Hey Folks,
Below is a copy of two emails I sent to friends and family concerning the recent theft of three dirt bikes. We go to court next week for the three suspects' hearing. Each of them faces 10 years for Grand Larceny and an additional 5 years for burglary. Unfortunately law enforcement could not prove a case in the drive by shooting that followed the recovery of the bikes and our court system is likely to sentence them to very little, if any time in jail.
If the court does not step up to the plate and sentence these guys as they should, I plan on asking for DRN help in a letter/email writing campaign to the court system and most likely to our congressmen/senators. I'll provide email addresses for the appropriate authorities after sentencing if it turns out that way.
In this area there's somewhat of a Robin Hood mentality by the courts. If someone of lesser means steals from someone of greater means, it's fairly acceptable. This mentality only increases the property related crimes and is unsatisfactory.
One thing I ask of my fellow DRN buds is to let me know if you have had a similar experience and what the sentencing was in your area. I plan on using the information with the prosecutors and judge next week. Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Scott
Sorry for the length…………
All, 12/7/01
For those of you that didn’t know, last week our barn was broken into and three motorcycles were stolen (’00 KX125, ’99 CR250, ’88 XR250). The thieves broke off boards on the barn I just built to gain access. Two of the bikes were friends’ and I felt very badly that they were stolen from my home. The investigating officer Deputy said it looked like an inside job and we should talk to our friends. I hope I don’t have friends of this sort!
The night (morning really) of the theft about 2:30 a.m., a tow truck operator from the Holly Hill Ford dealership was on the way to an accident on I-95. He saw a bike on the side of the road about a half-mile from my home. He stopped to investigate and called the sheriff’s office. While there, a guy stepped out of the woods and said that it was his bike. The TT operator told the guy that the sheriff’s office asked him to pick it up and the guy took off running. Unfortunately, the deputies were slow to respond (only two deputies are assigned to our end of the county) and the TT operator received another call to expedite getting to the scene to clear the accident on the interstate. When he and the deputy returned, the bike was gone. He notified Lynne (my wife) the next morning to check if our bikes were missing. Of course, they were.
That day my friends (Barrett S., David D. and David S.) were able to follow one of the bikes’ tracks via dirt roads to a home about 4 miles away. However, they couldn’t locate the bikes. But they kept looking.
24 hours after the break-in (2:30 am Wednesday), two guys (Ronald and Reginald) show up at my home ringing the door bell and beating on the back door. I was in Kansas on a hunting trip, so Lynne and Dee Dee were scared to death. The boys (approximately 20-21 years old) told Lynne that they knew who stole the bikes but didn’t know their names. Supposedly two white guys and two black guys in a red F-150 with Florida tags (Yea right!). All this was going on through the upstairs window, Lynne wasn’t about to open the door, thank god! She had already called 911 and told the boys to wait for the sheriffs department.
The deputy (William ) arrived and took their statements, all lies of course. He failed to ask for ID and imagine that, they gave him false information! Incorrect last names, dates of birth and a phone number to a local doctor’s office. Only the address for Ronald was correct. The deputy got their tag number, but failed to put it in his report.
The next day Lynne told me all about the situation but said to stay in Kansas because the boys didn’t seem very threatening. That day and the next my friends continued to look for the bikes based on the information they had. Thursday night around 10:30 p.m., one boy (Ronald ) shows up again. Earlier that night, my friends went to his house to “interview” him, but he wasn’t home. However, his sister told him my friends were looking for him.
When he returned for the second time, he had the same story, only he left prior to the sheriff’s office getting here. Deputy got a partial tag number and was later able to narrow it down to two possibilities. The deputies (H. , I believe and another that we didn’t get his name) were unable to locate this guy because the reported tag number was incorrect. However, the deputies showed a genuine interest and this helped put Lynne at ease that something was being done. Later was able to determine the correct tag number, which turned out to be very helpful.
I believe these boys got very nervous because the tow truck operator saw one of the bad guys and because my friends were very close to them during their search for the bikes. A friend has a contact that ran the tag number possibilities and was able to obtain yet another address to check out. I told and my friends to back off until I got home because I didn’t want the bad guys showing up again without me there. Lynne wouldn’t let me ask a friend to stay with her, she said she was satisfied that the boys weren’t going to harm anyone. However, a later drive by shooting proved this assessment incorrect.
