PLAY THE GAME OR BECOME THE GAME

[PART 4]

In January of 2007 my wife and I had been Dobson Cellular customers for fourteen years, but all of a sudden the phones became almost useless. I had always experienced good quality phone service with Dobson up until this point and you can probably imagine how terrible it is to fight something so senseless..

I was at the quick stop on the corner of Colorado and Country Club on February 3rd 2007 when I saw an old friend that had been working for the City of Elk City for many years. I was telling him about everything that was going on and he had some very troubling things to tell me about the guy that was stalking my wife.

He said that Eddy sold dope for the cops and things were real dirty in this town. He told me that I should call the Federal Communications Commission about the phone tampering and I should also call the U.S. Marshall Service about some of the other difficulties.

I went home to get the number to the F.C.C. and I dialed it The call wouldn't connect and I tried over a dozen times but the call just hung there. At this time my other phone started ringing and it was a customer that has been using my service since the beginning.

I will refer to him as Joe and at all cost his identity will always stay a secret. I believe the people he's connected to may have saved my life and things could have ended up a lot worse if they hadn't attempted to do something.

He told me not to try to call the F.C.C. anymore and I needed to come by his place immediately. I got in my van and quickly drove to his apartment. My heart was racing and I was pretty shaken up. 

I didn't know what to think about his phone call and it seemed like some kind of weird prank. He told me to come inside so I followed him inside his apartment at Heritage House. As soon as we got inside we sat down and began to talk.

I asked him if he had been drinking and he said "Not yet". I tried to laugh it off, but he wasn't even smiling. He pointed at a flag on the wall that said "kill'em all and let God sort'em out" and I said "isn't that a term that was used in Vietnam".

He began to tell me that he heard about Beckham County back in the 70's when he lived on the east coast and he had came here to join the underworld. I still at this point thought it was some kind of twisted joke, but I couldn't help to recall trying to call the FCC so many times and all the unreal phone problems.

He began to tell me that the District Attorney had a secret investigator on me and he only knew a first name, Chad. He said that the guy had recently been arrested for domestic abuse and I immediately knew who he was referring to. .

Chad B. had tried to start a fight with me inside the cab on several occasions while I was giving him and several other people a ride home from a bar. By this point Joe definitely had my undivided attention and I had a bad feeling on the back of my neck.

He told me that I had always been good to him and his family and he wasn't going to let these people get away with what they were planning. He never would say exactly what that was and he would only look away when I asked him if he thought I could get hit.

He then said that some people were prepared to offer me all the cab rides I could do if I didn't make any accusations, demands, threats, or call the F.C.C. He said not to make any waves whatsoever and everything would be fine..

I told him how crazy that sounded and that all I wanted was an apology for what had happened. I think he could sense that I was going to have trouble letting it go and I think I was numb from what he had just told me. He said I didn't have any choice except to take this deal and he told me to just take the money for the rides.

We talked for a while and he told me that the corruption had gotten so in this country that it could make the whole government collapse and he said the police were very afraid of the people that were controlling things. I wish I would have stayed at his house longer and I have regretted every day not talking to him more about this mess.

I should have left town for a few days so this deal could sink in and I was angry and scared at the same time. For the next two weeks I had all the rides I could do and it even seemed as if I got a lunch and dinner break. People that had previously been so rude and hard to deal with were all of a sudden being so nice by tipping me.

I think this started to take its toll on me because it made my business feel like a joke and I was pretty sure that a lot of the people didn't really need a ride. Every time they would get in the van and tell me what a great job I was doing, the more this crooked deal seemed to eat on me.

It wasn't just about the money and my business really meant something to me [crazy huh]. One day about two weeks after the meeting with Joe I was eating dinner at my house with my wife and a driver that I had hired by the name of Jason Brock.

I had been thinking about this deal that had been presented and all of a sudden I just got really mad. I told Jason that I was sick of this town and I was going to do something about it.

After we finished eating we left the house to do some rides and since it was Jason's second day, I wasn't ready to turn him loose with the van yet. I started calling some of the people that I suspected of being involved in the corruption and asking them questions.

I remember several of them made remarks like don't ask questions or just take off for a few days. I was asking for an instruction booklet since it was a new kind of taxi service and I think I angered a few people with my comments.

I called the F.C.C. and actually got through to someone. I was connected to a lady by the name of Theresa Kinsey and she works in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission in Washington D.C.

She seemed very concerned by what I was telling her and then all of a sudden I got a message on my Sprint phone that said Sprint Washington on the screen of the phone. I told Theresa about the message and she told me to hang up and call the message center to check the message then call her back.

I called the message center but there was no message so I called her back and she sounded like she was afraid. She said she had an attorney in her office and she couldn't help me. I told her that I thought the message was on her end and she told me I should go to Hollywood with my story.

I actually did go to Hollywood in the fall of 2008 and I'll talk about that later on. I think I was so irritated by what she told me that it only made me want to fight all this even more and I really thought someone at the F.C.C. would at least ask a few questions about this many phone crimes. I've filed several complaints with them and it's always the same old thing.

A few hours after my call to the F.C.C. Jason and I picked up a female customer that I knew fairly well and were taking her across town. All of a sudden we had a pickup pull out in front of us and another pickup came up close to our back bumper then another one was beside us on the left.

We were driving down Third Street by Carl's Junior and it seemed as though these pickups were trying to scare us. The customer and Jason both looked afraid because they were both aware of what had went on in the past few weeks.

The pickup to our left rolled down the window and the passenger flicked a lit cigarette butt against the side window of my van. There were at least a half dozen four wheel drive pickups close to us it was scary.

