Blogger Stalks Sheriff - Seriously?

This week I was reminded of an incident in 2010 (or was it 2009?) in Woodstock, Ill.

I had been writing a blog and writing many articles about the sheriff's department and several local police departments. www.WoodstockAdvocate.com

The sheriff was desperate to discover the leaks, because I was getting first-hand news about inside problems.

On a Monday morning, the local daily newspaper's headline was something like "BLOGGER STALKS SHERIFF".

What in the world had happened?

The previous Thursday I had pulled into the parking lot of a large grocery story to make a phone call. I often make calls while driving, but I needed to look up the number. I parked way out at the end of an aisle; there were no cars near me for at least 15 spaces.

While I was talking, I became aware of a large white vehicle pulling in alongside me. I looked over and it was a big Chevy Tahoe. The front passenger-side window was down. Guess who it was? The Sheriff. I waved. Did he wave back? Not at all. He sat there and glared at me for about 30 seconds and then drove away.

I thought, "No way am I going to let him get away with that!", and I dialed Woodstock P.D. and requested an officer. A few minutes later a squad car pulled up.

I told the officer what had happened and added, "I refuse to be intimidated. He could have shot me with a throw-away pistol and driven off. Then all you'd have is a body in a red VW Beetle and an unsolved crime. I told the officer I wanted to make a report, but I was not requesting any action. In other words, don't go and arrest the Sheriff today. Just file the report.

The cop said he would write it up at the station and started to leave. I stopped him and asked for the Report Number. Again he said he'd write it up at the station (which meant it was never going to happen). I asked again for the Report Number. Again he started to leave. And again I asked, more demanding that time, for the Report Number.

Finally, he obtained a Report Number over the radio from the dispatcher, which meant he was going to have to write it up. Somebody at the department must have tipped a reporter, who called the sheriff, who apparently said I was stalking him.

Amazing, eh? Probably the first ever that a stalker has been sitting, parked in a grocery store parking lot, making a phone call, and the stalkee pulled up, stopped for 30 seconds and drove away.

A year later, I heard just how lucky I had really been that day.

The morale of the story. If you have any doubt that a cop is actually going to write up a report, demand the Report Number.