My most challenging and satisfying case I’ve worked was about 7 years ago. This was a high-risk firing, at a hospital and the former employee was jealous that his wife was doing the mattress mambo with an in-house doctor. This guy, we’ll call Scotty, was out for revenge, he would stalk her and the doctor, but Scotty couldn’t find them because they were given the heads up by the client. This required a 2-man surveillance, 24/7 working 8-12-hour shifts and a man during the graveyard shift. It was vital for us to be as discreet as possible, in order to protect the case and the hospital. Working a 2-man surveillance taught me a lot about mobile surveillance from the “6”, cutting corners, getting back on the chase and just how to get the subject out clean from the neighborhood. I was trained with all the right things by a couple of maven’s, Andy and Jerry, with about 30 years of combined experience
But this guy was a different cat, why?
• Scotty loved guns and was a Purple Heart Award recipient. He had a restraining order served on him, meaning he had to get rid of his guns and stay away from this woman. Well, he hid the guns and gun safe at a friend’s residence and pawned the rest of the arsenal, both big no-noes.
• He bought a Mercedes SL AMG sports car, to try to win this women back and boy, he was a hard tail, especially on freeways as he opened that rocket ship up. He probably went 0-100 mph faster than it took you to read this sentence.
• He would also rent vehicles, wear a disguise (Elvis, no joke) and drive the hospital parking lot, looking for his ex’s vehicle. But he didn’t know, we notified security beforehand, so he wasn’t so sly after all.
• He attended church on the reg; not surprising.
• He’d drive by his ex’s apartment 2-3 times daily and hang out across the street in a new home build.
• We checked out the dirt lot one afternoon, against the fence, in direct line with the ex-wife’s balcony, was a “blind” set up. CREEPY!
• About 2 months have gone by now and it’s getting heavy, especially with a sniper location created. We notified Peoria PD and had a case created.
• Shortly later, Scotty arrived at a Pawn Shop, I entered the building and browsed the items for sale. I overheard and saw the subject pay back his pawn and acquire his AR back. OK, now this got real. He sat in the parking lot, loading the weapon.
• With the video and audio, I obtained, PD had enough evidence to arrest the subject. The next day, as the subject was hauling ass down the Loop 101 freeway, they said let me know where you land him and we’ll arrest him.
• I landed him at a different PI Agency, as he was setting up counter surveillance for the reason, the pawn shop manager alerted the subject after the he was interviewed by PD.
• PD arrived on site like it was out of a movie, undercover Chevy Malibu’s come squealing in, surround the joint and wait for him to exit. Jerry, Andy and I set up across the street, with a front row seat and a bag of popcorn.
• Minutes later, the subject exited, and he was thrown to the ground like a COPS episode.
• Short story long, he was under house arrest awaiting his trial, he voided house arrest and still tried to find the ex and new boyfriend. What a bozo. After that, he was thrown in the slammer.
This was extremely satisfying for me, for the team and for everyone involved. Peoria PD told us this is the first and soundest potential threat case they’ve seen and gave us much praise. We had no idea it would have escalated to the point it did, but that is what hard work, patience and team work does for ya.
“She had loved him for such a long time, she though. How was it that she did now know him at all?”- Cassandra Claire