On May 14 a Jacksonville businessman who was in Fort Lauderdale for a meeting stopped at a bank ATM located at East Broward Boulevard and North Federal Highway. He withdrew $60 and started his return trip to Jacksonville. When he left the bank he took his ATM card, cash and receipt with him. Little did he know that over the next 24 hours, unknown persons would drain his bank account.

The businessman was a victim of a scheme called “skimming”. Skimming is filching data from the magnetic stripe on a credit or debit card and secretly obtaining the cardholder’s PIN number. The practice is widespread at restaurants, gas stations and other merchant locations where an employee takes a card out of the customer’s sight. The employee can then skim the magnetic strip with a device known as a “wedge”. At ATMs, criminals can insert “parasite” devices in the machine’s own card readers, and capture the magnetic strip information. Thieves capture PIN numbers in various ways. Sometimes they hide tiny video cameras above the ATM screen to record the keystrokes as customers punch in the PINs. Sometimes they place over the PIN pad a thin, transparent device that captures the number. Skimming rings often send the data they have gathered to remote locations, generally overseas, where factories are set up to manufacture bogus debit and credit cards.

An Electronics Funds Transfer Association Task Force has been established and will seek countermeasures to the rising use of “skimming” devices to steal money and information from automated teller machines. The task force will work closely with law enforcement agencies, particularly the Secret Service’s financial crimes division, which investigates skimming.

Skimming has increased substantially around the country in the past two months. But the initial focus will be on ATM skimming, because it is growing so fast and thieves are gaining in technical sophistication. In one of the latest and most successful scams, thieves bought ATMs and placed them in merchant locations. Though the machines dispensed cash, they also supplied the thieves with all the skimming information they needed. There is no shortage of ideas about how to fight skimming. Today banks have stopped putting account numbers on receipts, and it has been proposed that every ATM have an identification number, the equivalent to a vehicle identification number, on the back. They can help authorities investigate and track those used fraudulently. The largest deterrent to fraud is a bank employee who goes out and does a visual inspection of the ATM machines every day.

Protecting your credit card and ATM card from this type of crime requires vigilance. Become aware of what the card slide device looks like at the ATMs that you normally use. If it does not appear the same each time, the reader may have a parasite reader attached. DO NOT USE THAT MACHINE. Also, be aware of your surroundings and guard your PIN from observations.

---

---

For the past 4 months Fugitive Detectives Chuck Morrow and John Curry have been conducting investigations into the whereabouts of three fugitives being sought by the Royal Bahamas Police Force. Fugitive charges included murder in the first-degree, attempted murder in the first-degree, armed robberies, armed bank robberies and kidnapping. Numerous surveillances were utilized throughout Fort Lauderdale, Pompano, Hollywood and Miami. The fugitives are cocaine traffickers who travel throughout South Florida and frequent several businesses in Fort Lauderdale. Investigation revealed that the fugitives had entered the United States illegally and assumed other identities. They had false documents including driver licenses, social security cards along with vehicles registered to them. Detectives Morrow and Curry developed detailed information on the fugitives after several interviews with confidential informants and street sources. An immediate request was made to the Royal Bahamas Police for fingerprints, photos and arrests warrants on Daron Pratt and Hugo Stubbs. Immigration was then contacted in order to obtain an arrest detainer. It was determined that both subjects knew each other and frequented a business in Fort Lauderdale together.

On June 10, 2002 surveillance determined that both subjects were in the area of A Auto Body Shop, 800 NW 10 Terrace. Detective Morrow requested assistance from Patrol and K-9. By this time US Immigration agents and US Marshals had responded. Detective Morrow requested that surveillance be continued until both fugitives made contact with each other. After approximately one hour both the fugitives met at the business and entered a vehicle. At this point a perimeter has already been established. A felony car stop was made and both fugitives were taken into custody. Both Pratt and Stubbs denied their true identity, but with the assistance of the Chief fingerprint examiner Carl Ciotola and members of the fingerprint unit, a positive identification was made on both. Daron Pratt was wanted for a 2001 murder in Freeport and Hugo Stubbs was wanted for a 1993 attempted murder in Nassau as well as his involvement in a murder that occurred in Dade County. Both subjects were turned over to the Bahamian government.

