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

An On Patrol: Live recap including NYC studio host Dan Abrams’ puns, analysis, and banter with co-anchor Curtis Wilson (a Richland County, S.C., deputy sheriff), and Captain Tom Rizzo (Howell Township, N.J., PD) along with the often-snarky or playful social media reaction, follows.

Brookford, N.C., Police Chief Will Armstrong, whose department was featured on On Patrol: Live previously, joins the studio panel this weekend.

 [Best viewed in Google Chrome.] 

Highlights of the episode include traffic stops for various tags and tag light issues or reckless driving allegations, an unintended car in a handicapped space, and a perhaps some prophetic language on a hoodie. See below.

For background information about the documentary series On Patrol: Live (i.e., Live PD 2.0), that airs on the Reelz channel (which is available, e.g., on the Peacock and FreeCast streaming services and on some satellite and cable systems ), click here.

On Patrol: Live  Recap for January 24, 2025 (#OPL Episode 03-49)

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.
  • Clayton County, Ga. — Pursuant to a license plate reader hit, Dep. Devon Brown, with Lt. Jonathan Carey as backup, make a traffic stop at gunpoint on a possible stolen vehicle. Car search. On Patrol: Live host Dan Abrams update: “The driver was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle; the passengers were released to guardians.”

Dep. Brown recap: “…we’re doing a vehicle search right now to see if there’s any contraband, weapons, drugs, in the car. It’s obviously stolen. You can look at the steering column. The steering column is ripped. They can plug a USB in. So they ripped the steering column out, and they use a USB, plug it in right here. And that’ll get the car to start. And from there, they can do whatever they want to do with it. Right now, it looks like just three young adults out maybe just joyriding.” Lt. Carey adds that “I’m not really seeing anything here. Just a bunch of junk for the most part.” A Chick-fil-A bag is spotted.

  • Richland County, S.C. — Sgt. Garo Brown and other units conduct a traffic stop at a gas station/convenience store on a car that was allegedly weaving. On Patrol: Live caption: “Possible DUI.” Sgt. Brown to the motorist: “If I asked you a question, and you were gonna answer honestly, would you consider yourself intoxicated right now?” Driver: “No.” Sgt. Brown: “Having four or five beers, you wouldn’t consider yourself intoxicated?” Driver: “No.” The driver declines field sobriety testing, but Sgt. Brown calls the traffic unit to the scene in case the subject changes his mind about the FST. “You are way too intoxicated to be driving this vehicle.” Sgt. Brown arrests the man for alleged public intoxication rather than on the more serious DUI charge. “I’m gonna do you a favor and not charge you with DUI, but you’re not driving this car.” He asks the driver to call someone to pick up the car so that it doesn’t have to be towed. Abrams: “This guy should be saying two words: ‘Thank you.'”
  • Knox County, Tenn. — Ofr. John Longendorf initiates a traffic stop for no headlights and then non-functioning headlight. The officer claims he smells alcohol from the car, but the driver says he had nothing to drink this evening. Ofr. Longendorf: “Not a drink, not a drop?”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Ofr. Magen Geary responds to a car accident involving a very expensive Ford GT and consoles a passenger before paramedics arrive.

Listen to additional commentary from Lt. Richie Maher after which Abrams remarks that “you can understand why that guy is very upset about what has happened to his vehicle, but the good news is the passenger who Officer Geary was attending to seems to be okay because she is now out of the car.”

  • Knox County, Tenn. — Ofr. Zachary Doss makes a traffic stop. Ofr. Doss: “Where are you trying to get to that’s so important?” Ofr. Doss subsequently explains that “so this guy said he decided to cut me off and the other guy off because he wanted to hit the guy in front of him because he didn’t like the way he was driving too slow.” Abrams: “He gets an A for honesty, but he gets an F for ‘is that the right thing to tell the cop who just pulled you over’?” The motorist, who say he doesn’t have his license with him, is released with a warning. “Just because somebody’s going slow [doesn’t] mean that you’re gonna get pissed off and drive like that, okay?”

