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

An On Patrol: Live recap for an episode featuring retired Tulsa, Okla., cop Sean “Sticks” Larkin as substitute host for the vacationing Dan Abrams, along with the often-snarky or playful social media reaction, follows.

Co-host Deputy Curtis Wilson (Richland County, S.C., Sheriff’s Department) and guest analyst Captain Tom Rizzo (Howell Township, N.J., PD), Larkin’s likely replacement if OPL ever makes an official announcement, join Larkin in the NYC studio to provide commentary. Officer Ryan Tillman (Chino, Calif., PD) is also on the set as a guest analyst.

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Highlights of the episode include the opening sequence in Indian River County (see update below) and the marijuana bust in Richland County.

Agency update: With Frederick PD having left the show, Beech Grove, Ind. — perhaps most remembered for the toddler-with a gun incident that made national headlines — returns to OPL for a few weeks.,

On Patrol: Live Summary for August 23, 2024 (#OPL Episode 03-13)

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.
  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. Josue Martinez, Sgt. Dwayne Hoilett, Cpl. Brandon McKenzie, and other units detain a man on the street who allegedly was brandishing a crossbow in a residential neighborhood. Sgt. Hoilett to subject: “Into any shenanigans with anybody?” Subject; “No.” The subject denies having a knife. One of the cops asks about a tire iron in his pocket and “was it in the first pair of pants or the second or the third?” The subject also tells the deputies that he is wearing 15 pairs of women’s panties. Sgt. Hoilett: “Are they comfortable?” Subject: “Not funny.” No update provided during the broadcast.

“Into any shenanigans with anybody?”

After first joking about being able to wear a non-polo shirt on TV for the first time, listen as Larkin and the panelists discuss the Indian River Real-Time Crime Center and similar resources around the country:

  • Everett, Wash. — Sgt. Steve Ross conducts a traffic stop on a vehicle with an expired registration that allegedly ran a stop light and stop sign. No license.
  • Toledo, Ohio — Sgt. Geoff McLendon and Ofr. Jordan Freimark canvas a residential neighborhood on a report of shots fired.
  • Everett, Wash. — Ofr. Danny Rabelos attempts to make a traffic stop for speeding an a defective tail light. The vehicle flees, but the chase is terminated. Ofr. Rabelos: “We attempted to stop this car for speeding. It’s slick out; as we came around the corner there, you can see him fishtailing and sliding. From my experience, I recognized that he was probably gonna start fleeing from us. We are not engaging him because all we have is speed with him right now. We don’t want to risk or endanger our public, so we’re gonna choose to terminate, and then hopefully some other units will pick him up in the area or if he dumped that car. We’ll do some research and try to see if we can get more info on it.” Shortly thereafter, the car crashes out, and the driver fled on foot. Cops set up a perimeter, or a containment as they refer to it, deploy a drone, and with the help of K9 Oscar, locate the suspect in a ravine or embankment. The Fire Department extracts the suspect, and he is removed from the scene on a stretcher. The K9 and the handler were initially stuck in the ravine as well but they are pulled out.

Larkin: “We heard that he ended up cancelling the pursuit himself, and four different agencies, four different pursuit policies. Captain Rizzo, when an officer comes on and says they’ve got a car fleeing what’s the type of stuff you have to think about as a supervisor?” Rizzo: “Right away, just exactly what he took into account: What are the road conditions? What’s the traffic like? What are you chasing for? And we talk about this in terms of the risk of the apprehension, excuse me, the risk to public safety compared to the need to apprehend that person at that point. So he’s already got good registration. He thinks he’s got just the speeding violation, so PC* for the arrest later on.” [*Probable Cause]

Reacting to Ofr. Rabelos temporarily holding on to the K9’s leash while handler is stuck in the ravine, Larkin mentions that “Curtis, I love dogs. You love dogs? ” Wilson: “I do.” Larkin: “I’m scared of police dogs, and I was a cop for 24-1/2 years, man. Him handling someone else’s dog, what do you think about that?” Wilson: “The thing is, those dogs are so loyal to their handlers. So even us, as law enforcement officers, know not to mess with another canine…because we can get bit; there’s no question about it. Like I said, they are loyal to the handler.” The panel also discuss the importance of rendering aid to the subject: Wilson: “It’s one of those things; this guy may have gotten to this vehicle, rang, gets captured, but you still have to, of course, take care of him, first aid, render that aid to get him out of there, and then, of course, those charges after that.” Rizzo: “Yeah; try to reduce more injury to him, right? So we don’t want to cause more injury as exhausting all these resources for that purpose, too.” Larkin: “Or a dog or an officer getting injured going down there as well.”