Detectives Morrow and Curry then continued with an investigation into the whereabouts of another violent fugitive wanted in the Bahamas, Julian King, who was wanted for armed bank robbery charges. King was a detective with a Royal Bahamas Police Force when he robbed a bank in Nassau in 1996. He fled the islands and has been on the run ever since. Again detectives developed information that King was in the Fort Lauderdale area during a several week surveillance. Detective Morrow observed King driving a vehicle in the 2600 block of NW 31 Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. Detective Morrow continued to follow King while requesting assistance from patrol to stand by. US Marshals were also contacted and assisted with the surveillance. After 2 hours King was observed exiting an apartment complex and reenter the vehicle. A felony car stop was conducted and King was arrested. King also denied his true identity and had falsified documents in his possession. Fingerprint comparison was conducted and once again proved him to be Julian King. After an interview with US Immigration King admitted to the bank robbery and that he was a detective at the time he committed the robbery. King will also be taken back to the Bahamas accordingly.

Since April of this year Fugitives Detectives Chuck Morrow and John Curry have been able to apprehend 3 murder fugitives and 1 armed bank robbery fugitive, a former law enforcement officer, all wanted by the authorities in the Bahamas.

---

---

Fort Lauderdale Police Department would like to congratulate Detective Tom Hill for his recent publication in the Journal of Forensic Identification. His technical report was published in the July/August issue and discusses footwear patterns. Tom has attended many hours of training and has become an expert in footwear identification and is an asset to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division. (see article below)

“When making a comparison between a known footwear pattern and an unknown pattern from a crime scene, one of the first things an examiner will do is make a visual comparison to determine whether class characteristics correspond. If they do, then additional analysis is necessary. Part of the analysis process is to make test patterns with the shoe in question to try to reproduce any unique characteristics that may be observed from the scene print. Numerous methods can be used to make these test patterns. An easy to perform method has been found that produces finely detailed exemplars using a minimal amount of material.

Self-stick mounting board is a semi-rigid medium to support two-dimensional media (e.g., photographs). The mounting boards come in a variety of sized that can be easily cut with a razor knife and straight edge. The front of the board has a peel off protective paper that, when removed, exposes a smooth, white, adhesive surface. Two kinds of adhesive surfaces are available: Hi-Tack and Lo-Tack.

A second person assisting will make this procedure much easier to accomplish. Cut the mounting board to accommodate the shoe that is being used. While wearing the shoe, dust the sole with fingerprint powder. Tap or blow on the sole to remove any loose powder. Remove the protective covering from the board to expose the adhesive side. Place the board adhesive side up on a flat surface. (The board will need to be firmly held down to prevent it from adhering to the sole.) With a walking motion, step on the board heel to toe. The adhesive surface now needs to be covered to protect the print. The easiest and most effective way I have found is by using frosted fingerprints lifting tape. Using a 4’ wide tape, apply it lengthwise along the center of the impression. In most cases, this will cover the width of the impression, and will avoid leaving seams. There will still be a strip of exposed adhesive along the top and bottom. Theses can be covered using the 2” tape. Overhanging tape leads can be trimmed or folded around to the back of the board. The end result is a detailed impression of the shoe.

This method may also be used for crime scene elimination footwear exemplars and palm and footprint standards from cadavers. When working a crime scene with footwear evidence, oftentimes first responders will leave their shoe prints at the scene. It is far easier to obtain elimination exemplars while the first responders are still available than to try to locate them at a later date. The ease of this method allows a two-person team to quickly obtain these exemplars. This method is also excellent for obtaining friction ridge detail of the hands or feet from cadavers, either at the scene or at the morgue. When doing this method at the morgue, I found that using ink (rather than powder) works better, because of the cold surface of the skin.

Conclusion
This method is easy to perform, and it uses a minimal amount of material. It produces finely detailed exemplars of soles or friction ridge detail, and can be used either in the laboratory or in the field.”

For further information, please contact:
Thomas S. Hill, Crime Scene Investigator / Footwear Examiner
Fort Lauderdale Police Department 954-828-5901
tomh@fortlauderdale.gov

