Posted on 11/03/2001 4:25:13 PM PST by WIMom
For Jerome Brandl, police in several states say, the Sept. 11 attacks proved a windfall.
On the run in a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz he is accused of stealing from a member of Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum's cabinet, he parlayed the nation's newfound appreciation for firefighters into free hotel rooms, cash from grief-stricken New Yorkers and a front-row view at a Monday night football game, police say.
Brandl rushed to Manhattan after the attacks on the World Trade Center, only weeks after Aug. 23, when he took the Mercedes, court documents say. Several weeks after Aug. 23, Waukesha County authorities issued a warrant charging him with stealing the car of Rebecca Heidepriem, the secretary of the state Department of Electronic Government, who had befriended Brandl.
According to police:
Brandl, 34, told New York City firefighters that he was a volunteer firefighter from Wisconsin who wanted to help his brothers during their time of need. To others, he freely passed himself off as a New York firefighter.
Brandl spent several days unsupervised at the fire station as large amounts of cash donations flowed in, said McGlynn.
"Nobody was keeping an eye on him because, at the time, we were going through pure chaos," McGlynn said. "From what we have since learned, there is a good possibility that he stole some of the cash donations. He had access to the money."
In fact, Pennsylvania police say Brandl - who is in custody there - is being investigated by New York authorities in connection with a credit-card theft case involving a woman Brandl met at a fire station in New York. He was charged Thursday in Tennessee with theft and other charges over allegations that he conned a woman there.
Brandl was arrested early Tuesday after the Pittsburgh Steelers-Tennessee Titans game, where firefighters who responded to the hijacked jetliner that crashed in rural Pennsylvania were honored. While at the game, he stood among and chatted with the firefighters, and even exchanged business cards with a fire inspector, Pennsylvania police said.
He earlier had attended a memorial service at Yankee Stadium, said Jim Long, a firefighter at Engine Co. 39.
During his five days at Engine Co. 39, which lost two firefighters Sept. 11, Brandl did odd jobs as a volunteer, Long said.
Firefighters at Engine Co. 39 admit they were somewhat suspicious of the fact that Brandl was driving a Mercedes.
But, McGlynn said, "he seemed like an OK guy, and he kind of blended in. And everyone was in a state of shock. Honestly, it was such a hectic time with so many people coming and going, there wasn't much time to talk with him . . . and there was no time to check out his credentials."
Firefighters now suspect that Brandl attended numerous public events under the guise of collecting money for the firefighters, McGlynn said.
"We heard that he collected money from people and, in return, promised to send them New York City Fire Department shirts," McGlynn said.
Several days after McGlynn arrived at the fire station, firefighters began to question his motives.
"He seemed like he was overdoing it," McGlynn said. "So we gently told him it was time to move along."
Brandl was arrested about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday as he was buying food at a gas station in Hermitage, Pa., Hermitage Police Chief Ed Stanton said.
An officer did a routine license plate check on the Mercedes and discovered it had been stolen, police said. Brandl told the officer there must be a mix-up and the car belonged to his girlfriend.
He also said he was a New York firefighter and "had lost his ID at ground zero," but he had an official New York Fire Department parking permit in the Mercedes, as well as hats and sweat shirts from New York and San Francisco fire departments, said Hermitage police detective John Piatek.
Recovered in the car were a phone and about 100 compact discs stolen from a Nashville woman Brandl met at a firehouse there, police said. Also found were NASCAR radio equipment and headsets stolen from an Illinois man Brandl befriended at a race there, as well as a stolen radar detector, camcorder and scanners, Piatek said.
"He was a pretty smooth talker," Piatek said.
Piatek said Brandl is under investigation in Lake Tahoe, where a Florida woman told authorities he got free rooms in a ritzy hotel by passing himself off as a firefighter. She told police he stole $500 from her.
In Tennessee, Brandl was charged under a warrant Thursday with identity theft, forgery, theft and criminal impersonation of a firefighter, said Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron.
On Oct. 4, he stopped at a downtown Nashville firehouse, where he used the name Jerod Sterling and said he was a Wisconsin firefighter returning from ground zero in New York, Aaron said.
"He said he was taking the scenic route home to clear his head from what he saw at ground zero" and needed a place to stay, Aaron said.
"They provided him with food and a room at the new downtown Hilton hotel free of charge for three nights," he said.
A female friend of the firefighters' offered to let Brandl then stay a few nights at her apartment.
"Before moving on in the middle of October, he counterfeited a check on her bank account, went to a local cellular telephone store, claimed to be her husband and got a phone and service," Aaron said.
