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Small
Town - Big Crime: Arlington
Police Department, Summer / Fall 1984 The Village of Arlington, Nebraska was home to just over 1,300 inhabitants. While it was located on the eastern edge of Washington County along US Highway 30, the community identified itself more with Dodge County and Fremont, just seven miles away to the west. By and large, crime was not a major issue in this sleepy little town. We had the run of the mill issues; some minor alcohol offenses, vandalisms, and a few domestic disturbances from time to time. If I had to pick one type of crime to be a problem, it was the occasional burglary. I had been Chief of Police at Arlington for less than a year at this point…
I will have to lay out some background for this story. There were two separate, seemingly unrelated issues being investigated during the summer of 1984, which both came together into one major issue. This was a crime which the locals had not been aware of happening in their community before. The sleepy little town was about to suddenly be made to wake up! The Peeping Tom: On the
southwest edge of town near the railroad track, in a small well
kept rental house, was a young single mother with two small children.
The house was on an un-named street between 5th and 6th Streets
known locally as “the road behind the café.”
She was residing for the most part on social services assistance,
and had little or no income. Because of the costs, she didn't have
a telephone in the home. I never learned much about her background,
other than she was a very private and quiet individual who simply
wanted to be left alone. We will refer to her her as the “Young
Lady.”
The location where the “Young Lady” resided. The Young Lady came to my office to report that she was having reoccurring incidents of a prowler or peeping tom bothering her at her home. Understating that it had occurred on more than one occasion, and sometimes occurred during the daylight hours, but more frequently at night, I asked why she hadn't called 911 while these incidents were in progress, when she told me she did not have a phone. She was afraid to confront the individual, and as such had not even looked out of her windows to see who it was, so she could not provide a description. Clearly, she was afraid with what was happening around her home, and wanted it to stop. Besides myself, there was Cpl. Dale Bessey, and one other part time patrolman working with me, and I instructed them to provide extra attention to the area where the Young Lady resided. I also informed the Sheriff’s Office, Nebraska State Patrol, and the Railroad Police of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad of the issue. As time went on, we would find evidence that a trespass had indeed occurred, but we had little or no luck catching the individual. Dale came up with the idea of tin cans, with fishing line and fishing hooks placed strategically around the windows of the Young Lady’s home, but again, by the time law enforcement arrived, we’d find the cans strung out across the back yard toward the railroad tracks. At least we had an idea as to which way the subject was coming and going. Always thinking, Dale came up with the idea of setting up a CB Radio inside the Young Lady’s home. This has its own issues, as it could only be used so long as someone was at the other end of the radio to hear the call for help. At one point, during the early evening, (it was still light out,) the Young Lady put out a distress call on the CB, and I was able to get on scene reasonably fast. The prowler was no longer on scene, but two of the neighborhood children said they saw a man “wearing army clothes” running into the woods, away from the house. Upon more detailed questioning, they described the subject wearing full camouflage clothing, shirt, pants, and a hat. Finally, it came to the point where the subject was pounding on her door in the middle of the night. Without being able to communicate with the outside world, it was recommended that if this occurred, she barricade herself and her children in an inner most room of the house until either it was all clear, or we were able to make an arrest. She was told not to come out unless she was absolutely sure it was safe. Since this peeping tom issue was becoming more complicated, and it appeared that the subject was evading the area toward the railroad, we requested the assistance of the C&NW Railroad Police for their active assistance in the issue.
So on a hot, humid summer Friday evening, a Special Agent, Bob Elfner
from the C&NW Railroad Police, augmenting Dale and another one
of our part time officers set up a stakeout along the railroad right-of-way.
