The night I heard “Officer Down” on the radio

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Badge415

“Officer down! Officer Down! We need units code 3!”

Those were the words from our helicopter pilot in December, 2004 when he saw one of our officers get hit by a car. The tone in his voice told everyone this was bad and to get there fast.

I was parked behind a building at the time with some friends while taking a break when that radio transmission went out. It didn’t seem real and it took a moment for the words “Officer down” to sink in. I can still picture where I was standing and how I felt when I heard the radio come to life.

I jumped into my car and raced to the location like everyone else. The collision was at least two miles away and I pushed the car as hard as I’ve ever pushed a police car before or since. The radio traffic was frantic and it seemed like it took forever to get there.

At one point, there was a radio transmission about organizing an escort for the ambulance. At ache shot through me as I heard that and feared the worst.

Who was it? I still had no idea. I didn’t want to see one of my co-workers dead. Nobody does.

As I got closer to the crash, the tension rose 1,000% because I didn’t know what I was going to see when I got there. I knew there was nothing I could do to help, but there was still the need to get there fast.

I pulled up just as the ambulance was about to leave. There was a long line of police cars in front of the ambulance ready to clear intersections on the way to the hospital. I was filled with dread as I got out of my car.

I walked up to an officer and asked, “Who was it?”
“Kelly.”
“How bad is it?”
“I don’t know.”

I saw his police car in the middle of the street facing one way and the car that hit him facing the other. Its windshield was shattered and it looked bad. I stood there for a moment and took everything in as I decided where to start. The thought of the impact made me cringe.

There was a warm breeze coming from the east due to a Santa Ana Wind condition that night. The scene was quiet and somber after the ambulance left because no one knew how badly hurt Kelly was. After everything calmed down the only sound was from the idling patrol cars and the police radio. The sea of police lights were a reminder to anyone who drove by that something bad had happened here.

Kelly’s gun and equipment were strewn in the street in a perfect V from the area of impact. I noticed a steno pad lying among the debris which looked like someone put it there. It was in perfect condition. Everything else in the street was in total disarray.

An officer walked up to me and said, “I put the steno pad there because I didn’t want Kelly’s hair to fly away.”

What he said didn’t make sense and it made me go to the steno pad to see what he was talking about. I knelt down and lifted it up.

That’s when I saw Kelly’s hair waving in the wind. It was like seaweed swishing side to side as it reached up to the sunlight from the ocean floor. His hair was actually stuck to the asphalt liked it was glued down.

I then looked at the upper corner of the windshield and saw another peculiar sight that was almost as weird as Kelly’s hair being stuck to the asphalt. There were dark blue fibers in the shattered glass. The fibers were small, but clear as day. They were from his uniform and were frozen in time like a fossil waiting to be discovered.

While I was still at the scene, word came from the hospital that Kelly was talking and doing better than was first thought. With that news the mood at the collision scene changed.

Later that night I sat down with the helicopter pilot and he told me what happened. It was intense hearing him describe Kelly getting hit by the car. I could tell he felt helpless as he flew overhead.

It’s funny because there is a new generation of cops at work that drive by that spot every day, who have no idea what happened there a decade ago. To the newer cops, it’s an east/west street. To me it’s a memory from a crazy night where everything was in chaos and one of my friends was hurt.

By the way, Kelly returned to work a few months later and made a full recovery.

Oh, and remember that hair that was blowing in the wind? Well, Kelly still has a bald spot on the back of his head after all these years……

Stay safe out there.

The “body” in the trash bag

Posted on May 30, 2015 by Badge415

“There are four males in the restroom with a child in a trash bag.”

That’s what I heard on the radio while driving to another call tonight. The dispatcher was sending patrol cars to an unknown trouble call at a local park. She also broadcasted that the child looked to be about 7 years old.

Say what?

I had no choice after hearing that. The people in the traffic collision could wait because I was going to this call first.

I arrived at the park about a minute after the call went out. There was a group of males standing in front of the restroom. They looked calm and were talking. They didn’t even seem to notice my patrol car driving on the grass. I got out of my car and asked, “Is there a kid in a trash bag?”

A male in the group said, “No.”

“We got a call about a kid inside a trash bag in the bathroom.”

