`Cop's cop' said to be jewel-theft mastermind

--FEDERAL OFFICIALS SAY a Chicago detective's police know-how made a shadowy high-technology crime ring so elusive for so long.

CHICAGO--Using fake mustaches, electronic eavesdropping equipment and a high level of computer sophistication, a ring of jewel thieves roamed America for years, pulling off crimes so clever they might have been planned by a master detective.

Federal prosecutors say they were.

William Hanhardt, former Chicago chief of detectives, was known as a tough "cop's cop" as he shot his way onto the city's front pages and rose through the ranks of the police force in the 1950s despite whispers that he had connections to organized crime.

Hanhardt became a high-profile police official who, among other things, was a consultant to producer Michael Mann's 1980s TV show "Crime Story."

Now prosecutors have accused Hanhardt, 71, of being the mastermind behind the jewel-theft ring that made off with $4.5 million worth of loot.

He and five others were indicted Thursday on charges of racketeering conspiracy in connection with thefts of high-quality gems and luxury watches in Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin.

The men have pleaded not guilty and have been released on bond. FBI agents are hunting the sixth defendant, William "Cherry Nose" Brown, last known to be living in Gilbert, Ariz.

Hanhardt made headlines 38 years ago when he and other police officers killed two home invaders in a shootout.

"He was a legend in the Police Department. Everybody knew who he was," Bob Podgorny, a 30-year veteran of the force and first vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the Chicago Tribune. "All the years that I have known him, he has been a policeman's policeman."

Federal officials say it was Hanhardt's police know-how that made the shadowy ring so elusive for so long.

"A significant jewel-theft ring was able to operate without detection because of one defendant's extensive knowledge of police techniques and procedures," says Kathleen McChesney, special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago field division.

Smoke bombs, aliases, secret codes, bulletproof vests, electronic eavesdropping equipment, fake beards and mustaches, and a vast array of burglary tools were standard issue with the thieves, officials say.

In some cases, the thieves bought luggage matching the cases used by jewelry salesmen to carry their wares, prosecutors say. They apparently could get into a fully locked car in a matter of seconds, switch cases and make off with the jewels undetected.

But the most sophisticated part of the operation may have been the use of computers.

Hanhardt's clout at police headquarters enabled him to use the very computers that lawmen use to hunt criminals to stalk the unsuspecting jewelry salesmen, getting license numbers and other key information, authorities say.

The thefts began even before Hanhardt retired, according to federal officials. After that, he was able to contact officers he still knew in the department, who allegedly dipped into computerized files to get the information for him. Federal prosecutors say little on how he did that.

"If we could prove that they were guilty of a crime, they would be charged," U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar said. It may have simply been a matter of police officers doing a favor for a friend who had once been their boss.

Lassar indicated more indictments were not expected.

Some Chicago mob watchers say Hanhardt may have climbed to the highest ranks of the department because of influence with politicians in Chicago's scandal-drenched 1st Ward Democratic organization.

"The 1st Ward people were very influential in politics, very capable of delivering the vote and totally tied to the mob," says Wayne Johnson, chief investigator for the Chicago Crime Commission.

One of those indicted along with Hanhardt is Sam DeStefano, 55, of Chesterton, Ind. He confirmed in an interview Thursday that he is the nephew of another Sam DeStefano, an old-time Chicago mobster who was fatally shot in a West Side alley after a storied career in crime.