Tag: Hollywood Division

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Ramblings by Hal

Ramblings: LA Riots, part 3

 By Hal Collier

The following story is true.  The riots are winding down.  Some calm has returned to Los Angeles and the politicians are coming out from under their expensive tax-paid desks.  The Mayor has a bandage on his index finger from pointing the blame at everyone but himself.  The media is blasting the L.A.P.D. and the jury from Simi Valley.   I’ll learn that this will be just the tip of the iceberg.  Politicians have appointed investigative commissions and the L.A.P.D., once considered the finest police department in the world, is about to be destroyed.  We are still recovering from the aftermath.  Think how politicians handle everything.  Appoint a group of liberal politicians who know nothing about what their investigating and come up with resolutions that only please the politicians and the ACLU.

Looters at a shoe store
Looters at a shoe store

Blocks of business were burned and it was a common sight to see armed businessmen standing on their rooftops protecting what wasn’t burned.  I can rationalize people taking goods they couldn’t afford, but why burn down the buildings where they work and shop.

During the first days, most businesses were closed, including restaurants. Even cops need to eat.  The Department began delivering box lunches.  They contained a cheese sandwich, an apple, and a cookie.  I’m guessing they were left over from the last riot in 1965. The local businessmen who were still open began delivering food to the station. We had stacks of bread, fruit, sandwich meat, and condiments.  We even had trays of cooked meat. The Spaghetti Factory was closed but opened to feed all National Guard soldiers and police officers one day.  The box lunches were given to the Salvation Army to feed the homeless.  No one went hungry.

A lot of officers were on fixed posts throughout the division.  I know that the Sears had a group of 8 to 10 officers. They were protecting what was left of the building and any inventory not taken by looters.  I remember one young officer had 200 rounds of ammunition stuffed in his pockets.  Custer’s men didn’t have that much ammo.  I prayed the officer didn’t fall into deep water.

Hollywood Division had its own small command post, to monitor incidents occurring in the division.  The command post was staffed with young officers and a senior Sergeant.  They remained in the station and never got their fingernails dirty.  One day, long after the dust had settled, they all went out in riot gear and had their pictures taken in front of burned out buildings.  I can imagine the stories they tell their kids. “What did you do in the riots?”

Hollywood Division was the only division that I know of that actively recovered looted property.  Officers drove U-Haul trucks around neighborhoods, when they spotted old couches and chairs sitting on the curb they would go into the apartment building and knock on doors.  Guess what, a brand new couch and table inside.  The new owners of this windfall gladly gave up the loot to avoid arrest.  The officers would take a couch downstairs load it into the truck, re-enter the apartment building and find 4 couches in the hallway.  It went on this way for days.  I heard of one incident where the officers took some property down in an elevator, loaded it onto the U-Haul truck.  They returned and punched the button for the elevator, it was already full of stolen property.  I just hope the citizens got their own furniture back.  Hollywood Division recovered more stolen property than any other division in the city.

National Guard in South Central LA WorldofStockphotography
National Guard in South Central LA
WorldofStockphotography

Early one morning I was southbound on the Hollywood freeway.  The sun was just rising. I saw a line of National Guard soldiers walking on the Western Avenue bridge above the freeway.

They were silhouetted against the sky, their rifles gleaming in the sunlight.  If I had a camera, I would have made a fortune selling that picture.  I made 4 hours of overtime a day for weeks, unfortunately it took the city 8 months to pay us our money.  Even the cops got looted, no interest.

I’m sure I’ll hear stories from other cops, with their experiences, and some contradictions.  This is how I remember the Second Annual Los Angeles Riots.  16 years later I was the Watch Commander in roll call, and telling stories of the riots. One of the senior officers sitting in the back row, asked, “Was that the ‘65 Riots, Sarge?  I was 16 years old during the ‘65 riots.”

I can’t get any respect. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.

It was also a lot of fun.

Hal

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Ramblings by Hal

Ramblings: LA Riots, part 1

By Hal Collier

The following story is true.  I’ll use first names unless there is a civil rights issue.  This story will deal with my experiences during the L.A. Riots.  I don’t usually put politics in my stories, but after 35 years of being politically correct in the L.A.P.D. I can’t be quiet anymore.  These opinions are mine alone and are in direct contrast to the opinions of the L.A. Times, but I don’t care!  We were told to refer to the riots as civil unrest. BS, there was nothing civil about what happened.

