2020-10-3 Punk Ass Thieves
Punk Ass Thieves
Storyteller: Soley
Location: Fashion District
Date and Time: October 3, 2020 2:07 pm
Summary: A busted window. A search and rescue of sorts. And some punk ass thieves!
It was a hot one in Los Angeles today and even with the sun beginning its slow slide towards the horizon, the heat has stubbornly opted to cling to the city. Even here, in the jewelry district, the runners are melting in the heat, as are tempers. The street is crowded as runners and shoppers alike are trying to get through their duties before darkness claims the city and with it, blessed cooler temperatures. As runners bolt back and forth, they look like bits of color zigging and zagging on the light breeze - a breeze that brings little relief.
An new Jeep Wrangler is parked on a side street, tucked in between two taller buildings, affording the driver some small measure of shade. The driver isn't in the Jeep however. No, she's pacing the sidewalk, phone to her ear, arguing with someone on the other end of the line. Bits of glass are scattered all over the ground under the driver side window. The leggy blondes temper is eroding quickly as her pacing picks up in speed and her hand motions come dangerously close to taking out passersby. Most of the people on that portion of the street, however, have been wise enough to avoid the blonde.
A black-and-white pulls up and then parks in a part of the no-parking zone. A man gets out of it, tall drink of water, and...is that Zheng? Officer Hau walks over across the street towards the Wrangler and the blonde next to it. "Hey, are you all right?" He looks sober, a bit concerned.
Soley spins on the male speaker behind her and in that moment she looks every part of the scary beast they are so close too. He can tell she's about ready to snap, bright eyes wild, until she gets a solid look at just who is speaking to her. And then she blows out a loud breath and says into the phone, "Never fuckin' mind. Cancel the call. I've actually found a useful member of the LAPD. Thanks for all of your help." The sarcasm is strong in this one. She ends the call and tucks her phone away. "Not really. I mean, I'm okay, but that punk ass skateboarder busted my window and took off with my duffle! Brendon is going to kill me.. seriously.. I just bought that gear!"
"Well, then. How long ago, and do you think we can catch him?" Zheng grins, "If he's smart, he's off the streets by now, but they rarely are." He pauses a moment, "Do I want to know what the gear was? Either as LAPD so I can recover stolen goods? Or as...not-LAPD if it's illegal?"
Soley rubs the heel of her hand at her temple and sighs, "My work gear, Zheng. For the Derby. Uniform, new fuckin' skates that cost more then my rent, pads, shit like that. Nothing illegal. Yanno, I'm new here so I was tryin' not to make waves by making a scene but I'm fuckin' pissed and I want my shit back." She pauses a moment and narrows her eyes on him, "Are you tellin' me I can chase this fucker down and stay out of trouble with .. the Bosses?!"
Zheng grins, "Well, I can chase him down, since that's literally my day job. And I can give the vic a ride, make sure the suspect is identified, right gear returned." He nods back to his car. "Can't deputize you, but I can look the other way if there's any...appropriate violence. Want to ride along?"
Soley blinks at Zheng for a moment and then makes a wild motion with her hands, "Does a bear shit in the woods?" she asks as if he just asked her the silliest question ever. Okay, so she's not classy, but what do you expect from a Get!? She clicks her key fob and sets the alarm on the Jeep. "Oh hush.." she mutters at him with a look that's part snarl, part silly grin.
Zheng chuckles and walks back to the car, and gets in, making sure the door's unlocked for her. "All right. 714 going in pursuit of a B&E," he puts on the radio, before putting on lights and sirens, and then starting to pull out. "Who're we looking for, more than punk skateboarder? And which way'd you see him go?"
Soley hops in quickly and buckles up. "South down the street. Blue jeans, purple hoodie, ratty blonde hair, skinny little thing and he stunk. Street kid? The board, though? Someone with cash bought that board. Or he stole it.."
Zheng pulls down south and scans the street, looking for anyone like that, muttering under his breath, as he looks at the map on his dash. "Might be going to the empty industrial park. Hopefully, can catch up before they close doors." And with that he puts the pedal down and goes a lot faster than is really sane for LA surface streets.
Soley has a hand on the door and one on the dash as Zheng sends them bouncing down the road, weaving around people and cars. Instead of looking worried, however, the Get is all feral grin. "Punk ass bitches.. they wouldn't have DARED doing this if Mick had been here." She makes a bit of a sour face but keeps the rest of her thought to herself.
