Everyone wants flowers for Valentine's Day — even criminals. That's the thinking behind the Anne Arundel County Sheriff Ron Bateman's hoax on Feb. 14, when he and other officers posed as flower deliverymen and served warrants, not flowers, to crime suspects; 12 suspects were successfully duped and arrested.

The Baltimore Sun reported that the police showed up on the doorsteps of individuals wanted on outstanding warrants and presented "empty boxes of roses — for the ladies — and hastily assembled gift baskets — for the fellas — in a white van emblazoned with the logo 'Flowers by Ron.'"

So, how exactly did police catch the wanted individuals? The deliveryman idea, originally thought up by a female civilian employee at the police department, had officers call the suspects on a secure phone line and tell them that they were to receive a Valentine's Day bouquet or basket. Once the suspects took the bait, the officers then asked them what time they would be home to accept the special deliveries. 

And the police did go to great lengths to pull this caper off. In addition to creating a faux box of roses, complete with a big red bow anchoring the package and an equally as fake gift basket featuring "an empty bottle of wine, a cigar box, a plush football and candy hearts," the police plastered a magnet logo with the shop's name "Flowers by Ron" onto the delivery van — and they even went so far as to come up with a clever shop slogan: "An arresting bouquet." Also included with the special deliveries for the male and female suspects were Valentine's Day balloons and one crime-fighting Batman balloon.

--Cassandra P. Foster
cfoster@safnow.org

 

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