The Lt. Columbo Forum

An area where fans from all over can ask each other questions and voice their own ideas and opinions on anything Columbo.

This Forum is fondly dedicated in memory of  "cassavetes45"  (Carleen Zink),
Columbo's greatest fan and a great friend to us all.
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The Lt. Columbo Forum
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Re: Local cops must watch Columbo

At home in bed at 2 am? A LIKELY STORY! HAH!

But as Columbo would say (and did in one episode...) You do have an alibi. You were at home in bed. It's just not a good alibi!

Re: Local cops must watch Columbo

But if your case were really like Columbo you wouldn't have been to police headquarters at all. The detective would just have appeared in your house repeatedly and at random

Re: Re: Local cops must watch Columbo

And he would have maneuvered me into telling him "keep me informed, will you?" or "let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

I found out I passed the polygraph test as I knew I would as I wasn't involved. I also pulled out another Columbo moment, albeit in reverse. Can't recall the name of the episode at the moment (the phonograph, the firecracker) where Columbo tricks the suspect into revealing how the crime was done to prove his intelligence. My ego ran away with me as I pointed out to the detective that I would not have been dumb enough to have left open the one lock that only I (and two others) had a key to, I would have cut the lock off of the gate just like the eight times we have been robbed in the last five years. I also pointed out that the fire would have started in the barrel of oily rags in the machine shop (which were intact) as that is a very common point of origin in shop fires (for anyone unaware, a pile of oily rags can spontaneously combust very easily, they should be kept in a safety can designed just for that purpose). I also pointed out that I would not have to break in to steal the bosses tools. I could have simply taken one tool everyday, the boss would have thought they got lost and bought replacements and he would never have realized he was being robbed. The detective commented that have an incredibly devious mind. I told him that we've been robbed enough times that I have seen the methods first hand.

If any of you watch NYPD Blue or Law and Order, the interrogation was very similar to what those shows depict. The interrogator kept telling me that "if you help us now, we can help you with the DA, other wise you're going away for forty years." and "I have enough evedince to go to the DA right now and get you indicted." Guess what, if they have enough evidence they go right to the DA and don't offer you anything. They also played "good cop-bad cop" with one guy playing both roles. We spent about an hour BS,ing about the race cars I worked on, comparing them to his time on an aircraft carrier. Then we spent an hour calmly discussing details of the case, me whereabouts, etc. Then he took the gloves off and did an Andy Spiowicz on me. He never touched me or physically threatend me, but he did trying scaring the you-know-what out of me. I realize he was just doing his job, and IF the guy sitting in my chair was guilty I would like to see the detective do whatever he needed to get a conviction. But when you are innocent and have to go through that it is very scary.

I got five minutes of sleep the first night, two hours last night. Now that I think they are backing off of me, I might get a little more sleep tonight. Trying to dig out all our equipment from that burned building is physically demanding work.

Re: Local cops must watch Columbo

What an ordeal. Good for you for not letting them take away your innocent smile!

Re: Local cops must watch Columbo

T.F.L, you are a champion. I love the idea of some Columbo fan getting under the fingernails of real cops, showing them up and not being intimidated by their threats. Keeping your cool and your sense of humour reminds me of a Moonlighting episode where David Addison is called in for questioning. They shine this bright light directly on his face and he puts his ray ban sunglasses on.