Nearly every Friday night Ski called the Chicago police and taunted the cops about a burglary he’d committed three years ago.

This particular case was important to Detective Cronin, because the burglary had been committed in the middle of the night while a middle aged couple slept. Burglary, at night, of an occupied dwelling is a very serious crime in most jurisdictions and carries a heavy penalty.

Ski would call the detective bureau and ask for Detective Cronin. If Cronin was off duty, the desk would patch the call through to Cronin’s home phone because the detective had asked them to do that.

This cat-and-mouse game went on for several months. During each call Chicago police would try to trace Ski’s call, but they were unable to.

Ski was an arrogant guy. On each call he teased Cronin, saying things like, "How come you can’t find me, Detective Cronin? I keep reaching out to you every week but you never can find me. Guess I’m just too smart for you-right, Cronin?"

Then one Friday night, during one of Ski’s taunting calls, the crook got the surprise of his life. Local cops, with an arrest warrant in hand, surrounded the pay telephone and arrested him.

Ski was furious. "How could those stupid Chicago cops find me way down here in Marietta, Georgia?" he asked the sergeant in charge of the arrest team.

It took nearly a month, but the governor of Georgia signed extradition papers and Ski was transferred back to Chicago where he was tried and convicted of first degree burglary. Ski is expected to spend many years in the Illinois Pen.

Detective Cronin waited until after the sentencing to tell Ski how he caught up with him, "way down there in Marietta, Georgia."

"For one thing, Ski, you’re stupid," said Cronin. "You talk too much and you talk too long. It was your own mouth got you locked up. But mostly you got caught because I convinced the boss to add Caller ID to our phones."