I was a young cop when I solved my first case. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my mom.
“Mom, I solved my first case today.”
“Good for you. What kind of case? A robbery? Breaking and entering?” she asked.
“Illegal dumping. I got him cold.”
I explained that my first investigation occurred as I was walking my beat. The pharmacy in Mattapan Square discovered that someone had thrown dozens of garbage bags into their dumpster. They paid big money for the dumpster and complained to me about it. So, I climbed right in and started going though the bags in search of evidence. I was scouring the scene for any hint of the miscreant’s identity.
I soon struck pay dirt. There were many pieces of discarded mail with the name and address of the law office up the street. I responded to their location and learned that they had hired a contractor to clean up their basement storage area. He did so and dumped the rubbish into the dumpster. I got the contractor’s number and he admitted it all.
My first “who done it case” solved, topped off with a confession. I’ll probably be made detective soon, I thought.
Six months later, I would again find myself in a dumpster. Darryl had recently been released from prison for a manslaughter beef. He was now spending the last few weeks, armed with two sawed-off shotguns, terrorizing the neighborhood. He was robbing stores, drug dealers, and anyone who crossed his path.
This guy could have been an Olympic track and field star. Nearly every cop in the station had engaged him in several foot chases since he got out. Sometimes we chased him two or three times in a night. He was fast as lightning and crazy as a bedbug. Several times he even led officers up to the roof of a building only to jump across the alley to the next roof – while carrying both guns in a backpack.
I was hot on his heels one day when we got to a roof on Brookledge St. He jumped across to the next building like a gazelle while I froze at the edge.
He would always vanish. Even our fugitive unit set up on him several times without success. He once dove head first out a second story window, did a flip and hit the ground running as they smashed in the door during an early morning raid. He currently had 55 outstanding warrants from robbery to weapons charges.
I had been working with Officer Bobby Preble for a few days. There had been a sighting of Darryl, which led to a chase into the building at 176 Seaver Street. There were dozens of apartments, many of whose occupants would shelter Darryl from the police.
It was there that Bobby and I met an elderly woman. She was coming up the back stairs and whispered, “Did you get him?”
“No Ma’am, he got away.”
“He comes here every night through the back alley door. That’s the way he always comes and goes. You need to be in the alley when he comes out. He only stays 20 minutes or so, but he always uses the door from the alley.”
“Ma’am, could you call 911 the next time he comes in?”
She was terrified of him, but said she would. He had robbed her of her social security money a few weeks back.
We got the call later that night, and we knew we only had minutes. Bobby and I took the back of the building, while others set up on the surrounding streets.
Bobby is like 6 foot 6 inches and 350 pounds. He wasn’t going to be easy to hide. He took up a position in the alley, but we needed eyes on the door. I spotted a nearby dumpster, and jumped in amongst the garbage bags. Minutes later the door swung open and Darryl walked out. He took three steps past the dumpster when I yelled, “Bobby, he’s out!”
He was startled, and turned to see a uniformed cop standing in the dumpster. Still looking at me, he started running in the direction of Bobby. Bobby jumped out and appeared to take up the entire alley. Darryl then decided to reverse direction and take a shot with me.
I quickly radioed for the troops, then jumped onto his back. Darryl started to stumble, but kept going as I held on. Bobby then caught up, and we each had a piece of him.
His reputation proved to be accurate – even with the two us on him he was quite a fighter. Soon the whole district showed up, and with 10 to 15 guys we were finally able to cuff him. We ended his reign of terror before he could kill again.
And it was not the last time my job had me spending time in a dumpster. You can’t do this job if you’re not willing to get dirty.
