Written by Matt DeLong
The D.C. police have taken their share of lumps lately, often for good reason. But they came through for me in a very big way earlier today, so I asked DCist if I could share my story. In my case, the police organized and executed a successful sting operation to get my laptop and camera back from a dimwitted would-be extortionist. Here’s how it went down:
It happens to just about everyone at some point. You have a bit too much to drink and you leave something valuable in a cab. In my case, on Tuesday night, I had a couple too many shots of tequila at an establishment on 18th Street, and I left my laptop bag, my work MacBook and my relatively new camera in the backseat of a taxi. The next morning I realized what I had done, but couldn’t even remember what the cab looked like, let alone the name of the company.
My friend who I was with the previous night gave me a vague description of the cab’s colors, and I set about calling every company on the DC Taxicab Commission’s website (which fortunately include each company’s car colors). After several luckless hours, I suddenly received a phone call from a “Mr. Miller,” who informed me that he had my bag, MacBook and camera (I had business cards in the bag as well). “Mr. Miller” said would be content to keep my stuff, but he would let me have it back for a “reward” of $600. Recognizing his game, I agreed and said I would need to call him back to arrange the exchange. He had called me from his cellphone, so I had the number. Of course, I had no intention of paying him anything.
After I hung up, I immediately called the police. A very nice, and very large, officer named Rodriguez came to my office, and we decided that the best course of action was to try to get my stuff back. With him next to me, I called Mr. Miller back and asked if he could deliver the bag to my office, and I would give him the money. He agreed, but called back moments later and said that wasn’t going to work. He then said he would call me at 6 p.m. to arrange a meeting. At that point, we agreed to meet at the corner of 4th and Florida NW at 8 a.m., and he would have the bag with him.
