Portsmouth Crime Unit

Portsmouth Crime Unit

Incident/Offense Report –

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Portsmouth Crime Unit

INCIDENT/OFFENSE REPORT

Detective’s Incident Summary

Dateand Timeof Report:05-27-200711:51PMCase/Incident Number: 07-05-0545-A

Lead Detective Assigned to Case:Lt. Ezekiel Palumbo

Type of Crime or Incident:Assault / Robbery

Related Incident:07-05-0546-C / Computer Crime – Intellectual Property/Internet Fraud/Extortion – remanded to United
States Justice Department – Federal Bureau of Investigation – Norfolk, VA Field Office

Victim’s Name (Last, First, Middle):DeForest Lee, Sound Engineer for R3 video shoot.

Refer to victim’s sworn/signed statement for victim and suspect contact information and additional details.

WITNESSES / Name / Race / Gender
1. No eye witnesses
2.
3.
4.
5.
INCIDENT – The Set Up:
NARRATIVE / At approximately 10:49PM on 5/27/07, sound engineer DeForest Lee, was assaulted in the ChurchlandMiddle Schoolkitchen. The victim was grabbed from behind by two perpetrators, rendered visionless by a coat thrown over his head, and roughly shoved into the walk-in refrigerator. During the skirmish, Lee knocked a white baseball cap off the head of one of the perpetrators (he could only see it briefly as it hit the floor as his line of sight was forced downward by the coat). The coatused in the commission of this crime belonged to the victim. Mr. Lee was alone in the kitchen. There were no eyewitnesses. The victim sustained only minor bruising and was found by the group’s manager at 11:00PM.
NARRATIVE CONT’D / The victim had spent the entire day at the school as sound engineer on a large-scale music video shoot for the hip hop group R3. The shoot wrapped at9:25PM. The group’s leaders (Grandmaster Notorious Cube Z and Missy Biggie Mack P), backup dancers, actors, musicians, technicians, extras, and school division dignitaries moved from the shoot location (cafeteria) across the hall to the gymnasium for a wrap party. The sound engineer stayed behind to pack his equipment – preferring to do so before going to the wrap party rather than after. He was listening to his MP3 player when he was attacked.
The MP3 earphones were yanked from his ears when he was grabbed from behind. The victim then heard two perpetrators – he is certain it was a man and a woman based on the orders shouted at him by one perpetrator and the squeal/response made by the other when he elbowed her in the nose while trying to get free. The victim’s statement was corroborated by blood found at the scene. The blood splatter indicates both direction and speed.
Also recovered at the crime scene:
  • A white R3baseball cap recovered at the scene included a partial latent fingerprint and was part of the dancers’ costume for the day’s video shoot.
  • A hand-sketched note of the group’s logo, new album title, and location of the video shoot was found at the site of the skirmish. The group’s buses and crew-member’s personal effects were searched for a pen to match the ink of the pen that drew the sketch.
  • A flour-based sock footprint made by one of the perpetrators.

NARRATIVE CONT’D / The motive for the assault became apparent when the police arrived. A master CD ROM of the group’s upcoming album, The Authority of Wisdom was stolen from the sound engineer. Within 15 minutes of the crime, an email and phone call was received by the group’s manager demanding that the record executives or group’s founders deposit $2 million dollars in a specified off shore account in the Cayman Islands within 48 hours or the album would be released free for download on the Internet.
Close circuit television cameras for the school confirmed two individuals rushing out of the kitchen’s back entrance to the service parking lot. Camera angle, distance, and time of day made positive ID impossible. However the footage does confirm both were in dark clothing and light-colored socks. The light colored socks and crime scene footprint coupled with the hat found at the scene leads us to suspect two of the 12 dancers recruited for the video and upcoming R3 world tour.
SUPPORTING / BACKGROUND INFO / The award-winning hip-hop group Righteously Respectful Rap, known to fans as R3had just completed filming a music video to be used during the June release of their much anticipated album, The Authority of Wisdom when the crime was committed. Group founders Grandmaster Notorious Cube Z (born Jeffrey Smith) and Missy Biggie Mack P (born Patricia Mackenzie) were discovered and supported by rap superstar Queen Latifah. Latifah and No Limit Records founder, Percy “Master P” Miller, nurtured R3 because they aspired to make “clean” rap. Though the industry has made millions on offensive lyrics since its inception 30 years ago, R3 is part of a rap clean-up movement to “Take Back the Music”. R3’s songs don’t objectify women, glorify violence, or use profanity in their lyrics. R3’s reputation was what led school officials in Portsmouth to approve to video shoot.
Background on the dancers is readily available as the electronic recruiting files were stored on the manager’s laptop.
Due to the use of the Internet to deliver an extortion message and the threat of Internet piracy (posting of the album for free download and stealing of intellectual property), the United States Department of Justice was contacted immediately. The Norfolk FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) field office has been assigned to work the case along with the Portsmouth Police Department.
EVIDENCE / MATERIALS FOR PROCESSING / REVIEW /
  1. 3-D Crime Scene Layout
  2. Suspect’s Blood
  3. Baseball cap with fingerprint – dropped knocked off the head of one of the perpetrators
  4. 2 Laptops confiscated from tour bus: (1) common laptop shared by dancers to send and receive email; (2) Manager’s laptop
  5. Footprint – sock versus shoed or bare – found at scene (photograph)
  6. Hand-sketched note found at the scene
  7. Pens that may have sketched the note
  8. Suspect profiles
  9. Victim statement

YOUR TASK / Who stole the master music CD and assaulted the sound engineer?
Based on the evidence collected at the scene, you must conduct a series of forensic experiments and help local and Federal investigators determine the perpetrators.

Signature of Recording OfficerDate

Case Status:

 Open/PendingOpen/Active-Assigned Closed

The Case of the Hip Hop Hijack

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