RAP SHEET

Operator: 911 . . .

Caller: My roommate was robbed. At gunpoint.
O: OK, where'd this happen at?
C: At our home. They left and they took his ID and his cell phone.
O: OK, is he there with you?
C: My roommate? Yeah.
O: Can you put him on the phone?
C: He's downstairs. Hang on one second. [Second caller:] Hello?
O: OK, sir, can you tell me what happened?
C: Uh, these two guys walk into my house, and I thought it was my roommates. I heard the fridge open and stuff, so I come upstairs and I have a gun pointed to my head. They kept asking me something about, "Where's the money?" I have no idea what they were looking for. They're asking me about this guy and I'm going, "I don't even know." So they took my ID and said they'd be back if anything happened. So, I mean, I want to know if you guys can do something. I mean, I've got a girlfriend, my roommate's got a kid.
O: OK, we understand that. How many weapons did they have? One?
C: Just one. Just one gun. It was a black pistol.
O: How long ago did this happen?
C: About two hours ago. I just ... They took my cell phone, and I drove straight to my buddy's work and, I just...
O: So they took your cell phone and your ID? Anything else?
C: And they took some cash out of my wallet. It was about 80 bucks.
O: Did you know who these people were?
C: I have never seen them before in my entire life. After a while they finally started to believe me. They went through my room. They went through my two roommates' rooms. They finally started to believe that I didn't have whatever they were looking for. And then they checked my ID, and they said "this is for safekeeping."
O: OK, did you see them leave in a vehicle or anything?
C: No, I didn't want to follow them out.
O: OK, that's fine... Are you injured or anything like that?
C: No, they didn't touch me. I mean, they pushed me around a little bit to direct me where to go, but... Is an officer on the way right now? I mean, I don't want them coming back.
O: Oh, absolutely. I'm not trying to waste your time, I'm just trying to get as much information as possible... Is there anything else you can tell me? Did they say they were looking for something in particular?
C: They said they were looking for the money and they said they had the wrong guy when they left and they took what little money I had. They said like, "this should cover my gas out here." And they took my ID for safekeeping and then they're text messaging my girlfriend, saying like, "I don't love you anymore," blah, blah, blah.
O: On your cell phone?
C: Yeah, I have a picture of her on there and stuff and they probably figured out which was my girlfriend...
O: OK. Alright, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to let you go. You've got some officers on their way down, and it shouldn't take them too long to get there. They're not that far away. OK?
C: OK. Thanks.

Docket Diving

After a California company stiffed a Des Moines manufacturer, the local business had to allege fraud and haul the Golden State owners into Polk County District Court to get them to pony up for thousands of promotional tote bags.

In October 2004, Sales Office Accessories (SOA) based in Garden Grove, Calif., ordered 5,000 bags from Des Moines-based Advantage Industries, and the parties agreed to a deposit of $9,078 for the product. Shortly after SOA cut the check, Advantage e-mailed a request for approval of the artwork to SOA's Director Melody Batesole, who gushed in her reply, "WOW! That is great! Thank you for showing the measurement. Logo looks good. Please proceed with order." Advantage did just that, shipping the tote bags to the West Coast on schedule and once again contacting Batesole to ensure her satisfaction. But that reply lacked the ebullient tone and exclamation points of the previous approval. "Customer is O.K. with them, but she pointed out the icon is not the correct size in proportion to the text," Batesole noted. "I did not even notice in the proof picture that you sent. My fault. The paper proof is correct with the exception of the overall size and position, which was corrected, but somehow the size of the icon was changed and not the text size. Did I say that right?" Advantage would later argue she did not, but, regardless of the source of the error, the Des Moines company negotiated a further agreement with SOA, sending another 2,000 bags with the correct artistic proportions.

