Stories
Serving the Teamster’s Boss: Frank Fitzsimmons
The president of a national trucking magazine contacted me about serving the then Teamster’s boss Frank Fitzsimmons. They had been attempting unsuccessfully for several months to serve him but his security was so tight that getting near him was nearly impossible. I discovered that a golf tournament was being held in his honor at the La Costa Country Club in California and that he would be well guarded. I’ve learned over the years that it’s easier to access secure areas if my clothes appeared official, so I dressed in my three-piece black suit and donned large gold-rimmed pilot sunglasses that I …
Continue reading »The Most Difficult
The most difficult man I ever served was a man who had swindled millions of dollars from investors. I served him at least a dozen times and each time was a story in itself. But two services stand out more than the others and they just happen to be the first and the last time I served him. It was 1970 and I was riding my Harley when I pulled up in front of his office building. I walked into the receptionist area wearing my leather jacket and sunglasses and asked for the defendant by his first name. Pretending that I …
Continue reading »Gotcha!
In 1973, I was given a Court Order for Appearance to be served on a man in southern California. It was obvious from the first attempt that this man would never voluntarily make himself available for service. On each attempt, his wife would give me a “Cheshire cat” grin and say, “He’s not home and I don’t know when he will be.” Then, with a half wink, and a glance over her shoulder, she let me know that he really was there and there was no way I was ever going to serve him. Over a two-month period I had made, …
Continue reading »Phone Book Blockade
An attorney called one day and stated that his process server was unable to serve a very elusive defendant and asked if I would make an attempt. He explained that the defendant would avoid service by speeding up the street to his house, open his garage door from a half block away and close the door as the car entered the garage. If there was a car or a person near his house that he did not recognize, he would speed by his house and not return for hours. He lived on the side of a hill and there was a …
Continue reading »A Gun Incident
If there were papers I loved serving more than any others, it was domestic violence restraining orders. I loathed men who physically abused their wives and I always laughed when the service instructions warned me that the husband was violent, because in twenty-five years of serving process, I’ve never met a wife beater who wasn’t a wimp around other men. As an ex-police officer, I had been trained in the art of disarming a person with a gun. It was just a matter of slapping the gun with your left hand and, with your right hand, pushing the gun barrel back …
Continue reading »The Fastest Finger in the West
Tom had been serving process for me for two years and I had given him an assignment to serve a woman with a court order regarding her divorce. She was living with her boyfriend in San Diego. Tom returned to my office the following morning and told me that the woman’s boyfriend had posted No Trespassing signs all over the front of his house and garage. He said that when he knocked on the door, a wild-eyed, frizzy-haired guy answered and told him that if he ever came back, he would kick his butt. Tom, not a very tall person, handed …
Continue reading »