---

---

On July 5, detectives from the Fort Lauderdale SID Raiders contacted Violent Crimes Detective Rich Rodriguez and advised him that they had placed a male in custody by the name of Michael Smith for possessing a firearm. The arrest was made during a buy bust operation. The Raiders were assisting Detective Rodriguez in gathering information of possible suspects or witnesses for robberies that have occurred throughout the city of Fort Lauderdale. During the detective’s interview with Smith, it was learned that another male by the name of Jean Anderson was selling firearms as well as narcotics at 1400 NW 8 Street in the Durrs Homeowners area. Once the detective gathered all the needed information he and the Raiders went out to the location. Once there, several people were contacted. Detective Tim Shields and his K-9 partner located marijuana in the target vehicle given by Smith. A gun was also found in the vehicle, as Smith had advised. While at the location another male by the name of Gordon Seville was found to be in possession of a firearm that had the serial number scratched off. All three suspects were subsequently arrested and taken to the police department for interviewing. The interview with Seville produced information on two other suspects that are involved in narcotics trafficking, weapons possession and possibly an armed robbery, which occurred in Miami Dade County. Anderson gave Detective Rodriguez information on his supplier and other locations as to where firearms might be kept and sold. At this time SID detectives and Detective Rodriguez are attempting to identify the supplier, who at this time is known only as “Pet”. Anderson also gave information on the culprit of a shooting that happened a week ago. All three suspects arrested with firearms are convicted felons and will be charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

---

---

The Marriott Harbor Beach Resort suffered a burglary of three of their suites on July 16. It was determined that a master key may have been used to make the entries. Burglary Detectives James Halleran and Ray Turley were assigned the case and after gathering information on the employee who last signed for the key, they went to the home of Jamie Zanger and questioned him. He admitted to the burglaries and took the detectives to a home in Hollywood where they recovered 2 computers. Zanger then took the detectives to the home of Matthew Tokan where the third computer was recovered. Tokan was located later that day in Fort Lauderdale. He too was arrested and confessed to the burglary. The property was returned to the victims.

---

---

Auto theft Detective Bob Grimm arrested Christopher Greaves as part of an ongoing task force investigation on charges of grand theft auto over $20,000 and possession of an altered vehicle. Detective Grimm received information from a past arrestee in the investigation that Greaves was driving a stolen and revinned Toyota Sequoia SUV. After setting up surveillance on Greaves and locating the vehicle in question, the detective was able to stop and arrest Greaves on the mentioned charges. The vehicle was found to be a 2002 Toyota that had been stolen from the King Toyota sales lot in Deerfield. Further investigation showed that Greaves was also a part of a group that has stolen new vehicles off of sales lots around the Broward County area. All of these cars are revinned and used for personal gain or usage. The only tell tale sign that would alter police officers is the fact that the group is not registering the vehicles and just driving them on temporary tags, which are usually altered to reflect an extension on the expiration of the tag to greater than the allotted 30 day period. This specific SUV had been on the streets since March of 2002.

---

---

On June 17, 2002 Patrol Officers Vincent Schrider and Gayle Schoen made contact with Martin Michael Anthony. After giving the officers numerous names he was placed under arrest for open container and booked into the Fort Lauderdale Jail. It was later discovered that Anthony had a possible warrant out of Wisconsin. A fingerprint comparison completed by Chief Latent Examiner Carl Ciotola revealed that in fact he was wanted for escape from the state of Wisconsin and three other warrants. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department carefully works and investigates misdemeanor arrests, which in this case sent a wanted felon back to Wisconsin.

---

---

If you are the victim of a Robbery do the following:

• Try to stay calm
• Comply with the suspect
• Pay attention to facial details of the suspect(s)
• Don’t resist
• Never get into a vehicle with the suspect(s) to go to another location.

---

---

On June 20, 2002 police officers responded to 1814 SW 10 Street in Tarpon River reference to shots being fired. When officers arrived they found that a juvenile victim had been shot. Witnesses will later tell Homicide Detective John Curcio that the victim and her boyfriend, Carlos Sands were having an argument about where she had been all day. The witnesses told Detective Curcio that although they were in another room they could hear the argument and then heard a gun being “dry fired” in the room that the argument was taking place. The witnesses then advised that they observed Sands point the handgun towards the victim and pull the trigger. During Detective Curcio’s interview with Sands he told him that the gun had gone off accidentally. Sands claimed that he arrived home and was questioning the victim about where she had been all day. He then took a handgun from under the bed, unloaded it, put it to his own head and began dry firing it. The victim told Sands to stop “playing” with the gun at which time he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger a fourth time. But this time there was a bullet in the chamber and the victim fell shot once in the head. She died as a result of her injuries. Sands was charged with second-degree murder.

---

---

Thanks to a fingerprint comparison by the Latent Fingerprint Unit, Eugene Cooper who was arrested on June 12 on an in progress burglary in the Northwest section of Fort Lauderdale, has additionally been identified as the culprit in three other residential burglaries and charged accordingly. His MO appeared to be that of the suspect who had been forcing open front doors of homes.

