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 (Richland County, S.C., deputy sheriff), along with the often-snarky or playful social media reaction, follows.

Capt. Tom Rizzo (Howell Township, N.J. PD) returns to join the duo as this weekend’s in-studio guest analyst.

For background information about On Patrol: Live (i.e., Live PD 2.0), click here.

Note: An update on the January 14, 2023, Beech Grove, Ind., incident on OPL — an incident which made national headlines — in which a toddler was allegedly waving a gun in an apartment building hallway is posted at the end of this recap.

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.

On Patrol: Live Summary for March 15, 2024 (#OPL Episode 02-59)

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Sgt. Pau Yacobozzi initiates a traffic stop on a van “No cervezas?” Sgt. Yacobozzi summary: “We have a multitude of violations. The driver pulled in; we were trying to stop him — almost caused a crash. I don’t smell any alcohol or anything like that, but there’s two people in the back that don’t have seat belts. He don’t have a license. He’s got a registration card. We’re gonna run him real quick. They live right over there, so if everything’s good, we’ll probably just have him pull right to that blue trailer since they’re literally right there, or we’ll have him pull over here and get someone to come pick him up.” Yacobozzi subsequently adds that “we issued this driver a ticket for not having a driver’s license and a warning for the initial violation. They live right there, so we let them park the van…” During the stop, another car drives by and hits some patio blocks.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Ofr. Carlos Queliz searches the area for a missing autistic child. Dep. Wilson comments about a related program in Richland County: “It’s called Project Lifesaver. And what is, is for elderly who may have dementia, just walk out the door, even kids with disability or things of that nature, you put the bracelet on, and we’re able to find them 100 percent of the time.”
  • Indian River County, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Dep. James Ooley and other units conduct a traffic stop for speeding and a subsequent DUI investigation, including field sobriety testing, The driver claims the officer is demonstrating the test incorrectly.

Dep. Ooley summary: “I did the traffic stop for speeding 79 in a 45. On making contact, I immediately could smell the odor of alcoholic beverage coming out of the car. I attempted to conduct field sobriety exercises. He laid himself on the ground, so he’s now under arrest for suspicion of DUI.”

Abrams: “The driver refused to submit to a breath sample, and because he has previous DUIs on his record, refusal resulted in an automatic suspension of his driver’s license for 18 months. Captain Rizzo, you ever had someone ask you to do the test back and forth before they’ll do it?” Capt. Rizzo: “Moonwalk, push-up competition, whatever you want to do. That’s why there’s a totality there. So there’s a standard deviation allowed for some of these things, but unfortunately you have to submit to the authority there. The test is for the driver of the vehicle, not the police officer.” Abrams adds that even when sober, some of the tests aren’t that easy.

  • Richland County, S.C. — Sgt. Kenny Fitzsimmons makes a traffic stop on a pick-up truck for alleged erratic driving.
  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofr. Joe Richard and other units investigate a car vs. pedestrian incident and make contact with the victim, the driver, and witnesses. A victim on the sidewalk is in distress; paramedics arrive and transport him to a local hospital.

Abrams: “It’s not always the vehicle’s fault when a pedestrian gets hit,” Cpt. Rizzo: Right, and that’s normally that people want to assume, right? If a vehicle hits a pedestrian, it must be the driver’s fault or the vehicle’s fault. But a lot of folks don’t realize pedestrians also have to follow right of ways, crosswalks, and that’s why they exist…you want to be paying attention. Of course, nobody wants to hit a person..” Abrams: “So there’ll be some sort of investigation here as to exactly what happened, where did he walk out, et cetera, and why.” Rizzo: “And it’s terrible, but it doesn’t mean the driver was at fault.”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Sgt. Fitzsimmons, Cpl. Shannon Tolman, and other deputies respond to a report of a burglary in progress apparently at an apartment complex. They canvas the area. They also make contact with two young men who were using the gym inside the business center of the property and then search the adjoining clubhouse area.