Brandl remains in the Mercer County Jail in Pennsylvania in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Brandl, with 22 aliases and no known address, had faked an Australian accent with people, including Heidepriem, say police.
According to the Waukesha County criminal complaint, Brandl met Heidepriem, who is single, in August through a friend.
Heidepriem, 43, told Brookfield police that Brandl told her he had lost his passport and other items while staying in Madison and had nowhere to stay that night.
She said she made arrangements for him to stay at the Milwaukee Athletic Club, and he later called to tell her that someone at the University of Wisconsin-Madison had found his passport.
She offered to let him use her 1999 Mercedes 320 convertible to drive to Madison, and he said he'd be back by evening. That was Aug. 23.
She never saw him again.
Heidepriem, who couldn't be reached for comment Thursday, said Brandl also racked up charges on her account at the Milwaukee Athletic Club before he fled, the complaint says.
Con artists will always be with us. Some are better than others, but man...
Yes. Seems as if that con artist hasn’t been caught yet.
Interesting....perhaps.
More interesting....not a chance.
He most likely makes a decent living, perhaps their family has two incomes, and yes (gasp) maybe he even inherited some money. Maybe it's been his big dream in life to own a $60,000 Mercedes.
Why the envy? Is it not a good thing when people actually succeed in realizing their dreams?
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- A man who claimed to be a firefighter returning from Ground Zero in New York was arrested after taking part in a ceremony at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, WTAE's Paul Van Osdol reports.
Jerome Brandl, 34, who has used 18 aliases, three dates of birth and multiple social security numbers, is named in Nashville arrest warrants charging identity theft, theft of property, forgery and two counts of criminal impersonation. "There is probably going to be a waiting line for people to get their hands on this guy," said Hermitage Deputy Police Chief Larry Matchak. "I think there are some people in New York that want to hang him."
Brandl was arrested early Tuesday after leaving the previous night's Steelers-Tennessee Titans game at Heinz Field. He had apparently conned his way onto the field for a pregame event in which firefighters were honored. "This guy told us about how he was exchanging cards and almost exchanging hats with fire inspectors during the Monday night game," Hermitage police Det. John Piatek said. "He said he watched the whole game from the sidelines."
Police in Wisconsin say Brandl's escapades began on Aug. 23 when he allegedly stole a convertible Mercedes-Benz belonging to the secretary of the state Department of Electronic Government.
New York Fire Department spokesman Dave Billig said Brandl showed up in Manhattan sometime after Sept. 11, telling members of Engine Co. 39 that he was a firefighter from Wisconsin who had come to help. He stayed with a fire company in the city for several days, doing odd jobs and may have even sought donations for relief efforts. "After he was gone, they found some of their gear missing -- bunker gear, like you would wear into a fire," said Billig.
Brandl arrived in Nashville on Oct. 4. He spread his story among firefighters and received free food and lodging for several days. A West Nashville woman learned about Brandl from the firefighters and allowed him to stay at her apartment for several days. He allegedly counterfeited a check on her bank account, obtained cellular telephone service by claiming to be her husband and took about 100 compact discs from her apartment.
Fraud detectives believe Brandl conned other Nashville citizens or businesses out of money or services -- including the Hilton Hotel, where he apparently stayed free of charge for three days.
Brandl was arrested after police saw the stolen Mercedes at a Hermitage gas station and ran a random license plate check. Inside the car, they found a New York Fire Department parking permit and department sweaters, along with electronics equipment and other items reported stolen from several states.
In addition to New York and Tennessee, police say Brandl is being investigated in Nevada, Florida, Texas and Illinois. "This is a guy who took advantage of a bad situation and the brotherhood that exists between firefighters," said Nashville police Det. Brian Celatka. "He took it even further by taking advantage of private citizens."
Brandl was being held on $100,000 bail in Mercer County Jail. New York authorities were planning to have him extradited so they could charge him with impersonating a public official and credit card theft.
Unbelievable what some people will do. I hope every county & state he was in charges him & sentences him to the max. To use this attack against his own country as an "opportunity" is sick. After he finishes his sentences, kick him out of this country. He doesn't deserve citizenship in our great country after pulling this.
Excellent! I don't foresee alot of "free time" in this guy's future.
<< "There is probably going to be a waiting line for people to get their hands on this guy," said Hermitage Deputy Police Chief Larry Matchak. "I think there are some people in New York that want to hang him." >>
I'll bet there are.....
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