NPR: CSI: Alexandria, Va.

CSI: Alexandria, Va.

I may not have TV anymore (see my post Tuesday about babies and television), but who needs it when I can experience my very own "CSI" episode in real life?

Yesterday, my wife and I were moving my belongings from the house in Alexandria, Va., where I had been staying to my family's new home in Falls Church. As we walked out the door, my wife spotted someone in our minivan with her purse in his hands.

My wife screamed at him, and I dropped everything I was carrying and chased him. I followed him for several blocks, but he was younger and faster. I did get a good look at him and the direction he was headed. Apparently, he jumped a fence into a backyard, because the owner of the house saw him, watched him start to change his clothes and called the police.

With the information from my wife, the neighbor, and me, the Alexandria police were able to find the thief, my wife's purse, her belongings and all her credit cards. Happy ending.

And then came the fun part -- watching how they actually put the case together. The CSI guy came (that's what he is actually called) and took pictures of the scene, dusted for fingerprints, put on gloves and asked a lot of questions.

At one point, they spotted my wife's driver's license down a grate near the purse. No one could figure out how to get the bolted grate open. Then, one officer disappeared into a nearby building and came back with two curtain poles lashed to a flag pole. Another officer literally stuck a piece of gum on the end, lowered the pole, jammed the gum on the card and lifted out the ID. The other officers started calling the woman who created the contraption "MacGyver."

I hadn't been involved in anything like this in years, and I had a certain expectation about what might happen, based on what I had seen on TV. But everyone involved was professional, friendly, courteous, answered every question I had and treated me like an adult. (Although I did get a pretty stern lecture from one senior officer about the wisdom, or lack thereof, in chasing a suspect.)

1:30 PM ET | 05- 9-2007 | permalink

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