Trouble in the Video Editing Suite

This story is only tangentially related to

video editing

in that it occurred at my video editing suite in the Film Center Building. And it’s not funny. In fact it’s a tad scary. So here’s an excerpt from Waiting for Elizabeth: Ben Bryant Video is Born (1994–1996)

“One day as I was working on [a video] edit I went over to my coffee pot by the door – which was always open – for a refill. A man walked in and I said, ‘Hello.’

“He looked around the room then back at me and said, ‘You know what this is?’ I had no idea what he meant and either shrugged or said that I didn’t at which point he looked down at his right hand and my eyes followed.

Glock

“As I noticed the large, black automatic in his hand he said, ‘This is a stickup.’

“He kept the gun at his side, not pointing at me, and the guy was so cool and calm I felt neither threatened nor, strangely, frightened. I took out my wallet and there was no money in it. Here’s where it gets stupid. I told him I may have some money in my desk, went over and got my petty cash envelope and gave him the five-dollar bill which was all there was.

“Then he told me to go out my door and into the back door of the other room. There were three or four guys in there and they said hello to me. The robber told me to lie face down on the floor. That’s when they realized something was amiss. As I lay prone, he went around the room taking cash, watches and rings. Telling them to wait five minutes before calling the cops, he left.

Of course we immediately called the cops who were there in two or three minutes. They took our statements and descriptions and opined that they knew who it was. He had been out of jail for a few days and had, as one of the Detectives put it, ‘Gone back to work. You get up in the morning, take your briefcase and go to your office. He gets up, takes his gun – probably a water pistol – and goes out to rob you. We’ll let you know when we get him.’ Then they left.

“The next day someone called from the police to see if any of us would look at a lineup. A couple of patrolmen picked up myself and two women from another office and drove us to the precinct. We all chatted about our experience along the way. One at a time we were ushered into a dark room, just like in cop TV shows and movies, told that the men in the lineup couldn’t see us and asked if we recognized anyone. There were five or six fifty-ish black guys who, to me, looked very similar. I could not make a positive Id. I thought it may have been number four but wasn’t absolutely certain. As they were driving us back to our offices the women said that they’d both picked the same guy, number four. I said it was most likely him but I wasn’t sure.

“The next day – and this surprised me – a cop called me and said that they’d heard I had changed my mind and said it was man four. That seemed very odd, one might even say irregular, to me. Alas, I told them they’d been misinformed. Fade Out: The End.”

Click here to get Waiting for Elizabeth

Tags: ,

Comments & Responses

Comments are closed.

2024 © InkThemes. All rights reserved.