I would maintain normal patrol activity in and around town, and
support the surveillance operation as needed. It was almost successful,
in that an individual had been observed walking along the railroad
tracks, and everyone got into the chase, but the subject simply
disappeared… One of several auto shops from town was located in the Downtown Business District. The young man who was the proprietor of this establishment may have been a pretty good mechanic, but he was always on the fringe of getting into trouble with the law. At one end, he was commonly involved in nuisance issues with junk cars parked on the street, or in the city’s alley. On the other end of the spectrum, he was the suspect in calling a false accident report to 911 one winter evening to get a State Trooper distracted from making a drunk driving arrest. While he had no family ties or history to the community, he seemed very well connected to some prominent and wealthy individuals who would always come to his aid by applying political pressure whenever this guy was in trouble. Most interestingly, there was always a lot of people coming and going from his shop at all hours of the night… We’ll refer to this guy as the “Shop Guy.” In April of 1984 we broke up a teen age beer party. Citations were issued, and the beer keg and all its accoutrements were seized as evidence. Naturally, none of the underage drinkers could remember who they got the keg of beer from, so the keg remained locked up in police custody. A few weeks later, the owner of one of the local taverns stopped by to ask if the keg could be released as he had sold the beer and rented the keg to an adult individual in good faith, but was going to get stuck with the loss of the deposit from the distributor if the keg and the items were not returned. The bar owner finally told me that the beer keg was sold to Shop Guy, but added one of the kids “must have stole it from him” thus ending up at the beer party. (Yeah, yeah… Sure, sure…) The owner of the tavern got his keg back, but since we now had an idea who was buying beer for the kids, I instructed my officers to make a log of all the vehicles either parked or observed coming and going from the auto shop in the middle of the night. After a few weeks, I looked at the logs, expecting to find the cars of a few of our local kids on the list, which I did, but what I also found startled me. Included on the logs were several vehicles with Arkansas license plates. Not always the same Arkansas plate or vehicle, but more Arkansas plates than what you’d expect to find coming and going for a small town in Eastern Nebraska. Over the three or four week period covered in the logs, this was a verfy odd, and unexpected observation. I contacted the Criminal Intelligence Division at Nebraska State Patrol Headquarters in Lincoln. None of the names associated to the vehicles caused a hit, but I did learn from the Intelligence office that an organized crime group from Arkansas was believed to be in the area, likely in Dodge County, where the subjects wanted to set up a large marijuana growing operation. Some of the individuals involved had been observed at a truck stop café in Fremont. It was believed that they were probably trying to set up somewhere west of Fremont along the Platte River. None the less, I was asked to keep watching, and keep logging. Plain Dumb Luck: It was late on a Sunday night in early October. Night is not exactly the right way to describe it, as it was closer to 2:30 AM, Monday morning. All the bars and such were closed and nothing in town was moving at all. There was little or no traffic on the highway either. I pulled into a gas station parking lot along the highway in the center of town to complete some paperwork. From this location I could view North up Third Street, which was more or less Main Street in this little town, and East and West along US Highway 30 beyond the city limits in either direction. Sometime later, I observed the headlights of a vehicle approaching town from the west. It was a ways off, but I could tell that it was moving fast. As the vehicle entered town, I switched on the radar antenna which read a quick succession of speeds: 85… 73… 67… 60… 52… 44… This doesn’t simply signify that the vehicle is slowing down; it means that the driver is literally standing on the brakes! I’m already moving as the vehicle suddenly turns south off the highway on to 6th Street. Back in those days, the only outlet was back onto the highway at 5th Street. With intentions of heading off the vehicle, I turn south on 5th, only to find an unoccupied Chevrolet Pickup, blacked out, and parked right in the middle of the road in front of the Young Lady’s Home. This is one of those times when, as a cop, the hair stands up on the back of your neck! What started out as a possible pursuit of a speed violator with a “fuzz buster” has now turned into something a bit more sinister…
