The unincorporated county area of Watts is policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
From 1955 to 1994, deputies assigned to the area worked out of the legendary Firestone Station. I had the privilege to be trained there in 1986, and I remained until the doors closed in 1994.
The eighties saw the height of the crack cocaine epidemic, and PCP was inexplicably the other narcotic of choice in South Los Angeles.
In my early years on the department, I was single, and as such I would volunteer to work the holidays so those with families could have the time off. At Firestone we would often work on skeleton crews for the holidays, meaning there were fewer cars fielded, and most would be one-man cars (which was not the norm for that district).
Thanksgiving Day in Firestone
Leading up to Thanksgiving, circa 1989, my very good friend and academy classmate, Johnny B., came up with the idea of a potluck for those of us who would be working the p.m. shift. He suggested we wear long-sleeve Class-A uniforms and ties for the occasion, dress usually reserved for interviews, ceremonies, and funerals. We would come in from the field and partake in the festivities, if all went well.
Johnny was working inside that day, assigned as the Firestone p.m. watch deputy.
I grumbled at the idea. Most of my long-sleeve Class-A uniforms were well-worn, and I only maintained one for special occasions that didn’t show the wear and tear of a ghetto cop’s standard attire. I didn’t want to wear it on patrol, but I did want to be a team player.
Briefing ended at 1400 hours. As I headed out to my patrol car with my equipment bag and a shotgun in hand, Johnny said, “Alright, see you in a bit for dinner. Be safe out there.”
The Duster
Minutes later I was assigned the handle on a family disturbance call in the 1500 block of East 87th Street. This location is south of Firestone Boulevard, and east of Compton Avenue. I had just pulled out of the station parking lot which is only a few blocks away.
Further detail on the call came in: the disturbing party, an uninvited, unwanted male family member, was under the influence of PCP (Phencyclidine), and was tearing up the home.
We referred to people high on PCP as “dusters.”
PCP, an animal tranquilizer, has an effect on humans that is anything but tranquil. In fact, its use often results in schizophrenic behaviors and superhuman strength. That coupled with the attendant immunity to pain, it makes the users of said drug a challenge for law enforcement; there were never easy answers.
Coordinating the Call
I told my assisting units we would meet at Compton and 87th Street and roll in together. When I arrived, I saw a CHP (California Highway Patrol) vehicle abandoned in the middle of the street with both doors open.
The California Highway Patrol enforced traffic in unincorporated districts of Los Angeles County. Firestone “chippies” were a breed among themselves, in that they too were addicted to the action and fast pace of working in a high crime neighborhood. As such, they would monitor our radio frequencies, and it wasn’t uncommon to have them show up at our hot calls.
I announced on the radio, “Chippies are 97 (at the scene), I’m rolling in. All responding units roll directly to the location.”
Holiday Family Melee
There was yelling and screaming as I approached the open front door. I ran in to find two CHP officers fighting with a man, flailing about through the kitchen and dining room, knocking over furniture. Four women stood screaming and yelling for the officers to stop what they were doing. I announced my presence and jumped in to help. As I did, the women watching joined in to help the suspect. They were pulling on our uniforms and grabbing at our arms and legs. We fended them off and continued fighting to control and handcuff the suspect. Additional deputies arrived and ran in to assist us. By then, the women were punching and kicking us as we fought with the suspect. The assisting deputies tried to restrain the women, which resulted in separate fights breaking out inside the home.
When the dust settled there were four women and a “duster” under arrest. The house was in shambles with overturned and broken furniture throughout.
Going to Jail
One of my assisting units transported the suspect, who had to be restrained with handcuffs and leg hobbles. I crammed all four women into the back seat of my car, and to say they were angry, is an understatement. For the short ride to the station, they yelled and cursed and said horrible things about my mother, all of people. I yelled, “Happy Thanksgiving,” with some expletives, pissed at them and none too happy with my buddy, Johnny B.
When we arrived at the station, several deputies and a sergeant met us in the parking lot to see the end result of what had become quite the Thanksgiving Day event. As I unloaded the women from the back seat of my car, Johnny stood with his trademark grin. My uniform was torn and tattered and bloodstained. My tie was nowhere to be found. I marched the women past him and grumbled, “Happy Thanksgiving, pal.”
Post-Fight Festivities
Later we laughed about the incident while enjoying a nice meal in the briefing room. Being a bachelor at the time, my only contribution had been a couple of cans of vegetables. Normally, I might have felt sheepish about digging into the main course with so little invested, but I felt I had paid my dues that day, and dug in unapologetically. It turned out to be a pretty good Thanksgiving after all.
* * *
Miss those days, albeit I worked at SGPD 86-96, we surely had our share of the fun times being neighbors to Lynwood, Paramount and strayed into Walnut Park a few times. Of course our uniforms allowed us to asert “don’t ever f**k with the Sheriff’s Dept.” while straying…thanks for the memories!
