Andy Holen was worn out and a bit scatterbrained when he returned to his Edgewater apartment around midnight on July 9. He’d put in a long day at the Aon Center, where he’s an attorney, and after pulling into his parking space in the alley behind his apartment building he dragged himself out of his ’95 Maxima, leaving his wallet sitting atop a pile of papers on the passenger seat. He also didn’t remember the spare key his old roommate had left in the glove compartment weeks earlier.
“First thing he said was, ‘Do you want your car back?’” says Holen, who guessed the caller was a white male somewhere between 25 and 35 years old. Holen said he did, and the caller gave him instructions. At 8 PM he was to leave $200 cash in an envelope in the cabinet under the bathroom sink of Standee’s Snack ‘n’ Dine on Granville. The caller promised to call Holen back after he picked up the money and tell him where his car was. If he involved the police he’d never see it again.
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But how could Holen know the car was still in good shape? Where were his soccer gear and CDs? The thief promised him the car was in the same condition and that all his stuff was still inside. Holen said he had some things to finish up and told him to call his cell phone in half an hour. Then he hung up and called 911. He arranged to meet a squad car outside the Aon Center that would take him up to Edgewater. “I didn’t know what they were going to do,” he says, “but I thought it would be nice to catch this guy.” While he waited outside for the police the thief called back.
He made it back to his apartment around 7:45 and called again. The dispatcher said they’d send a car over, but Holen was worried about the time.
“I said, ‘Fuck it. I don’t even want to deal with this shit. How do I even know you have my car? You’re a thief. Why should I trust you?’”
Holen got his change, put the money in a deposit envelope from the store’s branch bank, slid it under the machine, and walked outside to wait.
Holen dialed 911 to call off the police. “Until we see you with the car it’s still considered hot,” he was told. They said they had no record of an undercover officer assisting anyone at Dominick’s. Holen gave up for the night and went out on his date, which he says was a mixed success: “I had a good story, but my date ended up puking.”