I called out the traffic stop, and got out to investigate. To my amazement, this guy doesn’t even know I’m here! He literally runs into me as he’s coming from behind the house along the east side. He’s a male and he’s wearing a camouflage boonie hat, and full camouflage BDU shirt and pants! He’s totally surprised that he’s just physically ran into a cop as I grab him, move him back to the street and hold him over the hood of his pickup truck! Naturally, he is protesting like hell! While I’m patting him down, I ask what he’s doing here. He replies that he’s visiting his girl friend. “Really? Is she expecting you?” He says that he called her on the phone and that she was expecting him… I asked him what the name of his girlfriend was. At least he got one answer right. He had her name correctly… I get his driver’s license, etc, and interestingly, while I’ve not seen this guy before, he has a local Rural Route address for himself and the truck. I run his name, and the vehicle… No wants or warrants. I ask him again, “What are you really doing here?” He replies that he visiting his girlfriend. I reply that she doesn’t have a boyfriend. He asks, “How do you know?” I simply reply, “I know things…” At this point, I’m trying to get the Young Lady to come to the door, but she’s not coming. She’s doing exactly what we instructed her to do. She’s barricaded inside. I get Dispatch to wake up Dale at home, and have him try to call the Young Lady on the CB Radio… No luck. If I can’t get the victim to say, "I want to press charges," I can’t arrest him. This guy is still protesting loudly. “I’m a big land owner in this county! I have a hell of a lot of power!” I calmly explain that “I’m the Chief of Police! I have more power than you want to mess with..!” Besides, I know of most of the big land owners and prominent citizens in this community, and he’s not one of them. Unfortunately, I can’t hold him. But I've documented him and his vehicle thoroughly before I kick him loose, with the reminder that I have my eye on him! The Game is Afoot! The next morning… (Yes in the morning!) I got up early to go on duty. Before I even went to my office, I stop by the residence of the Young Lady. I told her that I finally caught someone messing around her home the night before, to which she replied she heard the all the commotion outside, and followed my advice specifically by locking herself and her kids in the bathroom! I told her the name of the subject, and asked if the name meant anything to her. She said that he was one of the guys who hangs out at the Auto Shop downtown. She met him while taking her car there for work. He had asked her out on a date on more than one occasion, but she always declined. The little voice in my head is already starting to tell me that I have a hot issue by the horns, but I calmly ask the Young Lady, “Would you like to press charges for Trespassing and Disturbing the Peace?” She replied that she’d have to think about it. I proceed straight to my office… I’m already starting to put some of the pieces together. The first call I make is to State Patrol HQ Intelligence at Lincoln… I provide the subjects name, and I get a long, pregnant pause… “We’ll call you right back, Chief!” Five or ten minutes later the clerk shouts down the hall to me, “Randy, NSP Omaha is on line one for you!” “Randy, this is the Patrol’s Intelligence Officer at Omaha. Did you call Lincoln about this guy?” “Yes, I did…” “Do you know who you have here? Do you know who you stumbled across?” “I have a good idea of who, or what I have, but tell me anyway…” It turns out the guy I had spread out over the hood of a truck in the middle of the night was one of the guys from Arkansas that everyone was on the lookout for! This subject was part of the big dope growing operation! “Randy, I’m leaving Omaha right now to come up there. I’ll be there in about an hour. Can we meet?”
The Scene of the Crime: Trooper Chuck from the State Patrol arrived right on time. Something you have to understand. The Drug and Intelligence guys at the State Patrol don’t look like Troopers. They look like outlaw bikers! So the City Clerk has one eyebrow raised when the “Leader of the Pack” arrived to meet with me. The first thing Chuck tells me is these guys are reportedly armed and dangerous. “Did you find any weapons during the contact?” I hadn’t, so we both breathed a short sigh of relief. Chuck read me in on the intelligence he had. The guy I had contact with, was their “growing expert.” There were at least three others, who were known to be involved, and known to be armed. I looked at the photos, and didn't recognize any of them. I briefed Chuck about the auto shop, Shop Guy, and his known associates, and the log of Arkansas plates coming and going. I also described Shop Guys known associates, and the prominent individuals who always seem to apply political pressure whenever Shop Guy gets into any trouble. One of Shop Guys best buddies is a party whom we’ll refer to as "Bruce." Bruce was the son of a moneyed land owner who resided north of town. Part of their land boarded on the Elkhorn River. Chuck says, “Ya know, we’d been looking for these guys to be working about thirty miles west of here, but how much do you want to bet they set up just north of your town?” I agreed it’s possible… Chuck says, “Let’s go take a look!” We arrive in the area in Chuck’s plain old car, with a general idea of where we might be going, and an old County TAM Map as an aid to finding the place. Eventually, we find an out of the way location to park the car, and walk a considerable distance cross country until we arrived at a somewhat concealed vantage point on a hill, with a good view of the valley below toward the river. The county road leading to