On June 28, Burglary Detective Chris Herbert and Chris Smith, alerted by an informant, and with the help of patrol, located burglary suspect Charles McFadden in the 2400 block of West Sunrise Boulevard. He had been identified as the culprit in a residential burglary that occurred in Lauderdale Manors earlier in the month. During the interview with the detectives he implicated himself in a business burglary that occurred in the 700 block of NW 9 Avenue.

Detectives Dorothy Littlefield and Cheryl Donisi were notified that Wilton Manors Police Department had arrested Corie Beasley during a burglary in their city. Detective Donisi began a pawn history check of Beasley’s name and found that he had a lengthy pattern of pawning. Through analysis, a comparison of the dates Beasley had pawned and the items he pawned were made, finding that they matched with dates that burglaries had occurred in the City of Fort Lauderdale. Beasley was additionally charged with dealing in stolen property. More prints will be submitted for comparison to determine if he can be identified in any other burglaries in that area.

---

---

The Tennessee Search and Rescue Dog Association (TSARDA) will present SAR dog demonstrations at EMS EXPO/OUTLOOK 2002, October 1-5 in Nashville, TN. TSARDA team member Art Wolff and his K-9 Jason will show how SAR dogs work, including demos of basic obedience, directional control and search-related behaviors. Wolff will also provide a review on how to get the best results when teaming with SAR dogs. Wolff, a retired Fort Lauderdale detective, has been working on a primarily volunteer basis with SAR dogs for 12 years. His “partner” Jason, a 10-year-old German Shepard, has worked in SAR for 81/2 years and has training in disaster area searches. Together they have done searches for numerous organizations, including the FBI, FEMA and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

---

---

Over the course of two days, three banks in the Southeast and Northeast part of Fort Lauderdale were robbed. In each robbery the suspect entered the bank and handed a demand note to the teller, but always requested the note be returned to him. A short time after the third robbery Fugitive Detective Chuck Morrow was in the area and began looking for the suspect. He had a description put out by dispatch to aide him. He observed a subject matching the description walking in front of a bank on East Las Olas Boulevard. With the assistance of patrol the subject was taken into custody. Employees from the banks responded and made a positive identification. Violent Crimes Detectives David Jenkins and Rich Rodriguez interviewed Roger Stottlemyer, and he confessed to all three robberies.

---

---

• Detectives from the Raiders executed search warrants at 2312 NW 9 Street. 30 Crack rocks, 1 pistol and 1 shotgun were recovered. Charles High was arrested; he also had a warrant out of Tennessee for attempted first-degree murder.
• Detectives from the Raiders executed 2 warrants at 1337 NW 4 Avenue and 1032 NW 3 Avenue in South Middle River Homeowners area. Cocaine and marijuana were seized along with 2 arrests.
• Detectives from the Raiders conducted a reverse prostitution operation in the area of NE 27 Street and North Atlantic Boulevard. 15 arrests were made.
• Detectives Jeff Brull and Keith Rohloff conducted and investigation and 3 search warrants were executed at 734 NW 4 Avenue. 30 grams of cocaine and 1 vehicle was seized. 4 subjects were arrested on state charges.
• Detectives from the Raiders set up a reverse sting operation at 821 NW 14 Way in the Durrs Homeowners area. The search warrant resulted in 37 arrests.
• On June 3, with the assistance of a confidential informant one of FLPD’s Vice Detectives conducted an operation for $875 worth of powder cocaine. As a result, 52 grams of powder cocaine and 1 vehicle was seized. 1 arrest was made.
• Detectives from the Raiders along with K-9 Sparky executed a search warrant at 3031 West Commercial Boulevard. 10 Ounces of cocaine, 2 vehicles and $1000 in cash were seized. 2 arrests were made.

---

---

On August 6, Albert Fernandez and an accomplice approached a victim at a business on Davie Boulevard. They began a conversation that turned to lottery tickets. The pair advised the victim they were illegal aliens in the United States and could not cash in a winning lottery ticket. They offered to sell the winning ticket to the victim for $5000. The victim agreed to get the $5000 and meet them the following day. The victim then called the police and worked with Fraud Detective Mike Arbit on the case. The next day surveillance was established which allowed the detectives and officers to witness Fernandez’s meeting with the victim. After the victim was asked for the money Fernandez was arrested. A search of the culprit found a roll of flash money, $192 placed into a sock. This is similar to the pigeon drop scam. During Detective Arbit’s interview Fernandez confessed to the incident and was charged with grand theft.

---

---