RAP SHEET

Dispatcher: 911...

Caller: Hurry up. They're going to fight in my driveway, right now.
D: Who's fighting?
C: Uh, sir, I don't know. I just want it out.
D: You don't know who's fighting?
C: Hurry up, please.
D: OK, you got to tell me...
C: [Hang up]
D: Oh, you fucking cock-suckers [redials caller's number]...
C: Hello?
D: OK, don't hang up on me. I need to know who's fighting.
C: Hurry up and get here.
D: Wait, I have some questions for you.
C: [Woman gets on the line.] Hello?
D: Who's fighting out there?
C: Tim, Ruth, um, there's a couple people out there. All I want him to do is leave and he won't.
D: OK, is there any weapons?
C: No. No weapons. But he just hit a girl right in the face.
D: OK, who hit her?
C: Tim hit Ruth.
D: Tim hit her? What's Tim drive?
C: Tim drives, I don't know what, uh, a Toyota Camry?
D: What color is that Camry?
C: Uh, maroon.
D: Are they still out there?
C: He's still in the driveway. He won't leave. OK, he's in his car now. He comes here everyday and does this.
D: OK, tell me which direction he leaves though when he pulls out of the driveway.
C: He goes down Sixth, like towards, uh... He goes south down Sixth.
D: OK, how's he related to Ruth there?
C: He's not. He's been a friend of mine for, like, 14 years... [sigh] and, OK, me and my husband were going to split up and he's been wanting to get in a relationship with me and I don't feel that way towards him. And he's real upset about it and it's like he stalks me.
D: OK, well, why'd he punch that female outside?
C: Because I just want him to leave. He comes here and he says, "No, I'm not going to leave." And so, she was, you know, getting in his face telling him to "Leave, leave, leave." And he just hauled off and punched her right in the face.
D: Alright.
C: Couldn't believe it.
D: And does anyone need an ambulance or anything there?
C: Oh, no.
D: Are you sure?
C: Yeah.
D: OK, I'll go ahead and let you go. Just meet with the officer when he gets there.

Officer's Report: Tim stated he went to Alice's residence to see if they had his tools that were stolen a couple weeks ago. Tim stated he was jumped by six people. I spoke with Alice, who stated Tim came to her house demanding they give him back his tools and refused to leave. Alice stated Tim got upset and hit Ruth in the head and the males jumped in to assist her. Tim was told if he returned he would be arrested.

Docket diving

It was just two days after Christmas 2003, when Des Moines residents John Rector and his wife thought they'd lucked into an extra present - a bingo-style scratch card they received in the mail that held a winning number. But when they called to cash in on the free prize, the operator informed them that, before they could collect, they'd need to allow a representative to come to their home for a short sales pitch. But when that representative showed up, not only did he push them to purchase home-cleaning wares, but after a three-hour stay, he only left the Rectors' home when they threatened to call the police.

And that wasn't the only incident in a wide and persistent door-to-door sales scam perpetrated by Clive-based Carlson Technologies, according to the Iowa Attorney General. Sellers of high-priced vacuum cleaners, Carlson representatives also sold Dave Engels a vacuum for more than $1,200 and, when Engels notified the company that he wanted a refund, Carlson simply never called him back - for more than a year. Then there were the Wheelands, who bought a vacuum for more than $2,000, but, when the machine repeatedly malfunctioned, the Des Moines couple canceled the sale. Rather than provide a refund, however, Carlson took the vacuum cleaner in for repairs, and failed to return it, even as the finance company continued demanding $800 monthly payments.

Such instances of questionable sales were examples of a scheme that spurred intervention from the Attorney General in March 2002. According to court documents filed by the AG, consumers were tricked into believing they had won "a valuable voucher for a free hotel stay at a vacation destination site such as Miami Beach or Puerta Vallarta," when, in fact, "the vouchers are little more than promotional devices for vacation sites." But with those items in tow, court documents continued, the door-to-door sales company "misrepresented" their way into homes, engaging in "abusive and high-pressure sales tactics," including remaining uninvited for extended periods, "employing hostile and abusive language" and even "scattering trash around consumers' residences when consumers declined to purchase merchandise." To make matters worse, Carlson often failed to make good on the free-prize promise, ignored complaints and promptly submitted cancellations.