Cpl. Tolman summary: “So right now, we have an alarm that came out for this apartment complex, the leasing office portion of it. When we got here, we secured the building. We found two individuals that were working out in the fitness room. They let Sergeant Fitzsimmons in the front, and they said that they saw two people in the leasing office portion, which is not supposed to be 24-7, but the gym is. They were leaving out of the leasing office, so we don’t know where those two individuals are. Those two individuals in the weight room are free to work out. It’s 24-hour access if they live here, so they’re free to go. But the rest, the perimeter’s secure, all the fences are locked, the doors are locked, so we’re not too sure where those other two individuals went, but we’ll keep looking further into this.”

  • Coweta County, Ga. — Dep. Myles Moran and other units respond to an alleged domestic incident at an apartment complex. After interviewing the parties, the situation apparently revolves around an ex-boyfriend who won’t allegedly leave a couple’s residence where he’s been staying. Abrams quips that cops won’t arrest the ex for leaving dirty dishes in the sink, and that they have to figure if there is a crime, if any, or maybe just a civil matter. Abrams update: “Remember the couple who called about the guy who was sleeping on the couch [which] turned out his ex-girlfriend was the one living in the the house with her new husband? Well, he has agreed to leave the house tomorrow. So it seems that the issue has now been resolved.”
  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofrs. Heath Smith and Austin Bly assist the Fired Department at the scene of a potential residential fire or fire alarm. A resident allegedly claims that he fell asleep while melting glass with a torch.
  • Fontana, Calif. — Amidst a rain/hail storm Ofr. Zachary Bloom makes contact with a victim and his family and gathers information from them; the older man, appears to have blood on his face and clothes, claims that he was allegedly punched in the nose by a neighbor. Blood stains are also on the ground in the garage where the assault allegedly occurred. Paramedics summoned. Cpt. Rizzo: “If he crossed that threshold, went on to the person’s property for the purpose of committing an offense, it raises the bar…mutual assaults, disputes that happen, if the police don’t directly observe that, the probable cause for them to go ahead and effectuate an arrest doesn’t exist for something that’s minor.” Abrams: “If the defense was, well, ‘it was just a fight,’ et cetera.” Rizzo: Yes.” Abrams: “We shall see. We don’t know what the other person is gonna say here.” Ofr. Bloom then makes contact with the wife or girlfriend of the alleged assailant; she says that the man is not there but apparently declines to allow cops into the apartment to check.

Ofr. Bloom will file a report about the incident and provides the victim with a case number; he also explains to the victim’s family that he can’t enter the other party’s apartment over there (without a search warrant). Ofr. Bloom to the victim’s family who apparently believe the subject is still there: “This isn’t over. I just can’t legally break into their house right now. I tried to go in; she wouldn’t let me in. Well, you call me, I’ll be here in a minute. if somebody comes over here, just give me a call…I’ll come right back…” Abrams: “So it sounds like they don’t actually know for certain whether the guy’s in the house or not. She says she saw him go in there; the woman in the house says he’s not there.” Abrams adds that “Horrible weather. In addition to watching on the police side, on the weather side, that’s some serious hail.” Caption: “Hail yeah!.”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Ofr. Queliz and other units respond to a report of a stabbing. Paramedics arrive and transport the victim to the hospital.
  • Triple Play #1 — Thurston County, Wash.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Sgt. Yacobozzi conducts a traffic stop. “You’re super nervous, and the Supreme Court, says I can get you out of the car.” The driver allegedly has no vehicle insurance. Dep. Mikayla Ortiz assists Yacobozzi in a car search. Open container, drugs, and boxed synthetic urine allegedly found. Abrams: “Suffice it to say this guy’s in trouble. I just don’t know how much trouble he’s gonna be in. We shall see.”

Sgt. Yacobozzi explanation: “I stopped this car for the tail-light violation on the trailer, required to have tail lights on a vehicle. You can’t even see his tail lights. When I walked up, I noticed his tag expired in 2020. He’s super nervous. He keep looking around, so I got him away from the vehicle. We’re gonna do some research and see what’s going on with his license, et cetera…but he is way too nervous for just a couple of minor traffic infractions especially for the original stop for just no trailer lights.”