Bruce’s farm runs east and west, and was about three hundred yards off to our right. Through binoculars, we can see someone working on a house or cabin down in the valley, but nothing untoward. About that time a telephone company truck comes barreling westbound down the county road, throwing a ton of dust into the air as it sped by. If anyone was watching, this dust plume could be seen from a very long ways away! Now we hear a dirt bike or motorcycle racing out of the cornfields to the west, from near the river. This was apparently in response to the telephone company truck coming too close to something! “Let’s get back to town..!” Things Start Moving Fast: On the way back to my office, Chuck went on to explain the need for secrecy over this case. I was told in general terms not to discuss any of the matters to anyone without a need to know. I was specifically instructed not to discuss any of the case issues and plans regarding the investigation with the Washington County Sheriff, Bill Gutschow or by extension any of his deputies. The State Patrol would deal with Sheriff Gutschow. It was made clear, that Sheriff Gutschow, for whatever eason, was considered a risk when it came to intelligence information. I could guess, but I was not told why. I was instructed as to what information I could divulge to Cpl. Bessey and any of my other officers, based on what they needed to know, if and when they needed to know it. My City Officials, Mayor, City Councilmen, City Clerk, etc. were not to be informed. After arrests were made, then the matter could be openly discussed, and the media would also be informed. When we arrived back at my office, Chuck made some phone calls, and I was advised that I would be receiving instructions no later than the following morning… Not that anyone noticed, but sometime over the next twelve hours a flight of two RF-4C Phantom Jets from the 155th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, Nebraska Air National Guard made a high altitude reconnaissance sortie over the Elkhorn River Valley separating Washington County and Dodge County, Nebraska. After the photo run was complete, the jets flew directly to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas where the film was unloaded, processed, and analyzed by military experts in aerial photo reconnaissance. A report and copy of the photographs were submitted to the Nebraska State Patrol indicating a large quantity of Marijuana being cultivated in and near the cornfield in the area observed by Chuck and I. (Note: Cultivated versus Growing Wild.)
The
RF-4C Phantom was the type of aircraft used by the The following morning, I received a telephone call from NSP Lincoln. where I was informed that the team would be assembling at the airport in Fremont. My initial assignment was that I would be riding in the NSP Helicopter to guide the movements of personnel in the field, due to my knowledge of the local area. This assignment would be changed soon afterwards. A team briefing would be held at the Airport late in the morning. The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, (DEA,) as part of the War on Drugs, would pay for the majority of the costs of such an operation with Federal Funds if news of the successful completion of the operation was publicized with the local media. My seat on the chopper was taken by a television news reporter and cameraman from Omaha’s WOWT-TV. Not a problem. I still got a ringside seat! Present at the briefing, was Chuck representing NSP Intelligence; The NSP Troop A Drug Investigation Team; the NSP Troop A Special Response Team, (SRT); the NSP Aviation Team; several area State Troopers; several members of NSP Command Staff, myself, and various representatives from the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and the Fremont Police Department. Obviously missing was any representation from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The briefing included the synopsis of the investigation, and photos and overviews of each of the individuals suspected to be involved. Some of these people, especially the ones from Arkansas were particularly nasty, with violent backgrounds. The estimate of the size of “the crop” was stated to be significant, and the remark was made that this might be the largest seizure of a cultivated grow operation in the state up to this point in time.
Finally, the plan was laid out. The Drug Investigation Team, and
the SRT Team would advance overland, starting from about a mile
and a half away across the valley floor from the southeast. All
were cautioned to be watchful for booby traps and potential armed
resistance. An NSP SRT Sniper with a high powered rifle would be
stationed near a wooded promontory with a good view of the valley
below, and the objective. Myself, and the members of the Fremont
Police Department and the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office would
also be positioned at this location, along with the sniper. The
helicopter would hover at high altitude over the scene and watch
for movement, or entry and exit from any other vehicles or persons.
Once the “crop” was secured, uniformed troopers would
move in on the residence, and take any individuals there into custody.
This photo was taken over thirty years after the
events in this article took place. Many things have changed.
