More than 100 wanted fugitives were arrested in a Cook County Sheriff-led sting that persuaded them to show up to test electronic devices they could keep afterwards.
The hoax pulled in one crook who took a bus in from Wisconsin, as well as another fugitive who sprinted several blocks to awaiting officers because he was late for his appointment, officials said.
The "C.W.," used by undercover cops as the name of their fake marketing company actually stood for Central Warrants, the unit that handled the bust.
"It's part of a menu of things that we're doing to try to clear up" about 43,000 currently outstanding warrants in the county, said Sheriff Tom Dart at a morning news conference.
The two-week sting, handled by undercover sheriff's officers, targeted wanted for violent felonies, child support deadbeats and other offenders, sheriff's officials said in a news release.
The undercover cops sent about 10,000 bogus offers to the last known addresses of the fugitives offering them $75 to test the electronics and promising they could take the electronics home, officials said. The post office returned many of the letters, but about 50 fugitives responded and made appointments, while others simply showed with the letter in hand.
As the fugitives showed up at a Cook County government warehouse for their appointments, they were greeted by "smiling undercover officers" carrying empty boxes for televisions and game systems, the sheriff's office said. After being welcomed by officers wearing bright shirts and holding balloons, they were then led into the warehouse, where their identification was confirmed and their picture was taken.
The fugitives were then arrested.
One of the arrestees was Robert Longstreet, 53, who took the bus from Kenosha and was wanted on a domestic battery warrant. Christopher Melnyk, 47, of Chicago, was suspicious of the letter, so he sent a relative to take the survey in his place. The relative told police how to find Melnyk and he was later arrested.
Tayrone Davis, 34, of Chicago was the tardy survey-taker. Davis was 90 minutes late and called detectives several times as he took buses and ran the last few blocks to the his appointment. He was wanted for DUI.
Police agencies across the country have used similar schemes, including free gift giveaways, to snare wanted criminals. The sheriff's website has a searchable database of open fugitive warrants and a similar database for child-support warrants.