“He gets an A for honesty, but he gets an F for ‘is that the right thing to tell the cop who just pulled you over’?”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Cpt. Danny Brown and Master Dep. Braylyn Salmond, with Sgt. Brown as backup, spot an unattended car with the engine running parked in a handicapped spot outside a convenience store. None of the customers inside the store admit to be the driver in question. The LEOs subsequently make contact with the driver and try to explain the infractions to the disputatious man. The car also has an expired tag. Caption: “Illegal park.” Car search; drugs allegedly found in vehicle. The car is towed. The driver is released “pending lab testing of the substance found in the car.”
  • Berkeley County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Cpl. Hunter Rogers tries to pull over a car for alleged swerving all over the road. The driver allegedly says she had two beers. He arrests the driver for alleged reckless driving and on drug charges after the vehicle wrecks out into a divider on the highway. The state highway patrol administers field sobriety testing.

Listen to Cpl. Rogers’ recap of the incident along with a brief panel discussion of a potential follow-on accident involving a sign:

  • Humboldt County, Calif. — Dep. Luis Bonilla clears a home and the backyard after responding to a residential alarm. Abrams: “I’d say just trying to double check and ensure that everything’s okay. And I think here they’re reacting to her, right? You would think he was ready to call it. And she’s like, ‘well look, the door was not this way.’…’all right, I’m gonna keep going.'” Brookford, N.C., Police Chief Will Armstrong: “And that happens all the time. A caller will call you, and they know their house better than anyone. So we realy kind of feed into that and try to make sure that they’re comfortable when we leave. So if they think there’s someone in there, we’re gonna keep looking until we find out they’re not.”
  • Triple Play #1 — A Pulaski County, Ark., stolen charter bus pursuit.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Det. Noah Galbreath, with backup from the Violent Crime Apprehension Team (VCAT), make a traffic stop for an “extremely dark” window tint . Two occupants. They allegedly admitted to two firearms in the glove compartment. Det. Galbrath: “When you slow rolled, I think you were putting the guns in the glove box.” K9 Det. Roger Lawson and K9 Ali do an exterior sniff when the driver declines a consensual search “which is totally his right” K9 alert prompting a probable cause search. No contraband found. The two guns check out as legal. The driver is released with a warning.

Abrams: “We were just talking about how different K9s alert in different ways. What was the alert here?” On Patrol: Live studio analyst Tom Rizzo: “Again, despite the fact that some folks think dogs can speak, they speak to their handlers by an indication. In this case, the dog paused and stopped. So some dogs will sit. We teach bite, bark, or scratch, because obviously that’s the way that they’re telling us, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s here.'” Armstrong: “For us, and a lot of times what I see is they’re teaching now kind of that change in behavior. It could be anything. Like you said, bite, bark, scratch; you’ll see a lot of K9s take a seat, and those kind of things. But a lot of people don’t know, but that’s what they’re looking for, a change in behavior from the K9.” On Patrol: Live co-host Curtis Wilson: “For the love of a chew toy.” Abrams: “Exactly.”

Listen to Det. Galbreath’s summary of the incident:

  • Monroe, La. — Cpl. Kelsie Wilson and other members of the High Enforcement Apprehension Team (HEAT) squad make a traffic stop in a driveway on a car that allegedly ran several stop signs. The driver allegedly says that she was in a hurry to get home to use the bathroom. Some blunts allegedly spotted. Car search.
  • Knox County, Tenn. (pre-recorded segment) — Recently promoted Cpt. (formerly lieutenant) Matt Lawson and other units a detain a subject at Walmart in connection with a stolen car investigation. The owner is notified and comes to the scene to recover her car.

Listen to Cpt. Lawson’s recap:

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Lt. Paul Yacobozzi makes a friendly traffic stop for suspended tags. He spots a bong and Girl Scout cookies in the back seat. Lt. Yacobozzi: “You can’t make this up…Girl Scout cookies and a bong. That’s a good night right there…that’s classic right there…That checks two boxes right there…the only thing that’s missing is some Papa John’s boxes or something.” On Patrol: Live caption: “Bong and Samoas found.” Lt. Yacobozzi determines that the tag issue may be a paperwork mistake and encourages the motorist (or her mom, the registered owner) to contact the DMV to resolve the matter. He asks the motorist to discard the bong in the trash at the nearest gas station. Abrams: “Bambi, biscuits, and a bong…so the cookie caper has been resolved.”

