Highland – Thonie Hevron Author

Ramblings, part 8, Miscellaneous-A Slow Chase

By Hal Collier

Hal is a thirty-five year veteran of LAPD. We are pleased he is sharing his stories with us.

The following story is true, best to my fading memory. Some of my earlier stories dealt with pursuits. One was about my worst car pursuit and one my worst foot pursuits. Even the bad pursuits are a fond memory of an eventful career. As in life, not everything is bad. I actually had a lot of good moments. I remember my lucky arrests. Ok, this story is about the best and longest car pursuit I was ever in.

If you remember, I said I don’t like car pursuits. They’re dangerous and they seldom seem worth risking your life. Think about hurtling through the streets at breakneck speeds, because someone doesn’t want a ticket, they’re drunk, or they’re driving a stolen car. Even a stolen car will only get them a few months in county jail. A lot of cops die chasing cars. I knew of one cop who loved pursuits. He would hide out on Forrest Lawn Drive, see a speeding car, and let him get a good head start, before turning on the red lights and siren. The speeding car would figure he had enough of a lead to outrun the cops and take off.

Ok, back to my story. I’m working; yep you guessed it, Morning Watch. I’m working with Bill, a good partner. Some partners you just click with. Bill’s driving and I’m keeping the books. Books are police slang for keeping the log and writing all the reports for the night. Bill and I had a great system for running license plates that were going away from you. The driver would look at the first three or four letters/numbers and the passenger would look at the last three letters/numbers. That way we would have the whole license plate to check to see if it was stolen or wanted. If you’re following behind the car, it’s not a big problem because you can read the license as you talk to the dispatcher downtown.

We’re stopped at a red light at Franklin Avenue and Bronson Avenue. A car drives southbound on Bronson past the front of our car. The driver looks at us then quickly looks away. Ok, if you’ve got kids you know that look when you catch them doing something wrong. Bill and I look at each other, without saying anything. We both know he’s dirty. We pull in behind the car, a 70’s Pinto, and run the license plate. The dispatcher tells us the car is stolen, taken in a robbery, the suspect is considered armed and dangerous.

The adrenalin is starting to flow. We request back up and an air unit (helicopter). This is where the action begins. We have a backup police car behind us, a helicopter overhead, and a full tank of gas. That’s important as you will see later. We cinch up our seatbelts and turn on our red lights and siren. The Pinto accelerates to a top speed of 45 mph. To my non-police friends, Bill is responsible for driving the car. I’m responsible for broadcasting streets, direction, and suspect description. Both officers watch for oncoming cars, cross traffic, pedestrians, and Department Brass.

The Pinto drives westbound Hollywood and northbound Cahuenga. I don’t think we’re going to have any trouble keeping up with this 4 cylinder Pinto. After all were driving a high performance, police equipped V-8 that the city bought from the lowest bidder.

The next 20 miles is pretty boring. The Pinto drives onto the northbound Hollywood Freeway (101). The Pinto is straining to get over the Cahuenga Pass. I’m broadcasting our location as we pass the off ramps. We are now in the San Fernando Valley and as we pass each on ramp we see two police cars waiting to get into the action. The Pinto is now up to 65 mph. We have a sergeant with us who keeps our pursuit from becoming a 30-car procession of police cars.

As we head into the west end of the valley, our radio begins to break up. Another item bought from the lowest bidder. Communications advises us to let the helicopter broadcast the pursuit. Ok, I hang up the microphone, put up my headrest, and tell Bill to wake me if the Pinto exits the Freeway. Ok just kidding, but the Pinto is not going to outrun us or the helicopter.

We leave L.A, County and enter Ventura County. I see Ventura County Sheriffs sitting on the on ramps. We travel through the communities of Agoura, Westlake Village, and Thousand Oaks. The Pinto strains to get up the hill on the Conejo pass. On the down side it reaches speeds that top 70 mph. We are driving into Camarillo when our helicopter advises us that he is low on gas and has to turn back. Ha ha, we filled up at start of watch. I think were in Ventura when the Pinto slows and exits the freeway at Victoria Ave. He’s out of gas. Hum!

The end of a pursuit is usually a dangerous, tension-filled occurrence. Cops are mad because of the danger this dirt bag has put them through, the adrenalin is flowing and after a close call, revenge is on most cops minds. These are the times when police officers lose control of their emotions and end up on You Tube and in court unemployed. This was different. After this slow, long pursuit, the adrenalin has left us. We order the driver out of his car and he complies, unlike Rodney King. He lays down on the street and I handcuff him. I put him in our car and we begin the long drive back to Hollywood. Our Sergeant has to stop and get gas, to get back to Hollywood. The pursuit was 56 miles in 53 minutes.

We’re on our way back and I ask the suspect, “Why did you run?” He said, “I was in West Hollywood and I saw the Sheriffs kick a guy’s ass for flicking a cigarette. I’m driving a stolen car, I was just putting off an ass kicking. You guys didn’t even hit me”. I told Bill, “Stop the car. Let’s kick this guy’s ass.” The guy’s eyes got big and Bill and I both laughed.

The robbery involved a gay man who picked up our suspect for a date. Our suspect took his wallet and car. Not the kind of Armed and Dangerous you see on TV. The pursuit lasted longer than it took me to write the arrest report.