I returned from Kansas late Sunday after 5 miserable days of my body being there, but my mind being 1400 miles away, back here. I’m sure it didn’t compare to what Lynne and Dee Dee were going through.
Monday morning I decided to go to the sheriff’s office to find out what they were doing. I brought Dee Dee since she could ID the two coming to my home and asked B and David D. (the two with stolen bikes) to meet me there. It was pretty close to what I expected, not much was happening with the case. This is due to the extremely high crime rate in Orangeburg County and a severely understaffed sheriffs department. I wish the county council would wake up and increase the manpower of the sheriff’s office!
I obtained copies of the three incident reports (the initial and the two for the boys visiting) and asked to see a detective. We laid out the whole story for the CID supervisor (Lt. W) and Detective Keith . Within minutes they had photos of three suspects in front of us and ultimately it turned out one of the suspects was not involved, however, our visit provided the detectives with excellent leads. It was quickly obvious these folks are professionals and care about their duties.
Once we got the case in front of the detectives, they didn’t let go. Everyday this week I have spoken with Detective B at least twice, Wednesday and Thursday at least 4-5 times. It’s unreal how good he is, I wish we had more like him in his department. But a lesson learned is that you need to put a face (yours) with the name on the report and also do not rely on the report being read in a timely fashion due to their workload. I’m glad we went to the office.
On Wednesday, Detective B received a tip about some boys riding some motorcycles that normally didn’t ride. He checked it out and recovered two of the bikes. That night he came to my house to bring the bikes back. I didn’t even need to go claim the bikes!
Well, guess whom shows up to collect reward money that B had offered them for the return of the bikes? You guessed it, the same two that were returning here last week. Talk about dumb and dumber! They knew the sheriff’s office had recovered the bikes and were going to try to claim that they led them to the recovery and wanted the reward.
You should have seen how surprised they were when Detective B dressed in plain clothes, driving an unmarked truck met them. Too sweet! He invited them to come down to his office the next day for an interview. He wanted to determine which charge(s) applied: Possession of stolen property or Burglary and Grand Larceny. They actually showed up and ultimately one confessed to the whole thing after 4+ hours of interviewing. He also implicated his running mate and a third guy (the guy who belonged to the tag B was able to get). The detective called me within minutes of the confession, he was as excited as I was. The boys received the latter of the charges (Burglary and Grand Larceny).
Late yesterday afternoon Detective B called to say he was on his way to check out the third suspect and to try to recover my bike. Talk about keeping me informed! He called back later to say nobody was home. We had also given him this guy as a possible suspect, based on the tag number. The tags are registered in his mom’s name and belonged to the address the detective went to. We had been watching that address everyday since Monday because we found motorcycle tracks consistent with those of my bike in his front yard and surrounding roads.
In fact, Tuesday night five of us (Myself, B, David D., David S. and Tommy B.) went on a nighttime RECON to that house. They dropped off me and David S. nearby so we could search around the house, while they kept watch at a distance. Usually the bad guys will hide the stolen bikes and ATVs in the woods near their homes. Close enough to ride when they want, but far enough away to be able to say they don’t know to whom they belong. We searched the woods and fields near the house with no luck. However, there is a two car garage and a shed we couldn’t check because of no windows and the doors were locked. Last week the boys had checked out the other bad guys’ addresses on similar RECONs both daytime and night, also no luck except for tire tracks. It’s great to have good friends that’ll help out when you need them.
I knew that if the third suspect (Greg L) found out that the other two were in jail, he would try to get rid of my bike. So last night we (Lynne, Dee Dee, B and me) went on a dinnertime RECON. I had to promise Lynne Cracker Barrel in order to go because I had been home late every night after looking for the bikes and she had to wait dinner.
We got close enough to the address to see if any cars were home, there was. So I paged Detective B and he returned my call right away. He asked me to carefully (for our safety) verify that it wasn’t the same car that was there earlier. I did and found that the car the bad boy had been driving the second time he came to my home was there and relayed that information. Detective B didn’t hesitate to jump in his car to roll our way even though he had been on duty since 2:30 that morning and had been questioning the other two bad guys all day. Total dedication!
