Fox News chief Roger Ailes and his wife Elizabeth must get spooked a lot in their weekend home in rural Putnam Valley, N.Y., because they call 911 a lot. During one 30-day period last summer, police cars were dispatched to their address six times.
All told, according to police records we obtained from the Putnam County Sheriff's Department via New York's Freedom of Information Law, cops have been called to the Ailes' home 10 times since 2009. In eight of those calls, units were actually sent to the house. None of the calls resulted in an investigation, arrest, or determination that any criminal activity had taken place.
Ailes, a former Nixon aide, is known for his paranoid behavior. He is licensed to carry a handgun in New York City, has claimed to be the victim of numerous death threats, travels with a security detail, and has placed his homes under video surveillance.
And, as we reported earlier this month, he had reporters who worked for the small local newspapers he owns in Putnam County followed because he thought they were speaking ill of him and his wife.
According to the police reports, the Aileses were never in any danger. In January 2009, for instance, Elizabeth Ailes called to report a "suspicious vehicle" parked near their home. A police car arrived within 15 minutes to find a locked Dodge Caravan registered to a local resident. "Left Putnam County Sheriff's Department card on car notifying owner we were called and to remove vehicle," the report says. Another report, from August 2010, shows that a houseguest named Laura Lindsley—who appears to be the sister of Joseph Lindsley, the 27-year-old editor whom the Aileses hired to run their papers and later had tailed—accidentally dialed 911 from the residence. Another documents a February 7, 2011 burglar alarm call in which Roger, who was not in Putnam County at the moment, asked Joe Lindsley to enter the home and scare off any intruders before the police arrived. Lindsley resigned shortly thereafter.
The records describe most of the calls simply as "security checks," and all of them show a final disposition of "negative problem," "cancelled by caller," or "appears secure." Many of them seem to have been automated calls generated by their alarm system. Oddly, almost all of them are clustered around a 34-day period last summer: Between July 8 and August 10, 2010, police received seven calls from the Ailes residence and dispatched units there six times.
A Fox News spokeswoman did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment from Ailes. The Putnam County Sheriff's Department did not return phone calls.
You can read the police reports below.
[Photos via Getty Images]
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