This Weekend’s On Patrol: Live Highlights, Commentary, and Social Media Activity

A recap of the April 6, 2024, On Patrol: Live episode (OPL #02-64) anchored by Dan Abrams appears below.

[NOTE: Click here for the OPL #02-63, April 5, 2024, recap.]

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.

On Patrol: Live Summary for April 6, 2024 (#OPL Episode 02-64)

  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofrs. Brian Zozaya and Joe Richard pursue dirt bikers on a main roadway. The subsequently break off the chase although a helicopter is in the air and tracking the subjects. Ofr. Zozaya: “We’re not gonna actively chase it…so just because he’s a motorcycle and with all the traffic right now, just for the safety of it, we’re gonna just kind of shut down and then head back to the scene. Our helicopter’s gonna follow it and see where he lands, and we can follow up later with it.”

OPL host Dan Abrams mentions that the incident conveys no immediacy “because they know they’ve got the chopper, let ’em go where they’re going to go, and then pay them a little visit over there.” Ofr. Ryan Tillman: “Absolutely. With that helicopter, it gives you such a great buffer, because now there’s no reason to travel or follow so closely because you’ll see where he lands. Those helicopters are phenomenal. They can read the the tags on your car…” Capt. Tom Rizzo asserts that as far as the bikers’ purposeful misbehavior is concerned, “it’s an unfortunate uptick in a national trend that we’ve seen to go out on major highways to incite the police to go ahead and try to pull you over with no intent to ever cooperate and pull over. We’ve even seen this locally where they’ll go up on the sides of the patrol cars, kick patrol cars, and do those types of things. So you’ve got to really show your professional edge here, that’s for sure.” Abrams: “…Remember, there is a chopper up there, waiting for these guys to land. They all seem to have split apart.”

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — During routine patrol, Cpl. Devonte Carr makes a well-being check on a woman who appears to be asleep in her car outside of a motel in a purported high-crime area. Carr wakes her up and asks her why she doesn’t just go to her room. Cpl. Carr: “So talking to her, a lot of her body language was consistent with her using narcotics.” The driver denies having anything illegal. K9 sniff; K9 alert. Probable cause car search. No contraband found, however. The woman is released with no charges and is encouraged to go inside. The cow knickknacks in the car prompt a lot of puns, including Abrams quipping “this has been udderly ridiculous” and “no mooving violations there.” Caption: “Lots of moolah.”
  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Jacob Sahagian initiates a traffic stop on a vehicle for allegedly violating a new noise ordinance. He allegedly smells weed. The driver denies having any drugs. Vehicle search. Synthetic urine allegedly found. No drugs found. The cooperative driver is released with a warning for the noise issue.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Sloan Simpson and other units search the area upon a report of an active shooting. A pedestrian is detained at gunpoint but he is subsequently released with no charges because he is unconnected to the incident.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Hannah Reed responds to a noise complaint and asks the homeowner to turn down the bass somewhat. As far as the complainant is concerned, Cpl. Reed explains that “kind of a regular occurrence that we get. She calls fairly often. Like I sad, the music is not at an unreasonable level right now. I’m gonna check with dispatch to see if she wants to make contact with me or not. I’ll be happy to explain to her what I heard, what the noise ordinance is in Berkeley County, and I hope she has a good night.”
  • Richland County, S.C. (pre-recorded ) — Cpl. Tim Riley makes a traffic stop on an slow roller operated by an individual allegedly suspected of stealing license plates from vehicles at an apartment complex. It turns out that the bad-luck subject is not the suspect but winds up arrested for other reasons.

Cpl. Riley summary: “HIs ex-girlfriend actually lives in that adjacent apartment complex where we just were, and he likes to partake in alcohol, and then he gets down there, and gets in his feelings, and likes to knock on her door, and otherwise harass her. So we’ve taken numerous reports for him lately. I guess we just happened to catch him leaving that area, and he figured that we’d been called, and that’s why I was trying to stop him, so he ran…so at this point, we did discover — wrong place, wrong time — he wasn’t actually the one stealing the license plate off the car. But he’s gonna be charged with failure to stop for blue lights as well as driving under suspension.” Riley encourages the man to move on from his prior relationship.

