For your reading pleasure, I am sharing a surveillance story that literally changed the way I look at surveillance investigations. And this specific surveillance story truly rocked me and shaped me as I approached surveillance assignments thereafter.

When I started this Private Investigator Advice website I always knew that this specific story I am about to share with you would eventually be shared. And the reason I am sharing this story with you is so you can learn from my mistakes and truly have a different view on how to conduct surveillance whether you are new to the field or a veteran investigator.  The things I teach on this website are rooted in experiences and years of experience with thousands of hours of surveillance time.

The reason I originally decided to finally share the story during a podcast was because of an email I received from another investigator. The investigator asked something about who was allowed to have access to running license plate numbers. Now he didn’t get too much into the details of his situation but basically said someone had run his license plate information and it really scared him.  He had a family and he wanted to keep his family safe.

As I share this story with you I will keep unimportant things vague but it will not take away from the story itself.  This took place about 5 years into my career as a private investigator.  Some of the stuff is a little foggy but I will do the best I can to articulate what took place.

So at this point in my career, I was a supervisor of about 15 investigators spanning several states.  Work had become slow and I needed to work a surveillance assignment basically to pay for myself as there were not enough investigators actively working in the field at that moment in time. So I was asked to travel to a state and work a surveillance assignment over a 4 day period.

Traveling wasn’t a big deal for me. I had actually worked a successful surveillance assignment last time I was in the state they were sending me to and I had traveled all over to conduct surveillance including California, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska, Hawaii, and South Dakota. I have written about traveling as a private investigator here.

So I traveled to this rural state, picked up my rental car, and traveled to a hotel in the same city as where my investigation would take place.  My rental vehicle which would act as my surveillance vehicle was not conducive for surveillance. It was a white, non-tinted coupe that looked sporty.  It wasn’t ideal but I figured if I was careful, it would turn out fine.

Preliminary Investigation Before I Got Started

I checked into my room and I finished my preliminary investigation.  This would have been before social media was used to the degree it is today.  It was a bit harder to research individuals back then.  If you are unfamiliar with a preliminary investigation, every surveillance investigator does this before going on out of their surveillance. Basically, through public databases and private databases, investigators confirm information or find correct information about the subject they are conducting surveillance on.

The problem I had was finding the subject of my surveillance’s street. I could not identify exactly where the subject lived.  I knew the general area where the subject resided by there were no signs of the subject’s actual street.  The subject lived in a rural area where the neighbors in the area lived on acre plots.

I got to the point where I started pretexting neighbors in the area to figure out where this street was to no avail.  At one point I drove down what I thought was a road but ended up being a very long driveway.  As I turned around in front of the house to leave a woman in a car arrived at the residence. I apologized for being in their driveway and explained how I was looking for a street.  The woman didn’t know the street I was looking for and I departed the area.

I returned to my hotel and after some additional research, I had determined that the woman I spoke with and apologized to was the address of the subject I was looking for.

Well despite that, I still thought I would be ok on the surveillance. I was just going to have to play it even looser than I had anticipated.

Begining Surveillance Efforts

The next day I arrived at the subject’s residence and there were several cars at the residence, however, I was observing from such a distance I was unable to connect any vehicle specifically to the subject themselves. I am pretty sure I had access to some vehicle information but I just couldn’t connect any vehicle-related information at that point of the surveillance.  I would use my binoculars and surveillance camera to attempt to see anything from the residence.

Late in the morning, a truck departed the residence and I followed from a great distance.  The distance was so great I never got a plate number and I eventually lost the vehicle.  I was unable to locate the vehicle so I returned to the residence and continued surveillance efforts.

The residence was in a rural location but it was located next to a busy road which I used to drive by the residence every hour or so.  Towards the end of the surveillance period, I observed a vehicle departing from the residence and headed toward the busy road that paralleled their residence.   I turned around but I didn’t know what direction they would be turning and the vehicle ended up behind me.  This wasn’t an ideal situation but it wasn’t the first time I found myself in this situation.

Getting Burned on Surveillance

I can’t remember how I specifically figured this out, but I remember pulling over to the side of the road so I could get back behind the vehicle.  Somehow the vehicle found its way behind me later down the road.  And I remember at some point I had come to the conclusion I had been compromised or burned (you can read more about investigator terms here).  And I figured the male driving in the vehicle was the subject (I was later determined to be correct).

So I started making driving decisions to casually lose this individual. Each time I did something that would normally lose someone, the vehicle ended up behind me.

