Compiled by Jared Curtis jared@dmcityview.com

On the Clock
Des Moines Police — Aug. 20-26

Aug. 20, 4:02 p.m.

Robbery in the 3800 block of Merle Hay Road. The teller of West Bank, located at 3839 Merle Hay Road, was working the teller counter when a black male about 5 feet 7 inches and 160 pounds walked in and presented a bag and asked for change to be made. The teller looked in the bag at which time the suspect stated, “Give me all the money.” The teller proceeded to fill the bag from the drawer. Once the bag was full, the suspect excited the bank and walked north. The teller did not see a weapon, however the suspect kept a hand in his pocket like he had a weapon. A witness saw the suspect leave the bank, head north and then head east. The suspect was wearing a bandage on his left cheek, a white baseball shirt and a dark ball cap. An unknown amount of money was taken.

Aug. 22, 6 p.m.

Burglary in the 1500 block of Evergreen Circle. The victim left his apartment around 6 a.m. and was sure the door was locked. All of the entertainment center cabinets were open as well as dresser drawers. Multiple items including cash, a 32 inch LCD TV, a stereo system and a keyboard were taken. The victim believes an acquaintance, which he invited to his apartment to help program the TV, may have taken his new things. The victim stated that the suspect made multiple comments on how nice the TV was, which led him to believe he would be the only one who knew about the property. More than $2,700 in cash and merchandise was taken.

Aug. 26, 5 a.m.

Attempted burglary in the 4300 block of Merle Hay Road. Officers were tripped by an alarm at Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que. When they arrived officers noticed the north front door had been broken. The inner door glass was also smashed. The manager arrived and surveyed the restaurant for missing items. Nothing was taken, but the would-be burglar tried to get into the safe but was unable to. There are no suspects at this time.

Busted

Name: Christopher Lee Meisters

The story: While on routine patrol, officers checked a vehicle that was parked near the U.S. Bank at 36th and Ingersoll Avenue. While they were there, the officers observed two suspects — one male, one female — exit a vehicle in the Walgreen’s parking lot next to the bank. As officers drove through the bank parking lot, they observed Meisters running around the east side of the building. The officers pulled onto Ingersoll Avenue, couldn’t see the female but saw Meisters running north. Officers drove to Woodland Avenue but couldn’t see Meisters, so they began checking neighboring backyards. After searching, Meisters was found in a shed. He was hiding behind a mattress and had thrown a bag of marijuana on the floor. While searching his vehicle, officers found scanners, burglary tools, a large amount of cash, two small bags of methamphetamines and paraphernalia. Meisters was charged with trespassing and possession of Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 narcotics.

Docket Diving

The following item is from a recent ruling made by the Iowa Court of Appeals regarding the case of the State of Iowa vs. Phillip Earl Lee.

“Several thefts were committed in the early morning hours of July 19, 2005. Evidence and various citizen reports led police to a home in Centerville. Inside the home, police found Scott Wilkins and his girlfriend. Wilkins is Lee’s cousin. They also found several items that had been reported stolen. Police took Wilkins and his girlfriend to the police station for questioning.

“Meanwhile, an employee at Mercy Life and Fitness called to report a man acting intoxicated or disoriented at the facility. He pulled a walkie-talkie and cell phone out of his pocket and asked to use the telephone. He made a phone call, then left. Forty-five minutes later, he came back to the facility and emptied a black bag into a trash bin. They included a radio, a walkie-talkie, a set of keys, a necklace, and a broken lock. The man was later identified in a photo lineup as Lee. The items he dumped in the trash bin were identified as stolen in the same set of thefts as the items found with Wilkins. Back at the station, Wilkins asked to use a telephone located at the station’s front desk to make telephone calls. Unbeknownst to him, the telephone line was always recorded. Lee called Wilkins on that line. In the recording of the call, the two men can be heard discussing the details of the explanation they planned to give police concerning the stolen items.

“The State alleged Lee and Wilkins were co-conspirators in the thefts and charged them as co-defendants. Wilkins, however, fled and could not be located for trial. Prior to trial, Lee filed a motion to exclude ‘certain audiotapes of telephone conversations of which the State was not a party’ which ‘involve telephone calls made on a telephone line made available to Scott Wilkins by law enforcement officers.’ The district court ruled the conversation between Wilkins and Lee would be admitted. We conclude the record here is inadequate to address Lee’s claims. Because Lee makes no other challenge to his conviction, we affirm and preserve his ineffective assistance claim for possible post conviction relief proceedings.”

Most Wanted

Name: Roeles Ortiz
Age: 29
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 190 lbs.
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Wanted for: Parole violation in reference to original charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamines and marijuana.

If you know where to find this fugitive, call Crime Stoppers at 223-1400.

114,700 : The estimated Latino population in Iowa, making them the state’s largest ethnic minority group.

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