That’s when the male seemed to know what I was talking about as he said, “Oh, we’re making a movie.” The male, who was holding a camera, told me there was a doll in the bathroom.

It was dusk, so the restroom was dark. I walked in and saw a head and body wrapped in a trash bag like a mummy on the floor. The “body” was propped up against the wall like it was leaning against it.

Then I saw something that looked freaky. There was an eye staring at me from the doll head that was partially covered by the trash bag. There was also dark curly hair sticking out. The “body” looked like it was the size of a 5 year old child. With the darkness fast approaching, it looked real.

The male walked in and started stomping on the “body” to show me it was fake. The entire scene was bizarre. I must’ve have been in the Twilight Zone for a brief moment.

At first glance, it really did look like a body. Even though it was stomped on I still pulled open the bag so I could make sure it wasn’t a real face. That of course, made the “filmmakers” laugh when they saw me do that.

They explained to me about making a movie for a college course. I told them they were lucky the officers hadn’t walked in on them standing over the “body.” You could tell they hadn’t thought about that. Hopefully the three police cars, police motorcycle and helicopter overhead showed them how serious it was taken when we got the 911 call.

I got back in my car and spoke into the microphone as I said, “I’m 10-8 from the fake kid in the trash bag call.” I drove out of the park knowing I’d have a story to tell my kids when I woke up on Saturday.

When I put my uniform on Friday afternoon I never thought I’d be standing in a restroom watching someone stomp on a fake child’s body that was wrapped in a black trash bag with a big eyeball staring at me.

Once again, you can’t make this stuff up.

“You’re Making Me Sound Irresponsible”

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Badge415

On Halloween night in 2014, three girls were killed in a hit and run crash while trick or treating in Santa Ana, CA. Two of the girls were twins. I remember hearing the news on my way to work that night. I actually closed my eyes and shook my head when I heard about the twins. How awful for a family to lose two daughters in one crash. It gave me an ache inside that three kids were killed about the same time I was trick or treating with my kids.

As a father I couldn’t imagine what the families were going through. As a collision investigator I was glad I wasn’t the one who had to handle that call.

A few days later my partner sent me a picture from a news story about the suspect being arrested for the Santa Ana hit and run.

The person in the photo was Jaquinn Bell. I knew who he was because I met him in August of that same year. He had crashed while DUI in my city with his two kids in the car.

During our conversation that night he denied crashing. He also told me he parked his car, but didn’t know where it was. I repeated back to him some of the things he said because he sounded silly. At one point he said, “You’re making me sound irresponsible.” Nope. He was doing that all by himself.

On the night we met him he tried hiding between two houses, but was seen by witnesses and officers. He was actually on the phone with his dad at the time as he told his kids to get down when the officers arrived. He showed everyone how irresponsible he really was that night. He also showed it again on October 31st.

The other day he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the collision in Santa Ana. The time he’ll spend in prison won’t bring back those girls, but at least he won’t be able to hurt anyone else for a long time. That’s the only positive thing from this story.

In closing, I have one thing to say to you Mr. Bell.

I hope you see those bodies when you close your eyes at night. I also hope it haunts you for the rest of your life. You had no right to take those girls away from their parents.

Is your teen abusing medications to get high?

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Badge415

Last week I was a witness to the beginning of another tragic story. I was left shaking my head and wondering where this teenager went wrong, or more importantly, where his parents went wrong.

On Saturday night I was dispatched to a traffic collision involving three vehicles. The call information mentioned that one of the drivers was possibly DUI. When I arrived, I saw an officer walking a male from the street to the sidewalk. From a distance I estimated his age to be about 14 years old. I just assumed he was a passenger from one of the vehicles.

I got out of my car and walked over to where they were. That’s when I found out this kid was actually 16 years old and he was the suspected drunk driver.

He rear ended one vehicle and then crashed into another when he tried to back up. He appeared under the influence and was eventually arrested for DUI. Of course, he didn’t have a driver’s license either.

The driver was under the influence of a dissociative anesthetic. Most people don’t even know what that is. A dissociative anesthetic includes PCP, ketamine and Dextromethorphan (DXM). DXM is the active ingredient in cough medicines. It’s also abused because it’s easily accessible.

This kid had been drinking cough medicine and also had four Xanax pills in his pocket from his mother’s prescription. Talk about a train wreck.

