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

A recap of the June 1, 2024, On Patrol: Live episode (OPL #02-80) appears below.

Click here for the OPL #02-79, May 31, 2024, recap

Please review this important DISCLAIMER.

On Patrol: Live Summary for June 1, 2024 (#OPL Episode 02-80)

  • Richland County, S.C. — In a call about someone allegedly trying to break windows at a closed business/office building, Dep. Jose Lopez and other units make contact with a partially clothed man. The man is Mirandized. OPL host Dan Abrams: “The one thing that appeared to be open were his pants, singular, and now they are finding the rest of his clothes, and bringing them back to him.”
  • Indian River County, Fla. –Dep. Brandon McKenzie conducts a traffic stop for no rear lights. The deputy says he smells weed coming from the car. Car search. The initially argumentative driver is released with a warning. “Just be cautious smoking that weed.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Lt. Richie Maher searches a wooded area for an alleged stolen car. He makes contact with the caller in the process. He locates the car, and waits for backup before approaching the dark-tinted vehicle. “Play smarter, not harder.” Abrams: “So Lt. Maher taking his time there.” When backup arrives, the cops determine the car is unoccupied. “Good little dump spot.”

Guest studio analyst Ofr. Ryan Tillman: “There’s no need to speed it up. Wait for your backup to get there, conduct a high-risk stop, and then try to call people out, because you don’t know if it’s occupied or not. So you put yourself in a bad position, if you go up there too quickly, you can’t, you haven’t touched, the vehicle yet.” Abrams: “Because that tint is so dark. Tillman: ‘Very, very dark.”

“Play smarter, not harder.”

Lt. Maher synopsis: “This tint is just wild. Yeah, it’s unoccupied, but freshly dropped…I got an instant whiff of marijuana cigarettes as I pulled the door open, so someone was in this car very recently. We’ll process it for forensics, confirm that it is, in fact, a stolen vehicle associated with the tag, and pull it out of this lot. At least we got the victim their car back.” Abrams: “Alright, so they found the car, and now they’re looking for the driver.”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Lopez responds to a domestic dispute at an apartment and makes contact with two scantily clad women who claim a third woman, possibly someone who was living there temporarily, kicked their door in, which they discovered upon returning from McDonald’s. The very patient deputy also interacts with the subject who is in the bathroom. Abrams: “Deputy Lopez is trying to resolve this amicably.” The subject agrees to leave if she gets her phone, which is subsequently found outside here it might have been tossed. Abrams: “Looks like this is gonna get resolved.”
  • Fontana, Calif. — Ofr. Joe Richard conducts a traffic stop and asks the driver, among other things, “outside of weed, what else is in the car?” Richard smells weed, but the driver denies smoking weed or having weed. Car search. Drugs allegedly found.

Ofr. Joe Richard recap: “So, the conclusion of this is that he’s still gonna be placed under arrest for possession of heroin and meth. With these tobacco packets and these little white powdery vials, apparently — we’ve asked a couple people, we’ve looked online to try to verify, what exactly is this. It’s supposed…to be covered over; it’s supposed to be a paste, a mold of tobacco together, such as like loose leaf it looks like, but it’s just super weird. So he’s cool with us taking one of these vials, so we’re probably gonna take it back, try to do a test kit on it, or get an analysis on it, and see what it comes back to…I’ve never seen that before. And the fact that we found one in a sealed package too; of course people are gonna seal these packages up again. So, a lot of things indicate that he probably does use, a lot of burnt tinfoil, tinfoil wrap, baggies, stuff like that…so he’s gonna be going to jail for that for now, but we’ll try to do our follow up with that later. If it does come up with something, some type of a narcotic, then we’ll come out and talk to him again, and then we’ll talk with the business that he’s supposedly buying this from. So it could turn into a lengthy investigation, and then if it does test positive for something, if not, he’s gonna be going for the heroin and the meth tonight…”