In 2002, Carlson signed an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) that mandated his company desist from abusive sales tactics, inform consumers of the real reason for the residential visit, respond in a timely manner to complaints and provide refunds to already-bilked consumers. But apparently that order wasn't enough. In August, the AG took the still-scheming company to Polk County District Court, and this month, Judge Richard Blane took the "voluntary" out of the earlier agreement, issuing a judgment that permanently enjoined the door-to-door salesman from engaging in any of the conduct outlined in the AVC. Further, Judge Blane ordered reimbursements for the likes of Wheeland and Engels and required that Carlson "take all steps necessarily to eliminate any negative impact on consumers' credit... including contacting major credit reporting bureaus." And finally, the company will take a financial hit, sucking up a $15,000 civil penalty to be used for "public education relating to consumer fraud" and facing a penalty of $5,000 per day if they go back to its dirty sales tactics.

Sucks to be you

Name: James Alex Conway
Place of Incident: Des Moines
Posed for this picture because: Providing further proof of just how ineffective are our cumbersome residency restrictions for sex offenders, a man convicted of lascivious acts with a child and wanted by police since October for violating the Sex Offender Registry Law allegedly sexually abused two young boys at a North-Side home this month while baby-sitting for the mother of a family with whom he'd been staying. Conway was arrested on two charges of sexual abuse.

Unfinished business

According to the City of West Des Moines, the following payments for security alarms are more than 30 days past due:

- AAA Travel on 30th Street owes $250 for three alarms in June.
- Dollar General on 22nd Street owes $250 for three alarms in July and September.
- DSW on Mills Civic Parkway owes $150 for two alarms in August.
- Office Max on University Avenue owes $100 for an alarm in September.
- Wells Fargo Home Mortgage on Mills Civic Parkway owes $100 for an alarm in August.
- Home Depot on University Avenue owes $50 for an alarm in July.

On the clock

Des Moines Police - Dec. 20
10:17 a.m. Shooting in the 4300 block of Merle Hay Road, involving a group of male students leaving Hoover High School and picking up friends at Urbandale High School to go to lunch. While leaving Urbandale High, another car pulled up beside the suspects' vehicle and one of the suspects yelled, "You have a staring problem?" before pulling out a BB or pellet gun and shooting at the victim's car. The suspects then followed the victims car northbound on Merle Hay Road, shooting out the driver's side window and striking the victim in the back of the head with BB pellets. The victim's car subsequently lost control on Meredith Drive, struck a van, ran a red light and the victim was taken to Mercy Hospital.

11:55 a.m. Assault with injury in the 1000 block of East University Avenue, involving a victim being asked for money by a suspect at a QT and, when he refused, the suspect began swinging at him, causing him to fall backwards. Suspect then went after another female, causing her to fall and injure her head, leg and arm, before he was apprehended and taken to jail.

4:50 p.m. Burglary in the 2500 block of 37th Street, involving a victim who reported her husband had left the garage door open and, after being absent for four hours, returned to discover items had been moved and property was missing, including a DVD player, TV, jewelry box, computer, printer and two diamond rings.

7 p.m. Assault with injury in the Merle Hay Mall parking lot, involving a male student, who had, the day before, been involved in a fist fight, and told by a group of male suspects that, "You'll get yours after school." After getting off the school bus, victim was confronted by several suspects who stated, "You had problems with my friend, now it's your turn," and began punching him in the face and chest area. The fight was broken up by the mother of another student.

9:19 p.m. Assault with injury in the 1100 block of Polk Boulevard, involving a victim playing pool with the suspect at The Waveland when the suspect told him he no longer wants to be friends, struck him and knocked him down.

(Alleged) drunk drivers

Name: Christopher Twombly Shrout
Arrested: Dec. 19
First offense

Name: John Hamilton Bartlett
Arrested: Dec. 20
Third offense

Name: William Wesley Gomez
Arrested: Dec. 20
First offense

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