Officer Mike Miller pulled his police car to the curb and parked in the street in front of the jewelry store in West L.A. Several reporters and photographers were already crowded in front of the store. He turned off the car and stepped out and made his way to the door of the store. He was barraged with questions from reporters and photographers were busy snapping photos. All of them wanted to know if the latest celebrity rumor was true.
The door to the store was locked and the blinds were drawn. Mike tapped on the glass.
"Police," he called.
A security guard unlocked the door and let him in, locking the door again once Mike had entered. Besides Mike, there were three other individuals in the store, the owner of the store, the security guard and Lindsay Lohan, who was sitting in a chair by the door, clutching her purse, looking annoyed. She was wearing a low-cut red dress and three-inch heels.
"You have a name?" Mike said, looking at the clerk behind the desk.
"Tom Douglas," he replied. "I'm the owner of this store."
Mike turned to the security guard.
"Rick Naylor," said the guard, knowing that Mike wanted his name as well.
"You run this store on your own," Mike asked, turning back to Tom.
"That's right. And I employ Rick as a security guard."
"For a one-person shop?"
"I carry some expensive jewelry. And when I have multiple customers, I have to be careful, have backup if necessary."
"You closed up the store," Mike said.
"I had to. Once the press started showing up, there was no way I could handle customers and make sure that Miss Lohan didn't go anywhere."
"You have no right to hold me here," said Lindsay, speaking for the first time since Mike had entered. "I didn't do anything, and..."
"You stole a bracelet, young lady," said Tom. "I..."
"Hold it," said Mike, interrupting. "Speak to me, please. How did the press find out about this anyway?
"It's West L.A. Someone sees a celebrity pulled back into a store by security, the press is going to be called.
"Alright. Let's find out what happened now. Mr. Douglas, you go first."
"I was showing Miss Lohan a gold bracelet," said Tom. "A three-thousand dollar gold bracelet. I stepped away to take a phone call, leaving the bracelet with her. I looked back, her hand was coming out of her purse, the bracelet was no longer on the counter and she was walking out the door."
"And what happened next?"
"I called for Rick to stop her."
"You weren't watching," Mike asked, turning to Rick.
"There've been very few issues while I've worked here. I was sitting reading a magazine."
"Okay, so Tom told you to stop her, what did you do?"
"I stood up and asked her to come back in the store. She ignored me and kept walking, so I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back in."
"She was out the door already, then?"
"Yes, sir."
"You saw her take the bracelet," Mike said, returning to Tom.
"Like I said, I saw her removing her hand from her purse and the bracelet was gone. She was the only customer in the store."
Mike pondered for a moment and then turned to Lindsay.
"Okay, Miss Lohan. Your turn. Tell me your side of the story."
"There's nothing to tell," she replied, brushing back her blonde hair. "He took the bracelet with him when he went to answer the phone."