Rodney King video ignited LA riots photo courtesy photoblog600
Rodney King video ignited LA riots
photo courtesy photoblog600

In March of 1991, the CHP pursued a speeding car into the San Fernando Valley.  The car stopped and the passengers were arrested without incident.  The driver, Rodney King, resisted arrest and even charged the officers.  L.A.P.D. officers took over the incident because the CHP Officers were placing themselves in danger.  The arrest was videotaped and broadcast on all TV the stations for months.  The media conveniently omitted the first few seconds which show King resisting arrest.  King was described as a black motorist by the media when in fact he was a paroled convict and under the influence.  A trial was held in Simi Valley and the officers were acquitted.  On the evening of April 29, 1992 the city broke out in riots.

There were two riots that broke out in LA that day.  The riots that the media reported and the riots LA cops experienced. One based on a racial issues the other based on multi-racial people who saw an opportunity to get free stuff.  Again my opinion.

I was a Senior Lead Officer in Hollywood Division.  The Police Department mobilized, which means everyone works 12 hours shifts. I was assigned to A watch 6 A.M. to 6 P.M.

The watch started out slow, a few reports of looting in South Central L.A.  As we checked all the Hollywood business districts, we could hear that the looting was spreading north.  By noon the looting was sporadic in Hollywood.  As officers caught looters and took them to the police station, we had fewer resources to deal with newer looters on the street.

My partner and I caught two white guys throwing rocks at a business window.  So much for the race issue, they just wanted free stuff.  They ran but we caught them a few blocks away.  I was enroute to the station when I heard officers requesting help for widespread looting.  I figured these two guys would be plead out to misdemeanor attempt vandalism.  I released them and responded to the “help calls”.

(Published in special section May 12,1992) -- April 30, 1992-- The second day of the Riots on 3rd street I photographed this guy running past a burning Jon's market with a shopping cart full of diapers. I affectionately call this image "A Huggies Run".
(Published in special section May 12,1992) — April 30, 1992– The second day of the Riots on 3rd street I photographed this guy running past a burning Jon’s market with a shopping cart full of diapers. I affectionately call this image “A Huggies Run”.

Up and down Western Avenue from Hollywood Boulevard to Beverly Boulevard were reports of looting.  Some businesses were set on fire.  A supervisor requested all available units to respond to Santa Monica and Western Avenue.  When we arrived, numerous businesses were on fire, there were thousands of people in the streets, mostly Hispanic.  A shoe store was being looted.  We formed up into a skirmish line.

Now I’ve had rocks and bottles thrown at me during demonstrations and at rock concerts at the Palladium. This group was throwing shoes from the shoe store on the corner.  I just dodged a ladies pump, the officer next to me got hit with a cowboy boot in the shoulder.  I’d never been shoed before.  We moved the crowd west until we reached St. Andrews.  Another few hundred people were gathered to the north.  We didn’t have enough officers to protect our flank if we continued west.  We had less than a dozen officers against thousands of people.  We stood our ground as rioters threw at us whatever was handy.  Most of these people were Hispanic, illegal immigrants, and I wonder if they knew who Rodney King was.

LA riots photo courtesy of KoreAm Journal
LA riots
photo courtesy of KoreAm Journal

At one point I saw a guy in the back ground raise a handgun and fire off a shot in the air.  We were told that the Sears store a block away was being looted, our sergeant  says we don’t have enough officers. A few minutes later an unmarked police car drives up to me.  It was two policemen and the Deputy Chief and Commander from our Bureau.  The Commander, Bob, a great guy asked me is this all the officers you have, I reply “yea”.  They turned around and left.  About two months later, I was given a VHS tape taken by a news crew.  The tape shows the back door of Sears.  The two policemen and the Commander are chasing away the crowd.  The Deputy Chief is standing at the back door, he has a shot gun and is butt stroking looters as they flee Sears.  I’ll bet it was hard to carry a TV, run and be hit in the ass with a shot gun.  It was the only justice I saw that day.  Nothing politically correct, just old fashioned police work, taking care of business.

Another part of that tape shows a man standing outside a drug store on Hollywood Boulevard.  He had a handful of shopping bags and was stopping people walking by and giving them a bag, then directing them into the drug store to take whatever they wanted.