He asked that we sit and watch the address while he was on the way from about 25 miles away. When he got about 10 miles away he called me to ask if anything was happening and to carefully follow the guy if he left. Shortly after this call the bad guy left his house and we followed. We called Detective B to give him directions to where we were heading. About five minutes later he was within a mile of us.
The bad guy pulled into a gas station in Santee and the detective asked us to watch him at a distance. We pulled into the gas station and parked while the bad guy got gas. By this time Detective B was across the street watching and asked that I describe the car and bad guy. He said he saw him and pulled into the gas station.
The detective went in the store where the bad guy was inside paying for his $2 of gas. A short time later he came out with the suspect in handcuffs. We watched the detective pat him down and search his car. It was COPS live, but better than TV. This was one of our bad guys! Dee Dee and B say it’s the coolest thing they’ve ever seen.
A short time later Detective B called me and said the guy told him my bike was at his house and asked if I could meet him there. He had to act as if I had no knowledge of what was happening for our safety (the bad guy didn’t know we watched the whole thing unfold). An absolute beautiful thing to watch! Unfortunately, this is the third time in 3 ½ years Lynne and I have been a victim of this sort of crime, so retribution is very sweet.
As it turns out the bike was in the shed that was just twenty yards from where I came out of the woods on our RECON mission Tuesday night. Had I have known that for sure, I would have stolen it from the thief. But the way it worked out was much better and legal. I can’t describe the emotions you feel when this sort of thing happens.
There is mechanical damage to all three bikes and each is painted up in an indescribable manner. Just imagine some of the worst paint schemes you’ve seen on some homes/cars and you’ll be close to picturing what they look like. But we at least have them back.
Had it not been for Mr. Billy C, the tow truck operator, stopping to take an interest in the bike and spotting the bad guy (Greg L); the stupidity of the thieves for returning here and B getting the tag number, we probably wouldn’t have been this lucky. Thanks guys!
We also were assigned the absolute best detective in the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, Detective Keith B. He’s a very professional ex-marine that is totally dedicated to his job and to the people of Orangeburg County. Cop of the year in my book! Again, we need more like him. Special thanks to you Keith from all of us!
I’ll keep you all posted as the case progresses through the court system. The Orangeburg County Court System is not the pride of South Carolina. More often than not, it’s low bond, plea bargains and probation for crimes like this. With this type of court system it’s any wonder that our law enforcement officers are able to maintain any type of positive morale. Maybe the Solicitors Office (prosecutors) and the Judge will step up to the plate this time.
With the exception of one defendant that was very helpful after the fact and has a potentially bright future, I hope the others get the maximum.
Scott
All, 12/10/01
We’re not sure if the events of the last two weeks are over. On Friday and Saturday, the three bad guys posted bond to get out of jail. Saturday afternoon about 4 PM, several of us (6, Dee Dee was inside and Lynne was shopping) were gathered in front of the Cookhouse behind my house. We were assessing the damage to our bikes when a 1988 yellow Cadillac with 3 black males inside passed in front of the house and fired three shots at us. The shots passed directly over our heads. Obviously we were stunned at what had just happened, but we didn’t give chase.
The sheriff’s office came out and took a report. The deputy later notified Detective B who was off duty. Once again off duty or not, he responded and came to our house around 5:30 PM. He stayed with us for a couple of hours to ensure our safety before asking if David S. and I if we wanted to ride to Santee to look for the car. We had a previous incident with the same Cadillac while looking for the bikes last week. Nothing serious, but enough to know it had Shriner’s plates on it. After 30 minutes or so, we located the car in the “projects”. There were 6-8 people standing in front of it, but of course, no one knew who was driving it.
Detective B ran the tags to get the name and address of the owner. The tags came back as suspended, so he took them off the car to send a message that he knew who they were (IRT the shooting). He also put out a BOLO (Be On the Lookout) for the car in case they later moved it. He’s going to do some follow-up this week, but there’s not a lot he can do since we can’t ID the folks in the car.
Hopefully this thing is over, but I have my doubts. Sorry about the length of the previous email, but hopefully it answered most questions you may have had.
