New York Chief of Detectives (17 page)

“This is going to make or break this case, Chief.”

“I’m not into breaking any cases, so let’s think positively that we’ll make the case. It feels pretty good, since just a few days ago, we had absolutely nothing.”

“I know. I’ve been worried too. I figured that this may be my last tour in the Chief of D’s office if we keep coming up empty-handed.” Bryan said.

“That will be my decision Bryan, unless both of our careers are history.”  

“My money is still on your rabbit, Chief.”

“It’s hard work, dedication, and persistence that make the rabbit appear.”

CHAPTER 35

Saturday, April 10-Day 9

The Blue Goose Cantina - #3 Queensland Court

Borough of Queens-New York

1630 Hours

Bryan
and Pat pulled up right behind Sanchez and Alverez’s black Crown Vic, in front of the Blue Goose, while Mary McDonald and Mike Logan drove around them and parked in the rear.  They entered the bar, and were relieved that there were only two customers. However, it was only 1630 and was still early. The two customers left immediately, undoubtedly afraid of the police or they could have been illegals.

Rosa Sanchez approached the manager behind the case register.

“Habla English?”

“Si, I speak English.”

“I’m Detective Sanchez with the New York City Police Department. My colleagues are also New York City Police Officers. What’s your name?”

“My name is Carlos Ferez. I have done nothing wrong. Why are you here?”

“Mr. Ferez, are you the owner?”

“Oh no, I’m just the manager.”

“Can you tell me who the owner is?”

“It’s owned by a food service. I don’t know the owner. I just run this place. What’s wrong?”

“We have reason to believe that a crime has been committed in this place, and we’d like to look around for evidence. Is that okay with you?”

Carlos Ferez was dripping perspiration and Rosa could see his throat jumping with every beat of his heart.

“Mr. Ferez, do you mind if we look around?”

“Can I make a phone call?”

“Absolutely.”

Carlos Ferez began whispering into his cell phone in a very excited manner. At one point he turned to Detective Sanchez.

“Detective, what crime do you think occurred here?”

“The homicide of a New York City Police Detective.”

Ferez repeated it into the phone and then immediately hung up.

“I’ll say nothing else without my lawyer!”

“Very well then, Mr. Ferez. Chief, he’s lawyering up.”

Pat picked up his portable radio and keyed it.

“Chief of Detectives Car 3 to all units, let’s secure the scene.”

Uniformed officers came through the door two minutes later. Pat directed them to get everyone in the bar into the dining area. There was only a cook and a waitress.

“Take them outside and interview them.” Pat ordered

“You don’t have to say anything! Don’t talk to them!” Ferez interrupted.

He then blurted out a line of Spanish.

Pat turned to Rosa.

“What’d he say?”

“Basically the same thing, but with an assurance that they’d be taken care of.”

The scene was secured, and detectives were interviewing the remaining two patrons and employees.  In about ten minutes Pat’s radio barked. “Are you on the air, Chief?”

“Go ahead.”

“We have an attorney outside who says he’s here to see his client, a Mr. Ferez.”

“Send him in.” Pat directed the officer.

The front door opened and a short pudgy white guy walked in, escorted by a uniformed officer. He was dressed in a wrinkled grey sweatshirt that looked like he had slept in it. He called out to Mr. Ferez.

“Carlos, are you okay?”

“Si.”

“What is the problem here, officers?”

Rosa Sanchez spoke first.

“I’m Detective Sanchez. To whom am I speaking?”

“My name is Edward Romano. I’m an attorney representing Mr. Ferez and the Blue Goose Cantina.”

“We’re conducting an investigation and have probable cause to believe that a crime occurred here. We’re seeking consent to conduct a search for evidence.” Rosa explained.

“Are you going to arrest my client?”

“Not at this time.”

“Then I suggest that you leave the premises immediately.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna’ happen.” Rosa insisted.

“Then you are violating my client’s Fourth Amendment rights, and I’ll call your superiors. I insist that you leave immediately.”

Pat approached the attorney.

“Mr. Romano. We’re not going to search this place without Mr. Ferez’s consent. However, if he doesn’t wish to consent, then we will secure the premises and obtain a search warrant and search it, anyway. We certainly know that your client has every right to refuse a search and will respect his rights.”

“You have no right to take over his business. It is Saturday night for God’s sake. This is his busiest night. We’ll sue you for the income he is losing.” Romano insisted.

“Don’t make threats, or I’ll ask you to leave my crime scene.” Pat instructed the lawyer.

“You can’t prove that it is or has ever been a crime scene.”

“I beg to differ with you, counselor.”

“I want your superiors here now!”

“That’s not an option.”

“Who in the hell do you think you are anyway?”

