Case 1 - Police

Case 1 - Police(jpater) It was a Monday morning; the start of a new week. Tina Cassidy was the dispatcher working the day shift when Detective J.P. Bullet came on duty. “J.P., the captain wants to see you and there are several other people in the room,” said Tina as J.P. was pouring a cup of coffee. He sat the cup on the desk and went into Captain Graves’ office.
Officer Harvey Lucas, Antonio Perez, and Rebella Howard were in Captain Graves’ office. “Close the door,” Said Captain Graves. “The reason I have called this meeting is because the crime rate is skyrocketing and it is the highest it has ever been. Cases are going unsolved and citizens are complaining about the department not doing anything. That is why I am forming a special task force comprising the four of you to go out and stop these crooks,” said Captain Graves.
Everyone left Captain Graves’ office. “Harvey, Antonio, I want you to start going through the unsolved cases and see if you can find a pattern to these crimes because I suspect they are all related. I and Rebella will hit the streets,” Said J.P.

J.P. was leaving, but Tina stopped him. “Here you go, a fresh cup of coffee with two sugars just the way you like,” said Tina with a big smile on her face. J.P. took the cup and thanked her.

As J.P. was driving down the road, he noticed that Rebella had a mischievous grin on her face, but did not say anything. Rebella finally broke the silence. “Is Tina your girlfriend?” she asked. “No. What are you talking about?” asked J.P. “I think she likes you,” said Rebella with a grin. “You saw the smile and the look in her eyes when she gave you that cup of coffee” continued Rebella. “She was just trying to be polite,” said J.P. “Yeah right!” said Rebella.

Tina was thumbing through a magazine when the phone rang. Tina set the magazine down and answered the phone. “911 what is your emergency?” asked Tina. “I am being robbed!” said the frantic caller. Tina looked at the computer screen. The name and address on the screen was Big Als; 5543 Bascom Street. “Hold on one minute but stay on the line with me until help arrives,” said Tina. She mashed the talk button on the radio. “Dispatch to all units in the area of Bascom Road, be advised there is a 10-64 at 5543 Bascom Road,” said Tina.

J.P. and Rebella were close to Bascom Street. J.P. picked up the microphone. “Dispatch this is 5-George-31, we are enroute to 5543 Bascom, code 1, priority 1.” Tina acknowledged that J.P. was enroute to the scene.

As J.P. pulled up to the scene of the crime he saw Marcus LaMone. When Marcus saw J.P., he turned around and started running. J.P. followed behind him in his car. J.P. pulled up beside Marcus as he was running. “Why don’t you stop running and slip into these,” said J.P. holding up handcuffs. Marcus did not say a word but kept running. He ran into an alley. J.P. drove past the alley. He made a right turn onto Dixon and then made a right turn on Presley and stopped in front of the alley that ran between Bascom and Presley.

J.P. and Rebella got out of the car. They drew their service revolvers and went into the alley. They came upon a stack of boxes. J.P. stopped and went over to the stack of boxes. He knocked some of the boxes over and shouted “Come out with your hands up!!! Marcus rose up from hiding. J.P. read him his rights and then arrested him.

Back at headquarters, Marcus requested to speak to J.P. “I am ready to talk,” said Marcus. J.P. pulled out a chair and sat down. “Alister Crane paid some people off to get Brandon Bobel out of the Federal Penitentiary so they could join forces to form a criminal empire and they hired me to rob the electronic store,” said Marcus. J.P. started laughing at the story. “Bubba! Are you telling me that a criminal mastermind with millions of dollars is going to bribe people to get a mob boss out of a federal penitentiary and then get a petty crook like you to rob an electronic business, that is rich!!!” said J.P. still laughing at the story. “Ok, I did not rob the electronic store, but I know who did,” said Marcus. “Who robbed the electronic store?” asked J.P., beginning to lose his patience with Marcus. “Barney B” said Marcus. “I saw him talking to this henchman and this henchman was giving him instructions from Alister,” said Marcus. “How do you know that Alister got Brandon out of the pen?” asked J.P. “Word on the street, man!” said Marcus.

