Chapter 9: The Thrill of The Hunt

The joined squads of detectives, with the help and resources of several patrol squads in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, all fanned out across the 2 boroughs in their hunt for Mia Harris' boyfriend, Steven Zhang. Since his daring flight from Sergeant Quincy Ming and Detective Kat Tamin at the Amsterdam Avenue bus stop, the 22-year-old had already proven himself to be quite illusive.

Apartment of Steven Zhang
136 Windsor Place
Brooklyn
11:45 AM

Captain Benson, Detective Stabler, and Sergeant Bell all clamored up the stairs towards Steven's second floor apartment with 2 pairs of uniformed officers on their heels. The 7 officers then congregated around his apartment door, at which point Stabler loudly pounded on it 3 times.

"Steven Zhang!" Stabler authoritatively hollered, "NYPD with a search warrant! Open the door or we're coming in!"

Hearing no response from the other side of the door after roughly 15 seconds, the officers all nodded to one another and Stabler shouldered open the door, busting its metal chain lock along with it.

Everyone flooded in and quickly cleared the entire apartment, at which point Bell took note of an empty frying pan sitting on one of the front burners on Zhang's stove.

"Stone cold," Bell said after carefully touching the handle of the pan, "He must not have been back here for a bit."

Stabler, meanwhile, took notice of a black rubber shoe mat just behind the door. On it was a pair of high-end running shoes, a pair of generic-looking black flip-flops, and a pair of black steel-toed boots.

"You may want to rethink that, Sarge" Stabler said as he held up the boots, "Dani told me that Zhang ran from Tamin and Ming wearing boots like these."

Bell nodded and came over to visually inspect the boots for herself. "They're covered in a ton of sand," she replied, "Call me crazy, but I don't think I've ever seen any sand around Amsterdam Avenue. Have you?"

"Nah," Stabler said before looking down at the other footwear on the mat, "But I am seeing the same sand on all of these. It must be from the same source."

Benson came over and saw what her 2 colleagues were looking at. "Well," she said, "If I remember right, Manhattan Beach is about a thirty-minute drive from here."

"True," Stabler replied in an ambivalent tone, "But I really don't see this guy being the beach bum type."

"So," Bell said to Benson, "For clarity's sake, I have to ask. How did Mister Carisi manage to get us a search warrant for this place so quickly anyway? I mean, all we have is the Chinese food bits that CSU found in the ditched van."

Benson came up close enough to the sergeant to whisper in her ear. "Judge McNamara has always been sympathetic towards Carisi," she whispered, "If it makes you feel any better, he gave him quite the lecture on proper probable cause before signing it."

Bell stepped back a bit and gave a nervous smile in retort. "Got it," she replied, "Enough said."

Still oddly curious about the sand that coated Zhang's footwear, Stabler put on a pair of gloves, plucked grains of the sand from the boot treads, and began rolling it in between his fingers. "Looks like there's silt and clay embedded in this sand here," he said before realizing something, "Wait a minute. Baseball fields."

"Baseball fields?" Benson curiously asked.

Stabler nodded. "Groundskeepers often use a blend of silt and clay in the sand that covers most baseball fields," he explained, "Both my boys played in youth leagues when they were younger. It seemed like Kathy and I were shaking silt and clay sand out of their cleats and our shoes for hours after every game."

Bell caught on and remembered something. "Prospect Park," she said, "They have ballfields there, and if I'm remembering right, they're only about a ten-minute walk from here."

Benson nodded and took her portable radio off her belt, keying the mic. "Manhattan SVU Captain to Fifteenth Squad Oh-One-Five, direct" she said into the radio.

Detective Kat Tamin cued up on the radio a few seconds later. "Fifteenth Squad Oh-One-Five to SVU Captain," she replied from the radio, "I copy you, Captain Benson. What's up?"

Benson keyed her mic once again. "Are you and Sergeant Ming anywhere near Prospect Park?" she asked.

"Ten-Four," Tamin replied from the radio, "We're actually on our way to your location at the moment."