Once the briefing adjourned, everyone proceeded to their assignments. It was about 1:00 PM by the time I was in my place at the point overlooking the valley, along with the NSP sniper, the Fremont PD Chief of Detectives, and the Dodge County Chief Deputy. The NSP Drug Investigators and SRT team had just started their advance across the field. The helicopter was way up above… I was amazed to find that when the helicopter was orbiting at that high of an altitude, you could not hear it! Further, you had to really look hard to see it, and needed binoculars to be able to identify it as a helicopter! It was a fairly long wait… Perhaps an hour and a half to two hours before the team on the ground reported that the objective was secured. The order was given for the Troopers to secure the residence; then all hell broke loose! Fortunately, no shots were fired… The action started north of my position, literally over the hill and far away. The uniformed State Troopers in marked patrol cars came into the farmstead, fast from the north to the house where the subjects were living. The bad guys, seeing the cavalry coming, bailed out the back of the house to the west, and down the hill into the cornfields which were still growing tall and thick this October! Of the five individuals from the house, only a woman identified as the “housekeeper,” and the “growing expert” whom I had contact with in Arlington two nights before were taken into custody! We now have the NSP SRT Team trying to secure the whole cornfield, and the helicopter coming in low over the field! I recall a view of a State Patrol 4X4 pickup truck, with three or four NSP SRT members riding in the bed, zooming north across the corn field. From our view, we could barely make out the truck in the tall corn, giving the illusion of four guys surfing across the top of the corn! The helicopter had been flying up and down the corn rows of the field until they reported they were low on fuel, and would need to depart. After the loss of air support, it became apparent that we weren’t going to capture the remaining three suspects for the time being. Our team was ordered to move north, cross country from our vantage point to the farmstead. On our arrival, we find the usual “after the raid” chaos. Chuck is talking to “”Bruce” and his father. (Remember Bruce?) They lived in another house on the farmstead. They were renting the house where the subjects had been living, and the portion of bottom land where "the crop" was growing to the subjects. Naturally neither of them had any idea anything illegal was going on. They were of the opinion that the guys living in the house were seed corn dealers from Arkansas, and the plot of land they were renting down on the river bottom was a test plot for their seed corn. From the old man, I might be able to buy this account, but not from Bruce. Bruce knew something that he was not saying… Things Wind Down, but Not Over: The two subjects in custody were transported to booking at Blair, Nebraska. Two Drug Investigators were posted outside of the house in question while Search Warrants were obtained to search the premises. (The crop in the field was ruled in “plain view” thus no search warrant was required up to this point.) Before leaving the scene, I was told by the NSP Lieutenant from the Drug Investigation Team that they would need a uniformed officer on hand when the warrant was served. Since I lived close by at Arlington, and everyone else involved lived at Omaha or Lincoln, could I stop by home and change into my uniform. Not a problem, until I arrived home to find that my wife had started laundry with all my duty uniforms… I reached in the closet, and pulled out one of my long sleeve dress uniforms, complete with the silver buttons and braid. I took a shower, grabbed a quick bite to eat, briefed Dale about the day’s events, and headed off to Blair. Arriving at the Sheriff’s Office at Blair, I was told by Chuck that the Sheriff was none too happy, but that the State Patrol was dealing with him. The “growing expert” was being interviewed, and was not providing any useful information. Dale picked up the Young Lady at her home and brought to Blair where she was allowed to view the Growing Expert through the two-way mirrored glass. She was reminded that he could not see or hear her, as we asked if she could identify him. She said she recognized him as a guy who would hang out at the auto shop in Arlington, but that she really didn’t know him. I told her that this was the guy we caught spooking around her home in the middle of the night and asked if she wanted to press charges against him for trespassing and disturbing the peace. She broke down and started crying, saying she just wanted to be left alone… I told her that this guy has a whole lot of other problems, and it wasn’t likely that he was going to be able to bother her again if she chose to press charges. I also told her that she didn’t have to press charges, but that it was her right if she wanted to do so, and if yes, this was her opportunity. She continued to crying, again saying that she wanted to be left alone. Dale returned her to her home. No charges were requested to be filed regarding the peeping tom incidents. Now, it was my turn to interview the subject. I introduced myself to him and I asked him if he remembered me. He said he didn’t. I advised the subject of his Miranda Warnings, which he’d likely heard for the fifth or sixth time that afternoon. I asked the subject again if he remembered me. He said no. I said, "Don’t you remember that you told me you were a big, powerful land owner after I caught you sneaking around this lady’s house?" He replied