10 December 2009

Mopar V8, Model 66 S&W and the chase!



From the Cop side: OK, to carry on with my last story, if anybody's reading... I should describe the old cop cars we had in the end of the 70's. I was driving that Monaco, it had 360 V8 Mopar and it was really souped up, a 4 barrel carb and duel exhaust, with 3 speed automatic you could really get lost, seat belts but I wasn't scared the brakes were good and the tires were fair.


The motor was the old bullet proof Chrysler 360 V8. We did every trick to get as much power as we could, we had the mechanics check it often and throw in a new set of plugs whenever it ran rough. In an attempt to get just a few more horsepower out of it, I'd turn the air cleaner cover over so it could suck in more fresh air… and it sounded better…”VOOMMMM!”

The car was equipped with a Motorola FM high-band 2 way radio. At that time in that city, all the cops and fire department used the same channel. We had to "share" the air....some officer didn't understand that...which in this case was going to be important. Then, as now, some officer feel that if they talk a lot on the f--ing radio, that they are doing better police work. I suspect that those who like to talk alot are the ones who really do the least and annoy the shit out of the rest of us.

So...back to the story. I looked up from my warrant book and saw Louie riding towards me on a little Honda motor cycle. It looked like about a 250 cc. Louie was big guy..about 6 foot 3 inches and weighed way over 250 pounds. That was a big load for a little bike.

As Louie started to ride past me, I motioned with my hand for him to pull over. He didn't, and continued on and started to accelerate. I tried calling in on my radio, but one of the other officers...who we called "worm" was talking....and talking...and talking...and talking.

Worm had found a couple of 7 year olds hanging around a school, so he thought he had a major incident. His radio chatter went something like:

"Y-1 I'm out with 3 juvs, their names are.......bla, bla, bla....can you check NCIC, FBI, Interpol, DOJ, CIA, EIEIO, and call their parents...bla, bla, bla, bla, check for wants, bla, bla, bla, license status, bla...and bla, and bla I’ll take a cover unit, bla, bla…bla…."

Worm didn't let go of the mic button for a good 5 minutes sometimes and this was going to be one of those times.

I had been sitting idle with the motor running, so I threw the transmission into Drive and activated my red spot light. I tried to get on the air, but Worm was not letting go of the talk button. I had to continue on, even though I was going to be on my own until the radio cleared. Shit, there were only 4 of us on, but Worm had total control of the radio and he never stopped talking.

We were in a residential neighborhood, with a few long straight aways, and lots of short, narrow turning streets off the sides. Louie hit one of the main straight roads and started to pull away. I punched that old Mopar V8 and started smokin’ the rear tires as the siren came on.

The chase was on. Don’t believe any cop who tells you that they don’t enjoy a good chase—it’s the best kind of legal “high” you can have. Drive fast and catch bad guys. As we were a few blocks into the pursuit, I still was not able to get on the radio, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the road to change channels and we didn’t have cell phones in those days or I might have called 911. Dipshit Worm was hogging the radio.

A few more blocks and I started to gain on the Honda, but I could tell that Louie lacked basic riding skills. As he tried to slow or stop for a turn, he put his feet out.

I realized that at my speed and rate of gain, I was going to run over the bike, so I backed off a little—but at that point we were doing over 60 MPH in a 25 Zone. Feel the tension man what a ride. Louie took a corner and he almost side swiped a truck, I crossed my fingers just for luck, the pedestrians on the side walk were as white as a ghost,

I yelled for Louie to pull over as I had a license to fly and a lot more horsepower and driving skill than he did.
About 4 minutes into the chase, officer Worm let go of the radio mic and I was able to get one transmission: “Y 2 is in pursuit!” Then Worm started talking again. The watch commander finally got on the air and told Worm to stop talking and Y2 was in pursuit.

Then Louie went around another corner. As I came around I saw the Honda bike sliding on it’s side into a parked car with Louie sliding on the pavement behind the bike. By the time I came to stop, called in my location and got out with my gun drawn, Louie was standing up hopping around on his leg that wasn’t scraped up.

I holstered my Model 66 Smith and Wesson .357 magnum revolver and got out my handcuffs.

After cuffing Louie, I deployed my first aid kit and started to bandage up his road rash. He would live. I arrested him and took him to jail, he called his mommy to post his bail...

That was the good old days.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Believe me, you've got an audience.
2. Bought a model 66 many years ago.
3. Was for my brother. At the time flight crew were issued beat-up S&W .38's. He wanted a more durable weapon and I agreed.
4. Had to wait about 3 months as almost all of their production was going to police and the Feds.
5. Turned out his unit confiscated it and made him fly with the issue weapon.
6. Don't know if he got it back or not. Have to ask him.
7. Have a couple friends who are police officers: they agree with you on chases. Local authorities have pretty much prohibited hot pursuit around here.
8. The two things I get from them are:
a. Criminals are dumbasses (and leave 'em to the police -you understand nothing about them)
b. Screw profiling. Good police officers know bad guys when they see them. Period.
9. BTW, when I was a kid, one of my idiot friends was jap-slapped for calling a police officer a cop.
10. It was officer this or patrolman that -never cop.
11. Was impressed enough to make a life habit avoiding that word.
12. And yes, in those days, a teen age punk could be called to account for his transgressions. And be dealt appropriate punishment on the spot.
13. Probably couldn't work today. Worked fine back then.
14. Who loses on that deal?
V/R JWest

CI-Roller Dude said...

J.West
I had a 2nd cousin who was a cop "somewhere" in New York....the stories he used to tell of the 1960's were pretty bad.
The Model 66 was just a stainless steel model 19. Most Air Crews in the Air Force were issued a crappy light weight 38 special. It was light to carry, but not good for actually shooting.
I got a few more "chase" stories.

Coffeypot said...

Tell away, Dude. Which weapon do you prefer, auto or revolver?

CI-Roller Dude said...

Mr Coffeypot,
I carried a Colt .45 auto off duty the day I was sworn in...while being forced to carry a refuckingvolver on duty. When I became a police range master in 1981, I pretty much told my chief at that time that we should let officers carry whatever they can qualify with and ever since then I've carried a semi auto. As far as revovlers, I used Colt Troopers, several Smith & Wessons.
For Auto, I've carried Smith & Wesson, Berettas, Colt .45s and now I choose to carry a Para Oranance LDA .45--holds 14 rounds and it's very nice.
Revolvers did their duty, but for police work, they're totally out of date.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure you are a bad-ass cop that will be just fine, no matter the situation. I hope you never quit your blog or your writing.

CI-Roller Dude said...

Anonymous 2,
I can survive most things because I stopped giving a shit a long time ago.... I no longer have feelings, I just go through the motions and try to get a laugh on the way.

CI-Roller Dude said...

Some comments are too private to post...better off left unposted or done in an e-mail.