“Patrick O’Connor, Chief of Detectives.”

“I’ll get your badge for this.”

“That’s enough with the threats. Detective Sanchez, will you please escort Mr. Romano out of here.”

“I’m not leaving!” screamed the red-faced attorney.

“Then you will be arrested for obstructing. We can’t do our jobs with you making threats.”

“You can’t possibly think you could actually make that stick.”

“Don’t push us. I’ll ask you one last time. Mr. Romano, please leave our crime scene, or you will be arrested. You can wait outside with Mr. Ferez.”

“I’m not leaving! I’ll own the NYPD.”

“Detective Sanchez, would you like to do the honors?” Pat asked.

“Yes sir, Chief. Mr. Romano, you are under arrest for obstructing.”

“This bitch better not lay a hand on me!”

Mike Logan grabbed Romano from behind. Rosa Sanchez quickly cuffed him and took him to the floor. They started to search him, and Rosa shouted “Gun!” as she pulled a tiny .25 automatic from his pocket. She shouted at Romano. “Do you have a permit for this?”

“I’m not saying anything.”

Pat looked at Rosa.

“If you don’t find a permit in his wallet or on his person, charge him with the gun. That’s a felony. Get him out of here, and lock his arrogant ass up.”

CHAPTER 36

Saturday, April 10-Day 9

The Blue Goose Cantina - #3 Queensland Court

Borough of Queens, New York

1625 Hours

Pat
dialed Queens County District Attorney, Richard Chambers, on his cell phone. After four rings, it went to voice mail. Pat left a message for him to call him as soon as possible. He hoped it would be pretty quick. After about ten minutes, Pat called his residence. His wife answered.

“Hello, Chambers residence.”

“I’m sorry to bother you, Mrs. Chambers, but this is NYPD Chief of Detectives, Patrick O’Conner. I’m trying to reach the district attorney. It’s very important.”

“Unfortunately he’s playing golf over in Jersey near Atlantic City. He’s not scheduled to be back until Sunday night.”

“Do you have a way of reaching him?”

“Not really, but he’s supposed to call tonight.”

“Do you know the name of the golf course?”

“Yes, of course, it’s the Jersey Shores Country Club.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Chambers, I wouldn’t have bothered you unless it was absolutely necessary.”

Pat turned to Bryan Flannery.

“Have someone call the Jersey Shores Country Club and see if they can locate the DA Maybe they have security.”

“I’ll get that in the works, Chief.”

“Thanks.”

Pat cell phone buzzed as he walked away from Bryan.

“Pat O’Connor.”

“This is Longstreet. What have you stirred up in Queens on this otherwise splendid Saturday afternoon?”

“Commissioner, it’s the Rodriguez case. We’ve found his police car and believe we know where Tony may have been killed.”

“This is real progress, Patty!”

“We locked up a pudgy little scumbag lawyer for obstructing and took a .25 auto off of him. He’s threatened to get my badge and everyone else’s. The bar manager has refused consent and we’re trying to get in touch with the Queens DA to help us get a search warrant.”

“Better act quickly, Patty. I was called by City Councilman Rubin Moore. He says that we’re just picking on a poor Mexican businessman, and the Queens Hispanic League is planning a large scale protest outside the Blue Goose Cantina. Things could heat up a bit.”

“Thanks for the heads up, Commissioner, we’ll be ready.”

Pat switched his portable radio to the city-wide channel and asked for a Public Disorder Unit Supervisor to call him.

His phone buzzed quickly.

“Patrick O’Connor.”

“This is Lieutenant Ellis from Public Disorder. How can I be of service, Chief?”

“We have a bar locked down in Queens that may be involved in the murder of Detective Rodriguez last week. It’s the Blue Goose Cantina at #3 Queensland Court. We’re trying to get a search warrant. The PC called and says that the Queens Hispanic League is going to protest us being there. Just in case they do, I need some bodies.”

“I have thirty guys working that I can send forthwith. We just cleared them up from an anti-war protest at the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan. Tell me where you are, Chief.”

Pat gave him the address, just as a T.V. news truck pulled up. Someone had tipped them off. A crowd was starting to gather across the street, consisting of mostly young Hispanics. Some of them were wearing gang colors.

“This could get ugly, Brian. I’ve already called for Public Disorder.”

“Good call, Chief.”

“We have to protect this scene. Let’s lock the doors and surround the cantina with the uniforms and the detectives we have.”

Brian asked the officers to spread out around the Blue Goose. A brick came flying through the air and landed in the center windshield of a marked Crown Vic with a big “CRASH!” Pat was the first one to grab his radio.

“Chief of Detectives, Car 3, Central, K”

“Go ahead Chief, K.”

