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SMALLVILLE STORY

You are a reporter for an online news publication called Smallville

Online. Smallville is a city of 180,000 residents. To be clear,

Smallville is a fictional place and the events described never

happened. For purposes of the assignment, we will act as though

they did.

This morning you called the Smallville Police Department to see if

there had been any significant crimes or crime-related events last

night or this morning. Officer Oliver Hardy, the department

spokesman, replied there has been one major incident and said he

would email you a statement.

Be sure you rewrite the information. Do not take verbatim the

language the police provided. Towards the end, there will some

direct quotes. Of course, you may use those as you deem

appropriate. Write a news story between 380 and 450 words

The statement:

Yesterday at 4:43 pm, the Smallville Police dispatch office received

a 911 call from a person who identified himself as a clerk at Jerry’s

Quick Stop, a convenience store on Rankin Road. He reported

that three men dressed in what appeared to be police officers’

uniforms entered the store and immediately pulled pistols and

pointed them at the clerk, later identified as Jerome Watts,

He said the men demanded that he hand over all of the cash in the

register, which he promptly did.

The trio exited the store and boarded a Lexus SUV. At great risk to

himself, Watts dashed outside and was able to take note of the

vehicle’s rear license plate.

Smallville officers arrived at the scene just before 5 pm and using

the plate number were able to determine the name and address of

the vehicle’s registered owner.

At 6:35 pm, several officers converged at the address, a house on

Holt Avenue. The officers knocked on the front door and were

greeted by a male, later identified as James Thurber. He invited

the officers into the house.

Two other men emerged from interior rooms.

One of the men sought to pull a handgun from his waistband. Two

officers responded to the threat with gunfire, striking the suspect

three times.

The other two suspects physically assaulted the officers. However,

the officers were able to subdue and handcuff the men.

Paramedics were summoned who took the wounded suspect to

Smallville Valley Hospital. He has been identified as Wayne

Newtown, 43, of Smallville. Newtown is in critical condition.

Determining there was probable cause, officers proceeded to

search the premises.

In a large box behind the house, officers recovered $73,000 in

cash.

A bedroom was found to contain 12 pounds of marijuana,

two pounds of heroin and 40 grams of fentanyl.

The suspects have been identified as Vernon Simpson,

39, of Buckeye, Newtown, and Thurber, 36 of Smallville

They have been booked on several charges. They are:

Suspicion of attempted homicide, aggravated assault,

assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, armed robbery,

suspicion of felony drug possession with intent to

distribute and illegal possession of a controlled substance

with intent to distribute.

The suspects are in Smallville County Jail awaiting arraignment

tomorrow morning. Newtown will be arraigned at the hospital where

he is under police watch.

You also receive this statement from Smallville Police Chief

Broderick Crawford:

“With these arrests, we have taken off the streets three dangerous

criminals. The street value of the drugs is an estimated $130,000.

Sadly, Mr. Simpson is a police officer in Buckeye. He evidently was

not on duty at the time. Still, I find it quite disappointing to have a

fellow officer engage in criminal activity so harmful to our

community. We all know that we are undergoing an opioid crisis

and the last thing we should expect is to have an officer sworn to

uphold the law to instead be fomenting crime.”

As you prepared to write your story, you received a telephone call

from a man who said he is Justin Sipe, Simpson’s attorney. He had

this to say:

“The police conducted an illegal search of the premises,” said Sipe.

“Without question, the officers should have obtained a search

warrant. My client is an honest police officer and not the criminal

the Smallville Police Department alleges him to be. Officers brutally

assaulted Mr. Simpson who offered no resistance when he was

arrested. We look forward to our day in court.”