Sad but true........Watch out boys and girls...Cooperating with Officer Friendly may not be in your best interests. I guess the best thing to do is to just tell the story and then let you decide --Kosher? or Trayf?.. All I know is that something stinks.
Sometime last year, there were a group of friends, 2 adult age and about 4 minors, at the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton. As they were walking along, 1 of the adults spotted a credit card on the ground. He picked it up, knew it was not his and invited his younger friends to "put it to good use". Well, they ALL put it to good use. Not just at that mall, but they went to different places. Everyone bought and swiped and signed and used that credit card that did not belong to ANY of them. Even though both adults knew it was wrong and the one that found it actually used it himself, they played a major part in coercing the kids to buy things for them so their involvement as adults would be minimized or in the case of one adult-non existent.
Months later, there comes a call from a Detective at the Boca PD at only the minors homes. No one is arrested or charged, but the nice Detective (AKA Officer Friendly), speaks to them as a kindly man who only wants them to cooperate and give back the items they had in their possession after telling him how it all happened and naming everone involved and their part in it. So they did-all of them-believing the Detectives claim that it would probably amount to nothing and that they were just minor players in the crime. Showing remorse and cooperation would be the best thing for them he advised. Oh, and "don't talk to the friends involved" are the parting words of this civil servants advice.
Soon thereafter, the Detective calls and says that he is no longer handling the investigation and that someone from the palm Beach County Sheriff's Office would be in contact---still no charges, no arrests, no nothing.....
Within a couple of weeks a Sheriff's Deputy calls to say that the PBCSO would be handling the investigation and that the kids would be hearing from them. Then a phone call from the Juvenile Administration center. A juvenile justive investigator needed an interview and question answer session about the incident. This is the first time that they hear the word charges, felony, midemeanor, etc. They are told they will hear from the Juvenile Justice System about court dates...they should make it a point to be home around Dec 21, 2007 to recieve their summons from a process server. What a great thing to get during the holiday break!!! "Oh, and don't talk to your friends that were involved"....more great advice.
Well, talk they did. They talked and speculated and even swallowed their self respect to approach the adults involved, only to find out that they were NOT charged at all. Their names are not even in the reports. Hmmmm....I smell something....stay with me...its going to get stronger....
The adult that found the credit card is the son of a retired Boca Raton Police Department Officer. The detective that first came to talk to these minors and encourage them to cooperate, is friends with the young adults father, having worked together 10 years for the Department. The young adult was advised to call Crimestoppers, report the crime of stolen and fraudulent card use by the minors so as to extricate himself from the incident and --get this---perhaps recieve a reward? This was told to his young ex-friends with a great deal of bravado. "I got off scott free", in his words.
When the original investigating Detective was called and asked about these alleged relationships, his reaction was one of amazement- amazed that HIS INTEGRITY was being questioned. He again reiterated the advice to cooperate fully and not to make trouble. TROUBLE? For who? His retired cop friend and his low life, fucking stereo speaker pushing salesman son?Perhaps BestBuy needs a call about who they have in their employ.I don't want to piss on anyones parade, but..as someone who was married to a police officer, they are no less human and no less vulnerable to doing a favor (read-cover up) for a friend that skirts the law.
The conclusion to this debacle will not come about for awhile, but as for whose life will be most affected by these charges? The minors--2 are in college and work 1 or more jobs. One may be deported and separated from her family and the other has been in trouble before. The 2 adults? The retired cops kid works at BestBuy and also has trouble staying out of trouble. The other one works at the same BestBuy and has mental health issues.
By now the smell of rotting pig meat should have you gagging ....thank God I don't need anything in Boca...and never have.
Atom Feed (xml)