Ofr. Rabelos wrap-up: “He fled from us at a high rate of speed. He went into some oncoming traffic as he lost control as he went around a corner, then went over to traffic again. At that point, we decided to terminate and not pursue him because we didn’t know exactly why he was running, and we didn’t want to endanger our public. He then went a few blocks, bailed from the car. We had several witnesses calling in for him. We had K9 track him, and that ultimately leads to the success of taking him into custody. Now we’re gonna refer him on as his eluding charge. He has a history of auto theft. So far, we can’t figure out if the car is stolen or not, but he does have that history of vehicle crimes with us.” Larkin: “Phenomenal job on that track.” He separately mentions that “…the suspect in Everett, looks like he’s gonna be okay, minus getting treated and going to jail.”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Deputies including Cpl. Tim Riley respond to a domestic incident at an apartment complex that may involve a stabbing. They interview a another female on scene. Paramedics remove the victim from the apartment unit on a stretcher.

Cpl. Riley summary: “At this point, we have one person going to hospital from the apparent stab wound. She had a stab wound to her upper left chest. She’s alert, conscious, so I’m pretty sure she’s gonna be okay. But what it looks like happened is that this was a domestic disturbance that got out of hand. Our young lady we’re speaking with to over there, she has numerous bruises still on her legs. She has a fresh contusion to her right eye. So obviously, there was some sort of physical altercation between the two of them, both past and present. What we need to look into a little bit more now is who the primary aggressor is between these two parties and whether or not this was actually a self-defense situation.”

  • Indian River County, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Multiples deputes pursue a fleeing vehicle. Two occupants foot bail and are subsequently apprehended in a search of a wooded area with help of a K9. Dep. Martinez: “As we were putting them back in the patrol vehicles, one of the subjects uttered they had just stole the car, and they were the only occupants in that vehicle. Ultimately, we’re still gonna do a search of the area, see if they’ve dumped anything. That’s where we’re at.”

Larkin: “…that’s a perfect example, right there of what a good perimeter and a K9 can do.” Rizzo: “Yep; set up your corners, stationary, stay still. The dog goes, somebody follows the dog, and then we catch the bad guy, right? What I like about what he said too, if you notice when he talks about these spontaneous utterances that are all admissible in court. A lot of people like to, as they get the handcuffs put on, they have their little moment of truth. And that’s all admissible and worth its weight in gold when they say it, right?” Tillman: “Absolutely. It also helped that they had the helicopter up, too. So that allows you to kind of slow things down a little bit because you know you have aerial coverage, too. So there’s no sense in hurrying things up when you know you’ve got aerial coverage.”

  • Hazen, Ark. — Chief Bradley Taylor, Sgt. Clayton Dillion, and Ofr. Dillson Cook initiate a traffic stop on the highway. Car search. Drugs allegedly found. The two occupants are released with tickets. Car towed. Larkin: “Those two people are pretty lucky getting those bracelets off and getting to go free for the night.”
  • Toledo, Ohio — Multiple officers respond to a shots-fired call in a residential neighborhood. They enter a home and detain a subject. Paramedics remove the victim on a stretcher.

Ofr. Chris Mulinix recap: “So we are at shooting inside the residence, it sounds like individuals — I got to see if it’s a son or his brother — was running up the stairs, accidentally discharged it, hitting the gentleman in his arm. So we got him out; he’s gonna go to the hospital, get treated for the injuries to his arm; looks like he’s got some deformities and stuff, so we’ll follow him to the hospital and make sure everything goes well there. We’re gonna take him into custody and get him transported down to our detective bureau and speak with our detectives about what happened tonight.”

