truck. When I was looking at the damage to the truck, I saw a rock on the dashboard. A rock that looked almost identical to the rocks that had been in the suspect's pockets. I called the district attorney's office to see if they would accept charges on the suspect. The DA thought that the "matching rocks" from the suspect's pocket and the dashboard was not good enough, so I got his bicycle out of the trunk and released him. BMV suspects are hard to catch. It was too bad that I had to let one go.
Thursday night was the busiest night so far in my new beat. I ran 10 calls and 6 of them were all on the same street. Three of them were motor vehicle accidents. And two of those accidents were caused by someone failing to yield the right of way while turning left. The accidents reminded me of mine in March.
On Friday, I was the print unit. With all of the recent property crime, the regular print unit has been very busy. However, Friday night was not a busy print night. I did not have any print calls, but did run a picture call. Two males got into a fight over a girl at a club. A security guard stepped in to stop the fight and both males turned on the guard. One of the males pushed the guard and the other picked up a stool and hit the guard in the head with the stool. Both males went to jail. I took pictures of the guard, his uniform, and his injuries. I took the pictures of his uniform to prove that he was acting as a security guard when he was assaulted. That way the charges against the males could be enhanced to a felony since the guard was acting in the scope of his duties when he was assaulted. Somehow, I do not think that the female they were fighting over was worth a felony charge.
If you have made it this far, congratulations. Sorry for being so long winded. That brings to a close, another week on patrol.
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