About an hour later I did a record check on his name and discovered he was arrested for DUI three months ago. Could his story get any worse?

I walked by a room where he was sitting and asked him what his blood alcohol was when he was arrested. The kid told me .20%.

I shouldn’t be shocked anymore, but every once in a while it still happens. I told him he was on the road to being a statistic and I warned him of the dangerous path he was heading down. He said he understood and seemed to listen to me.

Did I get through to him? Probably not, but at least I tried.

I leave you with this final thought if you’re a parent of a teen. You might want to watch the cough medicine bottle or other prescriptions in your medicine cabinet. You could be running low and didn’t know it.

Most people think it won’t happen to them, but there’s a chance it could. Don’t end up like some of the people we deal with. They don’t know there’s a problem until it’s too late.

More About The Body Worn Camera

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Badge415

The other night I responded to a neighboring city to contact the suspect in a hit and run collision. An officer from the neighboring department was also there. When I was done with the interview, I walked up to the suspect vehicle so the damage would show up in the video from my body worn camera. It was easy. I didn’t even have to get a regular camera out.

I looked over at the officer from the other department and said, “I love this thing.” With a raised eyebrow he looked at me like I was kidding. That’s when I said, “No, really. This thing is great.” He still looked like he didn’t believe me as he said, “Really?”

I then told him the advantages I have seen in a short time. Another officer from our department also told him the same thing.

He still didn’t look convinced and told me his department was testing them out. He said it would be hard to get used to. I told him it was easier to use than the audio recorder and it showed so much more. He still didn’t seem convinced.

He then said something lame. He said it would be easier for the younger officers to use because they were more technologically savvy. I could tell he was resistant to change.

Lately I’ve been asking random officers at my department what they thought about the BWC. Every person has instantly said they like it. Every one of them has also told me a story where the BWC was better than audio because it showed so much more.

A lot of officers also brought up stories where they wished they had the BWC when someone complained.

One motor officer told me a unique way how he uses his BWC on car stops. While on the stop he’ll hold the license up to the BWC so it will be part of the video in case something happened to him. I never thought of that.

The other night someone showed me a picture they took on their phone of a hit and run license plate. I held the phone up to my BWC so there was proof the witness actually took the pic. This way there was no doubt we had the correct license plate number.

I’m here to say this thing has been great. It’s not perfect, but I’m glad my department spent the money for the BWC sooner, rather than later. It will make our jobs easier in this crazy environment.

There’s nothing like having the video show how some of these people act on calls. It’s unfortunate that it has come to that, but that’s the world we live in.

It cracks me up on calls where people pull out their phones to record us. That’s fine. I’m recording you too.

More importantly, I have more gigabyte space to do it.

Police work is a team effort

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Badge415

There are a lot of things written about the police profession by officers. The subjects include, news related items, tactical articles, peer support, mental wellness, physical conditioning, and stress management to name a few.

But no one ever writes about the teamwork that is involved. The teamwork part of police work is what makes this job fun and manageable.

Police work is like a football team in a game. Everyone on the field is working toward one goal. It’s a team effort from the kick off to the final whistle when the clock runs out.

Every call in police work is a team effort, but from time to time sometime big happens and you truly get to see it in action. It could be a shooting scene with tons of witnesses or a major injury collision with multiple vehicles that is complete and utter chaos.

Those type of calls never happen at a convenient time, but everyone comes together to get the job done. When these calls happen, it’s actually fun to be part of because of the teamwork that’s involved.

No one person can handle everything that needs to be done and the other cops know that. When there’s a big scene they go to the person handling the call and ask, “What do you want me to do?” or “What do you need?”

This past week I got to be part of some great teamwork at some very big collision scenes.

It was impressive to see so many police cars and fire trucks in one place and everyone taking a piece of the pie. It’s nice to be part of something that is supposed to run smoothly and actually does.

It’s also nice to know you can depend on so many people when things are crazy and out of control.

At the end of the day it’s my name at the bottom of those reports, but it doesn’t reflect the many others who helped. It doesn’t show the many unseen faces that are in the trenches doing the work that some people couldn’t stomach doing.

It also doesn’t reflect the dispatchers on the radio and the non-sworn personnel who helped.