Scott
P.S. We moved to the country to get away from this stuff. Guess we may have chosen the wrong part of the country. TBD
Below is a copy of two emails I sent to friends and family concerning the recent theft of three dirt bikes. We go to court next week for the three suspects' hearing. Each of them faces 10 years for Grand Larceny and an additional 5 years for burglary. Unfortunately law enforcement could not prove a case in the drive by shooting that followed the recovery of the bikes and our court system is likely to sentence them to very little, if any time in jail.
If the court does not step up to the plate and sentence these guys as they should, I plan on asking for DRN help in a letter/email writing campaign to the court system and most likely to our congressmen/senators. I'll provide email addresses for the appropriate authorities after sentencing if it turns out that way.
In this area there's somewhat of a Robin Hood mentality by the courts. If someone of lesser means steals from someone of greater means, it's fairly acceptable. This mentality only increases the property related crimes and is unsatisfactory.
One thing I ask of my fellow DRN buds is to let me know if you have had a similar experience and what the sentencing was in your area. I plan on using the information with the prosecutors and judge next week. Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Scott
Sorry for the length…………
All, 12/7/01
For those of you that didn’t know, last week our barn was broken into and three motorcycles were stolen (’00 KX125, ’99 CR250, ’88 XR250). The thieves broke off boards on the barn I just built to gain access. Two of the bikes were friends’ and I felt very badly that they were stolen from my home. The investigating officer Deputy said it looked like an inside job and we should talk to our friends. I hope I don’t have friends of this sort!
The night (morning really) of the theft about 2:30 a.m., a tow truck operator from the Holly Hill Ford dealership was on the way to an accident on I-95. He saw a bike on the side of the road about a half-mile from my home. He stopped to investigate and called the sheriff’s office. While there, a guy stepped out of the woods and said that it was his bike. The TT operator told the guy that the sheriff’s office asked him to pick it up and the guy took off running. Unfortunately, the deputies were slow to respond (only two deputies are assigned to our end of the county) and the TT operator received another call to expedite getting to the scene to clear the accident on the interstate. When he and the deputy returned, the bike was gone. He notified Lynne (my wife) the next morning to check if our bikes were missing. Of course, they were.
That day my friends (Barrett S., David D. and David S.) were able to follow one of the bikes’ tracks via dirt roads to a home about 4 miles away. However, they couldn’t locate the bikes. But they kept looking.
24 hours after the break-in (2:30 am Wednesday), two guys (Ronald and Reginald) show up at my home ringing the door bell and beating on the back door. I was in Kansas on a hunting trip, so Lynne and Dee Dee were scared to death. The boys (approximately 20-21 years old) told Lynne that they knew who stole the bikes but didn’t know their names. Supposedly two white guys and two black guys in a red F-150 with Florida tags (Yea right!). All this was going on through the upstairs window, Lynne wasn’t about to open the door, thank god! She had already called 911 and told the boys to wait for the sheriffs department.
The deputy (William ) arrived and took their statements, all lies of course. He failed to ask for ID and imagine that, they gave him false information! Incorrect last names, dates of birth and a phone number to a local doctor’s office. Only the address for Ronald was correct. The deputy got their tag number, but failed to put it in his report.
The next day Lynne told me all about the situation but said to stay in Kansas because the boys didn’t seem very threatening. That day and the next my friends continued to look for the bikes based on the information they had. Thursday night around 10:30 p.m., one boy (Ronald ) shows up again. Earlier that night, my friends went to his house to “interview” him, but he wasn’t home. However, his sister told him my friends were looking for him.
When he returned for the second time, he had the same story, only he left prior to the sheriff’s office getting here. Deputy got a partial tag number and was later able to narrow it down to two possibilities. The deputies (H. , I believe and another that we didn’t get his name) were unable to locate this guy because the reported tag number was incorrect. However, the deputies showed a genuine interest and this helped put Lynne at ease that something was being done. Later was able to determine the correct tag number, which turned out to be very helpful.
I believe these boys got very nervous because the tow truck operator saw one of the bad guys and because my friends were very close to them during their search for the bikes. A friend has a contact that ran the tag number possibilities and was able to obtain yet another address to check out. I told and my friends to back off until I got home because I didn’t want the bad guys showing up again without me there. Lynne wouldn’t let me ask a friend to stay with her, she said she was satisfied that the boys weren’t going to harm anyone. However, a later drive by shooting proved this assessment incorrect.
