Police Notes // I am a police officer in Florida for the past 13 years. I write "policenotes" in blog form for people to see just what it is like to be a police officer. Some of the posts are funny, some serious, and some educational. I hope you enjoy reading my posts and please feel free to ask any questions you may have. If you have something you would like to contribute to the blog such as photos, stories, or videos, email post@policenotes.posterous.com
An off duty officer looks out his window and sees a kid looking into his neighbors car. The kid then tries to open all the doors by pulling on the handles but the car was locked. The officer yells at the kid who runs back to the car, which speeds off. Other officers and myself respond to the area and find the car. There are 3 kids inside who say they were going to a friends house but got lost. They are stopped down the street from the friend who comes out and tells us the kids have been to his house over 100 times in the past and there is no way they were lost. Inside the car we find 2 loaded guns. One revolver and one semi-automatic. They were stuck between the seats of the driver and front passenger. These kids were all tattooed up but denied being in any gang. The worst part is they were 17 and 18 years old. All got charged with attempted burglary and possession of a firearm.
Cops = 3
Burglars = 0 and 2 guns off the streets!
A guy comes home to his apartment to see a male rummaging thru his wife’s car. He immediately jumps out of his car and yells at the guy. The guy looks up and takes off running. The victim chases after him thru the complex and corners him in the back parking lot, all while calling the police. The burglar fights with the victim but the victim clocks him one time and knocks him down. The burglary gets up and tries to run away again, but the victim catches him and holds him down until police arrive.
We handcuff the guy and he tries to tell us he was just walking home, which happens to be in the complex. Nice.......break into cars in your own neighborhood. No one said criminals were smart. Off to jail he goes.
Citizen = 1
Burglar = 0
A few years back I was sitting in iHop eating dinner when an emergency call came out over the air. Dispatch advised they were receiving multiple calls of shots being fired. So much for dinner. On the way to the call dispatch comes back over the air and advises that multiple callers can see someone down in the lobby of an apartment building and it looks like they are bleeding. The callers further advise that they can see a man with a gun running around the parking lot yelling. They state it appears he is trying to now shoot himself in the head.
All I can think of while enroute is I want to get this guy. I am one of the first units on scene and can see someone laying on the floor of the apartment building lobby along with a guy in the parking lot waving a gun yelling, "I can't even kill myself." I order him several times to drop the gun and get on the ground. Luckily he complies and we take him into custody. As I am handcuffing him I can see he has blood coming from his head. I quickly ask him why he is bleeding and he tells me he shot himself in the head, but he is still alive and doesn't know why.
Rescue is called in and I ride with them to the hospital. The other male in the apartment building is pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives are called out and they find the shooters backpack in the lobby with handcuffs, rope, and a pillow inside. At the hospital, doctors tell me it appears the suspect tried to shoot himself in the head, but the bullet only grazed him. The doctors were washing it out and bandaging up the wound. No stitches were needed.
After the investigation is concluded it was determined that the deceased and the suspect were lovers. The deceased broke it off with the suspect and told him he was going back to his wife. The shooter decided that if he couldn't have him no one could and camped out in the lobby over night waiting for the deceased to leave for work. The suspect said he was going to initially tie him up until he agreed to take him back, but the deceased fought back so the suspect shot him. After shooting him, the suspect tried to shoot himself but was using a .45 caliber handgun and the kickback cause the gun to fire high, only grazing the suspect.
Detectives were able to prove premeditated murder and charged him accordingly. The case never went to trial because the guy pled out to life in prison with no possibility of parole. When I look back I am thankful the suspect surrendered so easily. Things could have gone wrong really bad.
An anonymous caller calls the police department and advises that she sees a male standing outside of an apartment and that he has been there for over 10 minutes. The caller states it looks like he is trying to break into the apartment. Upon arrival we can see the male at the front door of an apartment jiggling and pulling on the door handle. We watch him from cover and see him break off the metal glass breaker thingy from a nearby fire extinguisher. The male tries to use that to pry open the door.
As we watch him you can tell he is trying to do it very quietly. After a few unsuccessful tries the male turns to leave and runs right into our waiting arms. We order him to lay down which he refuses to do until he sees the taser's laser light on his chest. Once in custody we find marijuana and xanax in his pocket along with several Viagra pills. The male insists his girlfriend lives there and he was just trying to visit her. We contact the home owner who is the males ex-girlfriend. She says he has been calling her all night and she has been telling him to leave her alone. She had no idea he was at the apartment trying to break in and was pretty shaken up over it. They have been broken up for over a month and she wants to press charges. He is off to jail and she goes back to bed.
Officer attempts to stop a Mercedes for running a stop sign. The guy quickly makes a right turn into an apartment complex and bails out of the car, which, is still in drive. The officer chases the guy a few blocks but loses him in a large over grown field. A perimeter is set and the k-9 dog is brought in to track the perp. The k-9 leads the handler thru the field and to a canal.
At about the same time another officer on the other side of the canal finds the perp walking down the road like nothing happened. The perp denies being the driver of the car, however, he is soaking wet and covered in little sticky plants from the field. The officer who initially was chasing him positively identifies him. The vehicle's tag came back to an elderly couple in another city and when that police department went by they said their car had been stolen.
O remember when the perp bailed out of the car and left it in drive? Well it ended up rolling down the street and crashing into a power pole which knocked power out to the entire area and 3 major intersections. Now 6 officers are tied up directing traffic and the perp is off to jail.
We responded to a burglary in progress. The victim called and stated she saw 2 males breaking into cars in the parking lot and then flee on foot. We set up a perimeter and the K-9 dog comes to track them. The burglars had broken into a screened in back porch and hid in the laundry room. The K-9 dog tracked right to where they were hiding. They are both arrested and charged with numerous vehicle burglaries and 1 residential burglary. Good job K-9!
