Brookheaven Police and the Wawa

[SauerGrapes]

I was on my way to shoot some 5stand today at the club. I stopped at the Wawa, as I was pulling in the lot I saw a police car sitting with a parking space next to it so I pulled in to the spot. {the police station is 100yds. away}

As I pulled in I saw the Leo was still in the car. I figured, well, I'm let's see what happens here. I got out of my van, rolled up my window, walked around to the passenger side and rolled up that window and walked into the store with my Wawa cup in hand.

Went over to the coffe station and glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw the officer over by the slurppee machine. He wasn't watching me as I glanced, but he must have followed me in pretty quick.

I went up to the register to pay and he then walked over to the coffee station. I was behind a couple people, so I turned to check him out and he was sipping coffee looking at me. All this time, that was the only eye contact we had.

I paid for my coffee, and headed for the door. As soon as I walked out the second set of doors I heard the first set open, he was hot on my heels. At this point I'm thinking, now he wants to break my stones? Surprise, he went to his car, I went to my van and never a word was spoken.

Seems like they have all had their updated training, or maybe I was just to menacing with my PAFOA t-shirt on!

All in all a non event. Not sure why he felt the need to follow me, not like I'm going to park next to the police and go start some trouble. If they all go like that, I'm happy.

[Curmudgeon]

You gots da mad ninja skillz, yo.



Well done.

[smithwessn]

It's nice to see so many positive or uneventful OC experiences and so few negative ones.

[Statkowski]

Having OC included with annual MPOETC training is paying off. The police now know it's legal. They're less apprehensive when seeing it, so they don't over-react, because they know now it's legal. It's a win-win situation for both us and them. Less stress for them, less stress for us.

[ByAnyMeans]

It's nice to see so many positive or uneventful OC experiences and so few negative ones.

I agree there are definitely a lot less negative encounters with police then when I started reading these forums.

Having OC included with annual MPOETC training is paying off. The police now know it's legal. They're less apprehensive when seeing it, so they don't over-react, because they know now it's legal. It's a win-win situation for both us and them. Less stress for them, less stress for us.

This has got to be a big factor in the increase in officer awareness. Great job and thanks for the work you guys do.

[Steve in PA]

All in all a non event. Not sure why he felt the need to follow me, not like I'm going to park next to the police and go start some trouble. If they all go like that, I'm happy.

Ever watched the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when he does the Headlines bit?? The funniest ones that he loves are the "stupid criminals". You'd be suprised at the stupid things people do..........and a lot of it happens when an officer is nearby or even watching.

Maybe he thought you might be up to something, like robbing the place, which is why he followed but didn't interact when he saw nothing was up.

Maybe he never noticed your firearm.

Maybe he didn't care about your firearm.

Who knows............

[ungawa]

Ever watched the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when he does the Headlines bit?? The funniest ones that he loves are the "stupid criminals". You'd be suprised at the stupid things people do..........and a lot of it happens when an officer is nearby or even watching.

Maybe he thought you might be up to something, like robbing the place, which is why he followed but didn't interact when he saw nothing was up.

Umm...how about this. You ever been to the WAWA right next to their corporate headquarters? Guess what? It's the cleanest one you'll ever see!

Crap happens outside police stations all the time. If I was a cop, I would make sure it didn't happen right after I left the scene. Outside my own police station!

[Driver400]

Ever watched the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when he does the Headlines bit?? The funniest ones that he loves are the "stupid criminals". You'd be suprised at the stupid things people do..........and a lot of it happens when an officer is nearby or even watching.

Maybe he thought you might be up to something, like robbing the place, which is why he followed but didn't interact when he saw nothing was up.

Maybe he never noticed your firearm.

Maybe he didn't care about your firearm.

Who knows............

Or maybe he just wanted to get a closer look at someone that still drove a car with manuel "roll up" windows!

Seriously though it does seem more and more non events are happening finally!

