case history

In 2004 I received a case from an upscale furniture, lighting and bath business in North Miami, FL. A group of thieves robbed them of eighty thousand dollars in furniture and housing fixtures using a stolen credit card. A 20-year employee who witnessed the items getting picked up wrote down the tag of a rental truck and put it in his wallet, it was obvious to him something was fishy. Initially when police were called the Client was told “it’s a civil matter”. I placed a call to the rental truck company which revealed a name. From this I was able to identify who the person was, their address and vehicle. After two days of surveillance, I followed the Subject from a residence in Pembroke Pines to a new development in western Broward County. I observed and recorded the Subject taking the shipping labels off pallets of marble that were stacked in the driveway from Home Depot. Later that night I returned, there were no cars or activity. I looked in the windows and observed all the furniture and fixtures. The police were contacted and approximately five days later Police Officers from multiple jurisdictions arrived with a warrant. When the warrant was served the Suspect drove by in her vehicle and was subsequently arrested. She had dozens of credit cards in her possession. Multiple people were arrested, and the main Suspect was deported. The North Miami Police Department gave me an Appreciation Award.

In February of 2008 diesel prices soared and so did theft. One large produce company had to stop making deliveries after I followed all their drivers over a month period. More than 50% of the employees either sold produce off the back of the truck or siphoned fuel from the trailer tanks and truck tanks.

In 2010 a client in the produce business was informed that one of his managers was selling produce on the side from a satellite office. I performed surveillance and observed the Manager leave in a company box-truck at 4:00 AM. He delivered to a retail produce outlet in Oakland Park, FL. I filmed the Subject unloading six pallets of produce from bushes 10 feet away. Once I observed and recorded the retail shop owner hand the Suspect cash I called the Police, and the authorities handled it. The Subject received 1 charge of Grand Theft in the 3rd Degree and 2 charges of Dealing in Stolen Prop-Traffic/Organ. 

The most memorable was a driver I followed from Pompano Beach to Key West in May of 2012. He made his delivery and started back north only to stop at a private school bus yard near NW 36th Street and 27th Avenue in Miami, Florida. He parked the semi-truck next to a small school bus, got out and met with two other males where they were observed and recorded siphoning fuel from the truck into a small school bus containing multiple fuel tanks. I called the Client and was instructed to block them in and call the police. The two men that met the driver were father and son, the father owned the school bus company and the land. When the police arrived, I anticipated it was going to be a cut and dry arrest. To my surprise the City of Miami Police Departments detectives came out and since the father owned the business and was present during the theft of the fuel, they stopped each bus driver as they came back to the yard and asked them who filled the tank in the bus. Each driver stated that the owner or his son, so the detective had the bus towed. More than ten buses were towed away and when I drove by a few days later the yard was empty. Apparently the EPA was called, and a few oils spills resulted in additional fines. 

In 2019 a fuel delivery company hired us to catch two of their tanker truck drivers who were suspected of stealing fuel. We proceeded to follow the trucks on their route. During their lunch break they were observed disconnecting the truck’s GPS. They drove the tanker truck to a commercial truck parking lot where they had a semi-trailer fill it with large tanks that were storing the fuel. We recorded them pumping fuel from the tanker truck into the semi-trailer. When the police arrived, they found multiple tanks inside the trailer containing diesel. They were both arrested and lost their TWIC cards to enter a port.  

In 2000 a surveillance case came in from an adjuster to follow a female who was in town from college. Before dawn I arrived at the Claimants residence and observed her family loading a truck with coolers, cases of water, diving and fishing equipment. They drove to a residence on the intercostal and proceeded to load a boat with the supplies. Afterwards they departed in the boat, I followed observing them from land until they reached a marina. At the marina I made small talk with her father who stated they were heading to Lucaya, a resort and marina area in Freeport Bahamas. I told him I too was heading over and might see him around. They left and I filmed the Claimant as she sat in the boat heading out the inlet. Always carrying clothing for a few days, a passport and a young man’s credit card with a limit of $1500.00, I made a mad dash for the airport. With the luck of the Irish I was on a plane for Freeport, landed, rented a VW beatle and raced (Straying into oncoming traffic occasionally) to the marina. Unable to locate them I waited at the inlet, thinking to myself, what the hell you were thinking!! It wasn’t 10 minutes later in the distance here they come, the Claimant was on video riding in that boat after a five hour ride. Afterwards I followed the Claimants father into the resort to get his room key, again more small talk and low and behold I was able to get a room above theirs. To the room I went only to film the Claimant unloading the boat of cases of water, dive tanks and everything else. The Claimant was active for two days and nights with a memorable limbo dance at a bar. The case ended up going to trial, I can remember the look on the Claimants fathers face like it was yesterday when I took the stand. It ended in a verdict for the defense. The business really took off for me after that.

Fast forwarding to 2019 a case came in from attorney Jim M. He has a case where a female works and runs a horse stable in Parkland, FL. I started at her residence and followed her to the stables. There is nowhere to park and obtain video from my vehicle, across the street is a canal and trees, beyond that is a farm. So off to the farm I go to find the owner. I told the owner who I was, what I do, asked for permission to park in a particular area and I was going to hang out in the bushes for a few days. With his permission off I went and before I knew it I am sitting 15 feet up in tree getting some of the best video on a Claimant I had in years. Thinking outside the box in this business gets the video my clients hired me for. And in doing so, I always stay within the law. 

At the end of the day I am a factual witness and it is the video that counts.