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

A recap of the May 25, 2024, On Patrol: Live episode (OPL #02-78) appears below.

[NOTE: Click here for the OPL #02-77, May 24, 2024, recap.]

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.

On Patrol: Live Summary for May 25, 2024 (#OPL Episode 02-78)

  • Berkeley County, S.C. –– Cpl. Noah White and other units pursue an alleged stolen truck and conduct a traffic stop at gunpoint on the vehicle after a highway patrol officer implements a PIT maneuver. Cpl. White summary: “Highway Patrol did a successful PIT. Vehicle wrecked out. Highway Patrol gave us some callouts. She complied, got out of the vehicle, crack pipe, still clenched in her hand, along with a lighter. We were able to get her into custody pretty easily. Luckily, she complied. Didn’t have a gun on her. So now we’re gonna figure out where we go from here…but we recovered the stolen vehicle with nearly minimal damage….we’re going to look at the vehicle and see how bad it looks.”
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Matt Smith and other units investigate a domestic dispute involving a possible weapon at a trailer park. They make contact with a man who claims someone pulled a gun on him. “I swear to God on my soul.” Lots of yelling from bystanders in the background. Heavy bleeping. One female twerks for the OPL camera.
  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofr. LIndsey Erhart assists other cops in a pursuit of a truck that “just kicked off.” The driver is detained. “That’s my girlfriend’s truck.” Ofr. Erhart: “So this crew attempted to stop this vehicle for a traffic violation. He did not want to stop, so I got secondary in the pursuit, and he ended up stopping and complying once we got him stopped….he’ll be going to jail for failure to comply.” Officer on scene to driver: “What was the point of running?” Response: I was scared.” Cops conduct an inventory search of the vehicle prior to it being towed. Erhart adds that “So he said he was suspended, and he was scared, so that’s why he decided to take us on a pursuit.” OPL substitute host Ashleigh Banfield: “Already a busy Saturday night, two chases, two arrests, one stolen vehicle, and a twerk show.”

“Already a busy Saturday night, two chases, two arrests, one stolen vehicle, and a twerk show.”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Sgt. Marcus Booth conducts a traffic stop for an expired tag. Driver: “I know my license is suspended, so I just wanted to get home.” When asked if he has a warrant, the driver responds “not that I know of.” The motorist is taken into custody on a warrant.

Listen to Sgt. Booth’s dialogue with the driver:

Banfield: “How often does it happen that people don’t know they have warrants?” OPL guest studio analyst Cpt. Tom Rizzo: “Well, it’s not even so much warrants, right? When you ask somebody ‘when was the last time you were arrested? Oh, I don’t recall.’ I’m gonna think that was probably memorialized in your brain if you were arrested, yeah?” OPL co-host Dep. Curtis Wilson: “No question about that. Also, too, I believe the earpiece that law enforcement uses is a godsend because of the fact that when they tell them that someone’s arrested, if they didn’t have that, the speakers out there, this person can hear it, and that can also escalate things. So having that earpiece is a great thing that they have.” Banfield: “Smart, smart.”

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Brandon Williams responds to a possible disturbance at a graduation party and makes friendly contact with people at the scene. Some of them seem to be acting out for the camera, including one female who is twerking. Bleeping. Banfield: “Looks like everybody is twerking for the weekend.”
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Smith makes contact with a man at a bus stop who allegedly repeatedly calls 911. OPL caption: “Repetitive 911 caller.” Smith warns the man that next time he calls about a non-emergency, he will be arrested. The subject boards a bus. Dep. Smith: “EMS cleared the call. This guy keeps calling for no apparent reason and doesn’t want medical attention. He just wants to get downtown, when the bus already takes him downtown, so we don’t know what’s going on. But Fire cleared the call, so we’re going to clear the call; he knows not to call back again, or he’s going to jail.”
  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. Tony Le and other units respond to a report of a man who allegedly is in a convenience store bathroom for an inordinate amount of time. Le: He’s “using the hand dryer to dry himself off from the rain.” Deputies detain the man. Drug paraphernalia allegedly found. “I can tell you right now, it’s not mine.”

Dep. Le summary: “So as of right now, we can’t prove that it belongs to him. Most likely, we’ll just trespass him from this gas station here and document what we found and everything like that and collect it, and then that’ll be it. Unfortunately, I think he was already behind the door throwing it out when they came into the bathroom. They never saw it in his hand or in his possession. It was just in that bathroom. And obviously it’s a public gas station bathroom, so whose to say that somebody in there prior to was using it.”

Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Hannah Reed responds to the scene of an alligator in a recreation area and warns bystanders to stay back. Cpl. Reed: “So there is a boat area over here…and it’s got a little swimming area. And we just got notified that there is an alligator hanging out in the swimming area. So we are gonna go try and get the alligator to go somewhere else…this is Ronnie Russell, Corporal Ronnie Russell; he side-gigs as the gator getter.” Cpl. Russell (who is often featured on OPL performing his regular sheriff duties), removes the gator from the swimming area, tapes its mouth shut, and safely releases it in a different location after taking off the tape.

“We’re gonna take him to the other side of the lake to release him, and he’ll be able to go on and live his happy life.”

Cpl. Reed’s observations: “So we’re gonna take him to the other side of the lake to release him, and he’ll be able to go on and live his happy life. This is the quiet side. There’s like no activity or anything over here, so this is where we’re gonna release him and let him find a new home…We’ll get him a little closer to the water so when we take the tape off, he knows exactly where to go…he’s gonna slide right off…there he goes.” Cpl. Russell mentions that “He didn’t do anything wrong. He just set up in a bad spot. So now he’s here, and he’s gonna live to see another day.”

Banfield: “Nope…you would never get me in that job. It’s unbelievable. Corporal Russell, by the way, he started gator wrangling back in 2000 with his dad. His dad was the deputy with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. And we actually have a photo of his late father. But that, that job, could you have…”. Rizzo: “No! The answer is no. I thought I was brave when I got an emu out of the road. You’re talking about a dinosaur, man.” Dep. Wilson jokes that “In South Carolina, all officers have been trained to capture — no. We call animal services.” Banfield: “He was so close to his mouth when he was taking off the tape. Every part of that had me on, just like, on edge.”

  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Ryan Lineberger investigates at an apartment complex upon a report of shots fired and canvases the area. Cpt. Rizzo notes that Lineberger has the advantage of being familiar with the area or sector. Dep. Wilson adds that “if there’s…let’s say shell casings…and so forth. There’s gonna be backup that’s gonna come as well. They’ll probably set up a perimeter, see exactly what’s going on, do some knock and talks at the doors to see if anybody’s heard or seen anything that’s happened in this neighborhood.” Banfield: “Again, 15 shots fired.”

Listen to Dep. Lineberger provide a status report on this incident:

  • Triple Play #3 — Coweta County, Ga. pursuit. A motorist pulled over for following to close allegedly fled from the traffic stop and then fled in a cop car after being detained and placed in that vehicle. As detailed below, the suspect faces numerous charges. Banfield: “I don’t even know where to start.”

Banfield: “I was prepared to react to the going across the median and into the oncoming traffic. And then, there were like five things that happened there. This was unbelievable.” Dep. Wilson: “Unbelievable and fortunate that it was just that one vehicle going across those lanes seeing all that traffic…” Banfield: “But then the whole business about somehow getting from the back seat to the front seat… he must have gone under his butt and got the cuffs out front to get the car started and go?” Cpt. Rizzo: “Well, and that’s the thing. People don’t somehow like to see when we have to secure people by their hands, their feet. There’s ways that you have to do that to prevent these things from happening, because you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it.” Banfield agrees: “You wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it. And then, of course, the next thing, somehow he bailed and ran.” Rizzo: “And still went. That’s a poster child for resiliency right there…” Banfield: “We’ll, great policing. They got him…unbelievable. That’s a triple play in itself…could have been.”

  • Fontana, Calif. –– Ofr. Brian Zozaya conducts a traffic stop; three occupants. Car search.

Richland County, S.C. — Sgt. Kenny Fitzsimmons investigates a vandalism incident involving a car with broken windows and windshield. Sgt. Fitzsimmons: “I smell gas.” Deputies canvas area. A subject is detained after a brief foot pursuit. “You speak English?” Response: “No.” Banfield: “He got every single window — you could see the rock inside the car and the pile of rocks outside the car.” Fitzsimmons uses a translation app to further investigate the incident. He jokes that “I was looking forward to going for a jog tonight. Okay, a little bit.” Banfield: “He got every single window — you could see the rock inside the car and the pile of rocks outside the car.” Dep. Smith: ” So apparently the individual is saying that this is his car. He decided just to come outside and take rocks to his windshield. So they’re gonna cut him loose, and that’s gonna be the end of that.” Banfield: “It looks like they may be wrapping up this investigation in a very strange end to a vandalism call.”

“I was looking forward to going for a jog tonight. Okay, a little bit.”