"Anyone with enough chutzpah to do something in front of a wolf deserves everything he gets," Zheng says, muttering darkly. "Of course, that's probably death and dismemberment, but still." Driving by the warehouses now, looking at them, slowing down for a more reasonable speed, but still going fairly quickly, he doesn't catch anything out of the ordinary.
Soley is all but bouncing in her seat. "C'mon... C'mon..." she whines a little. "Yea, but still. It was stupid." Her head whips around at a flash of purple, but it's not what they're looking for. Zheng drives around, and circles the warehouses, not having seen anything. "If the guy was smart, he got on a side street, and got a bike to race off, or got in with a wheelman." Now driving along the back-sides of places, but now not only looking for open doors, but out-of-place vehicles. Someone doing something stupid that they shouldn't.
Soley's breath fogs a circle of window glass as she looks out the window at the crowds of people all over the place. "Jesus fuck.. you'd like there was a fire sale going on or something. Hey.. HEY! Look at that!" she says about an open gate between two buildings. "Shouldn't that be like... closed and locked.. yanno, like the sign says?" She shrugs.
Zheng looks over as she says it, and then pulls a u-turn in the street to come back at the warehouse. "Nope. Definitely something there. Even if it's not your guy, it'll be something." He pulls into the lot and towards the through the gate. "Officially, you're not supposed to have any weapons. Unofficially, use whatever you need on any asshole." And he opens the door, grabbing a solid flashlight that will make an excellent club. Already wearing a pistol.
Soley just gives him a bit of a feral smile. "I am a weapon!" she tells him gleefully as she leaps from the car to fall in behind him. It's better he leads as he's all official and stuff. The open gate leads to a side door that's clearly had its lock busted off. The door is ajar a bit, as if closed in a rush and the door bounced in the frame.
Zheng watches around first, then moves the door open, like someone normal would opening it. Too slow, and creaks can be really long and loud. This way, there's at least a chance the people inside aren't alerted. Whatever the light is inside, he doesn't turn the flashlight on, holding it in his right hand, his pistol in his left. Just in case. Listening to see where people might be.
The interior of the building has been gutted. Bits and pieces linger on the walls and floors that speak to a rushed evac by the business that was renting the space. There are no lights turned on, but some of the natural light still lingers. However, the corners have been cast into shadow already. There is a second level - loft style, accessed by a metal staircase. The walls are lined with large, built in cabinets whose doors are missed, broken, or swing just a bit to make a sound from the breeze that comes in the broken windows at the back. A car is sitting in the 'bay' are of the bottom floor, the roll garage door is mostly closed. The car, however, is idling.
Soley slinks in behind Zheng, keeping him well in front of her as her eyes adjust to the dimness of the interior. She taps his shoulder once and points off at the car idling near the garage door. When she has the ability to peel away, towards the car, she does so. She doesn't sound like a pregnant hippo in dance shoes as she moves - so that's a plus!
Zheng is decently quiet, not obviously making nose, and he nods, pointing to the car as well. If no-one's in it, they snag the ride. If someone is, they catch someone important. He crouches down, walking on bent legs towards the car, trying to get there before he's noticed.
The car sits, idling, like a rumbling monster. Only they know better. They know what monsters really look like. Soley reaches the car before Zheng, which is likely a good thing given the car is empty. Just as she reaches the passenger side, a side door opens on the tiny office tucked into the back corner. She ducks down low, and uses a hand to quietly open the door of the car. Slipping across the bench seat, she reaches for the keys. In the best position for her, this leaves Zheng to deal with whoever is coming out of that office.
Zheng nods as she gets to the car, the keys, and turns around towards the office, he goes against a wall to be at least partially hidden before whoever it is comes out. But if they're paying any attenton at all, they'll know he's there. Only question is if they care, once the car going off provides a distraction. 1911 held at a low carry as he waits for people to come out, and when they do, bellow...
The car engine stopping doesn't seem to be overly shocking to the person/people coming out of the office.
"God damn that piece of shit!" comes a very male growly Hispanic voice. "I told you to steal something newer!"
A young male voice, clearly subservient given his tone, "I.. I'm sorry, man! It was the only thing parked on that street that wasn't gonna be alarmed. I.. I'll fix it!"
"You fucking better, or it's your ass!" answers the growly voice.
