Galls

In the city where I'm a patrol sergeant, there are many warehouses, factories and miles of railroad tracks where crimes occur. They include commercial burglary, employee theft, stolen cars being stripped, vandalism and narcotic use.

One Saturday afternoon I was checking the railroad tracks behind several buildings when I saw a man walking towards me, about 200 feet away. I hid from view and carefully watched him as he walked towards a large set of bushes near the rear entrance of a company. He looked around to see if anybody was watching before entering the bushes.

All the businesses in that area were closed, so I suspected that he was an employee at one of them who had stolen property during working hours, hid it in the bushes, then came back on Saturday to retrieve it. I called for backup and set up a perimeter around the area.

After the other officers arrived I saw a different subject step out of the bushes who didn't look anything like the man I had just seen entering them. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on so I had my officers closer to the bushes move in and detain the new suspect. As the officers moved in, the suspect started to run towards me, but fell down and was stopped by my officers.

As they called me over the radio to walk over to them, both officers were laughing hysterically. As I got closer I realized that the suspect was the same man I saw go into the bushes. Except now, he was wearing a miniskirt, blouse, bra, makeup and high heels. My officers told me that he tripped over his high heels when he tried to run from them.

The man said that he wasn't doing anything wrong and enjoyed dressing as a woman. He told us that he kept his ladies clothes behind that building and dressed up here because he didn't want his family to find out about his "secret."

I explained to him that if he came back to the area again we would arrest him for trespassing and book him in whatever outfit he was wearing. He then decided it would probably be better to find a different dressing room so he could avoid being booked with hardened criminals while dressed as a teenaged girl.

He departed with a cheery wave, leaving me to realize that while it wasn't the type of crime I was expecting, I had been left with a story that I enjoy telling always.

Ben R. Busse
Police Sergeant
Vernon Police Dept.
Vernon, CA

Back to Category | This Month's Featured Stories and Archives | Submit your Story

Toll-free Ordering: 1-800-477-7766 ~ 8am-10pm M-F, 9am-6pm Saturday (ET)

*Price Match Program: The product must be an item that Galls currently offers for sale and maintains as a standard stocking item. Purchases must be made by an end user not a reseller or distributor. Promotion applies to new and unused products only. The Galls product must be identical to the one being advertised at a lower price. Cannot be combined with other offers. Matching applies to price only and excludes additional offers with the product such as free shipping or a gift with purchase. Price matching is limited to authorized distributors of manufacturer's product being advertised. Valid proof must be provided in order to receive the price match. Offer excludes all items on auction sites. We reserve the right to terminate the program at anytime without advance notice and in any event this program shall end on 12/31/2009. Call 1-800-477-7766 for complete details.

**Promotions subject to change without notice. Subtotal excludes gift certificates. Promotional offers limited to Galls standard ground shipping to a single address within the Continental US. An additional cost will be applied to expedited orders and surcharges for shipment to AK and HI. Certain offers exclude drop shipped orders. Not valid for previous or future orders. Offers will be reflected on Order Review page. Certain offers not valid for items that have a special shipping rate i.e. light bars and custom badge orders. Not combinable with other offers. All promotions exclude gift certificates.