  • Berkeley County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Dep. Mikayla Ortiz and other units respond to an alleged domestic violence call and get both sides of the story, which differ substantially, including some disturbing and lurid details about, but not limited to, alleged porn use. The male is arrested. Dep. Ortiz: “Due to the nature of her injuries, what she’s saying happened, and the inconsistencies in his stories, he’s gonna be arrested tonight for domestic violence, high and aggravated nature, which is the highest domestic violence charge you can get in the state of South Carolina. So at this point now, DSS has been contacted so that we can find placement for his son, and then we’re waiting on a warrant to be signed so we can go in the home and locate the firearm that was used during the domestic violence incident.” Banfield: “And that is distressing stuff.”
  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. Le and other units are on a BOLO for a possible drunk driver in a pick-up truck. They conduct a traffic stop, but that’s not the subject vehicle. The search continues.
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Ofr. Carlos Queliz and a colleague respond to a neighbor dispute. Ofr. Queliz synopsis: “It appears that there was an altercation between two kids. She was playing with some of the kids at the neighbor’s house and a verbal argument ensued at which point it turned into a physical between both of them. So they both engaged in the physical altercation, so we’re gonna go talk to the other neighbor to make sure that we hear their side of the story so that we can properly investigate it.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sgt. Booth and other units respond to a man passed out on the sidewalk outside a bar. According to Banfield, the call came in as a possible overdose. Paramedics summoned. Sgt. Booth spots a beer can on the ground: “That Busch will get you every time, for sure.”

Sgt. Booth recap: “So we gave him a little sternum rub just to kind of get him alert to see if it was actually alcohol or an overdose. He responded to my sternum rub.
If you give him a good one, give him a little sternum rub to get him up, it typically works. But he definitely had one too many beverages. So we’ll get a Rescue in here. Rescue’s coming up the road right now or should be. We’ll get him out to the hospital. Let them check him out…he definitely had some beers. He wants a cigarette, but we just don’t want to ingest anything else in him right now until we get him checked out.”

  • Indian River County, Fla. — Sgt. Chris Lester provides back-up on a traffic stop. Three occupants. Car search. Sgt. Lester observations: “So right now, the deputy asked for consent to search on the vehicle, which she gave. Apparently the driver and the passenger were both showing signs of nervousness. The passenger here, when you were looking at him, you could see his heart beating through his chest. They gave consent to search, so we’re gonna see what’s going on with the vehicle, if anything. Some people just get nervous when they’re getting pulled over by law enforcement. So we’ll see what we got going on.”
  • Toledo, Ohio — Multiple officers respond to the scene of a traffic accident where people are allegedly getting disorderly. One male detained. “Stop resisting, bro.” Heavy bleeping. Ofr. Chris Mulinix summary: “So, according to SARS, the guy was asked multiple times to stay out of the accident scene. We have an emergency going on, we’re trying to get patients out of cars, get them transported to the hospital. He was refusing to comply, so we took him into custody. He’ll be transported to [Lucas County jail] and booked in for causing a scene at an emergency.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. (pre-recorded segment) — Lt. Richie Maher and Ofr. Gabriel Marquez detain an alleged stolen car suspect after the vehicle was spotted outside a hotel. Lt. Maher: “We received a call for service that someone had spotted a stolen vehicle in the area. Officer Marquez responded to the area, subsequently locating the vehicle unoccupied at a hotel. We’re gonna try and locate him in the vehicle. We’re gonna see if we can run back some surveillance, maybe see who’s coming out of the car. Maybe we’ll get a charge for grand theft auto; maybe not.”

“Suspect was released on the scene shortly after our cameras left, and the case is still under investigation.”

Lt. Maher recap: “This gentleman over here…walked up to Officer Marquez while he was fingerprinting the stolen vehicle, and asked Officer Marquez, ‘what are you doing with my car?’ He’s going L&P on me for now. He’s out here, doesn’t have a room, he’s putting himself next to a stolen car. So when that male first came out here, he associated himself with the vehicle saying ‘what are you doing with my car,’ to Officer Marquez. Now he’s been Mirandized and we’re talking to him, he wants to distance himself from this vehicle as much as possible. However, he’s from North Carolina. The car was stolen in North Carolina. He wears what appear to be size 12 shoes. There’s a pair of size 12 shoes sitting in the back. The good thing is if you take him on loitering and prowling tonight and they develop latent fingerprints or the DNA we’re going to recover from the steering wheel and shifter, and it comes back to him, then his loitering and prowling becomes grand theft auto. So you can play your games all you want to try and get away from your charge. It’s coming. You can get DNA off that McDonald’s cup too, shoot. Not a very good bad guy. So he’s gonna go on loitering and prowling for tonight. We’re gonna reach out to Fayetteville, tell them who we have, and they can do a photographic lineup. And if he identifies him, he’ll be charged with grand theft auto.” Banfield: “Suspect was released on the scene shortly after our cameras left, and the case is still under investigation.”