I think my sergeant is still trying to cash a check in Ventura to buy gas so he can get back to Hollywood.

We don’t miss him.

Ramblings: More Foot Beat Stories

My apologies for posting this and Hal’s last in the wrong order. This should have been “Foot Beat Stories One” and his previous post should have gone second. I promise I’ll do better with “Foot Beat Three” and Four. –Thonie

The following story is true and most of the officers are real live cops, some are legends and some fall into the infamous category. I often say the best of all my jobs on the LAPD was when I worked a Hollywood Boulevard foot beat. That’s not easy to say: I was a Sergeant for 12 years, a Senior Lead, (Community Relations Officer) for 11 years—both good jobs but my 3 1/2 years as a foot beat officer were the best.

Most of the names are real Hollywood cops and most of the stories are true. Some were passed down by other Hollywood cops and they might be legends. That’s in case some ACLU attorney is looking for a civil rights violation.

The foot beat cop of the 50″s 60’s & early 70’s were the toughest cops in the division. They ruled their beat with an iron fist, with the emphasis on fist. They didn’t have radios. If they got in a fight, they won or lost their life. Foot beat cops walked their area every day and knew the store owners, pimps, drug dealers and pan handlers all by name and those same people all knew his name. If a store owner was having a problem with an individual he would tell the foot beat cop and the problem disappeared, don’t ask me how.

George Kennedy was "The Blue Knight" — George Kennedy was “The Blue Knight”

If you ever watched the TV series “The Blue Knight” or read the Wambaugh novel, that was a tame version of what a foot beat cop was.

First the legends of Hollywood foot beat cops: Gene Fogerty. I didn’t know Gene very well and never worked with him. He was the typical old time foot beat cop. He ruled Hollywood Boulevard and no one had any doubts who’s boulevard it was. I was told that Gene never paid for anything. He ate for free, shopped in the boulevard stores and walked out saying “foot beat gratuity.” Those days were gone when I came on. We were told in the academy that a free cup of coffee led to corrupt cops. Come on, my standards are higher than 10 cents, the price of a coffee in 1971. Throw in a glazed donut and I might consider a bribe. Just kidding, I was never big on eating donuts.

One of Fogerty’s regular partners was Jim Conrad, a former boxer. Together they handled anything and everything. I was once told that a street person walked up behind Conrad and tapped him on the shoulder. Conrad felt the guy was too close to his gun, spun around and knocked him out cold. Police work in the 60’s was a lot different.

As you already know and are tired of hearing, is that I worked Morning Watch for the first 14 years I was on the job. That’s 11:30 PM to 7 AM. I only saw the Mid PM foot beat for a few hours before they went home.

Although this picture was taken in the 1950's, it gives a better feel of the area during the '70's. Today, Hollywood and Highland sports an upscale mall. — Although this picture was taken in the 1950’s, it gives a better feel of the area during the ’70’s. Today, Hollywood and Highland sports an upscale mall.

In 1977, Hollywood Boulevard was out of control on Morning Watch after 2 A.M. We had two businesses in the area of Hollywood & Highland, that were open all night. The “International Hot Dog Stand” known by all cops as just the hot dog stand and “Danielle’s.” The hot dog stand was just that, a small hot dog stand, but it was open all night and behind it was a dark parking lot perfect for dealing drugs or any other crime you can think of. Danielle’s was a coffee shop which catered to drag queens as we called them in the un-politically correct ‘70’s. I always thought it curious that Marilyn Monroe’s star was right in front of Danielle’s, a drag queen hangout. Danielle’s is now a McDonalds’.

The drag queens would eat at Danielle’s, then go to work on Highland. By work I don’t mean that they were setting out traffic cones for Cal-Trans, they were collecting money for a service for which they paid no taxes or Social Security. A Drag Queen’s overhead was the cost of their clothes and whatever they stuffed into their bras, usually yesterday’s dirty socks. No kidding.

Anyway when the rest of Los Angeles closed up, Hollywood and Highland was just starting to go strong. I approached my Lieutenant and asked if he ever considered a Morning Watch foot beat? He cocked his head to the side, somewhat like my dog does when I talk to her, and he asks, “What did you have in mind?” I laid out my plan and the following month I was told I would be working a Morning Watch foot beat. I was then asked who I wanted to work with. Holy cow, I was never ever asked who I wanted to work with.

I selected Randy for my partner. Now Randy was not the easiest cop to work with. In fact half the cops on the watch didn’t like Randy and he felt the same about them. I picked Randy because he worked. All I needed to do was keep him on a short, tight leash.

Most people think that walking a foot beat is just walking along and watching for crime. I thought so, too. I was told that I needed some foot beat experience. Let’s see: I have 7 years on the LAPD and I’ve been walking since I was around one. My childhood records have been sealed so I’m guessing.

The next month I’m going to be assigned to work a Mid Day foot beat. Mid Day, that’s when the sun and all those citizens who pay my salary are out. Crap. I going to learn foot beat techniques from a Hollywood Legend, J.J. Brown. J.J. took over the the Mid Day foot beat when Fogerty retired. J.J. had been walking a foot beat since before I was a rookie. This should be fun. Next chapter, I’m learning how to walk all over again.

Hal

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