  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. Tony Le makes a friendly, safety-related bicycle stop apparently for no lights. Dep. Le: “You’re eating pizza, riding a bike, and you almost got creamed.” The bicyclist continues to eat pizza during the encounter.
  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofrs. Smith and Bly assist in the pursuit of a fleeing Dodge Challenger or Charger; traffic stop at gunpoint after one of the vehicle’s wheels comes off. The driver is subdued and detained.

Ofr. Bly summary: “…I don’t know why he ran, but we’ll search the car, see if there’s any weapons, see if he has a valid license. And the car will be towed, and he’ll be going for a felony tonight…right now, we’re doing a search of the vehicle; it’s an inventory search, because the car is gonna be towed. See if he has anything in here, anything of value that we’ll note on the tow report. Also see if he has anything illegal as well. Abrams: “So the minute that tire comes off, it is game over.” Cpt. Rizzo on the inventory search: “It’s lawful if you have a policy that says that. If you notice what the officer said, in case [the driver] has something of value, because why — who’s liable at that point, whoever is gonna impound that vehicle, the tow service and then the police department.” Dep. Wilson: “And see if there’s anything illegal in there.” Rizzo: “Of course. If you uncover that door in the inventory search, it would be admissible for more criminal charges for sure.”

  • Indian River County, Fla. — Checking out a possible suspicious vehicle, Dep. Le initiates contact with the occupant of a parked car at a boat ramp. The driver says she’s just hanging out. “You’re super high right now.” Dep. Le gives the driver some friendly advice such as getting a medical marijuana card and staying home if she wants to smoke weed. She is released with a warning; a friend is coming to the scene to drive her home. Abrams quips that “this might be defined as a buzzkill, sitting there at the water…”
https://twitter.com/captiosus77/status/1768832994419081329
  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Ryan Lineberger and other units, along with paramedics, respond to a multi-car accident. Dep. Lineberger investigates the crash and gathers information from drivers and passengers and possibly other witnesses. . Dep. Lineberger update: “{Another deputy] is conducting a DUI investigation, so he’s gonna be running one of the drivers through field sobriety exercises. The other driver is most likely gonna be run through the same exercises, so we’re waiting for him to finish up now. They’re documenting it now, and then we’ll take care of the other one as it goes. Right now, he could face DUI, DUI damage to property, charges, so we’re still waiting to figure it out.”

Dep. Lineberger update: “[The deputy] conducted the DUI investigation on the other driver. There was initially some complaints about a diabetic issue. South Trail Fire Rescue came out, did a blood sugar test, determined he’s well within his boundaries. So he’s not having a diabetic episode, so they continued with their DUI investigation. Upon doing horizontal gaze nystagmus, [the deputy] determined that it’s no longer a DUI investigation for the other driver. As for the driver in the Challenger, they’re still trying to figure some things out. He may be looking at similar charges. He’s gonna go ahead and do field sobriety exercises with him, and then we’ll determine where we need to go from there.”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Cops detain one or more pedestrians. Det. Maycon MacDowel explanation: “So a lot of times, people just sitting right here in the corner, as soon as they see cops, the first thing they’re gonna do, they’re gonna ditch every dope they have, weapons, whatever they got. So as we do this investigation…[Officer Roger] Lawson saw baggies, plastic baggies, with possibly narcotics inside of it. So we’re gonna test it, we’re gonna do a whole investigation, see if it belong to anybody here right now.” Det. MacDowel implies that that substance in question might allegedly be crack cocaine “but nowadays,” such drugs are often laced with fentanyl that shows up in testing.
  • Indian River County, Fla. — OPL airs dashcam footage of Dep. Le’s car accident. Abrams: “On Monday, [Dep. Le] was responding with lights and sirens to a double homicide when a vehicle pulled out in front of him. He sustained minor injuries, but is okay. The driver was at fault in the crash. And he was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. His canine partner was not hurt.” Cpt. Rizzo: “People need to appreciate the fact that, too, do you see the equipment in that? The computer mounts can come across and impale you. That happened locally that we’ve experienced. There’s just a lot of equipment in there that it’s not a traditional crash that it would be for two normal motor vehicles. So dangerous. And you see on these chases, and you see on police officers trying to pull people over, just move over and get out of the way…thank God he’s okay. But you can see how easy that can go bad.” Dep. Wilson: “Law enforcement deals with a lot of driver training to make sure, when you’re on you’re way to a call, especially a high-value one like that with a double homicide, but you never prepare for something like that just comes out of the blue, but it can be detrimental, no question.”
  • Coweta County, Ga. — Dep. Moran conducts a traffic stop for alleged speeding and failure to maintain lane. OP Nation seems to be convinced that the driver allegedly tossed something.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Cops including Ofr. Gabriel Marquez and Lt. Richie Maher detain a man at gunpoint upon a report of the subject allegedly stalking his ex with a firearm. The subject has a dog named Lucy in the back seat. Gun allegedly found. Lt Maher: “So we get a call that this male was improperly exhibiting a firearm at another location. We were told he was coming over here to bother or harass this female…” Ofr. Marquez: “This gentleman over here pointed a firearm at this young lady and another citizen…so his charges are gonna be aggravated assault with a deadly weapon times two. We also met canine Lucy. Canine Lucy is gonna go to a nice place until her dad comes out to the county branch jail, hopefully soon…she’s gonna take the ride as well.”