  • Robeson County, N.C. — Dep. Donel McCallum investigates a shooting at a convenience store and makes contact with several people outside a residence in searching for a suspect. McCallum: “Everybody’s claiming they don’t know where he is, haven’t seen him, haven’t talked to him, he don’t live here. Now all these people sitting here in his yard…”
  • Robeson County, N.C. — First Sgt. Branston Collins and other units respond to a domestic dispute and/or assault and make contact with a man who is bleeding from the face and may have been attacked by his girlfriend or others. The dispute might revolve around a custody issue. Sgt. Collins: “So, this is part of the domestic dispute between the kids. He’s, I guess, the father…he was assaulted. Two male subjects along with the mother, assaulted him. But he has an active restraining order. Well, she has one against him, so he’s not supposed to be here anyway. He’s gonna be going to jail tonight.” Abrams initial summary: “This guy beaten by his ex and two guys. They had a restraining order not to be there. There was some issue with the kids. And he’s saying they both had restraining orders. Regardless, he’s been beaten badly.”

Sgt. Collins follow-up summary: “So earlier today, law enforcement was called out here, supposedly a female in this house, and she said he put his hands on her, and she hit him with a pot…he come back this evening, and she said he’s intoxicated, whether it be drugs or alcohol. And what she said was, before she got here, he was trying to get in the house with his kids. She pulled up; they got into another… altercation. She said he put his hands on her first. And she said the altercation was just between her and him, but he said it was two other males that jumped on him. She’s got an active restraining order against him…so he’s not…be here anyway. But the way it looks, he’s probably gonna have to be checked out at the hospital.”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Sloan Simpson and other units respond to a fast-food restaurant on a call about someone allegedly trying to pass a bogus $100 bill. OPL caption: “Report of counterfeit money.” Dep. Simpson makes contact with an employee and also a customer at the drive-thru window. Simpson: “This ain’t real; it’s fake.” Driver: “I didn’t know that; I swear.” The man also mentions his girlfriend gave him the bill. The bill turns out to be stage money/play money: Dep. Simpson reads the wording on the bill: “‘This note is for motion picture purposes. It is not legal tender.’ Says it right here; right across the top.” The driver is released with a warning. “I’m gonna cut you a break. Just pay attention to the money people give you.” The deputy keeps the bill.

“This note is for motion picture purposes…”

Abrams: “So he’s getting a break there, but one of the things that they wanted to make sure, as they were searching, was that this wasn’t a sort of bigger counterfeit operation, right? Guest studio analyst Cpt. Tom Rizzo: “Sure, exactly. And they’ll do that with a batch of serial numbers, and normally on a low-level scheme if it was to be that, they’ll pass that type of bill, a large denomination bill, for a small purchase to them receive obviously a lot of change in real-time currency, not monopoly money. Abrams: “Right, but yeah, but here the fact that it actually says this is fake on it, sort of…an indicator. But I think he might want to have a little conversation with his girl, the one who gave him this $100 bill, to go buy dinner…”

  • Toledo, Ohio — Backing up a state trooper, Ofrs. Mike Gee and Chris Mulinix respond to a car accident in a downtown area outside the Toledo Mud Hens (a Detroit Tigers Triple-A affiliate) home field where a game was underway. Two men who were allegedly involved in the accident and allegedly tried to run away from the scene had been detained with the help of an off-duty officer. Ofr. Gee or another cop to one of the subjects: “Your pupils are huge, man.”

Ofr. Gee recap of the initial investigation: “So, it looks like OSP witnessed an accident, so they stopped to assist. And then the two people that caused the accident, they bailed. So, the trooper and one of our off-duty officers chased the two suspects and took them into custody. So, we’re gonna do an accident report. So, we might submit the paperwork because we had to use force to get the guy into custody. We haven’t started coming out to talk with everybody just to go over what happened.” Abrams: “So this investigation will continue as they try to figure out exactly who was driving the vehicle. Both of them apparently ran…”

  • Triple Play #3 — Abrams: “From Triple A to Triple Play.” Los Angeles, Calif. bicycle pursuit following an alleged shooting.

Abrams: “You usually don’t see kind of light traffic in L.A.” Tillman: “But you also don’t see bike pursuits.” Abrams: “But obviously because this was an attempted murder investigation…” Rizzo: “You have to.”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — While conducting a friendly bicycle stop for no lights (for which the bicyclist was released with a warning — “do me a favor: be careful out here”), Sgt. Mike Bryant is nearly struck by a passing car. “You almost hit me. Do you even know how close you are to a police car?” After he tells the driver to pull over, field sobriety testing is subsequently administered.

