News

Police Beat

by Charles Mudede

The Big Payback/Capitol Hill/Thurs June 10/4:32 pm: Officer Stevenson reports: "Witness was walking along a secluded trail at the north end of Volunteer Park when he observed the victim (a white male in his late 20s) lying on the ground. He stated that the victim was on his stomach with his hands bound behind his back. A hood on the victim's sweatshirt was over his head, and his eyes were covered with a bandana. The victim's pants were around his ankles and there was a message written on his buttock. The message said: "DRUG PAYBACK, FUCK ME HARD." The witness stated that the victim was breathing but unresponsive. The witness made several attempts to wake the victim with negative results. Next to the victim was a blue backpack. The witness ran to a nearby location and called 911. Numerous officers responded to the area and conducted an area check. The bushes and the surrounding area were thoroughly searched for any signs of the victim [who was now gone] or a struggle. Nothing was located and no other witnesses came forward to report on the incident. Sgt. Duffy screened the incident." The most striking image in this report is, of course, the message on the buttocks. However, I wish the witness had stated the color of the message--was it written with a red pen, or black marker, or green chalk? How much more powerful the image in our minds would be if we knew the color of the writing.

Fear Spider-Man/Downtown/Thurs June 10/1 pm: Officer Fitzgerald reports: "Officer Warner was looking for the suspect in a burglary on the waterfront. He showed me photos of the suspect. I later spotted the suspect on the 200 block of Pike Street. I immediately recognized him as the person of interest in the case by the spider-web tattoos on his neck. I detained the suspect until Officer Warner arrived. During that time the suspect was acting as if he would attack me. I was by myself. I placed him in cuffs for his safety, the safety of pedestrians, and myself. Officer Warner arrived and interviewed the suspect. The suspect was identified and released after the street interview." The suspect also had a Mohawk, yet this striking detail is not included in the main body of the report. It is instead the spider-web tattoo that not only fascinates Officer Fitzgerald, but evidently frightens him.

The Trampoline Car/Meany Middle School/Capitol Hill/Wed June 9/noon: Officer Avery reports: "A staff member [of the middle school] notified the victim that her car was being used as a trampoline by student one and student two (both age 14). When the victim went outside to investigate she saw two boys jumping on her car. She ordered the boys to get down and come into her office. Both boys complied and followed her back into the school building. The victim then called both boys' parents and informed them of the incident." To improve the image of the boys bouncing on the automobile, I will add this detail that is absent from the main body of the report: The trampoline car was a 1995 Nissan Altima.