NW Flyer Guy - Round 1

Today was the initial court appearance of a young man charged with Disorderly Conduct in McHenry recently. Pete Burwell works for Northwest Flyer Guys, a small independent advertising firm that distributes bagged circulars door-to-door on behalf of its customers.

I met Pete and the owner of Northwest Flyer Guys, Andrew Olson, at the courthouse this morning. Pete is a clean-cut, young man. I suggested that he really needed an attorney, which he had already figured out. While it ought to be enough to stand up in front of a judge and tell the truth and expect a fair trial, I have witnessed too many cases where convictions resulted because the prosecution put on a better show. And you can't take that chance in court!

I was surprised to learn that the original charge was attempted burglary and, in fact, the charge against Pete is worded that way. The complaint says that Pete approached the front door of a McHenry resident, opened the storm door, tried the handle of the front door, then ran from the house, entered a vehicle and "fled the scene."

I'm not going to "spoil the ending" for you by telling you what really happened. That will come out in court, probably sometime in March or April.

Pete said the judge told him to get a lawyer and return to court on February 9. OK, so Pete's got a lawyer now - and a good one. He'll be back on February 9, and then the judge will set a trial date.

Here's my guess. At the trial in March or April, the complaining witness, James Harris on N. Bromley in McHenry, won't even show up. And the case will get dismissed.

And if the case is heard? The McHenry PD ought to have a good time trying to explain why five squad cars, two unmarked cars and a van responded. I mean, just hum the refrain from Alice's Restaurant!

The owner of the advertising company pointed out to the police that day that his flyers - with his company name and phone number - were hanging on door knobs all over the neighborhood! A little investigation would have revealed that no crime had been committed. Apparently, in McHenry they make the arrest first and then try to establish that a crime had actually been committed. Funny way to do police work!

And the typewritten Complaint didn't even spell the homeowner's name correctly. Some clerk got busy with the white-out and changed the name, not bothering to worry about the comma that then followed after two blank spaces. Maybe the clerk was heading into over-time, and some department was keeping its costs down.

Don't you just love Crime and Justice in McHenry County?

If you need a small firm to help you build your business, be sure to contact Northwest Flyer Guys. Just go to www.nwflyerguys.com I think you can count on Andrew and Pete to deliver your flyers in an honest and reliable manner and to follow their company rules, which are to hang the bagged circular on the outside door. If it can't be hung there, then they leave it on the doorstep. The rule is, "Do not open the storm or screen door." And I think they follow that rule.

Northwest Flyer Guys – Part 2

There is more to the fascinating story of a speedy arrest in McHenry, Ill. on December 18 (anyone humming the refrain from Alice’s Restaurant yet?).

A felony traffic stop was made by the arriving officers, and three alleged suspects were taken into custody at gunpoint. The reported crime? “Potential” burglary. The real “crime”? Hanging advertising circulars on door handles!

Where did the arrest procedures go awry?

The arriving officer didn’t get the facts. According to the Northwest Herald, a McHenry PD sergeant said, “Someone was rattling door knobs and that they thought it could be a burglar.” Well, it could have been an early Santa Claus.

The officers, unnamed so far in media reporting, made an assumption that a crime had been committed. Does rattling a door knob, if that is what actually happened, constitute an attempted burglary? Or did the resident just hear someone at his or her front door?

Now, we want police to respond quickly – and appropriately! Exactly what did the homeowner tell the police dispatcher, and exactly what did the dispatcher put out on the police radio or computer? My personal experience is that what I have told a dispatcher is not necessarily what a dispatcher then told the patrol officer.

As the owner of Northwest Flyer Guys drove out of the neighborhood with his two employees, an oncoming police officer gave them “the eye”. As his was the only car on the roadway, he pulled over as the cop turned around.

The officer approached the car and ordered the driver out at gunpoint. The driver and the two passengers were ordered to the ground and handcuffed, then placed in a police car, while the cops sorted things out.

I wonder if the police reports indicated that the officers were laughing about what was happening. Some professionalism, eh?

After the police got the “facts”, the owner and one employee were released, and employee Pete Burwell was charged with Disorderly Conduct. Apparently, the homeowner was “alarmed and disturbed” by a sound at his (her?) door. Now, how does a homeowner just happen to come up with the exact wording from the statute for a Disorderly Conduct charge?

Since the police had already drawn guns, handcuffed and detained three people, how important was it that they come up with a charge? Can’t just say, “Oops, sorry, folks.”

When the officers went back to the house from which the complaint was called in, the advertising flyer wasn’t even on the door. It was on the ground in front of the door! So how did the resident hear someone rattle a door???

Northwest Flyer Guys is a recently-formed company that distributes advertising flyers door-to-door. For example, if I wanted to advertise The Woodstock Advocate, I could purchase an 8½”x11”, full-page flyer and have it hand-delivered to 2,500 doors for only $149.00.

Now, let’s say for a moment, that these guys were really crooks and were actually shaking doors to find one open, so that they could go in and rob, steal and plunder. Would three of them walk a large neighborhood and leave flyers with their telephone number on every door?

Well, they are not crooks. Company policy is they don’t open a storm or screen door to hang the flyer on the inside. They are legitimate businesspeople, conducting a legal business, and helping potential buyers to find services they might wish to purchase.

You aren’t interested in the advertising this time? Okay, reach out, pluck it off your door knob or doorstep, and trot over to your wastebasket. Just think of the free cardio-vascular work-out you are getting without driving to the gym!

What should happen next?

The resident should withdraw the charge of Disorderly Conduct. If he or she doesn’t, the State’s Attorney should refuse to prosecute it. The charge should be completely wiped out of the criminal justice system, including records at the McHenry Police Department, McHenry County State’s Attorney’s office, and the Circuit Court records. Will an apology from the McHenry P.D. be sufficient? Not likely.

The recent popularity of Disorderly Conduct charges “alarms and disturbs” me. In fact, my “peace is breached” each time I read of such an application of this charge. Remember Greg Kachka of Island Lake? Remember the village trustee in Carpentersville?

I like good police work. I don’t like what happened in Island Lake, Carpentersville and McHenry!

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” (John Philpot Curran (1750-1817), Irish judge and politician)