Flash Fiction: Police Reports From Childress Street

Richford Police Department

1604 Broadway Richford NY 13835

Police Report: July 11, 2018, 10:32

Officers responded to the scene of a call coming from the residence of 113 Childress St. The Caller reported "a large dog" roaming around the property. Dispatch called City Animal Control. My partner, Officer Waller, and I did a thorough drive-by. No large dog was sighted, and animal control did not find any canine.

Police Report: July 22, 2018, 09:20

Officers responded to the scene of a call coming from the residence of 113 Childress St. The Caller reported a possible trespass. The dispatch transcript reads: "There's like a tall shadow that just ran through my backyard. I think someone was trying to get inside my home, but, it like ran." Officers searched the property and interviewed the resident. The homeowner's name is Timothy Ramirez; a 24-year-old Hispanic male. The homeowner currently lives alone, no current warrants show up on the NHCS system.

Mr. Ramirez stated, "I really think it was the neighbor's dog. It's huge, I've only caught a glimpse of it one night, but I think it was it because after I heard some scratches coming from my patio I then heard a huge rattle coming from my shed. When I looked outside I just saw a black blur jump the fence into the alleyway. That's when I called you guys."

Mr. Ramirez stated that after the call he heard "footsteps" roam around his property for about 5 minutes before disappearing. Officer Waller and I attempted to speak with the neighbor at 115 Childress St. No response to knocks, no vehicles in the driveway, no barking was heard to indicate canines in the property. According to Mr. Ramirez, this resident has only been living at 115 Childress St. for a month and a half.

Causes for concern: Possible burglar or large dog, can be a danger to residences and children in the neighborhood.

Police Report: August 2, 2018, 23:05

Officers responded to the scene of a call coming from the residence of 220 Childress St. Dispatch informed officers of a possible threat due to the tone of the caller's voice and a possible break-in attempt at the home. The caller seemed distraught once officers arrived at the home. The homeowner's name is Jessica Lyle; a 45-year-old Caucasian female. No outstanding warrants appear in the NHCS system for Mrs. Lyle. The resident was warned to put her weapon down in a safe manner, the homeowner had a firearm on her person. Reasons which she stated; "someone was trying to get inside my home so I grabbed my husband's handgun." The homeowner stated that she had spoken with her husband before calling the police. Mrs. Lyle's husband is reported to be out of town for work.

"He's a truck driver," stated Mrs. Lyle.

Officer Waller and I checked around the property and found no signs of forced entry or human footprints. Mrs. Lyle expressed; "whoever it was, it was a large man, I only caught a glimpse of a shadow.

Causes for concern: Perp trying to trespass into private property.

Reported to dispatch to be advised of calls coming in from this area and to send more officers for extra patrol for the remainder of the night.

Police Report: August 15, 2018, 08:28

Officers responded to the scene of a call coming from the residence of 113 Childress St. Dispatched warned officers of a possible "carcass" as reported by the caller, and immediately sent backup for Officer Waller and I. Caller is Timothy Ramirez; a 24-year-old Hispanic male. No NHCS scan was needed during the response. The homeowner showed the officers the upper half of a deer hanging on the wooden fence of the homeowner's property. The deer's lower half was not present and could not be traced, some entrails were still attached to the upper half of the animal. The resident found the carcass this morning at around 0700. The resident reported wanting to drink his morning coffee outside on his patio when we saw the deer hanging from his fence.

Officers contacted animal control and the carcass was taken down. Black bears have been reported in Tioga County in the past. The homeowner was advised to use caution and carry bear spray when outside.

Causes for concern: Possible black bears getting close to residential areas, can hurt a lot of people if people are not careful.