When it’s all said and done, no one ever talks about the guys and girls who jumped in with both feet, rolled their sleeves up and got to work with no complaining.

I’m here to say thanks guys for being part of the madness.

No one follows the rules

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Badge415

Responding to collision calls that involve unlicensed drivers is pretty common for me. If the regular public actually knew how many collisions were caused by unlicensed drivers they would be shocked.

Sometimes it seems like I can’t go to a collision call without at least one of the drivers being unlicensed. Sometimes it’s both drivers.

To me it’s the most basic rule of driving. Have a license. It’s pretty easy, but there are a lot of people out there who just don’t care about our laws or the rules. It’s a common theme in police work.

There are people out there who have been cited numerous times for driving while unlicensed, but they’re still out there committing violations and crashing into people.

And when they do crash, the unlicensed driver is almost always at fault. It’s amazing how much damage and destruction they cause.

It’s one thing if you’re unlicensed and minding your own business. If I don’t know about it then there’s no reason to bother you. But it’s another thing if you’re out there crashing into people and hurting them.

Friday night was another example of the unlicensed driver causing chaos and not caring.

The driver told me he was “going a little fast,” while he was looking at his phone to change a song. He was still looking down when he swerved to the left and crashed into a car that was stopped for a red light.

He never saw the car before he hit it because he was looking down at his phone the entire time.

While I was interviewing him, he told me he has been cited twice for no license and this was his second time being involved in a collision.

Then I saw something written on his windshield that left me shaking my head like I normally do at work. I shake my head so much at irresponsibility that I’m almost like a sideways bobblehead.

The date 1-23-15 was written on the windshield, along with 30 DAY. This was a marking from a tow company after the vehicle had been taken to the yard.

This guy had his vehicle impounded for 30 days on January 23rd, for driving while unlicensed. He hadn’t even bothered to erase the markings from his windshield.

If he can’t erase the tow company markings, what makes you think he even cares about what kind of damage or harm he does with his car? The proof was right there in the street because both cars were towed.

During the interview he told me he had been living illegally in California and didn’t have a license. I asked him why he hadn’t gone to the DMV because they were handling out driver’s licenses to everybody since the beginning of January.

His answer should get you upset if you’re following all the rules and have car insurance.

He just hadn’t gone yet. He hadn’t even made the effort to go to the DMV, despite the fact that they’re handling out licenses to everyone like candy.

When he found out his car was being impounded again he asked if he could have a chance. I told him no way. He then asked, “Can you just have the tow truck put the car in my backyard?” NO!

This article isn’t a debate if they should get licenses or not. That’s for someone else to decide. I’m just telling a story about what happens almost nightly where I work.

In California, everyone has the ability to get a driver’s license no matter what country they’re from or what their citizenship is. That’s fine, but when a person hasn’t even made the effort to go to the DMV then it’s beyond lazy and I have no sympathy.

Unfortunately they’re out there on the roads with the rest of us. Stay safe out there.

The 15 year old drunk driver

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Badge415

I set a new record last week.

But this isn’t a record that you would want. It’s another one of those stories where I say to myself, “Just when I thought I’d seen it all….”

It’s not every night someone steals a water truck from a construction site. I’m not even sure why someone would do that. Wouldn’t it be easier to steal a regular car that didn’t stick out like a sore thumb?

One this is for sure. No one ever said bad guys were smart.

It all started when an anonymous person called the police on Wednesday night to report a construction truck driving around in the park at 12:30AM. The caller heard a loud noise and didn’t know if anything was hit.

When the officers arrived in the area they saw a water truck swerving as it went down the road just a few hundred yards from the park. Within a few seconds the water truck crashed and the occupants ran.

After they were taken into custody a sergeant asked for a traffic unit. He said there were “a couple” of parked cars that were hit. When he said “a couple” I assumed it was two cars. That’s no big deal since it happens all the time.

When I arrived, I was surprised to see a water truck in the front yard at the corner. There were damaged and disabled cars everywhere for a grand total of eight, including the water truck.

This definitely wasn’t something you see every day.

The first victim vehicle was a Prius. Now, try to imagine what a large water truck can do to a Prius when it’s being driven by a 15 year old drunk driver. Let’s just say the Prius got treated like the redheaded stepchild who got stuffed into his locker by a bunch of high school football players.