  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofr. Mike Gee and Chris Mulinix respond to a report of a fire at an apartment complex but it turns out to be just somebody grilling food on their balcony. Ofr. Gee: “So it was just them cooking out on the balcony. A lady lives here. She was saying as we arrived on scene that you’re not supposed to cook on your balcony, which that has nothing to do with us. So he’s gonna have to find out what the rules are for the apartment complex, or she’s gonna have to follow up with the apartment complex…But he’s not breaking any rules with us cooking food. So he’s gonna eat some asparagus and be on his way.”
  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofrs. Lindsey Erhart, Brooke Janowiecki, and other units respond to a report of a burglary in progress. A subject apparently had already left. Heavy bleeping of those on the scene. Ofr. Janowiecki summary: “It’s kind of a whole bunch of confusion going on. It seems like the people that were living in the apartment were having an argument again, and they’re claiming that the window just got broken accidentally. So the crew that’s inside is gonna continue to try to talk to them and figure what’s actually going on — if it was actually burglarized or just a criminal damage.”
  • Triple Play #2 — Indian River County, Fla.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Lt. Richie Maher and other officers respond to a trespassing call. A motorist texting his wife “in his conveyance” in a parking lot was told to leave by a security guard. Lt. Maher and other officers tell the irate man (some bleeping), who is not pleased with the security guard’s alleged confrontational attitude, to leave the premises, and also perhaps consider lodging a complaint with the facility’s corporate office.

Lt. Maher summary: “…obviously, his anger and frustration is toward everyone. Yelling at cops…I’m not surprised the security guard got with him. So he’s trespassed. If he ever comes back to the property, he’s subject to arrest for trespass after warning. I don’t think he wants to come back. He seems pretty angry. So, easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy. Nothing difficult about that.”

  • Fontana, Calif. — Cops converge on a residence upon an alleged shots-fired call. They order the residents to come out, and officers enter the home to investigate further. Shell casings allegedly found. Abrams: “It does sound like there was shots fired there. But this is a typical example of a situation where officers arrive on a scene, and they don’t know exactly what’s happened. There’s a little bit of confusion, et cetera. And they just have to try and figure things out and be careful. But again, you’ve got to look at it through the officer’s mind.” Cpt. Rizzo: “Well, right, and you have be systematic, right? So there are shots fired that’s been confirmed. So now, what do we have there? Besides an active crime, are there people hurt? Is there an assailant that’s still active on scene that could go ahead and hurt officers or innocent people? A lot going on there, and you’ve got to divide and conquer that scene, right? Ofr. Tillman: “One of the questions that I always ask is what is the time delay. So, from the time they get on scene to the time that the suspects fled, that’s what you’re working with as far as trying to apprehend them. So you also have have to get a crime broadcast out. ‘Hey, we’re working with…whatever it is, and that way you can try to get that person.”

Ofr. Zozya: “So we have a confirmed shooting. Sounds like an unknown amount of vehicles showed up to the residence, and they fired what looks like nine-millimeter rounds. We’re gonna work on cameras right now, looking at different houses that have different cameras and stuff, so we can try to get a vehicle description on who showed up, and started firing ammo. And then we’re gonna check the house to see where their house was struck. “

  • Berkeley County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Deputies along with a K9 locate and detain a subject in a camper who is wanted on an alleged murder warrant.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sgt. Mike Bryant makes contact with a homeowner who says that someone was jiggling her door. Sgt. Bryant summary: “She says she was sitting in the front room, and there was a bang on the door, and then the light shoots off. Looks like it just kind of busted, because it’s an actual sensor light, and it’s very dim right now. And then she said, ‘who is it?’ Nobody responded, and they twisted the door knob. So could have been the case of somebody at the wrong place, maybe intoxicated….we don’t know. But I told her it’s time to get some cameras, and maybe, I guess maybe, gonna capture something. But for right now, the sheriff’s office is here; this is their call. We are gonna go ahead and BOLO the area, get out anybody that’s in the area. She can’t identify anybody anyway, and hopefully nothing else happens to her tonight. She’s got four rescue dogs in there, and they’re going crazy. So obviously something was going on, but it’s unknown for right now.”

Abrams jokes that “Got to hope the house isn’t haunted — just saying.” Rizzo: “the door jiggler — the case of the serial door jiggler.” Abrams: “Yeah, but the fact that the dogs are going nuts, that’s definitely tells you something’s going on somewhere possibly.” Tillman: “There’s a reason to invest in door cameras though, nowadays. They capture everything, especially a lot of bloopers, too.” Abrams: “This is true. That’s how we get a lot of our best video moments…”

  • Triple Play #3 — Flagler County, Fla. Abrams introduces the segment by satirically and rhetorically asking his colleagues on the panel if “have either of you guys ever pulled over a driver who’s clearly broken the law, but had such a great excuse, you simply had to let him go? Don’t answer that question, because what you’re about to is definitely not one of those cases.” After the footage airs, of the subject who tells officers “I’m coherent,” Cpt. Rizzo seems to admit that he is impressed with the subject’s transmission imitation.
  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Sahagian and other units respond to a minor traffic accident and makes contact with the parties at a gas station. The drivers will exchange insurance information.
  • Coweta County, Ga. — Cpl. Chris Teare initiates a traffic stop on a vehicle allegedly traveling at 100 mph in a 70-mile zone.
  • Toledo, Ohio (pre-recorded segment) — Ofr. Heather Smith spots a vehicle sitting through a light cycle in the middle of an intersection and not moving. For safety reasons, cops have to break the dark car window to open the car door and remove the driver who appears to be asleep. Ofr. Smith to driver: “You’re good? You’re not good. You’re passed out behind your wheel.” Paramedics summoned.