Once they get out, and pass him, Zheng bellows. "LAPD! Hands up! On the ground NOW !" Surprize, a confident bellow, an LAPD uniform and badge, and a loaded gun can make many gangsters have a bad day. Of course, just how bad the day is, remains to be seen, and whether they comply or not.
Soley has pulled the keys and has rolled back out of the car from the direction in which she entered. She swings the door closed, clicking it closed with nary a sound. Keeping low, she creeps back around the car, heading for the way Zheng and she first came in. She doesn't go far once he bellows, waiting to cut off anyone that aims for this door to escape.
The younger voiced male - with blonde hair, blue jeans, and purple hoodie yelps and hits the deck, curling up in a fetal position with his hands covering his head. Small items spill out onto the floor when he does this; wallets, watches, and other small items.
The rough voiced man yells back, "Fuck you, pig!" and takes off running for the car, leaping over the kid on the ground. He all but slams into the car, grabbing for the handle and ripping the door open. He slams it closed behind him, an elbow jabbing at the lock to shove it down, as if this might keep him safe. Then he reaches to turn the car over again.
Zheng puts a round through the window. "Out of the car, NOW!" He snarls at the punk, "You stay there, and this is your lucky day. Make me catch you, a world of pain." And then turns back to the other gang member in the car...but no keys there.
The bullet flies true. It shatters the window it was shot through and embeds itself, with a metal splintering thunk, into the opposite door. Glass goes flying, spraying the inside of the car, and the thug in the drivers seat, in shards of safety glass. With no keys, and the LAPD officer having the drop on him, he lifts his hands with a snarl, placing them on the steering wheel, right in plain sight. The kid on the floor just remains on the floor, unmoving.
"Now despite having to fire a gun, I'm in a real generous mood. I'll take the stolen goods and get them back to people, and $200 to fix the window of the Jeep Wrangler your guy busted into and grabbed stuff from before coming here. I'll let both of you go for that, but lay low, because if I catch you again..." Zheng smiles. "Loot's gone either way, but if you don't make trouble, you don't go to jail. Again."
The kid on the ground just lays there, trying to pull all the things out of his pockets that he can, as quickly as he can. "In the office, man.. it's all in the office!" Cash flutters to the floor as well, making a pile on the ground. The gangbanger in the car lurches for the other side, to try to scramble out of the other door.
"Make sure he doesn't have anything on him!" Zheng calls to Soley. He keeps one eye on the kid, who is acting scared, but certainly compliant, and goes around the car to see the crook and the Get-kin on the other side. Weapon still drawn, though currently pointed at the floor.
Soley shakes her head, "That one is all you, Officer," she offers back to Zheng, being all official like incase he has to arrest the man. She does, however, skitter around the side of the car and past the kid on the floor. She heads for the little office and when she flips on the light from her cellphone, she whistles, "Um.. Officer, there is a ton of stuff in here! Like ... I'm pretty sure they have better inventory then Best Buy!"
Zheng pats the man down, just to see if he's hiding any surprises. And, well, if there just happens to be an illegal weapon--knife, gun, or any drugs--well, that gets him out of the 'Be Let Go' option. Otherwise, well, Zheng is a man of his word. "Give me a second, and I'll call it in. If your stuff is there, grab it, but nothing else!"
In the back waistband of the mans jeans is a 9mil. No other weapons are found, but there is a plain white business card with a single image printed on one side, a brand new cellphone and a fat wad of cash.
For her part, Soley backpedals from the office with just a duffle in her hand. It's clear it's hers as it has LA Dolls scrawled across it with 'Brawllipop' under it. Anyone that knows her, knows that's her Derby name. An empty plastic bag dangles from her fingertips. She drops it down on the kid and tells him, "Might wanna collect all that for him while he's still in the mood to let you go." She shrugs and just sort of hangs out there while Zheng is busy with the other guy.
The gun is cheap, probably stolen. No more than an annoyance to replace. The cash is a nice wad. But the business card and the cellphone, those are the real finds. Still, it's enough for an arrest. "Ok," he says, pocketing things. "If you'd dropped the gun, we wouldn't be taking you in, but for now...you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..." He goes through the Miranda rights litany, pulling out cuffs to restrain the guy.
The sound of sirens can be heard in the background as backup arrives. One kid is kicked free, but the man in the car? He's off to jail to be questioned at length by Officer Hau.