I returned from Kansas late Sunday after 5 miserable days of my body being there, but my mind being 1400 miles away, back here. I’m sure it didn’t compare to what Lynne and Dee Dee were going through.
Monday morning I decided to go to the sheriff’s office to find out what they were doing. I brought Dee Dee since she could ID the two coming to my home and asked B and David D. (the two with stolen bikes) to meet me there. It was pretty close to what I expected, not much was happening with the case. This is due to the extremely high crime rate in Orangeburg County and a severely understaffed sheriffs department. I wish the county council would wake up and increase the manpower of the sheriff’s office!
I obtained copies of the three incident reports (the initial and the two for the boys visiting) and asked to see a detective. We laid out the whole story for the CID supervisor (Lt. W) and Detective Keith . Within minutes they had photos of three suspects in front of us and ultimately it turned out one of the suspects was not involved, however, our visit provided the detectives with excellent leads. It was quickly obvious these folks are professionals and care about their duties.
Once we got the case in front of the detectives, they didn’t let go. Everyday this week I have spoken with Detective B at least twice, Wednesday and Thursday at least 4-5 times. It’s unreal how good he is, I wish we had more like him in his department. But a lesson learned is that you need to put a face (yours) with the name on the report and also do not rely on the report being read in a timely fashion due to their workload. I’m glad we went to the office.
On Wednesday, Detective B received a tip about some boys riding some motorcycles that normally didn’t ride. He checked it out and recovered two of the bikes. That night he came to my house to bring the bikes back. I didn’t even need to go claim the bikes!
Well, guess whom shows up to collect reward money that B had offered them for the return of the bikes? You guessed it, the same two that were returning here last week. Talk about dumb and dumber! They knew the sheriff’s office had recovered the bikes and were going to try to claim that they led them to the recovery and wanted the reward.
You should have seen how surprised they were when Detective B dressed in plain clothes, driving an unmarked truck met them. Too sweet! He invited them to come down to his office the next day for an interview. He wanted to determine which charge(s) applied: Possession of stolen property or Burglary and Grand Larceny. They actually showed up and ultimately one confessed to the whole thing after 4+ hours of interviewing. He also implicated his running mate and a third guy (the guy who belonged to the tag B was able to get). The detective called me within minutes of the confession, he was as excited as I was. The boys received the latter of the charges (Burglary and Grand Larceny).
Late yesterday afternoon Detective B called to say he was on his way to check out the third suspect and to try to recover my bike. Talk about keeping me informed! He called back later to say nobody was home. We had also given him this guy as a possible suspect, based on the tag number. The tags are registered in his mom’s name and belonged to the address the detective went to. We had been watching that address everyday since Monday because we found motorcycle tracks consistent with those of my bike in his front yard and surrounding roads.
In fact, Tuesday night five of us (Myself, B, David D., David S. and Tommy B.) went on a nighttime RECON to that house. They dropped off me and David S. nearby so we could search around the house, while they kept watch at a distance. Usually the bad guys will hide the stolen bikes and ATVs in the woods near their homes. Close enough to ride when they want, but far enough away to be able to say they don’t know to whom they belong. We searched the woods and fields near the house with no luck. However, there is a two car garage and a shed we couldn’t check because of no windows and the doors were locked. Last week the boys had checked out the other bad guys’ addresses on similar RECONs both daytime and night, also no luck except for tire tracks. It’s great to have good friends that’ll help out when you need them.
I knew that if the third suspect (Greg L) found out that the other two were in jail, he would try to get rid of my bike. So last night we (Lynne, Dee Dee, B and me) went on a dinnertime RECON. I had to promise Lynne Cracker Barrel in order to go because I had been home late every night after looking for the bikes and she had to wait dinner.
We got close enough to the address to see if any cars were home, there was. So I paged Detective B and he returned my call right away. He asked me to carefully (for our safety) verify that it wasn’t the same car that was there earlier. I did and found that the car the bad boy had been driving the second time he came to my home was there and relayed that information. Detective B didn’t hesitate to jump in his car to roll our way even though he had been on duty since 2:30 that morning and had been questioning the other two bad guys all day. Total dedication!
