Aftershocks of a Crime Spree

Steve Ryner, a 29-year-old patrol officer, starts a 10-hour shift at the Waterford Police Department and is informed about a series of armed robberies.

Ryner is assigned car No. 25, because his usual vehicle is in the shop. He is a rising star in the department. Smart, eloquent and quick-witted, he is the union president and has a knack with people. His superiors view him as someone who will become a captain someday, or maybe the chief.

As Ryner goes out on patrol, his girlfriend, Deb Mathewson, is preparing to work a shift as the Waterford PD dispatcher. She is a petite blond with a bright smile. And he's the jock who grew up to be a cop, a basketball star from St. Florian, a small Catholic high school in Hamtramck. They've been dating for 1 1/2 years.

Last night, Ryner threw Mathewson a 30th birthday party at her condominium on Crescent Lake Road. Several cops were there, including the chief of police, but they had no idea what was happening down the road.

Just 400 yards away. On the same side of the street. At Doyle's house.

Ryner carries a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol, made in West Germany. The pistol has 15 bullets in the magazine, with one in the chamber. He carries two more magazines in a pouch on his hip, giving him a total of 46 rounds. The lead bullets have hollow points and a copper jacket designed to flower upon impact. He has carried the same gun since going through the academy 4 1/2 years ago. At the practice range, he can get off three or four shots in a second. He has drawn the gun 25, maybe 30 times in different situations, but he has never fired it in the line of duty.

He has never been shot at, either.