  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Williams and other units make contact with a woman who appears to be asleep in front of a store. “I’m not passed out….I didn’t do nothing.” Paramedics summoned. The woman ultimately walks away. Cpl. Williams: “She got upset with us at our attempts to identify her. We don’t have really much on her. She just was passed out. She doesn’t want EMS. She got up. I guess they know her. Looks like she’s gonna go find — I guess, go somewhere else. She don’t want our help. We can’t force people to take our help, so we’ll go 10-8… back in service.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Ofr. Queliz and other units respond to a report of someone who won’t leave a convenience store. They make contact with a male who or may not be involved in the incident.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Smith checks out some vehicles that are motionless in a park after hours. Smith: “They’re probably somewhere. There’s a bunch of paths that go into the state park pretty much behind us. So they probably went on a walk or doing something out there. So I’m not gonna go search for them, I can tell you that.”
  • Missing segment — Cornelius, N.C.
  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Smith makes a friendly traffic stop on a slow roller. The female driver is from South America. According to their conversation, she also need to pee. Smith releases her with a warning to get an S.C. driver’s license. Dep. Smith: “Huge language barrier. She’s from Ecuador. Her husband is sick right now, and she’s trying to go get food for him. And she also needs to use the restroom. So, I gave her a slide on that one, so she goes to the bathroom and everything. She just didn’t know with coming from Ecuador to stop for the blue lights and everything.” Banfield: “Thank God for Google Translate. How often do you use that?” Rizzo: “Oh, what an incredible tool that I wish we would have had years ago. But man, what a great asset though.” Banfield: “Can you imagine that like what that could have been? Wilson: “Absolutely. A lot of departments now also have translators who stand by so that if you have an issue, you can give a call like, in situations like this, when you can’t understand what somebody’s saying.” Rizzo: “A language line you call in.” Banfield jokes that “I have used Google Translate before, and it is translated it into something completely not appropriate, and you don’t know.”
  • Richland County, S.C. (pre-recorded segment) — Master. Dep. Avery Arrington responds to a car in a ditch. Banfield introduces the segment by quipping that “a driver who find himself in a bit of a hole.” Arrington to driver: “You okay?” Response: “Not really.” Driver allegedly admits to consuming a couple of drinks. Fire Department called to the scene. A highway patrol officer conducts field sobriety exercises.

Dep. Avery summary: “He has a weapon in the car. His car is gonna be towed. He’s gonna be charged with DUI again, and driving under suspension, and he might get weapon charges as well. It depends if the weapon comes back, or if he’s a felon, he’s not allowed to have a weapon.” Banfield: “So the gun came back as stolen, and the driver was charged with possession of a stolen firearm, prohibited by a felon, and the DUI case was turned over to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. So that happened…” Rizzo: “Barrels and cones normally mean not to keep proceeding though, too, right?, still in South Carolina? Wilson: “Absolutely. They’ve been working in that area for quite some time to widen those highways, so that’s been there ‘a minute.'”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Sgt. Fitzsimmons responds to an alarm at a Publix supermarket. He makes friendly contact with an employee who apparently was locked in after everyone else went home. They standby for the arrival of the manager to shut off the alarm.
  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofr. Lindsey Erhart and other units respond after a 12-year-old child called 911 alleging that his stepfather punched his mother. Erhart provides an assist to cops who detain a suspect who is allegedly non-compliant and argumentative. “I’m on PD?” Sgt. Joe Taylor tells the man that he will review the bodycam footage to determine if cops acted appropriately. Ofr. Erhart: “So back at the other location, there was a DV situation. The victim says she doesn’t even know why they were fighting. He got physical with her, and he knocked her unconscious. Another crew found the suspect, and he started fighting with them; they tased him, got him into custody. So he will be going down for DV assault and resisting arrest.”

Ofr. Heather Smith additional information: “We were on our way to a domestic situation; the other crew got there first and ended up telling us to take the area. We got into the area and located the potential suspect. He was uncooperative from the start. He’s extremely intoxicated. He’s got cuts on his face as if he was in an altercation. He attempted to swing at me when we did encounter him. And he was super uncooperative. We did end up deploying a taser. It didn’t affect him at all. So we’re gonna figure out what’s going on with the rest of the situation. And hopefully he ends up going to jail for a few things tonight.”

  • Indian River County, Fla. — Sgt. Lester conducts a traffic stop for no lights. Lester claims he smells alcohol; the driver denies drinking. Open container allegedly spotted. Field sobriety testing.
  • Coweta County, Ga. — A man runs allegedly into a house after an apparent attempted traffic stop by Dep. Rad Brooks after a brief foot chase. The deputy orders the other occupants of the vehicle to get out of the car. Dep. Brooks repeatedly circles the home while awaiting backup to prevent the subject from going out the back door. He also orders those in the residence to exit, and as the episode concludes, prepares to send in a K9 find the subject, if necessary. Banfield mentions that according to Brooks, the subject may have warrants.