The Money Shot

Three days of surveillance, three days of dealing with the hot California summer, of hiding in the backseat of a car dealing with cramps, thirst, and the need to urinate...all of it is about to be worth it. We got contacted to conduct a surveillance on an individual who claimed that they were injured at work after their wages started getting garnished. This individual claimed that an injury to their hand and arm was keeping them from doing their work duties on a regular basis. The employer smelled a fraud and hired our client to find out. 

Day one of surveillance, we get there early in the morning. We sit for approximately four hours, we check in with the client and they request that we wait a little longer, about twenty more minutes into our wait the subject departs. We give the subject a little distance and begin our tail. Everything is going smoothly for the first ten minutes, but behind us we hear emergency sirens and see flashing lights, of course we are supposed to pull over to the right hand side like everyone else, but our subject is moving, I would be lying if I stated that I did not consider continuing with the tail. But civic duty and knowing that someone's life may be on the line took over that natural hunters instinct and it prevailed. My subject made a left turn at the light, by the time the emergency vehicles had passed by my subject was gone. We call the client and advised what happened, it is one of those tough breaks that they don't show on t.v. The client requests that we come back out and we do. 

Day two we arrive in the morning, the subject has called out sick from work. We wait for approximately three hours before he departs. We follow him again things are going smoothly, I check the rear view mirror and there are no emergency vehicles...so this looks like it is going to be a great day! The subject is followed to a job career training facility, the subjects vehicle is a smaller one and where it is parked our view is slightly obstructed, the subject exits the vehicle and enters into the building, the subject remains in the building for quite some time. The subject exits the building, departs, and heads back to their residence. A few hours of waiting and the subject departs, they are followed to a neighboring city. The subject appears to be lost ( this is a surveillance investigators nightmare) the subject drives around in circles and we are forced to give the subject a lot of rope or get caught. The subject makes it to a building, the exit the vehicle dressed business casually and enter into the building out of view. We wait again and the subject comes out approximately thirty minutes later. We follow the subject back to their residence and quit for the day. This is a productive day, we even see that the subject is seeking other employment opportunities...this is something that the client needs to know. But this will not help with the injury claim. 

Day three we arrive in the morning the subject has called out sick again. The subject departs in the mid morning. The subject is followed to a residence, the subject enters the residence and is out of view for a couple of hours. The subject emerges from the residence accompanied by an unidentified woman that we believe to be the subjects mother. They depart and are followed around the city, they go to a check cashing facility where the subject is observed utilizing the proposed injured hand/arm to open the door for their Mom. The subject is followed to the grocery store but they wait in the car while their mother does the shopping. The mother comes out of the store with a few bags, she places them in the back seat of the vehicle and they depart. When they arrive at the mother's residence, the subject exits out of the vehicle and is observed using their injured hand/arm to carry the bulk of the groceries. The subject even uses this arm to push the passenger door closed. Three days of surveillance, three days of dealing with the hot California summer, of hiding in the backseat of a car dealing with cramps, thirst, and the need to urinate...all of it is worth it because we just got the money shot, the shot that shows and contradicts everything that the subject stated that they are unable to do. The client can now defend the employer in the future should this subject come back and try to lie even more, also the client can now show the subject what they have and the subject may throw out the bogus claim. 

Not all claims are bogus, we have sat on some pretty legitimate surveillance's in the past. What makes the surveillance worth it is when you finally get that breakthrough, that time when the subject lets their guard down and does what they should not be doing in a setting where they feel safe to do it in. The money shots are what makes all of that worth it. 

Morrow Detective Agency is a licensed private investigation firm located on the border of Ventura and Los Angeles, Ca in Simi Valley, CA. Morrow Detective Agency is capable of performing surveillance, process service, locates, background investigations, asset investigations, and more. Please feel free to visit our website at www.MorrowDetectiveAgency.com or give us a call at (805) 823-3540 and allow us to make your problem our solution!