Once a Cop always a Cop

Retired cop just can’t stop solving crimes

Mark brown markbrown@suntimes.com July 23, 2011 12:08AM

You might have seen the reports on television last week about Chicago police inviting the public to inspect and lay claim to more than $150,000 of stolen merchandise — mostly professional landscaping and construction tools — recovered from the West Side basement of a suspected fencing operation.

What you didn’t hear is the back story of what led them to that basement — how a retired police lieutenant and a landscaping contractor teamed up with Chicago police detectives to solve a crime that under normal circumstances might very well have fallen through the cracks.

It has been a year and a half since James Gantz retired from the Chicago Police Department, but he’s still got the bug, the itch, whatever you want to call the excitement that goes with doing good police work.

So when he heard that thieves had dealt a serious blow to his friend Fernando Magana by stealing $8,000 in landscaping equipment from a pair of locked trailers, Gantz wanted to help.

The 60-year-old Gantz, who spent most of his career as a patrolman on the West Side, knew a loss of that amount could knock Magana out of business. And he also knew that investigating his friend’s case wouldn’t be a high priority in a police department that has its hands full these days with violent crime.

But he had some advice for Magana on how he might go about recovering his equipment. Visit all the area flea markets, he suggested, and see what turns up. Gantz surmised someone who would steal such specialized equipment knew what they were doing and probably made a habit of it.

He also told Magana that if he found any of his stuff he should not confront the person in possession of it, nor, surprisingly enough, should he call the police, with whom he had already filed an initial theft report. Gantz didn’t think it would do much good for the Spanish-speaking Magana to bring police cold into a confrontation where it would be difficult to prove who was the rightful owner. Just call me, he recommended.

A week passed, and the first weekend, Magana didn’t find anything at the flea markets. The second weekend was different.

“He called me all excited,” Gantz said.

Magana and a cousin who works with him had recognized a couple of their smaller pieces of equipment for sale by a vendor at the Swap-O-Rama, 42nd and Ashland. Magana didn’t have the original receipts with him.

Gantz told Magana he would need to take his police work a step further. Act like you want to start your own landscaping business, he suggested, and show an interest in buying the equipment, but tell the seller you don’t have enough money with you. The object: Get a phone number to contact the seller later.

Magana’s cousin tried the ruse, and it worked, coming away with a phone number. They also tailed the man back to his vehicle and got his license plate number.

Now Gantz was ready to bring in the real police. He contacted another retired lieutenant who gave him the name of a supervisor to call at Area 5. In short order, Detective Stanley Colon, a veteran auto-theft specialist, was assigned the case.

Police quickly learned the license plate checked out to the address of a man recently placed on two year’s probation for attempted burglary. Bingo.

The former cop and the veteran cop put their heads together and somebody suggested Magana and his cousin set up a meeting with the suspect, a simple sting operation.

It was arranged for the next day — in the CVS parking lot at Fullerton and Pulaski. Magana’s cousin came. So did the guy with Fernando’s stolen equipment. Detectives Colon and Stephen Murrin were there to arrest him with Sgt. Patrick Crawford supervising. As much as he wanted to be there, Gantz knew it wasn’t his place.

Police say the suspect then gave them permission to search his building at 1058 N. Pulaski. That’s when they found the motherlode — a basement filled floor to ceiling with stolen merchandise.

Not only was all of Magana’s equipment recovered, but another 20 victims were able to reclaim their stolen property as well, said Detective Milorad “Mike” Sofrenovic, who assisted in the follow-up investigation.

“It would have been highly unlikely any of this would have happened without Gantz,” Sofrenovic said.

I learned about this story from one of Gantz’s neighbors in Old Irving Park, where Fernando’s Landscaping does a lot of business. Although he was happy to fill in the details, Gantz was adamant the Area 5 detectives deserved all the credit.

“I’m just glad it worked out. Fernando’s a real good guy. He’s an honest, hardworking guy,” Gantz said.

But if you twist his arm, he’ll admit it was as much fun as he had as a young police officer 35 years ago.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/6656375-418/retired-cop-just-cant-stop-solving-crimes.html

Great job Office...