Ofr. Smith summary: “He’s got open containers in the vehicle. He’s slurring his words, not making any sense. And he did pee himself. So he’s gonna end up going for an OVI tonight. He is suspended, so we’re gonna tow his vehicle for the OVI as well as for his suspended license.”

Abrams: “The driver refused to submit to a breathalyzer test. He was charged with impeding traffic, open container, driving under [suspension], and OVI. I don’t know that we needed to see that video of the urine on the street to understand what exactly had happened there.” Ofr. Tillman on window tint laws: “What’s interesting is people always ask why are you guys pulling us over for tint or license plate [light] out. But at night time, it’s difficult for officers to see in there, which creates a hazard for the officer. So that’s why we want lighter tint, and that’s why we actually want to see lights on your license plate, so we can actually read the plate. So just a small, little fact that people don’t realize.” Cpt. Rizzo: “And for the other motoring public, right? I can’t see you motion me to say go ahead. I can’t see at all. Just so much of a hazard there. What I saw was more importantly — can you imagine that level of intoxication? You’re driving a car, and you’re that passed out that not only did you sleep through the intersection, you slept through them breaking your window. And that’s somebody behind the wheel of a car. It never ceases to amaze me how badly somebody can get intoxicated, and then be behind the wheel of a car.” [Note: OVI is operating a vehicle impaired.]

  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofr. Zozaya makes a traffic stop on a vehicle. The driver might be unlicensed.
  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofrs. Erhart and Janowiecki make contact neighbors over a parking dispute apparently involving a blocked driveway. Caption: “Orbiting the parallel parking universe.” Ofr. Janowiecki summary: “Sounds like the parking complaint got a little out of hand, but the neighbors are cordial and are getting along, so it just seems like the involved parties that were the troublemakers left. Hopefully, the don’t come back tonight.” Abrams: “So all’s well that ends well, at least for now…”
  • Berkeley County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Deputies respond to a neighbor dispute in connection with a parking complaint of some kind. Cpl. Daniel Lambert arrests a man at the scene for an alleged felon in possession of a firearm.
  • Lee County, S.C. — Apparently pursuant to a noise complaint from a neighbor, Dep. Sahagian breaks up a huge party of teens and/or 20-somethings and also asks them to put out the bonfire in the sand. “I’m sorry guys…we’re not trying to be party-poopers…” He later adds “that was cool; that was fun. That was the most I’ve ever seen though… sarge was like, ‘I’ve never seen that many people.'”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Officers respond to a report of a person or persons screaming at each other at an apartment complex and take an argumentative man into custody. Heavy bleeping. Lt. Maher: “Relax: These are all consequences from your actions, pal.”

Lt. Maher summary: “He just wants to make the situation worse. Apparently, it was a domestic-type situation…he’s highly intoxicated, making bad decisions. He’s gonna go to jail for multiple possible charges of domestic violence, maybe some false imprisonment, resisting, and whatever else…none of this is personal. Shouldn’t kick at the cops. Probably not a good idea.” He subsequently mentions that the charges may be “domestic battery and resisting arrest without violence…I don’t get it. You already know you’re in trouble, and the situation is not good for you — why make it worse?”

  • Indian River County, Fla. — Cpl. Dwyane Hollett pulls out stop sticks in anticipation of a fleeing vehicle in the area. Dep. Tony Le is separately on scene where the purported fleeing vehicle crashed into a building. Multiple officers and a K9 search the area for the driver who apparently fled on foot. In the studio, Abrams asks his panel colleagues about police stop-sticks training. Ofr. Tillman: “They take you through course training to go over how to deploy them and stuff like that. It’s actually kind of fun when you do it, but it’s very dangerous, though, because you never know what could happen if somebody veers off or something like that.” Cpt. Rizzo: “Yeah; tragically, a lot of officers have been struck, obviously, because of that. So you pray that that doesn’t happen, but also that, as we saw before, you get the right vehicle, and not a patrol car.”
  • Missing segment — Kansas City, Mo.
  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Sahagian makes contact with staff at two nearby bars in connection with a trespassing call but the report may be unfounded at both locations.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Carr conducts a traffic stop for a lights infraction. After routinely looking thorough the car’s windows, Carr appears to quip, “Y’all got condoms?”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — As the episode ends, Lt. Maher and other first responders are on scene at a possible ocean drowning incident to back up the Volusia County sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction on the beach. Maher update: “So it seems like the parties they thought were in the ocean drowning are in contact with beach patrol now. They’re heavily intoxicated. They’ve got no business being in the water…”