And This Time, He Conned His Jailers

Los Angeles police have issued an all-points bulletin for an alleged con artist who escaped from jail by telephoning the state Department of Corrections and authorizing his own release.

David Maurice Smith, 29, of Los Angeles didn’t need a gun or key to get out of his Parker Center cell after his Tuesday night arrest on suspicion of grand theft. Instead, police said, he used an officer’s badge number and a telephone.

The caper left officers marveling at how easily Smith got out and promising not to let it happen again.

“I’ve never seen anybody get out (that way) before. I was shocked,” said Wilshire Division Detective Woodrow Parks, who is handling the case. Parks said he has been told that future releases will have to be reconfirmed by supervisors “at the very least.”

Suspects “try about every ruse you can think of,” Sgt. Michael Schadel said. “It shouldn’t have worked.”

Bail Denied

When Smith was arrested, his record showed him to be on parole for grand theft. At 9:39 p.m., the state Department of Corrections sent Parker Center a Teletype denying Smith’s request to post bail. That’s when Smith asked to use a phone.

He called Sacramento and identified himself as the officer whose badge number he had learned, Parks said.

According to investigators, Smith persuaded a parole official that there had been an error, a case of mistaken identity. He said the David Smith police had arrested was not David Smith the parolee. The release order from Sacramento arrived within 20 minutes.

Smith posted $1,500 bail and was gone.

Smith will not forfeit his bail bond unless he fails to show up for his Jan. 25 arraignment in Los Angeles. But he now faces escape charges on top of the grand theft arrest that landed him in jail.

Police say his Tuesday arrest came about as a result of a con attempt that did not work as well as his escape.

According to detectives, Smith allegedly swindled an elderly woman out of $160 on New Year’s Eve by posing as her nephew over the telephone. Police say that Smith told the woman he had arrived from out of town and that his bank card wasn’t working. When Smith picked up the money, he identified himself as a messenger from the woman’s nephew.

The woman grew suspicious and made some calls. Thus, Parks and other officers were waiting when Smith dropped by for $300 more Tuesday.

“He’s a very talented con artist,” Parks said. But the con game didn’t end with his arrest, he said.

Immediately, Smith complained of a medical problem when arrested. As a result, officers moved him from Wilshire Division headquarters to Parker Center, which has an infirmary.

“It’s a much bigger facility,” Parks said. “He wouldn’t draw as much attention if he were released, and he would have more access to a telephone.”

Smith had tried a similar escape ruse after being arrested in Pasadena more than a year ago, parole unit supervisor Dave Lytle said.

“The only difference is he used the parole agent’s badge number and name and it didn’t work,” Lytle said.

“If we follow the procedures we’re supposed to follow they don’t escape,” said Capt. William Hall, commanding officer of the Parker Center jail division. “Not knowing all the details, it sounds like Sacramento might’ve slipped.”

“I haven’t heard anything at all about it,” said Art Calderon, an assistant deputy director at the state Department of Corrections. “I’m certainly going to look into it.”

Said Parks, who must now find Smith for the second time this week: “I’ve been assured it won’t happen again.”