60° CLEAR, Reward disappoints vigilant indigents
Last Modified: Monday, September 8, 2008 at 7:42 a.m.
SARASOTA - The next time the law dangles four-figure reward money for helping catch a crook, maybe you should get it in writing.
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That is the consensus of a handful of area indigents who are contending that local authorities are reneging on a $2,000 bounty after one of their own -- Earl Coffey of Sarasota -- helped nab a prison escapee last week.
Coffey, an Iraq war veteran, recently got out of the Sarasota County jail after serving four months for fencing stolen property. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the homeless former Army sniper was profiled last May in the Herald-Tribune for his role in taking thousands of dollars from a Baghdad vault belonging to Uday Hussein in 2003.
On the morning of Aug. 29, Coffey, 34, was among a crowd of people waiting for a Sarasota homeless-services facility to open when an unmarked police car rolled up. The officer distributed fliers and photos of a Russian-born man who escaped from a prison work detail in Arcadia two days earlier.
"The detective said any information leading to the arrest of this guy would be worth a $2,000 reward," said Tony Davis, who said he was among a crowd of 50 or so people gathered at Resurrection House. "Earl was joking around with him and said, 'What if we zip-tie him and bring him to the sheriff's department?,' and the guy kinda laughed and said, 'Well, that might be worth another thousand dollars.'"
None of the witnesses got the officer's name or asked which agency he worked for. But the following evening at the Salvation Army soup kitchen at 1400 10th St. in Sarasota, Coffey drew a bead on the suspect -- Dmitri Sinilnikov.
"He was trying hard to blend in, but the guy had red clay on his shoes and we don't have red clay around here," said Coffey, who recognized Sinilnikov hiding beneath a baseball cap and reading glasses. "I scraped red clay off my combat boots in training camp at Fort Benning, Ga."
At Coffey's urging, his unemployed pal Dale Roberts approached Sinilnikov, who said his name was Carlos Jimenez. Coffey and Roberts invited the stranger to their table.
"We got to talking," Coffey recalled on Thursday, "and after awhile, I said, 'You know, Dale, if I was facing 10 to 15 years in prison and I was on work release, I might run.' And Dale said, 'I think think I probably would, too.'"
When Sinilnikov beelined for the main building, Coffey and Roberts figured they had a $2,000 reward in the bag. They flagged down a Sarasota Police cruiser, which was eventually joined by Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent David Sarney. Coffey and Roberts directed the Sarasota Police Department officers to Sinilnikov.
"Sarney told me, 'You've done this country a good service because he's definitely not a friend of our country,'" Coffey said. "I thought, well, maybe I helped catch a terrorist, so I told him, 'A detective said there's a $2,000 reward for this guy.'
"And he smiled and said, 'I don't know if he's got $2,000, but we'll try to get you something.' Well, I knew that wasn't right. Now they're telling me $100 is the best they can do?"
Sinilnikov, 54, turned out to be a naturalized U.S. citizen with convictions for computer identity theft stretching from California to Florida.
Sarney told the Herald-Tribune he knew nothing about a $2,000 reward, and that $100 was the most the state could offer. Sarasota Police Capt. Stan Duncan also said he was unaware of a reward.
"Anyone in uniform here is not authorized to make that kind of statement," Duncan said. "That kind of money would have to be approved by the chief and maybe the city manager, and usually for a high-profile case."
In fact, according to Jo Ellyn Rackleff of the Florida Department of Corrections, her agency is prohibited by statute from offering more than $100 for information leading to the arrest of a fugitive.
"We very much appreciate his assistance," Rackleff said of the help from Coffey and his friends. "I'm sure he probably saved people from a lot of harm."
The situation has left some of those involved feeling betrayed.
"It's not right," Davis said. "If the cops want us to help them to do their job, I would expect them to deliver what they promise."
On Friday, the final offer from authorities came in. Bottom line for Coffey: "I'm going to take the $100."
This story appeared in print on page BN1
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Comments
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September 8, 2008 8:49:15 am
RE: Link
Well, the bottom line is just that: TAKE THE MONEY. You are upset about doing what any self respecting citizen would do, for FREE, because you didn't get $2000???? Sorry. You did your civic duty. Get over it. $100 is more than you had a week ago...
September 8, 2008 9:00:48 am
The crimestopper website shows rewards UP to $1,000...
Link
September 8, 2008 1:09:18 pm
The IRS regularly pulls a bait-and-switch on informers turning in alleged tax cheats for reward. Somehow they always find a reason or loophole to disallow the reward.
Keep that in mind next time you're tempted to turn someone in to the IRS.
September 8, 2008 1:49:00 pm
I guess I'm from the old school. Doing what's right is itself the reward. The bigger question (not trying to turn this to a political thread, we have plenty of those!) Why is the young man a vet, homeless and suffering from PTSD not able to maintain "his" standard of living? I know people choose to live their life according to their own doing & choosing ... but others feel there's no other alternative. Just wondering the "other side of the story" (but then again I probobly need to MYOB!!)
September 8, 2008 2:48:37 pm
No, the main question is why do whistleblowers on big corporations who do white collar crimes get millions in rewards but a ptsd war Hero who does not have two nickels to rub together does the Community a great service by taking this illegal law breaking from coast to coast crimminal off our streets and then gets jerked around thrown $100 bone.
The Chief of Police, the City Manager and the City commission should of done the right thing and awarded this man $1000.
This City can waste money on consultants, on land, on whatever they want, but to reward a man who really did make a difference in this Community and took a bad guy off the city streets and this is the thanks he gets?
Don't expect people to risk their lives or their families by turning in bad guys if your not going to keep your word.
September 8, 2008 2:52:16 pm
The police do this every day, and their salaries are their reward. Don't you think detectives and police put more than 40 people behind bars every tear?
His life was not put on the line.
I DO like how you try to make everyone's heart bleed by mentioning that he is a vet and a war hero... I mean, that just tugs at the heart strings. He can't work and keep a job and home, but he is capable of making "easy" money.... Alrighty...
September 9, 2008 7:29:30 am
I don't need anyone to shed a tear for me or for that matter have a bleeding heart for me. I don't feel that any person in this country owes me a thing for my service to this country! As far as holding a job, a home, and all those things that everyone writing in here has, well I don't thats no secret, but when i did, just like many of you i did'nt have a problem voicing my opinion about the homeless. I will now tell you this, now that i have been here, I have a new perspective. I have met some of the best people that I ever had the privelege to meet out here. While on the other side of the fence where the grass is greener, well you people that would rather spend your time supporting a police force that chooses to lie to people, you must have a pretty miserable life. The detective that said the reward was $2,000. knows he said it, and of course he wont come forth, just let Earl take the heat on this one. Who cares right? After all he is just an indigent homeless man. Something about this just makes me sick at my stomach, I'm the one that everyone talks about but I still have my morals, do you?
September 9, 2008 7:37:19 am
You guys all know that the police are allowed to lie to you at will? Usually it's done to trick you out of your rights...
So they lied and caught a bad guy, good for them. Too bad this guy got his hopes up, though, I guess honor is a word that has been dropped from law enforcement's vocabulary as of late.
September 9, 2008 7:40:13 am
I think crimestoppers is nothing more than a bait and switch.
Years ago, I had the same thing happen to me.. well, almost... a officer called me and told me they were looking for so and so... did I know where that person was... I told the officer the persons location, and that person was promptly arrested.. now, there was the $1,000 bounty on this person.. but .. because I did not call the crimestopper number, but gave the information to an officer disqualified me from any reward money.
Lesson learned..
September 9, 2008 9:04:10 am
bump for Phantom
Your question is answered in this thread.
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