RAP SHEET

Dispatcher: 911...

Caller: There is some guy with a gun stopping cars on 51st and Northeast 14th and it looks like he just ran down into the old K-Mart parking lot. He's got a black hooded sweatshirt on...
D: Hold on, hold on. OK, what makes you think it was a gun?
C: [Asking someone on the scene:] What makes you think it was a gun? [to dispatcher:] My son and my secretary saw it...
D: OK.
C: And they say he was pointing it at somebody in a car sitting right at the stoplight on Northeast 51st, waiting to get off on Northeast 14th.
D: OK, so you can't see him now?
C: Uh, there's a bunch of people walking around down by a semi with a bunch of cars in the old K-Mart parking lot.
D: OK, so where is this person now?
C: Um, there's a couple people just walking around a bunch of cars.
D: OK, but where in the lot, sir? I mean, are we talking right down by the K-Mart? Are we talking...
C: No, in the K-Mart parking lot, in the, like the, uh, north... uh, kind of middle of the parking lot.
D: OK, and what's this guy wearing?
C: Uh, a black sweatshirt. A black hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up...
D: And what's he got on for pants?
C: [talking to people at the scene:] Black. Dark pants.
D: OK, and he ran up to this group of people that's in the middle?
C: Well, they've got a semi with a bunch of cars and...
D: OK, where did the guy with the gun go?
C: Down there by the semi with all the cars...
D: OK, well, sit tight and, uh, we have someone heading that way to see what's going on.
C: OK, thank you, sir.
D: You bet.

Officer's report: The reporting person saw three vehicles stopped on the roadway in the 1400 block of Northeast 51st Avenue, facing west. He reported hearing what might have been a verbal argument between one of the vehicles and a person standing in the street near the cars. The reporting person said the person standing in the street was wearing a black hoody and jeans. He was pointing towards one of the vehicles with what he thought was a handgun. He did not hear any gun shots. The man with the gun ran southwest toward a group of people in the old K-Mart parking lot. I spoke with a group of Hispanics who were in the parking lot. There were several vehicles and a car carrier parked in the lot. They did not see anyone run toward their group prior to me stopping. One of the men said that a car stopped by and asked them directions for The Lumber Yard. Deputies checked the area for the man on foot. Deputies also checked the businesses in the area for any problems. I stopped by and spoke with the supervisor on duty at The Lumber Yard and passed along the description of the possible suspect.

Docket diving

The attorney for a defendant known on the streets as "Dog" argued that evidence in the drug case must be suppressed. Trouble was, that argument relied on an outdated version of the law. But apparently in need of a brushing up on the amendment to the Iowa Code, the Polk County judge bought it anyway.

In 2003, Des Moines Police Detective Don Simpson, in his post on the Mid Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, initiated an investigation into the activities of Alvin Workman, a.k.a. "Dog." As the year progressed the evidence of drug dealing piled up. First, there was a female who witnessed Workman selling meth to two people and saw him with "jars containing a crystallized substance." Then, there was the suspect arrested on drug charges who admitted to officers that he'd gotten his fix from a guy named "Dog." Not to mention, before the year was up, several phone calls were exchanged between a confidential informant and Workman, arranging a significant drug sale - "a possible 10-pound meth load." So, when a woman called police dispatch in March 2004, claiming she'd seen methamphetamine ice in Workman's bedroom and believed he was selling pounds of the substance, Simpson got a warrant and searched Workman's residence, garage and vehicles.

Based on that sweep, Workman was charged with possession of meth and marijuana, as well as failure to affix a drug stamp to the illegal substances. But Workman took issue with the legality of the search warrant, arguing that the detective had lied in the application by exaggerating the credibility of the dispatch caller - the woman was "really an unidentified, anonymous caller rather than an identified, concerned citizen who had disclosed their identity." Under the impression that he was following the direction of Iowa Code Section 808.3, the Polk County judge noted that, before the warrant was issued the magistrate should have made certain assurances that the informant was "credible," and, in Dog's case, "the provisions of Iowa Code section 808.3 were not met, and unless the search warrant can stand on the remaining information after the 'concerned citizen' information has been redacted, the warrant must fail." And fail it did, as the district court ruled the remaining evidence from the previous year was "too stale" to substantiate the search.

But, with the search evidence deemed off-limits, the state went to the Court of Appeals with a simple question: "Whether the district court erred in granting Workman's motion to suppress based on an outdated statutory requirement." The short answer: yes. Approximately five years behind the times, the district judge was basing his analysis on the 1997 version of a law that was amended in 1998. And, as Judge Terry Huitink wrote for the three-judge appeals panel, "By requiring the magistrate to make specific findings concerning informant credibility, the trial court expressly relied on the pre-amended version of section 808.3... Because the trial court applied an incorrect legal standard, we must reverse and remand to allow the district court to consider Workman's motion to suppress in light of the legal standard included in the current version of section 808.3." So, the case will head back to Polk County for an analysis consistent with the laws on the books, giving prosecutors a chance to unleash the evidence and send the "Dog" to the pound.

Sucks to be you

Name: Jose Luis Gomez
Place of Incident: Des Moines
Posed for this picture because: Jose Luis Gomez isn't just raising eyebrows with his lengthy rap sheet. While the "fuck you" literally tattooed on his forehead didn't deter local authorities from arresting the Pleasant Hill resident last month on charges of first-degree robbery and assault with intent to inflict serious injury, it did earn him a brief stint in the national spotlight as his mug shot was featured on the popular Web site "The Smoking Gun."

Unfinished business

According to the city of Des Moines' February list of aging accounts, the following businesses owe fees for pawn brokers' licenses. All payments were due Jan. 10.

- Mister Money USA, at 3820 N.E. 14th St., owes $1,178.
- Jim's Gun and Pawn Shop, at 2814 S.E. 14th St., owes $678. Including an additional $784, which was due Oct. 11 2005 and is still outstanding, the shop owes a total of $1,462.
- The Pawn Store, at the intersection of 30th Street and Douglas Avenue, owes $436.
-Pawn City, at 3521 Sixth Ave., owes $96.
-Hilltop Jewelry and Loan, at 2805 Hubbell Ave., owes $50.

(Alleged) drunk drivers

Name: Richard Sean Nelson
Arrested: Feb. 1
Second offense

Name: Craig Anthony Carpenter
Arrested: Feb. 2
Second offense

Name: Alija Gusalic
Arrested: Feb. 2
Second offense

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