[soberbyker]

Ever watched the Tonight Show with Jay Leno when he does the Headlines bit?? The funniest ones that he loves are the "stupid criminals". You'd be suprised at the stupid things people do..........and a lot of it happens when an officer is nearby or even watching.

Maybe he thought you might be up to something, like robbing the place, which is why he followed but didn't interact when he saw nothing was up.

Maybe he never noticed your firearm.

Maybe he didn't care about your firearm.

Who knows............

You mean like this guy .....

EAST PEORIA —
Billy J. Robinson might be the worst thief East Peoria police have ever seen.

"I've seen some bizarre and dumb actions on the part of suspects, but this ranks up there as one of the finest examples of a dumb suspect I've encountered," Police Chief Ed Papis, whose law enforcement career spans 34 years, said Thursday.

It all started about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of Lowe's at Riverside Center. Robinson allegedly was trying to steal a car.

He had gotten so far as to peel the Buick Park Avenue's steering wheel column back when the car's owner interrupted him. The victim, an East Peoria woman, confronted Robinson, who, according to police, said he was "trying to start the car."

The woman then gave the would-be thief the bad news: The car was hers, and she had called police. She then told him to get out of the car and follow her, police said.

"Believe it or not, he started to follow her, but had a change of heart," Papis said. "He ran toward the expressway, jumped the fence behind Fashion Bug and was out of sight."

For almost an hour, a swarm of police, including Fondulac Park District officers and an Illinois State Police dog unit, combed East Peoria's riverfront for Robinson. With help from the victim, police knew who to look for: A black man in his 20s, of average height and weight, wearing a red, white and black jersey, black gloves and jeans.

Even with the great physical and clothing descriptions given to police, officers were unsuccessful in finding him.

But it wasn't Robinson's clothes that eventually helped police nab him. It was the large, abnormal growth hanging from his left ear lobe and patch of black hair on his chin.

After the search for Robinson concluded, Papis returned to the police department to finish paperwork. Not long after he sat down, he heard the dispatcher across the radio call several officers to the lobby of the police station.

To Papis' surprise, Robinson showed up at the police station lobby with a story how he needed money for a bus ticket to Bloomington. He had changed out of his clothes and was wearing a white polo shirt and tan shorts.

"The dispatcher recognized from the descriptors that this may be the suspect we were looking for," said Papis, adding the walnut-size mass on his ear was the tip-off. "I went out to the lobby, recognized that this individual was possibly our suspect and invited him into my office."
With him, Robinson carried two bags, clutched in his hands, into the chief's office.

It was after officers arrived, and as they emptied the contents of the bags, that what the dispatcher and Papis had suspected about the man turned out to be true.

"In his bags was the wet jersey, wet tennis shoes, the blue jeans, gloves, two screwdrivers, one needle-nose pliers and pen light," said Papis, noting the clothes were damp from sweat.

Also found were four pieces of computer paper, detailing step-by-step instructions of three different ways to break into and hot-wire a car.
Stated boldly across one of the papers was the recommendation, "Try this at night." It was advice Robinson didn't follow and Papis didn't let him forget.
"I chided him," said the chief. "I told him he didn't follow the instructions correctly. If he had, he might not have been seen and got away. Technically, he did get away, but if he had done it at night we may not have had all these descriptors and a witness."

Robinson, 20, of St. Louis was arrested on charges of attempted vehicle theft, criminal damage to property and criminal trespass to vehicle. He was taken to the Tazewell County Jail, where he was released without bond but ordered to be in court Sept. 17.

While criminals get caught every day, this arrest, Papis said, was one for the record books.

"The dispatchers and the officers had quite a few good laughs over the scenario," Papis said. "This has to rate as a segment (on the TV series) 'America's Dumbest Criminals.'"

[PennsyPlinker]

Good report, and congratulations on getting back to work! I've had several encounters with police where nothing was said, or perhaps a few pleasantries were exchanged. I've had a couple of encounters where things went well, and only one negative with the Philly airport cop. And even that was only negative because of his attitude. He didn't even arrest me. But I think on the whole we are making good progress.