“…it could have been really bad for me, let alone somebody else.”

Sgt. Bryant recap: “He’s being arrested for driving under the influence. Initially, he said he didn’t want to perform the exercises, but we told him, of course, you’re gonna be arrested immediately. So he complied, which we want people to comply, but he failed miserably. So, guess he didn’t study. So we’re gonna get him locked up, issue him some citations for DUI, get his vehicle towed….hopefully, he learns from this lesson, because it could have been really bad for me, let alone somebody else.”

Abrams: “What was really interesting as we were listening to that, as you both were giving me examples of situations where cops had been killed on the side of the road by drunk drivers.” Ofr. Tillman: “It happens more frequently than we know. Unfortunately, at my department years ago, probably about 20 years ago, we had an officer, Russ Miller, who was doing a DUI investigation and hit by somebody as he was doing another DUI investigation.” Abrams: “And you were saying one of good friends.” Rizzo: “Right in Howell, and there’s a section of Interstate 195 that’s dedicated, but just a day ago, a Connecticut trooper was killed while being out on a stop by an alleged drunk driver, hit and run. It’s just — it’s avoidable…” Abrams: “But this shows you how often it must happen, right? The fact that you both have been touched by this, and it must be happening in police departments around the country.” Tillman: “From the West Coast all the way to the East Coast.”

  • Richland County, S.C. — Dep. Simpson plus other units and the fire department respond to a house fire. As the work to extinguish the blaze, the fire department determines that no one is still inside the house. A resident was spraying the house with water before FD arrived, which prompted at least one Twitter/X user to make reference to the contrast with the residential fire incident in Indian River County, Fla., on May 18.

Dep. Simpson summary: “So we got here; at the time we weren’t sure if anybody’s still in the house or anything, but we were able to talk to the family and stuff. They said that everybody’s out. Looks like Fire’s got a pretty good knock on the house right now. The lady’s pretty upset. Says she’s like had a pretty rough week. So definitely keep this family here in your prayers.”

  • Toledo, Ohio — Ofr. Brooke Janowiecki and other units respond to an alleged shots-fired call.Ofr. Janowiecki: “Apparently one neighbor is shooting out of his house toward another neighbor’s house…” In the course of the investigation, she makes contact with an elderly man at his home who may be involved. The investigation is ongoing.

Robeson County, N.C. — Deputies respond to a shots-fired call in which a person was fatally wounded. Dep. McCallum: “We responded to a subject shot here. When we arrived on scene, the victim had succumbed to his injury. We’re not gonna release any further details due to the seriousness of the situation. Our detectives are gonna come out here and investigate the situation and move forward from there.” Abrams: “So obviously someone’s been shot. Investigations in the heat of it. Sensitive situation.” Rizzo: “They’re gonna recruit all their investigative personnel. So the initial responders will turn it over to that. And then like I said, the investigation is gonna jump off. It’s gonna take some time.”

Sgt. Collins update: “So we’re clearing up the homicide scene we were just on. We have one subject is deceased. Homicide and major crimes detectives are out there now, actively working the investigation. Any suspect information, getting all the witness information, they’re collecting all that now. Also, crime scene guys are out there; everything’s taken off. They’re doing their job, taking pictures, collecting evidence.

Abrams: “So now the investigation begins.” Rizzo: “They’re gonna have to work backwards. That’s why the crime scene management we were discussing is gonna be critical. But they’re gonna have to work backwards to try to get to what happened, obviously, preceding that assault, that unfortunately somebody’s now deceased from. But it’s a critical piece, where everybody’s gonna have a certain role that they’re gonna have to play and to preserve anything that you do retain as evidence in order to make a case.” Abrams: “And that’s what we were talking about before, was we were watching, we did get to see that one piece of video of Deputy McCallum going and putting the crime scene tape around, and you were just sort of reiterating why it’s so important. Tillman: “Yes, the integrity of the crime scene, you want to preserve that, because everything within that crime scene could be evidence. So if people are coming in and coming out, it could damage your crime scene.”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sgt. Bryant and colleagues respond to an allege disturbance at a convenience store and make contact with an apparently noncommunicative man there, including using a translate app to try to interact with him. OPL caption: “Translation apps not making the cut.” Cops advise the subject that he is trespassed from the location.