By the time we had reached Washington and 3rd Street we were all three very concerned about the behavior of all these vehicles. The one in front of us kept slowing way down and the pickup that the cigarette had came from was swerving back and forth in an unsafe manner.

I told Jason to pull into Homeland parking lot to try to get away from them and he did. We sat there for a moment and some of the pickups started circling the block. They were intentionally reeving up their engines as they would drive by and I couldn't believe how stupid things were getting.

I asked Jason and April both what they thought we should do and they didn't know. I told them I was going to call a local lawyer that I knew so I could ask him about the deal not to call the F.C.C. and also to tell him about these terrorists that were jacking with us.

When I called the lawyer on his cell phone it was probably around 9 p.m. I began telling him what was going on with these vehicles and he started asking for a description of the pickups. I also told him about Joe presenting a deal not to call the F.C.C. and all of a sudden he said "Randy go to the emergency room."

This caught me off guard and I told him that I had two other people with me that were afraid. I asked the lawyer if we should go to the police station and he clearly said "no don't go to the police station go to the emergency room now".

I had the phone on speaker so April and Jason could both hear what was being said and the lawyer said he had to get off the phone. I think we were all in shock and I told Jason to drive us to the emergency room.

As we drove toward the hospital the pickups stayed behind us and it was way more than an over active imagination that all three of us had. I don't really think I would have been near as concerned if there hadn't been so many vehicles that were clearly going out of their way to terrorize us anyway possible.

We pulled into the parking lot of the E.R. and sat there for a minute talking about what had just happened and we all were very relieved that the pickups were not coming near us still. After we sat there about five minutes I told Jason to drive us to the police station because I was going to tell them about all this weird stuff that had been going on.

I will tell you that the lawyer that told us this is very well known and respected around this town. I don't think it would be fair to him if I put his name in this story even though Jason and April were fully aware who was on the other end of the phone.

Nobody was at the window when I went inside the police station so I rang the bell. Officer Scotty Tice came to the window and I told him I needed to speak with an officer about some problems. A few minutes later Officer Steve Bonds opened up the door and let me in.

I began telling Bonds what was going on and he said he had to make a phone call. A few seconds later Officer Tice sat down at the table I was at and he wanted to know what was going on. I told him some of the details and he seemed to get an evil look on his face.

I told him I had to go and I headed outside to get in the van. Officer Bonds came running out of the police station with Tice behind him and they came up to the side of the van that I was on. I rolled down the window and Officer Bonds said they needed me to come back inside for a few more minutes.

I told them we were busy and we had to go. Bonds again said "we really need you to come back in for just a few more minutes" and I said that we've already been here too long. I then told Jason to back up and as we were leaving I told these officers that I'd be in touch.

A few days later I saw several police officers that I knew at a quick stop and I started telling them about this deal that had been presented to me. I told them I was afraid  the people who were being told to ride with me were transporting illegal drugs and I asked them what I should do.

The first one to answer me was an officer that at that time was in charge of the other uniform officers. His name is Bob Turner and he moved a few years ago. He told me "you should probably just let them deal their dope through the cab and  maybe it will get better if you stay quiet about things". The other police officers name is Chris Black and he said "just run your taxi blindfolded and pretend it isn't happening".

About 3 p.m. on  February 23rd 2007 [about three weeks after my meeting with Joe and about a week after the incident with the vehicles on 3rd Street] I was eating dinner with a friend at the Hog Trough on Main Street. A phone call came in from a private number and my friend answered it.

He handed me the phone and said it was Hank with drug task force. I said hello and Hank Twyman said "Randy we need you over at drug task force." I told him to give me fifteen minutes and I would be there.

We finished eating and headed over there. I figured we were just going to pick someone up like usual but when we pulled in the overhead door on the west side of the building began to open.

Hank came out and said "Randy we need to see you inside." I got out and my friend Seveno asked me if I was going to be alright. I told him that I didn't know what it was about and I walked inside.

Hank pushed the button to close the door and I saw R.C. Daniel inside holding a cup in his hand. I asked R.C. what this was about and he said someone told him that I thought the Mexican Mafia was after me.

I asked why we were in the back of the building instead of the office and R.C. said that he needed me to take a drug test. He handed me a cup and I filled it about half way up.

After I gave him the cup of urine he put a stick in it. A few seconds later he said "it's hot and it has got everything in it". I told him that it didn't have anything in it unless he put it there and I asked him to show me where the test said that I was positive for drugs. He shook the cup and said "oh it's clear it just took a little longer."

At this time Hank pulled out his firearm and said that he heard that I was making threats towards them. He never pointed the gun directly at me, but he said "we should just finish you off right now."

I asked that they tell me exactly what was going on and Hank put his firearm back in the holster then said "you're free to go." He pushed the button to raise the overhead door up and I drove out of there.

Seveno started asking me what just happened and he said I was white as a ghost. I drove about a quarter of a mile toward my house and I made it almost to the Elk City Airport before I had to pull over. I had to throw up and I was real sick to my stomach.

Around the 1st of March 2007 I switched my phone service from Dobson Cellular over to U.S. Cellular hoping that things would get better, but it was even worse. The phones were constantly roaming even though I wasn't out of town. Lots of weird noises were on the phones especially when someone tried to call and it's a sick bunch of people that have pulled all this off.

After only a few months with U.S. Cellular I switched my number over to Sprint and it's so aggravating to pay for a phone service that is almost useless. I was really hoping that somebody at one of the phone companies would be able to help and I was constantly on the phone calling someone about it.