J.P. left the interrogation room. Rebella was finishing the arrest report on Marcus. Harvey and Antonio were still going through the files. “Did you get anything out of Marcus?” asked Harvey. “Supposedly Alister Crane bribed some people and got Brandon Bobel out of prison and Barney B. was the one that robbed the electronic store. Rebella dropped the pen she was writing with. “I know Brandon Babel, he was known as the Big Boss and at the time I was at a low point in my life where I turned to a life of crime, Brandon would recruit me to do jobs for him. I got help and turned my life around and I helped take down that oversized tub of lard,” said Rebella. “If he is behind this crime spree, we are going to catch him and put him back where he belongs,” said J.P.

“Antonio, I want you to get with CSI and see if they are through with the surveillance video. If they are, I want you and Harvey to look at it and if there is any chance it is Barney B. I want you to go pick him up,” said J.P. “I am on it,” said Antonio.

Tina walked by where J.P., Harvey and Rebella were sitting. “I am going home. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” said Tina. “I will walk you to your car, said J.P. getting out of the chair. “They have the hots for each other,” whispered Rebella, to Harvey.

Tina got in the car and it would not start. “Man! I must have left the lights on,” said Tina. “I will take you to get a new battery,” said J.P. “Does this mean I get to ride in your 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner Convertible?” asked Tina. “Yes,” said J.P. “All Right!” said Tina with excitement.

Antonio finished reviewing the surveillance tapes. “Harvey, I reviewed the tapes and you can’t get a good facial image. The suspect is heavy set and around 5 to 5 and half feet tall,” said Antonio. “Is there any possibility that is Barney?” asked Harvey. “It could be Barney but I can’t be 100% sure,” said Antonio. “I guess we need to go look Barney up and ask him a few questions, said Harvey.

As Harvey and Antonio were leaving, Ola motioned them to come into dispatch. “Is there anyway one of you could man the radio while I take a break?” asked Ola. “We were just fixing to hit the street and see if we could locate someone,” said Harvey. “Harvey, you and Rebella go, I will handle the dispatch,” said Antonio.

Harvey and Rebella went to a house on 115th Street. “This is where Barney’s grandma used to live. When he broke the law, he would often come here to hide out until the cases grew cold,” said Harvey. “It looks like a dump,” said Rebella. Harvey and Rebella went towards the house. “I wished we had a warrant so we could go in there and arrest him. If he is in there and does not answer the door, or refuses to answer questions, there is not a whole lot we can do,” Said Harvey. Rebella saw someone peeking out the window. “Harvey, this place is way too creepy for me. I am going to go wait by the car,” said Rebella. Rebella went to the back of the house and waited. The back door flung open as Barney came running out. “What’s the hurry, said Rebella, looking at her fingernails. “I-I-I- am innocent. I-I-I am being framed. I-I-I want my attorney,” stuttered Barney. “Shut up! You babbling buffoon! We would like for you to come down to the station and answer a few questions,” said Rebella. Barney agreed to go down to the station and answer the questions.

Back at the precinct, Barney was in the interrogation room by himself and was getting very nervous.

“I think Rebella needs to go in there alone and find out what Barney knows,” said J.P., returning to the office after taking Tina to get a battery for her car.

Rebella went into the interrogation room and pulled out a chair. “What do you want to know?” asked Barney, who was red faced and sweating from nervousness. “There was a heist at an electronic store, and the suspect looked similar to you. All we need to know is where you were on Monday, April 23rd around 10 AM,” said Rebella. “I-I-I confessed I did it,” said Barney. “I was walking down the street and was stopped by this guy. He paid me to rob the electronic store and steal money from the register and take the loot to a warehouse on East 9th. I went there and this place was heavily guarded. I met these two men, they did not tell me their names. One was an older gentleman in his late 50s or early 60s”. Rebella interrupted “Let me guess, the other guy wore a white shirt and jeans and looked like a tub of lard?” Barney shook his head yes. Rebella stormed out of the interrogation room. “I will be back in a little bit,” said Rebella. J.P. was suspicious of her action. “Harvey, Antonio, I want you to follow her and see where she is going.” said J.P.

Rebella went to her house and changed clothes and got a backpack and went to the warehouse on East 9th. Harvey and Antonio followed her like J.P. instructed. Harvey noticed the two guards. “I don’t like the looks of this,” said Harvey. “Me neither, I am fixing to call J.P. and request back-up,” said Antonio. “You better tell him to bring as many as he can get,” said Harvey. Antonio took out a cell phone and called J.P. “We are at a warehouse on East 9th, we need back-up and lots of it,” said Antonio. “We are on the way,” said J.P. On the way out, he stopped and told Ola to dispatch all available units to the warehouse on East 9th.

