Over the next few days, I was contacted multiple times by the extor- tionist. At one point I was told to go to Tradewinds park and pay the ransom. I went immediately to the police. An officer was assigned. Together we went to the park as instructed. We arrive after hours. It was a dark rainy night. Perfect for an ambush. The officer contacted a park ranger to open the gate. As instructed, we drove to the first stop sign. There was a note taped to the back of the sign. It said to go to the back of the park to another stop sign. The police officer remarked This kid has watched too many movies. We found a second note, but it led to nowhere, so we left the area empty-handed. Messages went back and forth using alphanumeric pagers. Emboldened by the systems working and tiring of the abuse, I finally started to push back. I told him I am now going after him. I was angry, shaken, but determined. On October, 18th. 3 pm, I received a call from the extortionist. He confirmed he had all of the things listed above in duffel bags at a concealed location and he was no longer interested in the 65K. He wanted a letter stat ing that we would decline prosecution. He demanded that the letter be signed by my father, myself, and police officer, Caballe- ro, delivered to his former roommate. I agreed. During that call, he wanted to know why I did not go to Tradewinds Park. He said he waited for 1 1/2 hours. At this point, I told him I’m not going to give him any letter and that it meant nothing since it was being request- ed under duress. I reiterated, it was in his best interest to return our property, no strings attached. He agreed, and we hung up. About 45 minutes later I received an another telephone call stating the company property was in the possession of his former roommate. At 3 PM that afternoon, I went to the apartment with a private investigator, John Dillon. We retrieved the property from the trunk of a car and obtained a statement from the roommate.
Sun Sentinel Weds. October 22, 1986. By David Uhler
I took inventory and discovered: 1. Magnetic tapes were destroyed due to moisture. 2. 128 beepers. 25% in damaged condition. 3. Company books and records. 4. $1,600 in cash was missing. 5. Master list of customers was not returned. It has a value of 250K. An arrest warrant was issued on Oct. 17 with the following: FLPD Case Number 86-172812 1. Tampering of computer systems in violation of F.S. 815.05(3) - Tampering with a public communication system. Second-degree felony. 2. The perpetrator took an excess of 20K of property. F.S. 812.014(2)(a) Second-degree felony. 3. The perpetrator caused an excess of 1K in damages. F.S. 806.13(3), criminal mischief - a 3rd-degree felony. Herman Shooster - It took two days to get a flight home from the Bahamas. Needless to say, we were too anxious on the trip to enjoy any of it. By the time we arrived home, Steve had all of our stolen materials back, and the kid that did it was a fugitive. We had dodged a bullet.
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