Cpt. Rizzo discusses the show-up in the field for the witnesses: “The whole point to that would be in proximity to what the alleged offense was. So it happens right there. The suspect can’t be removed. He has to be displayed per se, but you have to bring the victims and the reporting parties into a viewing area. They’re protected, but then the suspect in that case was lit up. They make the ID, the positive ID, but it’s got to be so fast in terms of it can’t be a delayed response. And then the police officers have to document obviously…any type of utterance that the victim says or the reporting party says. How sure they are.” Abrams: “But here it’s pretty easy.”” Rizzo: “Yeah…that’s the guy, and they shine a light on him, and they’re good to go. So nice Job.”

  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofrs. Chris Mulinix and Mike Gee make contact with a pedestrian who allegedly was causing a disturbance at a fast-food restaurant.
  • Richland County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Dep. Matt Smith investigates a domestic incident. Abrams introduces the segment by asserting that “a dispute between a brother and sister took sibling rivalry to a whole new level.” Dep. Smith: “The constant drama with the sister and brother — every time we come out here, it’s something new. Whether it has to be vandalism with a car or them fighting each other. So right now, the victim, which is the sister, she does have some injury to her face. And ma witnessed him jumping on her. So he is going for assault and battery right now. So we’re just gonna get the information and everything, type up everything, and he’s gonna take that ride.” Abrams: “And again, they talked about the fact that this is a house that they have been to many times.” Wilson: “Absolutely. Many calls of service to this location. It gives these deputies a broad overview of what took place, what may have happened, and so forth. Because, they know who they can trust; they figure out exactly what took place and what happened.
  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofr. Richard conducts a friendly traffic stop because the front license plate was on the dashboard instead of on the front of the car. The driver and passenger are released with a warning.
  • BOLO segment — San Fernando, Calif., smash and grab at a sneaker store.

Abrams: “Throughout the country, these sneaker robberies are happening a lot.” Rizzo: “Wild. Stores like that are obviously a crazy case, but even transactions, people selling sneakers to each other, high-end sneakers, had a robbery-style transaction go bad, gunshot go off, over sneakers. I can’t believe that that’s what we’re seeing now.” Abrams: “Sneakers are pricey. Anything where you got the money behind it, right?”