"Ten-Four," Benson said into the radio, "I suggest you divert to the park right away, specifically the ball fields. We think our suspect may be somewhere near there on foot right now. Stabler, Bell, and I will meet you there."

"Copy that, Captain" Tamin replied from the radio, "We'll turn around and head that way now. Oh-One-Five out."

Long Meadow Ballfields
Prospect Park
10 Minutes Later

Tamin and Ming arrived at Prospect Park as requested. They exited their vehicle and took some extended glances at the plethora of people patronizing the park before walking into the Long Meadow Ballfields, where a local youth baseball game was in full swing.

The 2 partners took a seat on a set of audience bleachers beside an older couple who wore the t-shirts advertising the home team. Their hope was to try and blend in and not look so much like the plainclothes NYPD detectives that they were.

"Do you see anybody who fits the description of our guy?" Ming asked.

"Not yet," Tamin replied as she covertly scanned the crowd while also trying to make it look like she was just another fan watching the game.

The vehement female detective soon set her eyes on a short, dark-haired, brown-eyed Asian man who was dressed in a beige trench coat and standing by the side of the dugout belonging to the visiting team. "Hey Sarge?" she inquired.

"Yeah?" Ming replied.

"Check out that guy in the coat over by the visiting team's dugout," Tamin said, "It's like Seventy-Five degrees out here right now. The only way you'd wear a coat that heavy on a hot day like this..."

Ming nodded. "...is if you're trying to hide in plain sight," he replied as he finished off his partner's sentence.

The detectives got up from the bleachers and began slowly and inconspicuously making their way towards the visiting team's dugout. The Asian man almost immediately took notice, at which point he sighed deeply and began a dead sprint toward the opposite side of the field.

Tamin and Ming, meanwhile, both grunted with mutual vexation as they realized that they would have to chase this same suspect yet again. As they began the foot pursuit, Ming took his portable radio off his belt and keyed the mic.

"Fifteenth Squad Oh-One Sergeant to Central," Ming said into the radio, "My partner and I are pursuing a suspect that's wanted for questioning on foot through Long Meadow Ballfields in Prospect Park. Suspect is a short Asian male with dark hair wearing a beige trench coat. He's heading toward a public parking lot towards the rear of the park."

"Manhattan SVU Captain to Oh-One Sergeant," Benson replied from the radio a few seconds later, "We copy your traffic, Sergeant. Stabler, Bell, and I are on our way to you now."

"Steven Zhang!" Ming authoritatively hollered, "NYPD! Stop right there!"

Zhang made his way toward a white 2021 Ford Transit 350 work van that was parked in one of the last spaces in the public parking lot just beyond the outer edge of the ball field.

Meanwhile, in a bit of very good timing, Stabler, Benson, and Bell came around the opposite side just behind the white van, unbeknownst to the flighty Zhang.

"Steven!" Stabler yelled as he came around the side of the van, pointing his Glock at Zhang, "Police! Don't even think about getting in that van, pal! You already ran once today, and I don't think Sergeant Ming and Detective Tamin over there are in any mood to pursue you any further!"

"You better listen to him, Steven!" Benson said in a very rigorous tone while keeping her own firearm trained on Zhang, "And you didn't have to do all this damn running, either. All we wanted to do was talk to you, and all you did was just make yourself look guilty."

"They're right," Bell chimed in, "You've had all five of us running around all day looking for you, not to mention a whole bunch of patrol cops from two boroughs who had to take time away from more pressing business. Just put your hands up and let us take you in so we can get this straightened out."

With 5 cops now blocking his exit, Steven Zhang raised his hands and dropped to his knees beside the van. Stabler looked over to Ming and Tamin and nodded to them, silently letting them know that the situation was now secure.

Tamin and Ming walked over to the parked van, at which point the latter of the pair scooped Zhang up off the ground and handcuffed him. "Steven Zhang," Ming began, "You're under arrest for vehicle theft and evading the police. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."

Just 5 minutes later, Zhang was in the back of Bell and Stabler's unmarked Ford Expedition police car on his way to the 15th Precinct to be booked.