I decided to go into a turning lane at the last minute while the vehicle was two lanes to my right in a straight only lane.  I thought for sure I shook the individual but I was mistaken.  He had found his way behind me again somehow.  And I really started to get worried and a little scared.  The person was aggressively following me and was not losing interest.  This was not the first time I had been burned to the point where someone would follow me.  But no one that had ever followed me followed me like this.

So then I did something pretty stupid, I sped through a shopping center and then continued to drive in circles around the block until I lost the subject. I was truly freaked out at that point.

I then pulled over at some park and informed my boss what had happened. I told him I didn’t think there was going to be any way I could recover from that incident.  I had been burned too bad.  I then called the client and the client agreed that I needed to pull off the surveillance permanently.

I returned to my hotel, booked a new flight for the next day, and truly didn’t think much more of the assignment.

I later went outside to smoke a cigarette and I talked to an Army buddy on the phone.

All of a sudden this truck flies up and parks in the middle of the hotel parking area (not in a parking spot) and a guy comes out of the passenger position.  The man came up to me and asked me if I was Andy Kidd.

You can imagine my heart racing at the moment I realized this was the subject I was conducting surveillance on and he knew my name.

He went on to pretext me and tell me how he accidentally scratched Andy Kidd’s vehicle while pointing to my rental car and wanted to let him know.  I told him I didn’t know him and couldn’t help him.  He then returned to the truck and the truck departed the area.

I told my buddy on the phone in a low voice what had just happened and how I had to let him go.

As I started to walk back into the hotel, at that same time one of the people that worked at the hotel was also outside smoking and just walking into the hotel again.

The employee had a cordless phone and it started to ring as we both were walking back in.  I could hear the woman repeating my name and then saying, “Yes, Andrew Kidd is staying here.”

I continued to walk upstairs to my room and my room phone began to ring.  I didn’t answer it and became even more freaked out.  I again contacted my boss to let them know how the situation had escalated and my boss then contacted his boss and let the client know what was happening.

It was determined that I needed to check out of that hotel and find another hotel to stay the night at.  I was to drive like two hours away to another city and stay the night there and then drive to the airport and fly out.

The phone in my room kept ringing over the next couple of hours and I finally called to the front desk and asked them to tell anyone calling for me that I had checked out of the hotel.  The front desk person told me that a man kept calling to see if I was still checked in to the hotel and kept asking to be transferred to my room.  Looking back, I am thankful that the subject didn’t walk down the halls while my room phone was ringing.

It was getting late and it had become dark outside. I still didn’t know if the subject was still in the area.  With my stuff packed in a large duffle bag, I went to the front desk and checked out of the hotel. The front desk person asked if I was ok. I told them I think so but I couldn’t really talk about it.

I exited the hotel and walked straight to my vehicle, throwing the duffle bag into the passenger area.  As that was happening I heard someone running toward me and they started yelling for me to stop.

I jumped in the drive position and shut the door. I panicked and struggled to lock the door. I locked it just as the subject arrived at my driver’s door and tried to open the door.

He began yelling at me, and telling me he had a video of me doing something nefarious at his house (which was a lie).  Still parked in the parking lot, I called my boss to have him on the phone in case something bad happened. I wanted him to hear everything.

What he actually heard was me shrieking and screaming back at the subject in a high pitched voice. If I was to die at that moment, I wanted him to know and be on the call.

I eventually backed out of the parking spot and the subject stood in front of my vehicle with one hand on the hood and one hand was shaking something on his hip.

I remember him saying, “Are you a drug dealer or a federal agent?”

The thing he was shaking in his pocket was a handgun.

I remember yelling something like, “Are you gonna kill me over this? Are you crazy?”

I didn’t know if I drove around the back of the hotel if I would be able to get out of the area but I tried anyway. There was only one exit from the hotel and as I wrapped around the building, another man who had been driving the truck stood in the middle of the street. I didn’t care and was prepared to run him over. He did step aside as I sped through the parking area and drove off.

My car was empty to the point where the gas light was on in the vehicle. My boss told me to go get gas and to call the police.

I arrived at the gas station and filled up my tank and as I waiting there I called the police. I told the call receiver that I was a private investigator and the person I was there to conduct surveillance on was after me (I am paraphrasing).  I asked that an officer meet me at the gas station.

After filling up I hid my vehicle in a nearby hotel in the parking area which was behind the gas station and waited.

The officer eventually arrived on site. I told the officer everything. I told him when I flew in, the mistakes I made, how the investigation evolved, how the subject found me at the hotel, etc…

And just as I completed the story to the officer, the person I’ve been following, the same guy with his buddy arrived at the gas station in the truck.

I told the officer, “That is the guy! What is going on? How did he know where I was?”