Lt. Yacobozzi also explains that new dashboard cameras in all Berkeley County patrol cars now have license-plate-reader technology, “and it notifies us of suspended tags, stolen cars, stolen license plates, et cetera.” Lt. Yacobozzi asserts that “sometimes the DMV will suspend the tags if you switch insurance companies because it shows a cancelled insurance policy, but in reality, they’re just trying to get a discount. It’s kind of unfair. So this is more of a clerical error…and we’re gonna make sure she definitely throws that away. She can’t have that. That’s not gonna work. That’s considered paraphernalia, and it’s just a ticket. You can’t go to jail for it here in South Carolina, but we’re gonna make sure just she throws it away. We’re gonna write up a warning and be on our way.”

“You can’t make this up…Girl Scout cookies and a bong.”

Listen to Lt. Yacobozzi’s further recap:

  • BOLO segment — Red Bank, N.J., car thief.
  • Knox County, Tenn. — Ofr. Doss and other units respond to a trailer park on an investigation apparently involving a son who allegedly took his mom’s car without permission. Two citations issued.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Ofr. Geary makes a traffic stop on car where it appears the driver and the passenger switched seats. On Patrol: Live caption: “Traffic swap.” Car search after backup arrives on scene. Occupant upon being cuffed: “Really?” Ofr. Geary: “I literally just watched you switch. Don’t really me.” Ofr. Geary explains that the driver and passenger are both going to jail, and the vehicle will be towed.

“I literally just watched you switch. Don’t really me.”

  • Brookford, N.C. — #AskArmstrong Q&A including Chief Armstrong responding to a question about sounding like Bill Clinton.

Listen:

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Det. Galbreath provides backup on a fleeing vehicle pursuit.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Salmond makes a traffic stop for a tag light issue. The driver is wearing a “shoulda made a better decisions” hoodie. The driver is released with a warning. Abrams: “It looks like this guy is gonna be on his way.” Wilson: “He made better decisions.” Abrams: “Exactly. We’re wondering if that sweatshirt was gonna tell us that.”
https://twitter.com/justy70190771/status/1883005765063184439
  • Richland County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Master Dep. Avery Arrington makes a well-being check on a man who allegedly called 911 after he apparently fell in the grass near an intersection on his birthday. Paramedics summoned.
  • Monroe, La. — Ofr. Trey Goins and other units make a traffic stop for alleged erratic driving. Two occupants. On Patrol: Live caption: “Crack cocaine found.” Also open container. One of the occupants is age 70. The OPL cameras spot a possible littering violation by the other occupant.

Listen to Ofr. Goins’ incident summary:

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Det. Galbreath is re-dispatched to a report of a shooting at or near a fast-food restaurant. The reporting party is no longer in communication with dispatch, so cops search the general area for a car, victim, or any suspects that might be involved.
  • Clayton County, Ga. — Ofr. Brown tracks a vehicle that allegedly fled from police last week. Traffic stop at gunpoint. Lt. Carey and other units are on scene too. A car search allegedly reveals possible bags of weed. The On Patrol: Live cameras return to the scene as the episode concludes. Abrams: “Well, what do we have here?”
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Lt. Yacobozzi responds to an alarm at a business. The premises seems secure, however.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Salmond assists on a traffic stop for a tag light out. The verbose driver insists that he doesn’t do drugs. On Patrol: Live caption: “Sermon in progress.” Abrams: “It’s not a biscuit…but we shall see what it is that was there, if anything.” He later quips that “we often hear people say ‘I want to call my lawyer.’ Not often someone says ‘I want to call my pastor.'”

Dep. Salmond explains that “Deputy Moore conducted a traffic stop on this vehicle…again, in South Carolina, the [tag] light is there for a reason. You got to have it where it’s working, so we can see the license plate. When we got to the car, the gentleman had that pill bottle between his feet. There’s no label, prescription label, on the pill bottle. He says that he takes medicine, but he isn’t sure exactly what that is. So we’re gonna to try to figure out what it is.” Dep. Salmond subsequently explains to the motorist that “I appreciate your vigor for Christ. I love it, but listen, you’re going to jail for possession of a controlled substance.”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Ofr. Jonathan Muniz makes a traffic stop for a tail light out. The driver’s friend arrives on scene: “You got busted and you’re on Cops.” Ofr. Muniz gives the driver a break. Listen to his recap below:
CLICK HERE for the #OPL 03-50, January 25, 2025, recap [forthcoming] .