Sometimes the ugly guys get stalkers too!

Saturday, at the blogmeet, the topic of my stalker was brought up. I cannot remember how we got there, and I know I didn’t go into detail at the time, but I’ve been thinking about it since. Therefore, I am going to share this anecdote with all of you.

I had been working in Law Enforcement for a while when this lady in her mid 20’s came into the station wanting to file a police report about a stolen laptop computer. I was working the desk so I started gathering her information and sent a unit to the area to see if they just happened to see anyone with a laptop walking about. It was after midnight on a Thursday so there was little hope.

The unit I sent not only was able to locate the “stolen” laptop, but also recovered it intact. It was dumped under a bus bench next to a trashcan; we thought she was very lucky. The lady was very grateful for the return of her computer and said she wanted to send a thank you not to my supervisor for being so helpful. My nametag prominently displayed my name on my chest right over my “Serving Since” pin. Therefore, I didn’t see any harm in telling her my name, all she had to do was read it anyway.

Less then a week later I’m sitting at the desk when a strong odor hits me like a bucket of lead. I knew this smell, or at least one like it. It smelled like stripper. Anyone that has been to a strip club knows what I’m describing. The strippers seem to all wear the same perfume. I had been told on good authority that most of the clubs, at least in my area, use a perfume called Red or at least a knock off of it. Well this scent was like a cheap knock off of the knock off. It almost made my eyes start to water, but my nose burned.

I looked up and there is laptop lady. She was standing there, smiling and had a plate of cookies. I asked her if I could help her. She said she came to thank me for returning her laptop by giving me some cookies she baked. She also went into this diatribe about how she was going to send my supervisor a letter but forgot my name. Again, as part of my uniform I wear a nametag. This time I just smiled and pointed at it. She stuck around for 20 minutes just asking questions about police work and occasionally about my personal career, i.e. how long I worked, is this my first department, etc. She stuck around until we received an emergency call and I had to do my job. However, she hung around for 15 minutes before leaving.

This went on for about 2 weeks. She would show up at the station, bring me baked goods and talk to me. I thought she was lonely and was interested in me, and was trying to get me interested in her. I however was dating a lovely lady that would be my wife some day and had no interest in this over perfumed stripper smelling lady. Then she crossed the line. She said to me, “Do you live here? I tried to look you up in the phone book but I was unable to find you.”

My blood ran cold. (I also never ate another thing she baked and brought into the PD)

I advised her that I did not live local, that I commuted. I then lied and said I lived in a different city than I really did. I advised her that I had some paperwork to do and she had to leave. She left; I got the shift sergeant in filed paperwork regarding this lady. I contacted my phone company to make sure my name and number were still unlisted. The local police department took an informative report just in case something happened. Since nothing happened in their jurisdiction, they could do nothing at this time. Which I knew and understood, but I wanted to make sure they had her information on file just in case something did happen.

The lady kept coming back. Every time she would, I’d make sure another officer was there. I cannot get a restraining order since I work in a public building and she had yet to discover my home address nor phone number, not from a lack of trying. First, she figured out what my shift was, and then she figured out the hours that I worked. It didn’t take her long to find out what I drove. From that point, she tried following me a couple of times, never successfully. Although once I had a police escort in an unmarked car. When we thought we’d be able to nail her on something tangible. Which we were unsuccessful in doing.

Whenever my stalker came in, she would ask more and more personal questions. I just started lying to her. I think over time I told her I was happily married with six kids and one on the way (I was 25 at the time). I lived in a trailer next to a landfill, my wife used to be a model but gave it up to be with me and doesn’t regret it one bit. I contracted syphilis from a body cavity search that went horribly wrong. There were others, I just can’t remember them all. I was doing everything to drive her away.

Then it happened she stopped by to visit at the station and a 911 call came through, I was on the phone handling the emergency. She got pissed because I wasn’t paying attention to her and started screaming in the lobby. I ignored her and shut the partition class so it wouldn’t be as loud. I was wrapping up the call when she yelled, “Why won’t you pay attention to me? I went out of my way to meet you! I dumped my laptop next to that trashcan just so I could file a report. It could have really been stolen!!!” Silence… I pick up the radio and calmly broadcast, “32, 20 from PD” {acknowledgement} “32, 20 10-19. 10-96 at my 20 (Short for 10-20). Proceed 10-40” That translates into: “Units 32, 20 return to the station. There is a mentally disturbed individual at my location, proceed with no lights and sirens.”

Stalker lady now tries to back out of what she just said, saying I misunderstood what she said. I kept my ever so serious eye on her while she pounded on the glass begging me to listen to her. While she is doing that, I am rewinding one of the redundant taping systems we had for all radio and phone traffic in the station. Sure enough, there right on the end of the 911 call you can hear her yell out her confession. I’m dumping the recording onto an evidence tape when units 32 and 20 arrive. They where familiar with her so at first they thought it was just me trying to use them to get rid of her. That was until I slapped her with a charge of filing a false police report. They arrested, booked and transported her on filing a false police report, interfering with a police investigation, obstruction of justice and interfering with an officer in the performance of their duty. I know that the obstruction and interfering with a police investigation where dropped in a plea bargain.

I never saw her again after that. I think she finally got the message.