As the subject got out of the car he pointed at me and told me I was in big trouble.  I responded to him by asking him where his gun was.

The officer asked that I step away while he talk to the subject.

About 20 minutes later the subject got back in the truck with his friend and departed the area.

I asked the officer how in the heck could that guy know where I was?  How could he get that information?

The officer went on to tell me that the subject of my investigation had a friend who was a police chief in another county. The police chief told him my name, and my information when I had arrived in the state when I was leaving the state.  The police chief told the subject quite a bit about me and even told him where I was at that moment.

That’s how he knew everything. I told the officer, “This can’t be legal!” “You can’t just give that information to a citizen like that!”  We continued to talk and he told me I could press charges but if I did all would be revealed to the subject as to why I was there and who I was representing.  I felt obligated for some reason to protect my company and the client and chose not to press charges.  He told me that the police chief had no business giving that information to the subject.

He went on to say that when I identified the subject (his name) when I was sharing the story, he knew who I was talking about and knew the subject personally.  Apparently, the subject had owned a gun store in the past.  He also said that what every I was conducting surveillance on the subject for, he probably did it.  He insinuated that the subject was not of high integrity or of a high caliber. He said the subject thought I was a drug dealer or a federal agent because that is what the police chief told him.

I also got the feeling thought this officer was worried about his own job as we talked.  He was in a difficult situation having to potentially write up a report reflecting a police chief in another county.

He told me I needed to get out of town and get on a place the following morning. He had instructed the subject not to bother me anymore.

I felt like I was in crazyville. I still couldn’t believe what was happening or how what was happening was “ok”.   I called my wife and my dad on my way home as I was still shaken up and I recounted what had happened to me with both of them. I just couldn’t wait to get home and get out of the that stated.

I arrived at the new hotel a couple of hours later and told the person at the front desk, “don’t tell anybody that I’m here. Nobody. And I mean ma’am, I can’t even tell you how serious I am. If anybody asked for my name, you do not say that I’m staying here.”

The next morning I packed back up and drove to the airport. You would think at this point in the story that my trauma would be coming to an end right?  I’m hoping you have some sympathy for me at this point.

As I checked in for my flight I was told that I was flagged and my bag needed to be inspected.  I am sure I can thank the police chief for that.  They tagged my bag and made markings on my ticket.

As I went through the metal detector area (right before I went through it), I was approached by someone who was inspecting my duffle bag.  They had my pager spy camera set up in their hand.  They asked me what it was.  I told them it was a covert video camera. They were like, “oh, ok” though I don’t think he really knew what I had told them.

As I continued to go through the gate I could see someone going through a side checkpoint and checking a firearm.  Because I was hyper-aware I assumed it was an air marshall. 

As I was finally about to board the plane, a woman looked at my ticket and I could tell she was disturbed by the marking that was on it and gave me a strange look.  I boarded the plane, still incredibly freaked out, and just wanted this circus ride to end.  The “air marshall” was on my plane several rows ahead of me and I could see him the entire time. He never looked back at me.

I couldn’t be happier when I finally arrived home. Just as I think the craziness is basically over at that point, I was requested by my boss and the company to get a police report of what had taken place, and wouldn’t you know that they would not release a police report to me, the very person involved in the situation.

If I pushed the issue I am sure I could have got my hands on that police report however I am sure the reason they didn’t want me to have it is that it implicated the police chief in some nefarious stuff.

Final Thoughts on This Surveillance Story

This moment and many others have shaped who I have become as an investigator. I can see into the future and know the potential outcomes of certain actions. I have become a more effective and efficient surveillance investigator as a result.  I have never run into an incident like that again and I have kept many investigators from running into dangerous situations as well.

If supervisors or clients ask me to do something that I know is not good for my potential safety or the good of the surveillance investigation, I tell them no. I don’t tell them in a jerky way, I just explain to them how what they are asking me is going to play out in the future with potential outcomes.

The moral of this story and this is why I’m always super cautious during investigations.  You never if the person you are conducting surveillance on is going to have someone they know with access to personal information about you up.  They might know someone from the Department of Motor Vehicles or maybe have a police officer friend that is willing to pass on information to them they shouldn’t have.

It’s critical to be careful, cautious, and safe on our surveillance cases so you don’t end up screaming bloody murder at a guy with a gun in his pocket.  It is my goal to guide you in a way that you don’t encounter situations like that.

If you are traveling away from town and conducting surveillance in a rental don’t stay in the same down as where your surveillance is taking place.  Do what you can to blackout your windows (like with soft foam and painter tape).

I hope you take something from this story and be sure to watch the podcast of this story if you haven’t already.

Until next time.