Sgt. Bryant summary: “So, basically, while they have security here most of the time, he was out here asking for money, asking for cigarettes….security got in front of him, and now we’re talking to him…he can’t talk, he can’t hear, none of that stuff. So, I think it’s bogus. Sometimes people will do that if they got something they don’t anybody wants to know about. So, we’re gonna run his name, make sure he’s not wanted for, like, murder out of Alaska, or something like that. And if he’s good to go, we’re just gonna tell him to leave the property. If he refuses to leave the property, and we tell him nicely, he’s gonna be going to jail for trespassing. But, security’s already told him. They give him their translator app, ‘hey, we need you out of here, so make a decision.’ So we’ll see what happens.”

  • Richland County, S.C. – Dep. Lopez and other units respond to a report of someone swinging a sword. They make contact with a pedestrian who may or may not be involved. The man is sent on his way.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpls. Devonte Carr and Bryson Fowler conduct a traffic stop for a non-functioning tag light and make contact with the initially argumentative driver who apparently is just down the street from his home. Abrams: “So seems like this guy made a smart choice in shifting gears with the officers.” Rizzo: “Fix it quickly.” Tillman: “He started to pick up what the officer was throwing down.” Abrams: “Exactly.” The officers apparently give the motorist a break: “So they are both tentatively suspended. The last thing I want to do is tie them, tie us up, deal with this when they’re literally going right here. So what we’re gonna do is we’re just gonna let them literally pull into this driveway and end this..” Cpl. Carr: “I’ve had better nights.” Cpl. Fowler: “Me too.” Abrams: “Cops have good and bad nights too, just like everybody else.”
  • Missing segment — Oakland, Calif.
  • Indian River County, Fla. — Dep. McKenzie and other units make contact with a bicyclist who says he was robbed behind Publix. During the course of the investigation, the man winds up handcuffed.
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — Cpl. Carr, with Cpl. Fowler, as back up, makes another traffic stop for a tag light issue. Cpl. Carr to the driver: “We just stopped a car for a tag light and that guy gave us all kind of hell…you’re…cool, calm, and collected…thank you for being cooperative.” Cpl. Carr to the OPL cameras: “I stopped this car for the tag light — a little coincidence. He’s super cooperative, unlike the last person we stopped for a tag light, and then he had some weed in the car…we’re gonna do a probable cause search of the car, just make sure there’s nothing else. He said there’s weed in there, so we’ll locate that too.” During the search, Carr jokes that he might get ” a contact high…America’s my witness.”

“…Thank you for being cooperative.”

  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Mason Weiss responds to the scene where someone, apparently a security guard, is stuck in an elevator and makes contact with another staffer there. The Fire Department arrives and quickly opens the elevator door. Weiss: “Firefighters do much more than just fight fires.” The man says he was stuck inside for about a half hour.

“Firefighters do much more than just fight fires.”

  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Sgt. Bryant makes contact with a pedestrian and admonishes the subject for some alleged untoward activity, possibly drug related. “You got to be better than this.”
  • Daytona Beach, Fla. — Lt. Maher and Ofr. Josh Martin, with Martin’s K9, investigate a possible break-in at a school construction site.
  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Mike Knapp initiates a traffic stop and mentions to the driver that “you look like you’re just tweaking out.” She responds that “I don’t use meth; when I used drugs, I was a heroin addict.” Dep. Knapp: “This woman…I don’t know if she’s under the influence of something or if whatever she’s saying about bipolar manic. It appears she’s under the influence of something though. My guess would be meth based on everything she’s got going on. There’s an odor of marijuana in the car, so we are gonna search the car and see what we have from there.”
  • Lee County, Fla. — Dep. Weiss responds to a report of shots fired, and while he awaits backup to investigate further, more shots fired can be heard near a radio tower. “Maybe 10 to 15 shots since I’ve been on scene.”
  • Berkeley County, S.C. — As the episode ends (which prompts many social media users — see below — to call for continued or extended OPL coverage), Cpl. Carr responds to a serious two-car accident that may have been caused by a vehicle traveling at 100-plus mph. The fire department is summoned to rescue a person trapped inside one of the vehicles that rolled over.