He asked that we sit and watch the address while he was on the way from about 25 miles away. When he got about 10 miles away he called me to ask if anything was happening and to carefully follow the guy if he left. Shortly after this call the bad guy left his house and we followed. We called Detective B to give him directions to where we were heading. About five minutes later he was within a mile of us.
The bad guy pulled into a gas station in Santee and the detective asked us to watch him at a distance. We pulled into the gas station and parked while the bad guy got gas. By this time Detective B was across the street watching and asked that I describe the car and bad guy. He said he saw him and pulled into the gas station.
The detective went in the store where the bad guy was inside paying for his $2 of gas. A short time later he came out with the suspect in handcuffs. We watched the detective pat him down and search his car. It was COPS live, but better than TV. This was one of our bad guys! Dee Dee and B say it’s the coolest thing they’ve ever seen.
A short time later Detective B called me and said the guy told him my bike was at his house and asked if I could meet him there. He had to act as if I had no knowledge of what was happening for our safety (the bad guy didn’t know we watched the whole thing unfold). An absolute beautiful thing to watch! Unfortunately, this is the third time in 3 ½ years Lynne and I have been a victim of this sort of crime, so retribution is very sweet.
As it turns out the bike was in the shed that was just twenty yards from where I came out of the woods on our RECON mission Tuesday night. Had I have known that for sure, I would have stolen it from the thief. But the way it worked out was much better and legal. I can’t describe the emotions you feel when this sort of thing happens.
There is mechanical damage to all three bikes and each is painted up in an indescribable manner. Just imagine some of the worst paint schemes you’ve seen on some homes/cars and you’ll be close to picturing what they look like. But we at least have them back.
Had it not been for Mr. Billy C, the tow truck operator, stopping to take an interest in the bike and spotting the bad guy (Greg L); the stupidity of the thieves for returning here and B getting the tag number, we probably wouldn’t have been this lucky. Thanks guys!
We also were assigned the absolute best detective in the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, Detective Keith B. He’s a very professional ex-marine that is totally dedicated to his job and to the people of Orangeburg County. Cop of the year in my book! Again, we need more like him. Special thanks to you Keith from all of us!
I’ll keep you all posted as the case progresses through the court system. The Orangeburg County Court System is not the pride of South Carolina. More often than not, it’s low bond, plea bargains and probation for crimes like this. With this type of court system it’s any wonder that our law enforcement officers are able to maintain any type of positive morale. Maybe the Solicitors Office (prosecutors) and the Judge will step up to the plate this time.
With the exception of one defendant that was very helpful after the fact and has a potentially bright future, I hope the others get the maximum.
Scott
All, 12/10/01
We’re not sure if the events of the last two weeks are over. On Friday and Saturday, the three bad guys posted bond to get out of jail. Saturday afternoon about 4 PM, several of us (6, Dee Dee was inside and Lynne was shopping) were gathered in front of the Cookhouse behind my house. We were assessing the damage to our bikes when a 1988 yellow Cadillac with 3 black males inside passed in front of the house and fired three shots at us. The shots passed directly over our heads. Obviously we were stunned at what had just happened, but we didn’t give chase.
The sheriff’s office came out and took a report. The deputy later notified Detective B who was off duty. Once again off duty or not, he responded and came to our house around 5:30 PM. He stayed with us for a couple of hours to ensure our safety before asking if David S. and I if we wanted to ride to Santee to look for the car. We had a previous incident with the same Cadillac while looking for the bikes last week. Nothing serious, but enough to know it had Shriner’s plates on it. After 30 minutes or so, we located the car in the “projects”. There were 6-8 people standing in front of it, but of course, no one knew who was driving it.
Detective B ran the tags to get the name and address of the owner. The tags came back as suspended, so he took them off the car to send a message that he knew who they were (IRT the shooting). He also put out a BOLO (Be On the Lookout) for the car in case they later moved it. He’s going to do some follow-up this week, but there’s not a lot he can do since we can’t ID the folks in the car.
Hopefully this thing is over, but I have my doubts. Sorry about the length of the previous email, but hopefully it answered most questions you may have had.
Scott
P.S. We moved to the country to get away from this stuff. Guess we may have chosen the wrong part of the country. TBD