Larkin: “Well, luckily it sounds like he’s gonna be okay…but Ryan, an accidental shooting, obviously there in Chino, I assume you’ve gone to some of those type of calls. When you guys determine it’s an accidental shooting, what happens after that?” Tillman: “There’s a number of things that can happen. Obviously, you’ve got to check to see was the gun lawfully owned? Is it registered? And so, once the investigation is done, if it’s an accident, it’s an accident. There’s misdemeanor charges sometimes where if it’s not handled properly, but you still got to do an investigation at the end of the day. Because you’d be surprised, sometimes it may come across as an accident, and the next thing you know, there’s a little bit of intent.” Larkin: “And Curtis, you’ve talked about your crime scene that you guys have there in Richland County? You guys still gonna call that full unit out for this?” Wilson: “Absolutely, crime scene, because if you establish the crime scene, you know where it is. So, the investigators will come out. They will, of course, try to determine exactly what happened. And that’s what it is. It’s a puzzle until you know exactly what goes down. Of course, you want to question the individuals. You want to even check the background as well to make sure that everything fits what they’re trying to tell you.”

  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofr. Victor Reyes and other units, including a helicopter, pursue a vehicle allegedly associated with a shoplifting incident. The suspect is detained. Ofr. Reyes implies that no merchandise to this point was spotted in the car, but “we do have some officers back at the apartment complex checking the dumpster, and they confirmed that there was some items dumped in there…”

Ofr. Reyes follow-up: “So we just got a statement under Miranda from our suspect. Right away, she told us that she knows we were following her, and she got scared. She took the items that she stole from Walmart, and she threw them in a dumpster at an apartment complex where she used to live. She even told me that she was getting ready to go on a high-speed chase, and I honestly thought that’s what was gonna happen when Officer [Joe] Richard got behind her because she started speeding up a bit, and she didn’t stop for a few streets. Luckily she did stop to avoid a pursuit and all that comes along with that, the danger that poses to the public. But again, we have units back at the apartment complex that confirm the items are in there. So we’ll get it done here in a second, and then we’ll get this all closed up.” Larkin: “Smart move on her part not taking off and pulling over and stopping and facing the consequences.”

  • Triple Play #1 — Bristol, Conn., pursuit. Dep. Wilson mentions that the restaurant repair took four months in response to Larkin’s satirical question about “do they have a drive-thru there now?”
  • Richland County, S.C. — Cpt. Danny Brown and Master Dep. Braylyn Salmond initiate a traffic stop on a truck. Cpt. Brown claims the driver was smoking weed while driving. Probable cause car search. A bag of weed and “tons of fishy stuff” allegedly found. Cpt. Brown: “This is why we keep searching…why would you drive past a couple of cops smoking weed and you got all this in here?” Dep. Salmond: “Who needs a K9 when you got Danny?”

“Who needs a K9 when you got Danny?”

Cpt. Brown commentary: “…a lot of times they will give us a blunt, a dime bag of weed. We get it all the time, and they’re like, ‘that’s all I got.’ And thinking that we’re not gonna search once they give that to us. We’re gonna do our job to the fullest extent. I always search a car from bumper to bumper. I don’t care if you just handed me a dime bag of weed. We’re gonna check it. That’s what it leads to. So he is going to jail now for…possession for the initial. And then he’s [unintelligible] with possession with intent to distribute.” The duo also mention that the driver has, or perhaps more appropriately under the circumstances, had a commercial driver’s license (CDL).

“I always search a car from bumper to bumper.”

Listen to studio panel discuss, among other things, how marijuana laws differ from state to state:

  • Beech Grove, Ind. — Sgts. Richie King, Joe Garrison, and other units initiate a traffic stop; two occupants. The driver may have a warrant which he denies. “I didn’t do nothing.” Officer: “You did do something because you have an arrest warrant.”