“We have a ten-thirteen. Officer needs assistance at the Blue Goose Cantina at #3 Queensland Court. We have a crowd of about sixty subjects armed with bricks. They’ve damaged one patrol car.  Have units respond forthwith.”

Pat could hear the distant sirens getting louder by the minute. A second brick missed its mark, but excited the crowd. Pat’s radio barked.

“Public Disorder Supervisor Central, please advise the Chief of D’s that we are four minutes out.”

“Chief of Detectives, I copy. We are holding our own.”

Pat knew that they were on the verge of a riot. Oddly enough, Carlos Ferez still stood at the crime scene tape and didn’t say a word. This crowd was not incited by Ferez. He suspected it was indirectly caused by Romano.

The white NYPD SUV’s rounded the corner and immediately surrounded the Blue Goose Cantina with double parked police cars and SUV’s with their red and white lights flashing. The officers stepped out of the car, already dressed in riot gear with helmets, shields and long batons. A few officers had shotguns. Lt. Ellis quickly took charge. He came out with a bull horn in his hand.

“May I have your attention, please? This is Lt. Ellis of the New York City Police Department. This is an unlawful assembly. You have three minutes to disperse, or you will be arrested, and we will use tear gas.”

The crowd didn’t immediately respond, but when two officers brought out a large tear gas fogger, the crowd started to thin out. The few remaining stragglers left after Lt. Ellis made another announcement.

Pat walked over and shook Ellis’s gloved hand.

“Thanks, Lou, I appreciate the support.”

“It was our pleasure, Chief. We’ll hang around to make sure it stays peaceful. Also, we snapped some pictures of the group in case you need to identify anyone.”

“Good job, Lou.”

The crime scene tape was moved further out. Pat walked back into the Blue Goose Cantina. He noticed that he had missed a call on his cell phone. There was no message, but he recognized the number as belonging to Richard Chambers. He dialed Chamber’s number and he answered on the first ring. He explained the situation and the need for a search warrant.

“I’d be happy to help, Pat, but I’m hours away and I rode with several other guys in a van from New York.”

“We’ll pick you up in the next hour. Be in the main parking lot.”

“How will I know when you get here?”

“You’ll know!”  

CHAPTER 37

Saturday, April 10-Day 9

Jersey Shores Country Club

Atlantic City, New Jersey

1745 Hours

Pat
called in a favor. With one phone call, an already airborne NYPD Bell Jet Ranger helicopter was quickly churning toward Jersey Shores Country Club. Richard Chambers would be surprised. Pat instructed the Aviation Unit pilots to bring the DA to the main athletic field at Queens College. Pat and Mary McDonald picked up Chambers in about an hour round trip and went back to the 107th Precinct Squad.

“You didn’t tell me I was coming in a chopper, Pat. That was my first ride.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it Richard. We needed you quickly. This case has become a little bizarre.”

“Can you lay out the probable cause to search this place?”

“Sure, we’ve already written down a few bullets. Mary, please share them with the DA.”

“First of all, Detective Rodriguez’s body was found last Saturday dumped in a vacant lot. The ME said the body had been moved after death. The cause of death was blunt force trauma. The ME also said, that prior to his death, Tony Rodriguez had just eaten some bright blue tortilla chips.  An early nineties Chevrolet Caprice was captured by video cameras leaving the scene.

The last phone call to Detective Rodriguez was from a snitch by the name of Curtis Gee, who was found dead at his residence. Ballistics showed that he was killed with Detective Rodriguez’s Glock 9 mm. An early nineties Caprice was found burned near Queens College with an unknown male subject dead inside. The autopsy revealed he was killed before the fire, also with Rodriguez’s 9 mm.  The lab established that his DNA was on Tony Rodriguez’s jacket. We still don’t know who he is.

A suspect by the name of Marcus Johnson was arrested for narcotics possession and questioned about his knowledge of the murder of Detective Rodriguez. He was very frightened and made a statement, indicating that this was bigger than all of us and that he would be killed if he talked. He tried to escape, but was bitten by a canine. He later escaped from the hospital and has not been found. It was determined that he worked as a dishwasher at the Blue Goose Cantina.

Mid-town units got into a chase with a stolen Ford Escort bearing the tags from Tony Rodriguez’s police car. A shootout erupted during the chase and the passenger was shot and killed by police in Times Square. The driver, a Sturdivant suspect, was taken to Belleview Hospital in critical condition. He later gave a statement that they had stolen the tags off a car parked behind the Newman Brothers Garage in Corona, Queens, which is half a block from the Blue Goose Cantina.

