April 23: Beth and Melanie are still trying to work out exactly what happened in that ID theft case
Next up was Detective Elijah Page. A broad-shouldered Black man with the instincts of a scent hound and the soul of a gentleman.
“Well, my story’s not as interesting as Detective Brown’s,” he said sheepishly.
Ha.
Detective Page was a patrol deputy until he joined the Detective Unit in December of 2023. He was looking to build a caseload, so when he heard about a case from a patrol deputy, he looked into it.
Here’s what happened:
A young (high school) female befriended the victim, who happened to be a man in his sixties (and if you made certain assumptions about the man when you read that, Detective Page will confirm them.)
The day of the robbery, the man received multiple texts from the suspect, asking if he was home and if he would be home all day. It felt pushy, considering the suspect had only known the victim for a few weeks.
Unfortunately, the suspect did manage to get in while the victim was out, and took a number of the victim’s firearms, including two that were family heirlooms. However, the victim knew the suspect’s name (Ashley).
It took a week to get a warrant, because they also needed a warrant to send in a SWAT team and a TEMS (Tactical Emergency Medical Services) medic. But they got the warrants, and did a search of Ashley’s father’s home (in a trailer park), looking for both weapons and drugs. One of the guns taken during the burglary was in the house. Ashley was also in the trailer park.
In a strange twist, Detective Page was there in the role of medic, rather than law enforcement (and don’t you wish you knew more about him, now? Because I do.) He couldn’t do an interview.
Detective Page: “But I could put two and two together.”
He scanned criminal reports, looking for cases involving stolen firearms, and found links in a number of them. Enough for probable cause to get another warrant to search the father’s home.
Detective Page: “He was not real law-enforcement friendly.”
But this time, the detective could do an interview, and discovered that Ashley had sold the gun to her father, and that it was not the first time she had sold him a gun. Her brother, Michael, had also recently sold their father a gun. According to Ashley’s father, Ashley and her boyfriends were selling firearms.
Detective Page had the option to arrest the father. But he decided not to, because the information the father could provide was invaluable. He gave Detective Page Ashley’s phone number.
Detective Page used information about a stolen vehicle to locate Ashley (who lied through her teeth during questioning.) The detective also requested cell phone data for Ashley’s phone.
While on patrol, Detective Page found Michael, Ashley’s brother, and interviewed him, confiscating his phone. There were texts between Ashley and her brother, showing the two of them planning the burglary. “I can get in through the back door.” “Should I wait until after school?” (and so on.) Ashley was also texting details about the types and models of the guns in the victim’s home.
That gave the detective probable cause to search Michael’s home, where they found another gun from the burglary. The officers tracked Michael to a storage place, which had multiple floors (can’t you just picture it?) They cleared the floors one by one, eventually finding Michael inside his storage unit with a set of tools for breaking and entering.
When interviewed, Michael claimed that the gun found in his home was a gift from his sister, but that he’d had no idea it was stolen. Since the serial number was shaved off, and there were photos on his phone of him holding the gun, this statement was not regarded as factual.
The two biggest takeaways with this story? First, that Ashley has a daughter, who is now living with saner relatives. And secondly, that Ashley owned a cat, and the day of the burglary, the cat escaped from Ashley’s car and wandered into the victim’s home. The cat has since been adopted.
Time for Q&A:
Question: How accurate are phone pings?
It depends on how many cell towers there are in a particular area. A “ping” is a signal connecting to a tower, so you don’t get an exact location point, you get an area, which might be very broad. You can pinpoint someone’s phone exactly using the phone’s GPS – if the phone is on and the GPS is enabled, and you have a warrant.
Tangentia: “What is our law as a private system? If someone breaks into our home, are we allowed to shoot them?”
. . ?
Cautious answer: You do what you have to do.
Tangentia: “And then go to jail for it.”
Okay, next?
Question: How do you decide how long to chase someone, and how fast you can go?
We make the calculation based on whether chasing the suspect is worth the risk. A high-speed chase is a danger to other drivers.
Question: Do repeat offenders recognize officers in plainclothes?
Sometimes. They’re more likely to recognize vehicles, so unmarked vehicles are swapped out frequently. The Drug Task Force seizes cars that can then be used as surveillance vehicles.
Tangentia: “Do you wear a wig?”
Goodnight, everyone, thank you for coming.
Whew! That’s it for April 23 – but Saturday the 27th is Range Day/ Use of Force Day. What will Beth and Melanie do? What won’t they do?
Fox noises, probably. I’ll tell you all about it.