  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofrs. Mulinix and Gee respond to a domestic disturbance at a residence. Ofr. Mulinix: “So we arrived on this disorder. The gentleman stated that his uncle is inside, highly intoxicated. We went in and spoke to him. He got agitated with us, so we kind of backed out. He is intoxicated, having trouble standing, and urinated on himself. But…the end result is…he’s allowed to be inside. He’s allowed to be intoxicated, and he’s allowed to break his own property. So there’s not much, many things we can do for him. So we tried to give some advice to the kid, so he can get through tonight and get moved to California. Might have helped, might not have helped, so we told him that he can call us back atany time, and we’ll try to help him out the best we can.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Ofr. Eddie Lee assists the Violent Crime Apprehension Team (VCAT) with tracking down a driver who fled from a traffic stop. Stop sticks successfully deployed. Traffic stop at gunpoint. Ofr. Lee: “So we came to help out VCAT with a fleeing vehicle. They pretty much had it contained…I think he only has maybe one or two tires left. The VCAT guys are pretty good about using stop sticks, and they were deployed multiple times on this vehicle, which was very effective. The guy was taken into custody without incident. Nothing illegal in the vehicle. The wrecker should be here to take the car away, and they’re gonna go process this guy and finish up paperwork.” Abrams: “Turns out there was no contraband in the vehicle, but he was driving without a license.” Dep. Wilson on VCAT: “What VCAT does when they see somebody that they’re looking for and want to get — what they’ll do is they’ll also alert the patrol units in that area so they can set up a perimeter in case someone runs like this, so that they can get him without issues.”
  • Richland County, S.C. — Cpl. Tolman makes a traffic stop apparently for a registration-related issue. The driver is released with a warning.
  • Toledo, Ohio — Cops respond to a burglary in progress. They appear to be unsure exactly which house is involved. Ofr. Mulinix: “We tried to do a callback to the caller to see where this burglary actually happened at. We’re not locating anything right now, and when our dispatch tried to call him back, it went to voicemail. So we’re just checking all the residences if we see anything out of place, see if we can locate where the burglary happened. We got a couple of crews out here, so we’ll keep looking.”
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Devante Smith makes a traffic stop apparently for a tail light or brake light issue. Deputies allegedly smell weed coming the car. The driver claims he just bought the car and “I don’t do dope…that’s really not my dope…” Pat down and car search. Cpl. Smith: “On searching the car, he had a clear baggie under the bottom panel of the car…on field testing, it tested positive for methamphetamines. He also has some Adderall inside the vehicle that he’s being charged with as well. And he has warrants out of the neighboring county, so he’ll be going to serve that after he finishes charges here and [has] a bond hearing here.”
  • Toledo, Oho — As the episode concludes, officers respond to a shots-fired call outside a restaurant. A parked vehicle appear to have a bullet hole in a side panel and in the windshield. Ofr. Bly: “Everyone on scene, of course, is saying they don’t know anything or didn’t see anything. We got a scene of multiple shell casings, we got blood, bullet fragments, but no one saw anything. So right now, we’re contacting local hospitals to see if there’s a walk-in gunshot wound. It looks like there’s a party in one of the — I don’t know if they’re apartments or if it’s an after-hours bar. But right now, we’re gonna secure the scene and block the roadway so we can gather all the evidence that we have.”

Ofr. Smith update: “So we got on scene; crews located shell casings originally. As they looked closer there’s blood in two different locations. It looks like someone might have been shot, so we’re waiting to hear from our hospitals about anyone being walk-in GSW [gunshot wounds]. We’re just trying to block off [the road]…”

CLICK HERE for the OPL 02-60, March 16, 2024, recap.

CLICK HERE for information about the pending OPL lawsuit.

Beech Grove Incident Update

Screengrab: YouTube

From ABC Indianapolis affiliate WRTV on March 13:

The father of the toddler seen waiving a loaded gun on TV back in January of 2023 has been sentenced. [The dad] pleaded guilty to one count of neglect of a dependent. Two other charges were dropped. As a result, [he] will serve 693 days on probation. He spent 19 days in jail and the rest of the jail time was suspended as part of the plea deal.He also agreed the gun and ammunition will be destroyed.

A report aired on NBC Indianapolis affiliate WTHR indicated prosecutors were seeking a sentence of one year behind bars plus one year of home detention.