We were next-door neighbors… I’m sure our paths have crossed. I miss those days too. Thanks, Rick.
My Thanksgiving day story contribution~Got a call of a rolling 415 in a beater pick up truck. When we arrived we found the truck on the side of the road with the passenger bleeding profusely from a stab wound. He later died. Story was him and his brother (the driver) were arguing about who had done more for the other this Thanksgiving, when driver/brother outted with his knife and stabbed passenger/brother in the chest, thereby ending the argument. fun times.
We had a similar situation occur on Superbowl Sunday, one brother stabbing the other. It was an argument over chicken.
Thanks, Rick. Happy Thanksgiving!
I do miss them good old days, especially since turning 76 a couple of weeks ago. Only at Firestone for a year and then to Lynwood… I worked the Brook – 15 & 253 PMs.
God bless you, sir. Happy Thanksgiving.
Working in Medical Records at Alhambra Psychiatric Hospital while PCP was popular, whenever a “duster” was brought in, a Code was announced on the loudspeaker. Non patient care folks like me locked ourselves in our offices, while all the largest male employees ran out to meet the transport vehicle. One time it took 10 men to restrain a “duster” that came in!
You didn’t mention that “dusters” also have high body temperature, & tend to remove clothing. Coming out of the multi level freeway exchange downtown onto the n/b Hollywood Freeway one afternoon, I was distracted by a naked man running across the freeway, & rear ended the van ahead of me at about 5 MPH. About 4 LAPD officers showed up to “help” me, don’t know if anyone caught the “duster.”
Yes, I have many stories of naked dusters.. I’ve never been compelled to write one yet. lol. Great story though, Valerie. Thank you!
Yeah, you gotta love Thanksgiving: families getting together and then realizing they have nothing to be thankful for and the brawls start. Throw in some drugs and alcohol and things start flying. I remember dealing with those PCP idiots, too. One time we had a DUI who’d purportedly taken some. He was not violent, but acted with an incredible lethargy and ignorance. We ended up taking him to the hospital ER where they did a catheter on him to try and extract some urine. He ended up pulling it out himself. I’m glad you survived the holidays. Stay safe.
Thanks, Mike. Those were some wild times, but they also made more sense than what’s going on today.
Best thing that ever happened to me was to be “Admin Transferred” to FPK from LYN – from the frying pan to the fire(stone)!!
Hmm…. no name, wonder who this is…
Great memories from a very unique place to work!
Great memories, indeed. Thanks, Rick.
Great story, Danny. Kind of reminds me of a Thanksgiving while I was at Pasadena PD prior to my LASD career. I was in foot pursuit of a knucklehead and chased him through a front door and out the back door of a house in the hood. Ran right by a family (totally unrelated) sitting down to their turkey dinner ( I think they were saying grace. At least that’s the way I remember it)! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Art. That’s a great story. I can picture it. lol.
Were any of the arrestees named Huckstable?
I don’t recall.
245 report at MLK. Man stabbed with serving fork for taking the last turkey leg. 90001 Thanksgiving. No crime.
Woman stabbed a man for taking the last turkey leg. Thanksgiving in 90001. I’d go back in a second. Thanks for the stories my son.
They were the good old days.
I love your blog. This reminded me of another Thanksgiving in FPK. My partner and I had arrested a drunk driver who had his teenage daughter in the car with him. We were waiting for a tow truck; While seated in the back seat the suspect managed to slip a cuff and grab for my partner’s neck.. I got out and dealt with the guy. You were a station detective and responded due to the use of force. At the time the suspect’s daughter confirmed the suspect’s actions and even thanked us saying “He would have killed us.”
Later of course she tried to recant her statement and made some false accusations… Fortunately for my partner and I you had recorded her.
Thanks for being a heads up detective and doing a great job. Sorry for the extra work I caused for you and the guys. Good times.
Adam, thank you! I do remember that incident. Good times. Good cops. Thanks for the very kind words and the shared memory!
Danny,
That brings back memories of things I did (some of them when I worked with you) which cannot be understood by pretty much anyone unless you once worked FPK 11 , PM shift. Divine intervention is the only thing that I can figure that has kept me out of custody and alive… But I definitely miss the days of dancing with a good 390P…
Lol.. you, my friend, are a funny man!
Thanks for the story. Those times were going to last forever, but they were over before we knew it. But we’ve got great memories. I’m glad your capturing some of them. “Johnny B.”
Hey, Johnny! You outted yourself. Thank you. Yes, those were great times and our before we knew it.
Another great read. Dusters could be absolutely unpredictable in their behavior. Sometimes even comically so 🙂
Indeed… I almost miss them at times. Thanks, Dean!
Great story, sir! Mayhem on Thanksgiving!
Haha, yes, the good old days! lol thank you!