Perhaps someone is gaming the system

By Doug Page | Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 01:15 PM

A gentleman, well-known to Englewood police, appears unable to stay away from a local big box retailer.

On a recent Saturday, police arrived at the national retailer to find the gentleman sitting in the office after employees said they saw him attempt to steal $105 in merchandise. Employees alerted to the gentleman because they had caught him shoplifting previously and had him banned from the store.

The gentleman told officers he was having chest pains. The officer responded that’s what the gentleman said every time he’d been arrested.

Asked why he had come to the store when he knew he was banned, the gentleman responded, “I know, but times are tough.”

In the way of background, the gentleman has numerous arrests and convictions for everything from disorderly conduct, to resisting arrest, to forgery, to burglary, to theft, to traffic violations too numerous to chronicle.

Back to our story.

Once handcuffed, the gentleman revealed to officers he had been diagnosed with H1N1 and was running a fever. When asked why he was out in public if he was, indeed, ill, the gentleman responded that he had things to do, according to the police report.

Once outside, he began coughing “profusely”, according to the officers. Then he complained he was in so much pain he could not stand. When allowed to sit down, he sprawled on the ground, complaining the pain was so intense he could not sit up.

When medics arrived, they found all his vital signs, including his temperature, normal. The officers noted the gentleman’s coughing seemed to halt. The medics told police this was at least the fourth time they had been called on the gentleman’s complaints of chest pains after an arrest. On each occasion, the gentleman would leave the hospital before doctors could check him out. (Also before police could hand him a court summons for whatever crime he was charged with.)

Dispatchers informed the officers that there were two warrants out for the gentleman for failure to appear.

This time, an officer accompanied the gentleman to the hospital, issued the summons for theft and criminal trespass, and informed the gentleman of his court date.

No word yet whether he made his court date.

Being something of a skeptic, I don’t believe I’d bet any money on it.

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