But then correspondence got a lot less cordial. Though they thought the issue was ironed out, when Advantage went to deposit the more than $9,000, they found that SOA had put a stop payment order on the check, and, having had little luck in collecting, filed suit in Polk County District Court barely a month later. Alleging breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, Advantage charged that SOA submitted a "counterfeit purchase order with totally false information," withheld rightful payment though Advantage fulfilled all contractual responsibilities and that its owners had abused their corporate privilege to commit fraud. However, the defendants shot back that it was Advantage that was misrepresenting the e-mail interchange, arguing that they "made clear that artwork was approved with change to size and position of logo" and "even if the court would grant acceptance of good under the contract, defendant revoked such acceptance because of the non-conformity of goods to the contractual terms and such non-conformity substantially impaired the value of goods to the defendant."

But despite their tough talk of non-conformity and an offer to confess judgment to the tune of $4,584.28, Advantage got the upper hand and the Des Moines manufacturer dismissed its case with prejudice this month.

Sucks to be you

Name: Richard Allen Millsap
Place of Incident: Des Moines
Posed for this picture because: "Get up there like I told you and sit down," Richard Millsap admonished his two nephews as they rode in the back of his open-bed truck in September 2002. But, perched precariously atop a load of tree branches cleared from a Des Moines home, the boys - aged 10 and 9 at the time - were tragically blown from the vehicle, sustaining fatal blows to the head as they fell to the pavement of Southeast 14th Street. Charged with child endangerment and driving with a revoked license, Millsap took his case all the way to the Supreme Court, but last week a Polk County judge sentenced him to 20 years behind bars for the premature deaths.

Unfinished Business

According to the City of West Des Moines' the following individuals have past-due parking ticket fines:

- Amy Stone of West Des Moines owes $200 for tickets issued Sept. 28 and Oct. 7, respectively
- Amanda Sundeen of Des Moines owes $120 for tickets issued June 7 and Oct. 5, respectively
- Anne Iverson of Pleasant Hill owes $100 for a ticket issued Sept. 2
- Aniano Aguilar of West Des Moines owes $100 for a ticket issued Sept. 8
- Alexander Dayway of West Des Moines owes $50 for a ticket issued Oct. 5
- Dustin Vande Weerde of Orange City owes $20 for a ticket issued Oct. 1
- Christopher Chiovaro of Des Moines owes $20 for a ticket issued Sept. 29
- Jeffrey Lamb of Marshalltown owes $20 for a ticket issued Oct. 3
- Andrew Gibson of DeSoto owes $20 for a ticket issued Oct. 5

On the Clock

Des Moines Police - Nov. 17

6:30 a.m. Burglary in the 4000 block of East 27th Street, involving a house ransacked and the theft of a black handgun valued at $400.
6:40 a.m. Assault with injury in the 1800 block of Hickman Road, involving a male suspect who became upset when a doctor at Broadlawns Hospital refused to give him the medication he wanted, and, rather than leaving when asked, attacked the doctor.
8 a.m. Burglary in the 800 block of Payton Street, involving a male victim who reported that someone residing in his apartment complex had made a master key for his apartment and "enters it to throw food around and trash it." Victim also advised that said burglar is involved in a "crack ring from Drake University" and "is now preventing [him] from getting cab rides in town." Although "very insistent" in making the report, police noted that he "appeared to be under the influence" and "had difficulty being coherent" as he spoke with officials at a nearby Quik Trip.
6:30 p.m. Burglary in the 2100 block of High Street, involving a side window broken in and the theft of a TV valued at $200 and the victim suspecting that the perpetrator was an individual recently evicted by the landlord.
7 p.m. Burglary in the 3000 block of Southwest Ninth Street, involving two large concrete blocks thrown through the front door of a Conoco Store.
8:05 p.m. Assault in the 600 block of Polk Boulevard, involving a male who reported that a female roommate had punched him in the face and left arm after yelling at him for leaving her alone with his dog, which has attacked her in the past. He also reported that the female had thrown a water cooler at him and the dog as he was asleep on the floor. In addition, while making the report, the female "became irate, began yelling at [the reporting officer] for giving her 'silent chuckles and hidden smiles.'"

(Alleged) Drunk Drivers

Name: Roxana Clara Myers
Arrested: Nov. 14
Third offense

Name: Gary Lee Anderson
Arrested: Nov. 14
Second offense

Name: Tammy Sue Koehn
Arrested: Nov. 16
Third offense

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