ATTICA TWP - Every picture tells a story, and so do composites. A computer drawing of a suspected church bandit created by Lapeer County Sheriff's D/Sgt. Chad Polmanteer generated a multitude of phone calls and leads. Attica First Baptist Church Pastor Nathan Whipple described the intruder he found inside his church to Polmanteer, who crafted the recollections into a drawing. Law enforcement was steered to suspect James Kenneth Scott through another means, but believes the computer drawing would have eventually led to his capture. "We got so many tips when the drawing became public," said Lapeer County Sheriff's Lt. Gary Parks. "The composite really looks like our suspect. A good composite should eliminate 45 people in a room of 50." Polmanteer creates computer generated composite drawings for the Lapeer County Sheriff's Department and on request for other county policing agencies. He interviews the witness or victim, who recalls a suspect's physical characteristics such as hair, color of eyes and clothing. The procedure usually takes between one and two hours. "We start off with a series of questions, describing the person's age, height and weight," said Polmanteer. "They describe factors on the face, how the eyes are shaped, whether the jaw line is square or rounded, whether the hair is long, straight or curly." Once a basic face is developed, Polmanteer fine tunes it with steps such as making the lips or nose fuller or thinner. Polmanteer developed an almost perfect likeness with this drawing and one of now convicted bank robber Harold "Aaron" Holt. "I asked the pastor how close it was to the person on a scale of one to 10," said Polmanteer. "He said it was a dead-on match. It's great when that happens.