Police Report: September 2, 2018, 03:45

Officers responded to the scene of a call coming from the residence of 113 Childress St. Dispatch warned of a possible burglar. The caller is Timothy Ramirez; a 24-year-old Hispanic Male. No outstanding warrants on the NHCS system. The homeowner was frightened and was warned by Officer Waller to put his weapon down. The homeowner was armed with an aluminum baseball bat when officers arrived. Officers did a thorough search of the property and interviewed the resident. Mr. Ramirez stated: "I saw it, it was right there looking in." Mr. Ramirez was referring to his living room window and that a large man was looking in.

"I got an eerie feeling, I don't know I just randomly woke up. I was thirsty though so I was walking to the kitchen when I saw it."

The resident described a figure about 7-8 feet tall, burly, humanoid. "I could barely make out what it was, my window was fogging up from its breath."

Upon further inspection, oily prints were found on the glass of the window. No distinct individual fingerprints. One oil mark indicates that the perpetrator was using the outside part of the little finger and palm to look inside the resident's home. Quick measurements were taken showing 10 inches from where carpals should be located to the tip of the phalange. Another oil mark was more rounded indicating forehead press. A kit was used to dust the prints which will be analyzed at the lab.

Causes for concern: Possible home burglars inspecting homes before hitting them.

Reported to dispatch to alert nearby units and increase patrol in this area.

Police Report: September 5, 2018, 10:17

Follow up from report of 9/2/18- see previous reports. The phone number and residence of Mr. Ramirez from 113 Childress St have been seen more frequently by dispatch. (See the last report about what Officer Waller and myself found.)

Results from the lab regarding prints dusted off from the scene have returned. No matches on the system of past perpetrators. Indentions and markings of prints came back negative for human matches. The lab tech informed the officers that the only print showing markings for identification was the 'forehead' mark. The technician stated that it was a nose print of a canine, with no human match for those markings.

Causes for concern: Large dog? Wolf? No wolves have been reported in Tioga County.

Police Report: September 29, 2018, 08:15

Officers responded to the scene of the call coming from the residence of 118 Childress St. The Caller reported that their neighbor had killed their dog. Upon arriving at the residence, both homeowners were outside their yards yelling and disturbing the peace. The homeowner of 118 Childress St. is Luis Montgomery; a 55-year-old African American male. The homeowner of 120 Childress St. is Amber Locke; a 60-year-old Caucasian female. No outstanding warrants in the NHCS system appear for both residents.

Mr. Montgomery claims that Ms. Locke has "hated my dogs ever since I moved to this neighborhood. I've seen her try to give them chocolate and even attempted to run Buster over a few months back."

Ms. Locke claims that those accusations are false and that she did not murder Mr. Montgomery's pets. Mr. Montgomery showed the officers where he found his dogs this morning. In his backyard, both an English Mastiff and a Great Dane lay slaughtered close to one another. Mr. Montgomery claims that he never heard them barking throughout the night and that he was never woken up to any unusual sounds until he found his pets dead this morning. According to Ms. Locke, Mr. Montgomery banged on her door waking her up and quickly accusing her of the murder due to past indications that she does not like dogs.

Officers called in animal control and inspected both homes of the residents to see if any weapons or evidence of foul play could be found. Animal control estimates that both animals died in a fight due to severe claw and bite marks. Both dogs had their entrails removed with a few organs missing. The Great Dane had a chunk of flesh bitten off its loin measuring about 14 inches wide. No signs of forced entry from the fence were found, some tufts of hair that were caught on the edges of the fence posts were bagged and will be sent to the lab for further analysis. Officers attempted to speak with nearby neighbors to see if they heard any disturbances throughout the night. One neighbor across the street (121 Childress St.) claimed he heard "howling" while he had woken up to use the restroom around 0400. The neighbor stated: "I hear dogs barking and howling every night, I didn't think much of it." The officers suspect black bears, but no paw prints were found around the property.

Causes for concern: Large animals, possibly black bear(s) roaming around residential areas. Informed dispatch to increase police patrol of the area.

