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Investigate Subject with Black Baseball Cap
Chapter Forty-two
Except for Kenilworth Officers, names and addresses are fictitious
We were working a case that had been on going for over two months and had become a real problem within the police department. The citizens were upset.
I had personally received a telephone call from a police department located in one of our southern towns in Illinois, concerning a subject that was known to be a peeping Tom. He also was a suspect in other petty crimes in their town. Up to this point in my career we had never received a peeping Tom call.
The subject, Thomas Blackmore was a white male 5ft 7in in height, 165 lbs. and stocky in built. He was reported to be in excellent condition and would be a handful for two average police officers to try and control.
His MO (method of operation) was to find a ladder in a victims back or side yard or maybe even find one from another location and carry it with him to the victims residence. He would then place the ladder up against the residence and climb up to a second story window and peep into a bedroom or bath in hopes of seeing a female undressing or naked in a tub or shower.
He had been spotted in our village in the last few months at least a dozen times peeping into windows. One of the victims found him in her bedroom after she had gone into take a shower and returning to her bedroom she saw him climbing out of her window and going down a ladder.
So far there was no proof that Thomas Blackmore was the subject involved in the peeping Tom cases. The descriptions fit him right down to his size and blonde hair cut in a page boy style. The victims that saw him, all said he had a pilgrim boy hair cut.
Although he went to the local high school, located only a few blocks from his home he kept to himself and really had no close friends.
Even though he was a suspect in all of the peeping Tom cases we did not have any evidence to bring him in for questioning or a line up. Now you may think that with all of the above information, regarding people seeing him it would be enough to arrest him, right? Sorry, wrong. Not the way the system works. No one wanted to get their little girls involved. That is what makes this job so difficult at times.
Due to him being a juvenile during all of the cases in the southern town, that had called me, he was never arrested. He was always turned over to his parents.
One of his crazed actions was to get into a victim's bathroom and remove a Kotex or other types of female napkins and place them in his rear pants pocket and leave the residence. We don't know how often he did this but we were aware of at least four times the above actions were reported by a victim as such.
On one occasion he was checked out on the street during day light hours by Officer Ron Massman and was asked for I.D. When Thomas reached into his back pocket for his wallet a sanitary napkin fell out of his pocket and onto the sidewalk.
Officer Massman asked him what he was doing with a used sanitary napkin in his pocket. "Oh. I get a bloody nose quite often so I carry them with me all the time." Was his answer. The time of day was 6:00 a.m. and Massman did not buy his story for one second.
Thomas was asked to get into the squad as he was going to be driven to his home. He was driven the 10 blocks to his residence and walked to his front door. At the door Massman rang the bell and waited for Thomas's mother to open it. "Yes. What is wrong officer?" She asked.
After Massman told her the story about the napkin falling out of Thomas pocket and the excuse that he used. She never batted an eye but stated that the fact of the matter was that, yes Thomas does have a problem with a bloody nose. So what? " As far as him being out on the street at this hour, our little puppy got out and Tom was just trying to locate him." She said. Now how could you fight those types of answers? She would make you look like an idiot in the courtroom.
It is sad the mother protected her son the way she did, instead of seeking help for him. This was a typical question and answer session that occurred in the southern town, as reported to our department.
I let my emotions get the best of me after hearing the story from Officer Massman. I went into the Chief's office with a plan. We discussed the case and after telling the Chief of my idea, he bought it. I was advised that I could work undercover for three nights a week up to three hours each night. I would be paid extra to do so. The nights would be my choosing, unless otherwise directed. I would have worked for nothing, but could use the extra money. The catch was, I had to work after I finished my regular shift.
I did work more hours than I was paid for, depending on what was going on at the time and of course how I felt. I would dress in my greens, a uniform that I used for the dogcatcher detail, and to use at my part time job. I held down a full time job at a Volvo Dealer in Glenview when I wasn't working for the police department. The greens were the uniform of the day at that job. Almost all officers work more than one job.
One of the tools I used in stalking the subject, was to take one of the stolen bicycles that we kept inside the police garage (usually the best one) and used it for getting around the village quickly. This was a very good tool to have. No one gave me a second look when I rode around the village at night on the bicycle looking for Thomas. I carried a side arm, stuck inside my pants; a flashlight attached to the bicycle, handcuffs and a portable police radio that was wired with an earplug. The ear plug harness keep the radio chatter down to a whisper.
Sometimes I would go across the street from Thomas's residence and just lay down behind the bushes with my bicycle along side. I would listen as I heard voices coming from other residences, things that the average citizen should not hear. I would also hear noises from animals that I wasn't even sure what they were. Quite often I would hear chatter from one of the squads wanting to talk or tell me a joke. Unless I had good reason I would just ignore them. I was out there to catch a jerk and not to waste the tax payers money.
I am sorry to say I was not able to catch Thomas in the act. I did see him one night, or at least I thought it was he. He was running through a back yard and came within 20 feet of my location. It was very dark outside and he did not see me. I gave chase, never calling out to him. I wanted to get closer and perhaps catch him doing what he does best. I did not want to spook him, or blow my cover. I was within 50 feet of him, as I saw him go over a stockade fence without even slowing down. The fence was over eight feet in height and he hit it on the run and just made contact with his hands as he went over the top. Holy cow this guy was in great shape. I was in pretty good shape for a guy that was 30 years old and was able to get to the top of the fence to look over it. I was hanging on to the top and pulled myself up. It took a lot of effort on my part to get up there. The suspect was nowhere in sight and was long gone. Did he see me? I don't thing so.
"Unit 612. Unit 612." My radio crackled in my ear. "Go ahead headquarters 612 here." I answered. "Just received a call of a white male in a black baseball cap and green shirt in the back yard at 414 Chestnut." The dispatcher advised. "612 10-4." I said.
After riding my bike a few blocks I ducked in behind a large oak tree and called my dispatcher to disregard the last call, as I was the guy in the yard. I also advised him to send a squad to that location and have him shine a light around to keep the caller happy. I rode around looking for the guy that ran through the yard in front of me for another 45 minutes or so. I decided I was ready to call it a night and returned to the police station.
Pretty good, I was out for four and one half-hours and the only call I received was to check out myself.
NOTE; See chapter 87 regarding the arrest of Thomas Blackmore.
© James D. Fullington - Deputy2
2000 March 20 All Rights Reserved.
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