that I must have been thinking of someone else… I told him, “No, I recognize you, and I wrote down your name, and she recognizes you too!” He looked at me in silence… “It was you, that’s all there is too it!” I reminded the subject that he was in a whole lot of trouble. Not only with the cops in Nebraska, but I expect from his employers back home as well… I suggested that he might as well give up some small sign of cooperation, and perhaps tell us what he was doing behind that house in the middle of the night, and all the other nights. After all, at this point he had little to lose on the account this peeping tom case. He just stared blankly back at me… “Ok. Have a nice life.” So that was Case Closed on the matter of the peeping tom. I assisted Chuck in the preparation of his search warrant affidavit, and anything else I could do. Remember, this was in the day before computers, so everything was drafted out by hand, and then typed with a typewriter, with great care so no errors were made. Execution of the Search Warrant: Chuck and I arrived back at the scene with the warrant in hand. Also with us, was a uniformed Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy. I knew this guy, and in spite of the fact that his Boss was a putz, he was an alright guy. He was square and honest. We didn’t ask for a “no knock” search warrant as there was no need, although we did request a night time search, as we had no idea how late it would be before we arrived back at the scene. As it was, it was now sunset on this October evening… The “Housekeeper” was brought along as a guide to what was what and where in the house. The Lieutenant takes the warrant, and even though no one is home, knocks on the door. He nods his head, and after a few seconds knocks on the door again… No answer. He announces that “It looks like nobody is home!” then taking the Housekeeper’s keys, unlocks the front door, and one by one we all enter. First, the uniformed deputy, followed by me, then all the others. First order was to clear the house. This is to make certain that no one is still actually in the house. Clearly it was presently unoccupied. Now, one gets to take in the whole view of what’s in this house, which was pretty amazing. The entire home is set up similar to a tobacco processing and packaging facility, but it was not tobacco, it was dope! The basement was entirely set up with tiers, three levels from floor to ceiling so the marijuana plants could hang and dry. Each area of the basement was sectioned off with heavy plastic sheets to separate the various areas. Several de-humidifiers where running to aid in the drying process. That was just the basement… Upstairs, were stations set up for stripping the leaves from the stems, then other stations had been set up for sifting the pot through screens. The majority of the seeds were separated from the pot, and set aside in jars for other uses; possibly another future crop. Finally, the pot was weighed, and packaged in units of about one ounce each, and the individual packages were boxed and made ready for shipment. When a detailed search was made, we discovered hand guns everywhere. We found guns under the sofa cushions, between the bed mattresses, in the kitchen cabinets, and even in the bathroom vanity or medicine cabinets! These guns weren’t meant to repel law enforcement. They surly had the opportunity to use them if they wanted. In their mind, the cops were the least of their worries! They were worried about rival business interests. Remember this was organized crime. They were concerned that some other mob group might come to pay a visit! Another piece of evidence, at least from my perspective was in regard to Bruce. Remember Bruce? It was Bruce who we were able to link from the auto shop in Arlington to this place out into the boondocks. The same Bruce who told us that he had no idea that anything illegal was going on in this house, or in the field. Hanging on the refrigerator door in the kitchen, was one of those magnetic message boards where one can write notes to other family members, except in this case, it was a different sort of family. Written on the board was a message from Bruce which read, “The Farmers Home Administration will be out this Friday to appraise the house. Make sure all the dope is cleaned up and out of sight before they get here!” He then signed the note with his signature! You’ve got to love it when people, especially some criminal master mind like this can be so stupid! The rest of that night, the six of us went about collecting and packaging the evidence. Down in the basement, we needed to bag up all the dope plants that were hanging to dry. Every time we touched one of those plants they would disintegrate into an extremely fine powder. The “dope dust” became so thick that the room looked hazy! Remember I was wearing my dress blue uniform? By the wee hours of the morning, my blue uniform looked dirty gray and was sticky to the touch. The Deputy’s brown uniform looked the same. You also have to consider that we were breathing all this in while working with it… Not long before we were done, one of the NSP Drug guys asks, “Hey… What time does the local café in Arlington open for business..? I could go for a big stack of pancakes right now..!”
So all the evidence is locked up and secured in NSP’s van.
The Housekeeper is transported back to the jail at Blair by the
Sheriff’s Deputy, and the Nebraska State Patrol, Troop A Drug
Investigation Team and I go out for breakfast at our local café
in Arlington. There, the locals got to observe their Chief of Police
in a dirty uniform, laughing, and eating pancakes with a bunch of
bearded biker types….