My next story will deal with some of humorous incidents that happened during the “RIOTS”.  It won’t be the stuff you see on the news or in the official L.A.P.D. documentary.

Hal

 

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Ramblings by Hal

Ramblings: A True Chain Saw Story

Here is the link that goes to LA Times news article from Nov. 24, 1987. The “George Collier” is our own “Hal”.

-Thonie

Murder Suspect Says He Used Saw to Cut Up Dog

The following story is true. I haven’t changed the names this time because they are a matter of public record.  On August 28, 1987, I was working a radio car on Day Watch in Hollywood Division.  I had about 17 years on the job and was working with a probationer.

We received a radio call, “Go to Jack’s Rents on Santa Monica Blvd”.  See the manager, possible blood on a rented chain saw.  Ok, people always say, “I’ll bet you’ve seen everything”, but I tell them if you work Hollywood long enough you’ll realize you’ll never see everything.

I told my probationer that an old partner raised cattle and today’s rustlers use chain saws to cut up the beef and sell it. Now there aren’t a lot of cows in Hollywood but we do have a large deer population in the Hollywood hills.  I also told him don’t believe everything you’re told.  It might not be blood at all.

We arrive at Jack’s Rents and speak to the manager.  He says that a man rented a chain saw last week and returned it a day later.  An employee put the saw under a work bench until he could clean it up.  A few days later, he took out the saw and noticed that the saw was covered in blood and flesh.  The manager said after conferring with the company attorney, they called the police.

Now, I have seen a lot of dried blood in my career, but I’m not a forensic expert or a technical adviser on any of the CSI TV shows.   I looked at the saw, and damn, it looks like blood and flesh to me.  My probationer gave me that you’re the senior officer look when I asked his opinion.  The manager showed me the rental slip.  The saw was rented to a Max B. Franc of West Hollywood.  The phone number that he gave was local.

I’ve been through three Hollywood scandals and know better than to kiss off anything that might come back to bite me.  I called the head detective of Hollywood Homicide, Russ Custer.  I explained what I have and he said, “Well Hal, call the guy and see what he used the saw for.”

I call Max Franc and asked him, ” Did you rent the chain saw and why does it look like there’s blood on it”?  Max tells me he did rent the saw and used it to cut up a dead dog.  I asked who’s dog and he said he didn’t know.  How did the dog die, I inquire.

Max, (See? We’re on a first name basis) said he hit it in Beverly Hills and wanted to get rid of it.  It was too big to throw in the trash can so he cut it up.  I asked where is the dog now and he said he buried it off the 5 Freeway north of L.A.  When I questioned Max about why he cut up someone else’s dog he became vague.  I told Max to hold on a minute and I talked to Detective Custer.  I told Custer, this guys story is crazy, even for Hollywood.  When I returned to Max he had hung up.

Custer and I discussed Max’s odd behavior and answers.  Custer didn’t want to get bit either and said,  “Let’s play it safe. Take the saw to SID (Scientific Investigation Division),”  our CSI. They tested it and confirmed it was blood, but would have to do more tests to determine if it was human.

I was off the next day and got a call from Lt. Ed. Hocking, the Officer in Charge of Hollywood Detectives.  He said the blood was human and they were going to conduct a search warrant of Max’s residence.  He asked if I wanted to go, because it was my superior investigative skills that broke the case.  Ok, maybe that’s not quite the truth but that’s they way I want to remember it.  I had to beg off because I was working an off duty job at the Hollywood Bowl. My daughter needed braces.

The search warrant confirmed that someone was cut up with a chain saw in Max’s bathtub.  Coincidentally, a set of arms and legs were found off the 5 Freeway near Magic Mountain and a head and torso were found in a field near Fresno.  Max was arrested the next day by West Hollywood Sheriffs and charged with murder.

Funny, LAPD determined that a crime had occurred and where and we collected evidence.  The LA County Sheriffs took over and took the credit for the arrest and prosecution.

Max was a Public Administration Professor at California State Fresno College and kept an apartment in West Hollywood where he would entertain male homosexual prostitutes.

The victim was shot and then dismembered in Max’s bathtub.  The murder weapon was found in Max’s desk drawer in his office at CaIifornia State Fresno.  I testified in court, (C-Attachment) and Max was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life.  In Sept. of 1997 Max suffered a heart attack and died in prison.