Detectives went into the Blue Goose, looking for Marcus Johnson, and found that they serve those unusual, bright blue, tortilla chips. We’ve checked with Hispanic food suppliers, and this is the only place we can find that serves bright blue tortilla chips.”   

Richard Chambers paused for a few seconds and then asked Mary McDonald some questions.

“What was Rodriguez’s assignment the night he was killed?”

“He worked in the Organized Crime Control Bureau.”

“Yes, I know that, but was he assigned to the Blue Goose Cantina for an investigation?”

“We don’t know why he was there, but we suspect he got some information from Curtis Gee and was checking it out.”

“Do we have any proof of that?”

“Not directly.”

Richard Chambers stood up and looked out the window for a few seconds and then turned and looked at Pat O’Connor.

“I want Tony’s killer as bad as anyone else, but I just don’t think we can put Tony Rodriguez and the Blue Goose Cantina together. We both know that there must be some connection, but I’m just not comfortable with the probable cause. A cop killer’s case will be meticulously scrutinized, and we don’t want to lose it on a bad search. I can’t take this to a judge.”

Pat’s heart sank. He knew the probable cause was circumstantial, but he still thought that it was enough.

“You know a lot of evidence could be destroyed if we release the scene, Richard.”

“Did you see any evidence, Pat?”

“No, but we didn’t really look, because we had no consent.”

“I’m sorry, I just can’t take this to a judge.”

“I’ll have one of the 107th Detectives drive you home. Thanks for your time, Richard.”

Pat got in the car. Mary McDonald was fuming. She had tears in her eyes, but Pat knew they were tears of anger. Reluctantly, he called Bryan Flannery at the Blue Goose.

“Flannery.”

“It’s a ‘no-go’ on the search warrant. Chambers feels like we don’t have any direct evidence to connect Tony Rodriguez to the Blue Goose.”

“Damn, Chief, we all know it’s connected.”

“He feels like a defense attorney will be able to suppress the search.”

“I’m pissed, Chief, but what do you want me to do?”

“Break it down, and let’s meet back at One PP.”

“Do you think someone got to Chambers?”

“No, I really don’t. It wasn’t that kind of feeling, he’s just being cautious.”

“I hate this, but I’ll call off the troops.”

Mary McDonald finally spoke. “If Mike Logan had been with us, he would have cold cocked that DA.”

“Why do you think he was left guarding the scene? I’m as mad as the rest of you, but I know that the cooler we remain, the better our decisions will be. We’ll search the Blue Goose Cantina, because we’re not sleeping until we get the probable cause strengthened to the DA’s satisfaction.”

“I like the sound of that, Chief.  Do you have any ideas?”

“Not at the moment, but we’ll start surveillance of the place immediately and get some pole cams up and try to keep an undercover in there as much as possible. Hopefully, we can find Marcus Johnson, and he can shed some light.”

“It sounds like a plan, Chief.”

Pat’s cell phone buzzed.

“Patrick O’Connor.”

“Hi, Chief, it’s George McBain. I think we found something important.”

“What do you have for me, George?”

“We’ve just started working on processing the inside of Rodriguez’s car. On the sun visor we found a duty roster sheet dated last Friday with all the OCCB guys working mid-watch. On the back,
there are some handwritten notes. It says ‘Curtis Gee, The Blue Goose, check out the back room, something going down.’ I think it’ll be important.”

“You need to make a copy of this ASAP and I’ll get you a number to fax it to the Queens DA. I’ll explain later, but this is a God send.”

Pat called Richard Chambers on his office phone.

“Richard Chambers.”

“Richard, it’s Pat. We’ve found something in Tony’s car that I’m certain will give you what you want. What is your fax number?”

“Same as this number; just change the last digit to a nine.”

“Okay, you’ll be getting a fax. I’ll call you back.”

Pat called George McBain and gave him the number. He then called Bryan Flannery.

“Flannery.”

“Are you still at the Blue Goose?”

“Yep, I’m waiting with Mike Logan until Mary gets back.”

“We’ve just caught a break from the lab. Keep it locked down. I’ll call you as soon as I know for sure.”

“I’ve got it covered, Chief.”

Pat called Richard Chambers.

“Richard Chambers.”

“Have you received the fax?”

“Yes, I have. I think that this beefs up the probable cause. I’m ready to take it to a judge. Meet me at my office.  We’ll write it up, and see if we can find a judge on Saturday evening.”

“We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Pat called Bryan Flannery.

“Flannery.”

“Lock it down! We have a green light from the DA.”

“Great! What did the lab find?”

“A note written by Tony Rodriguez that says that something was going down in the back room of the Blue Goose. It even has Curtis Gee’s name on it. It was written last Friday on the OCCB mid-watch duty roster, which gives us a time-frame. We’re headed to the DA’s office.”