Rebella approached the main entrance to the warehouse. She hid in some bushes and put on an infrared night vision goggles. She reached in her backpack and took out a glass cutter. She very carefully cut out a piece of glass big enough for her to crawl through. Once inside the warehouse she saw infrared lights and knew that if she touched one that the alarm would go on. She attempted to do a somersault to get past the infrared light. She lost her balance and fell touching the infrared light which activated the alarm system. As she was starting to get up, guards surrounded her.

Harvey and Antonio were waiting on back-up when the alarm went on. “She is in trouble,” said Antonio. “Let’s go!” shouted Harvey getting out of the car.

Rebella was tied to a chair. Brandon came into the room. “So we meet again. You disappointed me. I don’t like it when people disappoint me,” said Brandon. “I was working undercover to get information for you, I was trying to help you by learning their tricks,” said Rebella. “I am ready to go back to working for you, look at what I wear! Look at these hideous looking earrings, said Rebella turning her head so that Brandon could see them. “They are not really your style,” said Brandon.

“She’s lying and trying to trick you,” said a voice from another room. Alister entered the room with two henchmen. “She is working for the police. Take her out back and get rid of her,” said Alister.

Harvey and Antonio were approaching the warehouse when J.P. and the other units arrived.

The guards saw all the officers coming and were getting ready to run. “Don’t move and put your hands in the air!” shouted Antonio. The guards did what they were told to do. Harvey and Antonio handcuffed the guards as J.P. and the other officers entered the building.

Inside the building were numerous guards and henchmen. “We are the police and you are all under arrest,” said J.P. In a state of confusion the henchmen and guards started running in all directions.

J.P., Harvey and Antonio entered the room where Rebella was being held captive. J.P. put his service revolver back into the holster and untied Rebella while Harvey and Antonio continued the chase. Harvey and Antonio came back into the room. “Sorry, Boss, but they got away,” said Harvey.

The next morning Rebella was in the interrogation room with her hands over face crying. Harvey came into the room. Rebella tried to hide that she had been crying. “J.P. and the captain want to have a meeting with us,” said Harvey. “Okay, I will be there in a minute,” said Rebella. “Have you been crying?” asked Harvey. “No I have not.” Then Rebella paused “yes, I have,” she said as she was fixing to start crying again. Harvey pulled out a chair. “Do you want to talk about it?” asked Harvey. “Before I became a police officer, I could break into any building, get past any alarm system have the loot and gone before anyone knew it,” said Rebella. She started to cry, “Now I am afraid I am losing my touch, I tried to get past Alister and Brandon’s alarm system, but I got caught,” said Rebella. “You were just having an off day,” said Harvey. “Do you know how many somersault routines I have done getting past alarm systems?” asked Rebella. “I guess this is a sign that I am becoming ineffective,” cried Rebella. “No it is not a sign you are becoming ineffective. It is a sign that you are human. It does not matter if you do something 10 times, hundred times, or even 1000 times, there is always at least 1 time you are going to make a mistake,” said Harvey. Rebella stopped crying. “Thanks, Harvey,” said Rebella. Rebella stood up. “I guess it is time to find out what my punishment is for going to a place without back-up and nearly getting myself killed,” said Rebella.

Rebella entered Captain Graves’ office. Harvey went in behind her. “Close the door,” said Captain Graves. “J.P. has a speech and is going to present one of you with an Inspector Badge. Take it away J.P.” said Captain Graves. “I want to tell everyone that I am proud of their job performance. Unfortunately Alister and Brandon got away. Make no mistake the chase is not over and won’t be over until both of them are caught and put away for good,” said J.P. “Rebella please stand up,” said J.P. Rebella stood up. “Congratulations, you are being promoted to inspector,” said J.P. handing her the inspector badge. Rebella looked surprised and did not know what to say. “Don’t worry you don’t have to give a speech,” said Captain Graves jokingly. “All right, it’s time to get back out there and round up the bad guys,” said J.P.

As J.P. was heading out Tina stopped him. “Here you go sir, coffee; with two sugars just the way you like it.” Before he said or did anything, J.P. let everyone leave the room. Then he gave Tina a kiss on the cheek. Then he left the room. Tina sat down in the office chair. She was both surprised and excited at the same time.