The Story of The Rookie

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The story began when District Three Squad Three decided to have a little fun at the expense of their Rookie on the squad, PC 1781 Rich Lee. The squad got together and concocted a practical joke to be played on quiet night. Everyone was in on it, except of course their "chosen" victim.

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Rich and his partner headed down to Superstore on Marine Drive. There had been some previous problems with thefts from parked cars and the lot itself was blanketed with hidden security cameras. The security office itself had a bank of video monitors where the lot could be watched. Rich was given the job of being the "eyes" of the squad. He settled into place to watch.

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Soon he saw a shadowy figured, dressed in dark clothes and a black hood, prowling the cars. He got on his radio and tipped off his squad mates that he had a suspect in the lot. He calmly described where the suspect was and what he was doing. When he broadcast that the fellow was using a "slim-jim" to unlock the door of one car, one of his squad mates moved into position to "make the arrest". The suspect suddenly dropped out of Rich's sight only to pop up seconds later behind the unaware officer. The suspect was holding what appeared to be a baseball bat. Later examination showed it to be hollow plastic.

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Rich tried to scream a warning to Rob Clark, to no avail. The suspect hit Rob over the back of the head dropping him. Thinking he had just seen a brother officer seriously injured, and heart racing faster than his feet, Rich took off and ran down the stairs, screaming the whole time for cover and ambulances.

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The suspect, John Rennie, one of Rich's squad mates and the perpetrator of this little prank, took off at a dead run. He was very careful to stay far enough away but close enough that Rich would continue the chase. As they rounded the building, the chase terminated with Rich surrounded by his cheering, laughing squad mates, store security and ambulance personnel (as I said, everyone was in on it). At that point Rich realized he had been had, and of course, the information mysteriously found its way to me to be immortalized in a poem.

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