…but we can’t, because we can’t seem to get anyone’s cooperation from down there.
Buzz Zirkelbach, friend and compadre of former sheriff Raymond Martin
We received a tip Monday that there had been an arrest outside of Ridgway, of two fellas, Fred “Buzz” Zirkelbach Jr., and Larry Thrasher, ages unknown, addresses unknown. The arrests had to do with an alleged meth operation, according to our unofficial sources in Gallatin County, but the charges are unknown, too. Thrasher’s whereabouts are, at least to us, unknown; Buzz, however, was housed in the White County Jail, as you see here. Buzz is still there, having not made bond, which amount, as you guessed, is “unknown.”
It’s not just because Gallatin is one of the last remaining counties in southern Illinois to not link up to Judici. Although that’s its own pain in the ass. The additional problem is that apparently, Sheriff Shannon Bradley isn’t getting his messages. I’ve been calling since Tuesday trying to get just the basics about the alleged bust squared away. Like, that there even was one. For all I know, Buzz is in lockup in White County because he spit on the sidewalk. You can never tell these days.
But I haven’t been able to get Sheriff Bradley. And so, after waiting for four days for him to return the call, I finally called again and asked to speak to Ridgway’s chief. I did get a return call on this one, from (bear with me if I didn’t get this right; I was kind of fighting to hear him with all the racket in the background on his end and unfortunately didn’t ask for spelling) Ridgway’s new chief, Tim Condon. Or Condin. God forbid I misspell it and it come close to looking like the word “condom,” but there you are.
I told him who I was, what news outlet I was with, and how grateful I was to at least finally get someone who could answer my questions because I’d inadvertently been putting off this story all week. I explained the situation as in the second paragraph above, and then asked simply, “Can you confirm the arrests of these two, and the charges for which they were arrested?”
Well, the chief just could not; he said he would not give out any information over the phone.
I was kinda staggered, but I kept it cool, telling him I wasn’t requesting “information,” all I was requesting was confirmation that the two had been arrested, then we’d see about what “information” (read: details) I could get from beyond that point.
But he would not.
So I had to ask why. And his response was (and I know I have this right, because I was writing it down as he was saying it), “Until I know who I’m speaking to over the phone, I’m not giving out any information to them.”
I told him, “I just told you who I am, and who I’m with. And further to that, any taxpayer in any part of this state should be able to call you and ask you to confirm the arrest of two people they have the names of already, but most especially media should be able to ask you such a thing, and you at least give a confirmation or denial over the phone.”
He wanted to know why I couldn’t come in and talk to him face to face; I advised that we were getting ready to come to Harrisburg for the weekend and tape a vidcast, and were on a schedule that didn’t include a side-trip to Gallatin.
I think by this point, he knew I wasn’t kidding around, but he said he just couldn’t. I asked whose policy this was. He said it was “his” policy. I asked him if he was aware of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 3.6, instituted in March 2000, which began as a stunt by state’s attorneys in Illinois to try to keep as much information about cases from the public as possible, but which has since been turned around on the attorneys of the state and used against them, as paragraph C 1 through 7 actually REQUIRES that this information be disseminated to the inquiring public if they want to know. For those of you who don’t want to hit the link, that means that ANYONE in this state can call ANY law enforcement body (city police, sheriff’s department, state’s attorney’s office) and ask for, and receive, information pertaining to the offense; information contained in any public record generated by the offense (including police reports and formal filings by the state’s attorney); whether there’s an active investigation; whether there have been steps in litigation (preliminary hearings; arraignments; pleas); whether the public is in danger of the person investigated, arrested or charged; and most importantly, the name, address, occupation and family status of the accused, whether he’s been apprehended or whether the public can help in apprehension, if he’s been arrested, the time and place of the arrest, and the identity of the investigating and arresting officers and length of the investigation.
Make note: this ISN’T just about trial publicity. This is an Illinois Supreme Court Rule issued March 18, 2000 that was the defining document that binds public officials to disseminating at least the bare-bones basics of any criminal case, and keeps them from conducting such matters in secret. It might be the bane of the public officials, but it is the million-watt bulb of sunshine for the public and news reporters, and generally speaking, when Jack or I pull out “THREE-POINT-SIX,” people stop stymying and start handing over info. It doesn’t happen as often as we’d like, and not as thoroughly as we’d like, and we fight it almost daily, but at least we know what weapons to use when we fight.
So for this guy to blanket-state that he “doesn’t give out information over the phone”…that didn’t fly well here.
As it turned out, when I began beating him up with 3.6, he advised that it wasn’t his case, it was county’s, as the residence where the incident occurred was “just outside Ridgway city limits,” as my tipster had indicated. Well, since we’d already established that no one was interested in getting Shannon on the phone to me, that was quite helpful in and of itself…but I did need the bare-bones information. And I knew the chief had it at his access…but he wasn’t going to help.
So I told him I’d be sending him the material on Rule 3.6. And I’d also send a copy to the mayor as well as the village attorney. I thanked him and told him I hoped he had a good rest of the day, and hung up as he was still talking. Because I’ve already lost my temper once this week over the phone and have gone all high-speed comeapart apeshit on someone; I have a heart condition, I didn’t need to do it again.
And so when the chief called back a few minutes later, I had Jack answer the phone because I knew I couldn’t keep my cool. Jack barely could. He gets livid when a public official doesn’t know the basics of 3.6, which we’ve committed to memory in these 13 years. I guess the new chief in Ridgway now knows who Disclosure is. But we still don’t have our information on the alleged meth bust.
Those of you who aren’t from Gallatin County but read us regularly will remember Buzz Zirkelbach from the Raymond Martin federal trial, and how Raymondo could get a big bag of weed from Buzz in 30 minutes. His field of expertise has always been pot. So it’s kinda strange to be hearing of a possible meth bust, as the pot movers don’t generally go into meth. But, as I sad, you never know.
We’ll get it, though. We always do. And hopefully, the effort we made today will make an impact on future situations in Gallatin, so that we can bring you the news when it happens, instead of half a week later.