The Prius was broadsided by the water truck and then crashed into the car that was parked in front of it. This spun the Prius around and forced it onto the sidewalk where it became a giant paper weight. Two more parked cars were hit on the street after that.

After treating the Prius like a dirty girlfriend, the water truck ended up in the front yard of a house and crashed into three cars in the driveway.

The three cars in the driveway belonged to one family and had extensive damage. Two of those cars had damage to both sides after being sandwiched together from the impact.

There were a grand total of 7 points of impact in this scene of destruction.

Then the officers told me there was another collision scene located at the baseball field where the original call went out. What the heck?

I had never taken a traffic collision at a baseball field before. So, why not add that to my list of firsts.

It turned out our gang member suspect, who is on probation, was doing donuts in the infield at the park. After that he drove behind the backstop and crashed into the dugout on the first base side, which was now a twisted mess of metal.

This 15 year old has the honor of being the youngest DUI driver I have ever seen. I’m sure there are others who have arrested younger DUI drivers, but this was my new record.

At the scene, the suspect showed no remorse. Not one ounce of regret for the damage he caused or the lives he put in danger by driving that truck while drunk. He was just a mean drunk who yelled at the cops from the backseat of the patrol car and wouldn’t even tell us his name. He just didn’t care.

This was just another example of the people out there who don’t care about the rules or laws and have no regard for the rest of us normal people, who work hard for what we have.

Even the little league baseball players are going to be affected because their field has no dugout now.

What a dick.

The Legend of Green Mist in Chino Hills

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Badge415

122

Did you ever go up to Green Mist?

Was there a local legend where you grew up that no one could explain? Was there a spot that was shrouded in mystery? We had such an area in Chino Hills called “Green Mist.”

I graduated from high school in 1989, but it wasn’t until 1997 when I was a police officer that the mystery of Green Mist was finally solved for me.

When I was in high school the kids would talk about an area in Chino Hills called Aerojet or Green Mist. The words were used interchangeably.

The local legend said there was a missile launch site up there. It was also a place of animal sacrifice and satanic worship. There was talk about a Green Mist or fog that hung over the hills at times that couldn’t be explained.

This area was the forbidden spot that you had to visit at night before leaving high school. It was just something you had to do.

So, one night during my senior year, four of us drove up to Chino Hills in my 73 VW Bug to visit Green Mist.

We drove down Peyton Dr, which dead ended at Woodview Rd. A right turn and then a quick left led you into a dark wooded area with no street lights. It was pitch black.

My car slowly went up the road as we waited for some satanic cult to appear in robes like zombies in the night. The trip up this road was like a conveyer belt with no reverse. There was no turning back. We were committed to go all the way to the top.

The goal was a locked gate with a security camera a few miles away. We just had to make it to the gate and back without the car stalling or some other crazy thing happening in the dark. This was Green Mist. According to legend, anything was possible.

This was the stuff horror movies were made of.

The road started to climb and curved back and forth as it went up the side of the hill. There were no guard rails and the drop off over the edge into the canyon added to the mystery of the area.

After an eternity in the dark we made it to the end of the road. No ghosts or people in robes attacked us so it was all downhill from here. Down we went, hoping not to encounter anyone. When we got back to Peyton Dr we were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. We even had a sense of accomplishment. Don’t laugh. It was just part of growing up in that area.

Let’s fast forward to 1997 when Aerojet came up again.

One night I was working when I stopped at a gas station. A man walked up to me and asked if his kids could look at my police car. I said sure and opened up the doors so they could look inside.

Out of the blue the father said, “I used to work for Aerojet.” What were the odds of him saying that 8 years after I graduated from high school? I don’t know why he brought it up, but I’m glad he did.

“What was Aerojet?” I asked.
“We were a defense contractor.”
“What did you do up there?”
“We made weapons for the military.”
“Was there a missile silo up there?”
“No,” he said with a laugh.

He went on to tell me they used to put land mines up in Chino Hills during the Vietman war. He said they used to take human cadavers and blow them up so see how much damage was done with a land mine. They would then take the body back and study it. They would then tweak the power of the land mine so it would maim rather than kill. When he saw the surprise on my face he said, “It was war.”