Police Report: October 10, 2018, 04:25

Dispatch alerted nearby units to be aware of a large man stalking Childress Street. According to two callers, some disturbances were heard where someone was trying to break into their house. Other officers responded to callers and advised extra units in the area. Officer Waller and I did a few rounds around the block. No unusual finds.

Police Report: October 10, 2018, 08:30

Follow-up note- see report written on 9/29/18. The lab sent results on hair samples, technician advised officers that the hair was strange and multiple DNA strands were found; a 10% match of Canis Lupus, a 10% match of Canis Lycaon, and a 2% match of Homo Sapiens. The other 78% was unknown.

Causes for concern: Not bears but wolves could be in the area, dangerous to residents. Advise an increase of patrols.

The city commissioner's office will be advised to address the issue to state officials of possible wolf migration to the area.

Police Report: October 12, 2018, 01:05

Officers responded to multiple calls from Childress Street, dispatch sent transcripts of multiple residents calling stating "loud howling." 5 calls came in about the same complaint over a 30-minute time span.

Officers arrived at the residence of 113 Childress St. as well. The homeowner called multiple times stating that someone was trying to break into his home from the back door of his house. Officers arrived with backup creating a perimeter around the home. No suspects were found while officers searched the area, the resident was armed with an aluminum baseball bat and a kitchen knife.

The homeowner described; "there was a loud bang that woke me up, I was scared to come to the kitchen. They kept banging so I grabbed my bat and the phone, that's when I called you guys. The banging continued for about 2 minutes before it stopped, I even heard snarling at one point. I was so scared I thought I was going to have to fight someone."

Visible marks on the door were photographed indicating force used to try and break into the resident's house. The homeowner was advised to obtain a firearm and call 911 if any more disturbances occur. Officers will continue to patrol the area for the remainder of the night.

Police Report: October 31, 2018, 02:35

Officers on patrol for the holiday reported a few misdemeanor calls. 7 calls from residents around the Childress and Dickerson Street area reported "loud howling" well into the night stating that a neighbor forgot to turn off their holiday props. Officers responded to noise complaints, the noise ceased when officers arrived as there was no noise from holiday props and the neighborhoods were quiet.

Dispatch advised officers about redirecting prank calls, and to be aware of an increase of people under the influence.

Police Report: November 7, 2018, 11:00

Officers responded to the residence of 113 Childress St. Dispatch called multiple units to the residence after tracing the number. The homeowner called but was not able to articulate the reasoning for the call, all dispatch heard was; "help" before screaming ensued, and loud snarling was heard for the remainder of the call.

Upon arrival at the home, officers created a perimeter and quickly found the back door had been broken down. The victim was found in his living room mutilated with entrails exposed. Visible claw marks and bite marks were seen through the victim's torso. The homicide unit was called, clean-up crew was contacted. The home was searched for identification forms to contact the kin of their loss. More units were called in to assist and search the area for the suspect, barricade tape was placed around the property. The victim is Timothy Ramirez; a 24-year-old Hispanic male.

For the record upon investigation: While placing the tape and searching the area I heard a slurping sound and a loud respire. I glimpsed through the wooden fence into the neighboring property of 115 Childress St. Through the glimmer of my flashlight and the slit of the wooden boards I was able to see a large canine with thick, large, and heavy-looking back legs as if hunched over licking its front paws. My flashlight blinded the beast and the response to the light was humanoid, like when a person tries to block the sun from their eyes. Let this record show as witness testimony that the canine was wearing human clothing, though it looked ripped in various parts. It snarled and howled catching the attention of all of the personnel present at the crime scene. It then quickly bounded, and within two long strides, it leaped the fence with ease and headed towards the alleyway. I ran after it and radioed other units close by to chase after this suspect. After I managed to get the fence door opened, it had disappeared. No other officers were able to find this large dog. Throughout the night, officers were not able to locate this thing.

A murder suspect is on the loose, more units will be patrolling the area. The case will be turned over to the homicide unit for further investigation.