A Mother's Opinion on Police Overkill

My oldest son, Richard, aka RJ45, moved out over the weekend. He's twenty-four. It was time. :-)

He and his fiance` Katie moved into an apartment across the parking lot from mine, having a couple things in mind. Her father lives around the corner and she doesn't want him to get lonely - her mother died a few years ago. They wanted to be close to me due to my disabilities, which will hopefully diminish once I've had weight-loss surgery and can become a lot lighter on my feet. Finally, Rich still doesn't have a car, and since he pitched in on my car, I figured it was only fair he could borrow it as he needs it.

Overall the move went pretty well, although my place is still a disaster. Rich will continue to come over, clean things up and get everything in order for me. As for me, I'm trying not to encroach upon their time any more than necessary.

Notice I said *overall.* Generally, the move went very smoothly and was completed in short order. Naturally, though, Murphy had to jump up and bite my son on the ass, reminding him that his word is, after all, Law.

Rich, his buddy Justin, and our mutual best friend Kalaab, aka the Pick, took the U-Haul over to the storage unit where Katie had some items stored with her father. They made short work of it, the primary item being a kitchen table and chairs. As they were finishing up the owner of the Storage Place/Pest Controller Guy (aka Bug Guy from this point forward) accosted them, demanding to know what they were doing there. The response was "getting a kitchen table and chairs" as they readied to leave. Bug Guy made it clear he didn't believe them, that it would take a U-Haul to get such few items. The guys just blew him off and left. They stopped by the apartment, unloaded said items, then took off for the northern end of Peoria to a little town known as Dunlap. One of Katie's relatives had went into a nursing home recently and there was an entire living room set waiting there for them.

Within a couple of miles of Dunlap police pulled them over and made them get out of the truck, hands in the air. Rich, being he is a little guy, they let walk backward slowly toward the squad car. Justin and the Pick, both much bigger guys, had to get down onto the ground. Within moments all three were handcuffed and backup was brought in the guise of five more squad cars and nine cops total.

According to the police they'd been reported on "suspicious behavior." Apparently Bug Guy had actually followed them all the way to where they were at right then, a distance of some twenty miles, I'd guess. He'd called the police then turned vigilante and basically stalked them.

The cops began grilling the guys, trying to trip them up by asking over and over what they'd picked up at the storage unit, who was "Katie" (they didn't believe Rich had a fiance`), and what did "Katie" and "Katie's Cell" mean in Rich's cell phone book entries? (Katie's land line and her cell phone... DUH) "Who was 'Geri' and why was she answering Katie's voice mail?" To paraphrase my son's answer: "Geri is Katie's mother. She died several years ago and this is a last memory she has of her mother." (the phone used to belong to Geri and Katie, understandably, hasn't changed the voice mail.) To which the cop replied, "Boy, you've just had bad luck all the way around."

If one of the guys stuttered the cops were all over it. Plus, Rich is dyslexic both visually and verbally, so he processes one item at a time in a straight line. In other words, "What's did you get in the truck?" "Kitchen table and chairs." "Anything else?" "A few other things." "Oh, so first it was a kitchen table and chairs, now there's 'other things?'" That kind of crap.

Probably the best funny line was when Kalaab finally was filled to bursting. The cops asked each guy what the color of the kitchen table and chairs were, to which the answer was green and formica, something like that. When the Pick said the chairs were green, the cop looked at him oddly and said, "Green?" Kalaab's reply, "Well, don't look at me, I didn't paint them!"

Then, the backup came into play. The cops (without a search warrant or probable cause, mind you) decided to open the back of the moving van. Kalaab and Justin both said, "There's nothing in there."

Now, THIS was something I wish I could have seen. Truly.

They all drew their guns ala "Cops" and pointed to the back of the van, taking that stance we all know means serious business. When they opened the van they found.... drum roll... NOTHING! Or, as Rich told me, they said, "There's nothing in here!"

HEAD!DESK

About that point I received a phone call from Bobby, who was riding in the car with Katie, her twin sister Theresa, and her sister Michelle. They were all driving in circles, not knowing what to do. I kept telling Bobby to get them to pull over and find out what was going on. They finally pulled into a nearby parking lot and Katie took off at a run, Bobby stalking (angrily) behind her. Once they confirmed that yes, she really was who she said she was, they uncuffed the guys and let them go. Bobby started to throw one of his "I'm gonna kill that m*#$%*f*%$*r" fits (the same fit that scared off a redneck at a concert a few years back) and Rich hurried him into the van to calm him down.

What it all boiled down to is that if Katie hadn't come along to be their alibi then my son and his buddies would have been arrested - for stealing their own stuff!

(Oh, and understand that I know cops take these precautions due to dangerous idiots out there, but really... NINE cops and six squad cars???)

Lee's Pest Control
Phone: 309-657-9191
Alternate Phone: (309) 657-3772
Website: http://www.lpcinc.net/
Known Email Contact: info@lpcinc.net

Peoria County Police Department
301 N. Maxwell Road
Peoria, IL 61604 U.S.A.
Phone: 309-672-6011
Website: http://www.peoriacounty.org/sheriff/
Known Email Contact: jneedham@co.peoria.il.us (Chief Deputy Joseph Needham)

LOCAL NEWSPAPER: Peoria Journal Star
WEBSITE: Peoria Journal Star Contacts
COLUMNIST: Phil Luciano Columnist (My Personal Favorite)
PJStar YOUPage
SNAILMAIL: Peoria Journal Star
1 News Plaza
Peoria, IL. U.S.A. 61643
CONTACT NUMBER: 309-686-3000