He also said every once in a while a cow would blow up and they eventually stopped doing that when more houses were built in the area.

That’s when he said the one thing that solved the mystery of Green Mist for me. During his story he told me how they exploded different gases to do tests. He said, “Sometimes there was fog and it would turn green from the gas. It was a green fog.”

That was the Green Mist! The mystery was solved.

Today, my son and I made the Green Mist journey. We drove up to Chino Hills and turned onto the old road that was narrower than I remembered. There were the same old trees with branches like arms and fingers reaching out to us as we made our way around the curves. At one point my 12 year-old said, “I can see how this could be scary.” I told him there was something weird about the area and he agreed.

You can only go so far now because the road is closed. We drove to another spot and parked. We then hiked uphill all the way up to the gate, which is still locked. The security camera is still there and stands as a symbol of the secrets the hills still have after all these years.

The sign warned of “Danger- Explosives Hazardous Waste Area” as a reminder that this place was once a “war factory” in the hills that no one knew about.

We stood triumphantly in front of the gate as we took in the view of the valley. It was hot after our uphill hike and the afternoon breeze felt good. We then started down the hill back to reality.

It’s funny how this one spot had been the subject of so many high school conversations for years from the 1960s to the mid-1990s.

And here I was again in 2015 with my son. We even took a selfie up there.

My son was fascinated by the story of Green Mist and he said he would hike up there again. As we walked back down he said, “That was fun.” As a father, that’s all you can ask for. He’ll never forget the first time he went up to see Green Mist, just like I never forgot mine.

I find it amazing how this road could capture my son’s curiosity 26 years later like it had for us back in the day.

As for the Aerojet area. It closed down in 1995 and is part of a $46 million cleanup. Google “Aerojet Chino Hills” and you’ll be shocked at what was going on up there for almost 40 years. Mustard and tear gas weapons were exploded, along with depleted uranium-tipped projectiles. There was also contaminated runoff that made its all the way to the Santa Ana River into Orange County. There were also cases of cancer that was blamed on the run off.

Today there’s a golf course and housing track called Vellano a few hundred feet away. I wonder if any of those people know the legend of Green Mist.

What’s the crash theme for tonight?

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Badge415

Every work day seems to have a theme. Sometimes it’s “red light” night where every crash I take involves someone who ran a red light. Sometimes it’s “rear end” or “knock a pole down” night. It just depends on which way the wind is blowing.

This week’s theme was, “12500 crashes into 12500.”

12500a is the California vehicle section for unlicensed driver. So, if a 12500 crashed into a 12500, wouldn’t that make it a 25,000 night?

Imagine how many cars are out on the road at one time. For the most part, people manage to avoid each other and not crash.

Now, how do two 12500s manage to crash into each other?

It’s like these two vehicles were 3,000lbs magnets that were destined to crash into each other. It was the perfect storm and all the planets aligned at the same time. It doesn’t happen that often and I can’t help but laugh a little bit when it does.

It happened once on Friday night and again on Saturday night. Most sport teams have a hard time doing a “repeat.” I didn’t even have to try. It just happened on its own.

On Friday night, two 12000s crashed into each other when one turned in front of another. Both drivers told me they had failed the written test at the DMV. How ironic.

On Saturday night, one 12500 was parked on the street. There was a car parked in front of him with no one in it. A few minutes later someone got into that vehicle and backed into the guy while he was sitting in his car. The suspect vehicle then took off.

A chase ensued between the hit and run victim and the suspect. They drove all over the place and went into another city while running red lights. Their driving was crazy enough to attract police attention and they were stopped in the neighboring city.

The officers determined that the collision occurred in my city so they called for us to respond. When I arrived, I found out that both drivers were the registered owners of their cars, but neither one of them had a license. It still amazes me how someone can be listed as the registered owner, but not have a driver’s license.

During the interviews I found out they both failed the DMV written test five times between the two of them. That has to be a record somewhere. It was truly the blind leading the blind.

Here’s the best part of the story. There was no damage to the victim vehicle.

They went through all of that for nothing. The biggest winner in the story was the tow truck company, which got to take two cars away as an impound prize.

Maybe they should stick to the Autopia car ride at Disneyland instead.

You can’t make this stuff up.