This
formal photo was taken of me just a few months before or after Aftermath: For the next few days, this case was all over the news. This had indeed been the largest drug bust in terms of quantity in the history of the State of Nebraska up to that point in time. Something like 160 pounds of dried or processed marijuana was recovered from inside the house, while a figure close to 1,000 pounds of growing marijuana was recovered from the field. It took two dump trucks from the State Department of Roads to haul it all off! Fremont Tribune Front Page News Article Regarding the Raid I saw the Young Lady around town a few times after. Her peeping tom issues had stopped. Aside from passing greetings, I never had a need or opportunity to converse with her again. I hope things got better for her… The “Growing Expert” was convicted for his part in the dope growing operation, and I believe he served about four years in prison. The “Housekeeper” was not charged with anything, and was released. Warrants for the arrest of the three subjects who got away at the scene were issued, and they were all ultimately apprehend over time, convicted, and sent to prison. The County Attorney refused to file any charges against “Bruce.” Being the son of a prominent land owner carried a lot of sway in Washington County back in those days. Several years later, it was strongly suggested that the Sheriff of Washington County, the County Attorney, and one of the deputies, (not the one mentioned in this story,) by the Nebraska Attorney General to “retire” from law enforcement, and leave office. They took the advice. It should be stated loudly that all the other deputies of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office were honest, hard working, decent cops! One of them is the elected Sheriff of that county today, and he is doing an outstanding job! The “Shop Guy” closed his shop and eventually moved quietly away from Arlington. The local businessmen who always came running to this guy’s rescue remained in town, but made work difficult for me for the remainder of my time working at Arlington. Many of the law enforcement officers who worked on this case had long careers in law enforcement, and went on to high rank, and great accomplishments! I’ve not mentioned their specific names in this article out of respect for their privacy. If they want to be mentioned by name, I’m sure they’ll let me know. How did this affect my career? It had a near term, intermediate, and long term affects. In the near term, some of the affects were expected, while some were rather surprising. The first affect was being summoned by the Mayor who heard “complaints” that I was socializing with a bunch of hippies and outlaw bikers in the café early one morning. I explained that I was having breakfast with several State Troopers, to which he replied, “No! You were with bikers, and having a good time!” I calmly explained that undercover state troopers don’t wear uniforms, and most often don’t wear suits. If he wished to verify that I was with the State Troopers in the café, all he had to do was call NSP Troop A Headquarters at Omaha, and I’m sure they will let you talk with one of them. The following evening, I was summoned to a City Council Meeting. I wasn’t expecting a commendation, but I thought I’d at least get a pat on the back. Instead, I was chewed out with accusations of dereliction of duty, and operating outside of my jurisdiction. “We’re not paying you to work outside of town!” (Clearly the political pressure machine was already running in high gear…) I was told that because of me, “Arlington would now be known as the Drug Capitol of Eastern Nebraska!” I replied that had it NOT been for me, Arlington WOULD have become the Drug Capitol of Eastern Nebraska!” As far as working outside of my jurisdiction, I informed them that I was working under the direction of, and under the colors of the Nebraska State Patrol, thus the matter of jurisdiction was not an issue. Further, the days I spent outside the city were on my regularly scheduled day off, so they weren’t paying for any work I was doing outside of town. The room by this time was pretty quiet. So I left, adding a comment that perhaps they needed to get their public safety priorities in order. It turns out that a problem I had then, and throughout my career, if it can even be considered a problem, was that I maintained an unshakable attitude for honesty, integrity, ethics, and what was legal in all my decisions and actions. This rubbed some people the wrong way. It got me into trouble at Arlington, and it got me into trouble later. At least it was the type of trouble which allowed me to hold my head up, and sleep well at night! I have no regrets. I continued as Chief of Police at Arlington for about another year, but it was a difficult year. Clearly I had made political enemies, and they were gunning for my job. The salary I made as Chief of Police was hardly worth the effort to be constantly dealing with the political issues on a day to day basis. When I received a telephone call from the Mayor of the City of Valley, in Douglas County asking if I would consider visiting with him about working on his police department, I jumped at the chance! The pay he was offering was much better than what I was making at Arlington, and I was assured that I would be allowed, and expected to continue working in the active manner in which I had become known. (Yes. I made some political friends too! It was these people who referred me to Valley.) The only concession I asked, was that I would not be forced to sell my home, and that I could commute from Arlington to Valley, which was totally acceptable to Valley’s mayor.
The intermediate and long term affects on my career were positive.
Working on this case alone provided so much experience which could
not have been obtained in the classroom. Beyond that, the experience
gained and the contacts I made and methods I learned helped shape
my work in Law Enforcement Intelligence down the road. My work on
this case was another one of the several pieces which led to an
invitation to becoming part of the Nebraska Law Enforcement Intelligence
Network in 1991. It was said that my work at Arlington PD was a
text book example of gathering and assimilating criminal intelligence
at a local, small town level, combined with inter-agency cooperation
which lead to successfully combating and resolving a major crime.
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