It wasn’t a prank

by Jerry White Jr.

I can see how things initially looked from the police’s perspective, but that phone really was broken. Well, as it turned out, half-broken. Unfortunately for Joe and I, it was the wrong half.

On a random winter weekday, early 1992, Joe and I were hanging out and filming stuff. We were using the video camera I’d received as a Christmas present from my parents in December of 1991, so it was still very new. I remember earlier in the day we filmed with a friend of ours who lived down the street from me. Skits in his bedroom, nothing super notable. Then we walked up to the little strip mall plaza where we’d filmed so many times before. This was the same plaza that housed Comix Corner, where Joe and I bonded in 9th grade before we started making movies the following year.

We decided to do skits at the payphone. Why? Well, if you only have two people, a phone skit allows one person to film while the other improvs one side of a conversation. When we picked up the handset, we discovered that the ear piece had been destroyed and there were just two wires sticking out. The mouthpiece was still intact, which is what ended up getting us into all that trouble.

We’d made phone skits before. Usually at someone’s house, but sometimes at payphones. We never actually called anyone from the payphone in these skits though as that would cost money. And there was no need——we were playing pretend! Joe and I took turns and did a bunch of skits that night, but I only remember two.

One was barely a skit. It was just me walking up to the payphone, throwing a big chunk of snow at it, then walking away. This was after we’d already taken turns doing a few other skits. When the footage was shown in court, Joe’s lawyer rewound too far, so the judge saw this footage, which made us look bad. For my part, I probably figured the phone was already damaged, so whatever. Besides, those things are built like tanks. In the other skit, Joe pretended to be calling 911 because his friend fell off a building, only to be repeatedly told he’s got the wrong number. Looking through the little black and white eyepiece, I wasn’t able to see that Joe had actually dialed 911 when he did this.

That skit ended and we continued filming. During a later call we heard sirens in the distance that were getting closer and closer. I was recording Joe when the police cars pulled into the parking lot and I panned over to them to see what was going on. Neither of us had connected the dots yet. The cops went into the drug store we were in front of and then came over to us and asked “Did someone call 911?” I can’t speak for Joe, but that’s when it dawned on me. Uh oh.

From the perspective of the police, this was an open and shut case. Of course we told them right away that there was a mistake, that the phone was broken (as far as we knew). They didn’t believe us. At the station, they watched the footage and I remember them laughing and one of them said “We don’t usually have the crime recorded for us.” I remember thinking to quip “What about Rodney King,” but I kept my mouth shut. The article mentions an Officer Molinar, but the only name I remember is Stoner. Officer Stoner became the face of the case for the police and was particularly condescending to us. There was no “innocent until proven guilty” treatment here, mostly mockery. The police had separated Joe and I and called our parents. Joe was in another room writing down what happened from his perspective, but I could hear my Practical Law class from 10th grade echoing in my head: You have the right to remain silent! I decided to exercise that right.

It should be said: I think it’s terrible that there was another 911 call made around the same time and that Joe’s unintentional call could’ve led to someone suffering. And I’ll also concede that playing with payphones at all is probably not wise——lesson learned.

My dad arrived and the officer who spoke with him, maybe Stoner, was contemptuous and grim. He told my father that I was in a lot of trouble and that he better have a good lawyer——this was going to cost my parents a lot of money. My father was taken aback, but was also more than just surprised.

“I thought it was uncharacteristic of you because, even as a prank, I knew you knew better,” said my dad when I talked to him about this years later. “And you weren’t that stupid to stay there. It just didn’t fit.”

The police thought we not only pranked them, but wanted them to show up so we could film it, then stood in the same spot by the payphone just waiting to get caught. My dad was right: I was not that stupid. I’ve always been thankful that my parents trusted me on this. I didn’t get into this kind of trouble, it wasn’t my thing. My friends and I would make prank phone calls from home, but to random people, businesses, or friends——usually just to leave a silly message on their answering machine, but sometimes we’d do bits interacting with the people we called. I knew better than to ever mess around with calling the police. My folks were justifiably peeved that Joe had actually dialed 911, even if he thought the phone was broken. I was upset about that too——like, why did you have to actually dial it Joe, you could’ve just pretended, but he made a mistake; he didn’t know the call would go through.

They held onto my (new!) video camera and the tape. Joe was seventeen at the time, so he was tried as an adult. I was sixteen, so I was still a minor. My dad got an attorney for me, Douglas P. Shepherd, who went on to become a district court judge. I’m sure he still considers this case to be his crowning achievement. Joe’s lawyer was an uncle or family friend, I believe.

Months went by and my video camera languished in a property locker while we continued going to school, living our lives. My lawyer explained to a judge what happened and that judge decided not to pursue the case, so that was it for me. I got my camera back, but not the tape. I wanted that tape. I was very indignant about the way we’d been treated and there was other footage on that tape that I wanted (I was fierce in protecting my footage).

Joe’s case went to trial, with a judge not a jury. To my surprise, the prosecution did not use the footage of the event as evidence! But Joe’s defense attorney did——and he bungled it. The footage did not play well in court. As I mentioned earlier, he unnecessarily showed me throwing snow at the phone, which made us look like delinquents. I think the defense’s intention was to show that the ear piece was broken, but all you could really focus on while watching the tape was Joe’s silly performance. I remember being called to the witness stand and treated somewhat harshly by the prosecution. “Just answer yes or no, Mr. White.” I don’t remember what that question was, but the answer in one word didn’t make Joe look good.

Joe wasn’t found guilty, but he wasn’t found not guilty either. If I recall correctly, he was found “responsible,” and put on probation for a year. If he got into no further trouble during that time, then this charge wouldn’t go on his record. A year went by and there were no further issues, so his record stayed clean.

After the judge explained his ruling to Joe, all that was left was to get my tape back. I followed the police officer or whoever wheeled out the cart with the TV/VCR units. They said my tape wasn’t there, I’d have to get it back from evidence later. I followed up right away and was told that Officer Stoner had it. Stoner! I called the station many times and was told Stoner was on vacation. Eventually I reached him and he told me the tape was at the evidence locker. I visited the evidence locker and they shrugged at me——it wasn’t there. It became clear: the police were not going to give us that tape. I assume Stoner threw it in the garbage right after Joe’s trial. Joe thinks he still has it, but it’s been decaded——I don’t think Officer Stoner has a secret safe in his home with my videotape.

So that’s the story. I can’t really describe how much it sucked to lose my video camera for those precious months. Oh——and it never quite worked right after I got it back! I don’t know if they messed with it or what, but the camera would shut off inexplicably or occasionally garble a tape. Could be a coincidence——or it could’ve been sabotaged by Officer Stoner! If he’s still alive, he’s probably retired. . .maybe Joe and I should look up his number and give him a call.