Crime Scene Scenario

The date is April 20, 2005. You and your partner, Officer Bethany, of the Mountain Home Police Department have been assigned to work burglary detail in order to alleviate a recent rash of burglaries. Your work assignment includes the patrolling of South Main Street.  The South Main Street area is known for its high rate of theft crimes and the presence of skilled thieves.   Most burglaries that occur near the South Main Street area commonly involve commercial establishments in which thieves are primarily interested in taking merchandise that can quickly be converted into cash through local Mountain Home criminal fences.  At approximately 10:05 PM, you and Officer Bethany have been dispatched to investigate a silent alarm report at Chubby’s Electronics at 312 South Main Street.

Over the last two months, the South Main Street area has experienced an increased number of commercial burglaries in which thieves have been involved in taking electronic equipment consisting of items such as DVD players, sound equipment, and computers.  Earlier incident reports on record with the police department indicate that Daniel “Slink” Webb is a prime suspect in the recent burglaries.  According to police records, Webb’s date of birth is March 3^rd, 1984 and his Social Security number is 555-33-1111. He has a large red and blue “swastika” tattoo on his upper right arm, and Webb’s last known address is 454 Beach Street, which is near the South Main Street area. Furthermore, police records reveal that Webb has multiple burglary arrests as a juvenile offender and he is known to associate with Johnny “Fingers” Moser: DOB 9/25/75 and Leander Thompson, aka: Leander Jones: DOB 8/2/73.  Intelligence reports also indicate that both Moser and Thompson have connections with a local pawn shop, The South Main Emporium, which is known by police to frequently “fence” stolen merchandise.

Crime Scene Investigation

On your arrival at the burglary scene, you observe that the front of the electronics store appears to be secure. However, you soon discover that the rear door of Chubby’s Electronics appears to have been breached by person(s) breaking the door glass and reaching inside to unlock the lock.  There are three visible foot prints near the rear door area that appear to have been made by athletic or tennis shoes. The shoe prints are consistent with a man’s size 11-12 shoe.  After photographing the outside areas of the store, an inspection of the inside premises reveals that electronic equipment is missing from the inventory.  William “Chubby” Princeton reported the following equipment stolen: 1) a new Canon video camera: serial number C34966457, 2) a new Sanyo DVD player: serial number 13521EA, 3) a new Fuji digital camera: serial number 1-78891356, and 4) a used Cingular cell phone: serial number 0105069873D.

According to Princeton, the total value of the equipment is $1450, which includes: $600 for the video camera, $400 for the DVD player, $350 for the digital camera, and $100 for his personal cell phone. Upon further investigation at the crime scene, the missing cell phone is found in the parking lot on the side of the electronics store. Officer Bethany recovered the phone and tagged it as evidence. Nothing else appeared to be missing at the time of the initial report. The immediate door area and counter area where the items were taken from were processed for prints but no latent prints were found. While in the parking lot of the crime scene, Officer Bethany was approached by a resident living across the street from Chubby’s Electronics.  The resident, Myrtle Sykes of 305 South Main Street, stated she saw a yellow car leaving the store parking lot at about 10:00 PM.

Investigative Statements

A statement was taken from William “Chubby Princeton in which he says that he closed the store at about 9:00 PM and drove home after making his normal bank deposit at the First National Bank.  Princeton indicated that earlier in the day, two men were in the store inquiring about the Canon video camera.  He described one man as being white, in his early 20s, with brown hair, and of medium build. Princeton stated the man had a tattoo on his upper arm but he was unsure which arm or the graphic detail of the tattoo. Princeton also recalled that the second man kept referring to the first man as “Slink.”  The second man is described as being white, in his later 30s with red colored hair, a full beard, and thinly built.  According to Princeton, both men were wearing blue jeans with the first man dressed in a blue sleeveless T-shirt and the second man wearing a light green jacket. Princeton stated he saw both men leave the store and get into an older model yellow Ford Mustang, which he estimated to be an early 1990s model year with California license plates. Princeton stated he did not recall ever seeing the men in his store before the date of the burglary.

Witness Statements

Mrytle Sykes states that she saw an older model yellow “sports-styled” car leaving the parking lot of Chubby’s at about 10:00 PM on the night of the burglary.  She could not provide an exact description of the persons in the car, other than to confirm that both people in the car were males. Ms. Sykes stated that her dog began to bark just as the nightly news was beginning on television.  She then got up from her chair to see why her dog was barking and heard what she described as “tires squealing” in the parking lot of Chubby’s.  Additionally, Ms. Sykes said she saw the yellow car leaving the front driveway of Chubby’s but did not think anything about the car possibly being involved in a crime, since many teenage drivers tend to congregate in the parking lot on a regular basis after the store closes.  Ms. Sykes then stated that when she observed police outside the building, she believed that she should report her observations to the police.