Sgt. King wrap-up: “Officer Mercury stopped the car for a registration and a warrant. The registered owner was driving. Got him out and detained him. Searching him…right front pocket. While we were looking in the car, I found the bag of meth in the center console cup. They had poured some out, but there’s still a little bit in the bag. Based off him having a meth pipe, he’s gonna go to jail for the warrant, possession of meth, and possession of paraphernalia.” The passenger is released.

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sgt. Christopher Maher provides back to other officers on a traffic stop for a possible stolen a car. Gun found in car search. Sgt. Maher cautions the driver’s dad, who had shown up on scene, not to interfere in the investigation. The driver is subsequently released with citations. The weapon is confiscated, at least temporarily.

Sgt. Maher summary: “We’re inventorying the car prior to tow because he has no license, and there’s an AR pistol in the back seat. He’s only 20 years old. He’s not supposed to be in possession of a pistol. He’s not allowed to buy a pistol at least. We’re gonna look at if it’s stolen or not, how he’s carrying it, before we end up charging him with it or not charging him with it. We’re also gonna see if he’s a convicted felon to charge him with that as well…I know this looks like a rifle, but this is considered a pistol because it doesn’t have a buttstock, and the length of the barrel. It was being carried in the open in the backseat during this. We’re gonna look at the legality of him allowing him to carry it. He’s only 20 years old; you got to be over 21 to be able to carry a pistol. As well as if it’s stolen or not, we’re running that through FCIC and NCIC to see if that’s stolen. We’re also still doing the investigation based on all of the clues that this car is more likely a re-VIN than a possible stolen vehicle. This story doesn’t really make sense, the mileage doesn’t add up, and there’s some other indicators that Detective Dan Matero is an expert in, is seeing that this car is most likely gonna be stolen. We have some more resources coming to be able to identify it, and they’re on the way now.”

Sgt. Maher additional remarks: “So, a lot of what unfolded — we have a lot of indicators that this car is stolen. The detective is not able to verify on scene if it’s stolen or not through the computer system; they purposely put stuff there to make us not be able to read it. But obviously that stuff being there is not normal. The scratched out VINs are not normal. The fake VIN sticker is not normal. The changing in mileage is not normal. So we had enough to say that this is most likely gonna be a stolen car. We just can’t verify where it was stolen from yet. He’s only driving with a permit. He has no license. So he’s going to be released with some citations, criminal citations. He’s denying ownership of that gun. Everyone that’s on the scene is denying ownership of that gun. So we’re gonna tag that gun for safekeeping until someone is willing to come forward and say it’s theirs. We’re not just gonna give it to a random person. So that’s what we’re gonna do here…” Larkin: “As you heard there, they’re gonna confiscate the gun. No one claimed it — confiscate or tow that vehicle till they can get that figured out…”

  • Everett, Wash. — Ofr. Rabelos and colleagues respond to an alleged domestic incident at a residence. They detain a male whose mom comes to the scene to try to calm down her son.
  • Triple Play #1 — Ohio Highway Patrol pursuit. Larkin: “For everybody out in Ohio, hunting season does not start from what I understand until September 28, so this guy jumped the gun a little bit.”
  • Toledo, Ohio — Sgt. McLendon and Ofr. Freimark respond to a disturbance at a convenience on a report of a man allegedly with a knife. The subject is detained on scene. He says a knife is “where it’s supposed to be.” Pat down. The subject denies any allegations. He apparently has warrants.
  • BOLO segment — Detroit Post Office arsonist.
  • Brookford, N.C. — Chief Will Armstrong makes a brief traffic stop on a classic car for some sort of possible tag issue, but the driver is quickly released after the tag situation is clarified.
  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofr. Toni Lozano responds to call about a man laying face down at a bus top. She tries to wake him. She determines he is breathing. Paramedics summoned to the scene. Larkin update: “He’s being treated by medics. They’ll be clearing there shortly.”
  • Beechgrove, Ind. — Sgt. Garrison and other units attempt to make a traffic stop on a truck which flees. During the brief pursuit, it appears that two passengers foot bail. The truck is pulled over, and the driver is detained at gunpoint.
CLICK HERE for the #OPL 03-14, August 24, 2024, recap.