- 6 minutes ago
Sgt. Friday and Officer Gannon are tasked with investigating an armed robbery. The investigation becomes complicated when a fellow police officer is identified as a prime suspect.
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00:26This is the city, Los Angeles, California.
00:30It's a city on wheels, constantly on the move.
00:33There are three and a half million cars in Los Angeles, over 132 miles of freeways.
00:39The maximum speed limit is 65 miles an hour.
00:42This is Central Receiving Hospital.
00:44On an average day, there are 161 accidents.
00:47Every month, 37 people die.
00:50It's a high price to pay to get somewhere in a hurry, especially when they never get there.
00:54This is where their cars end up, what's left of them.
00:59This is where the victims end up, what's left of them.
01:02When they do, I go to work.
01:04I carry a badge.
01:07It was Thursday, June 26th.
01:09It was clear in Los Angeles.
01:10We were working the day watch out a felony follow-up section, Accident Investigation Division.
01:14The boss is Captain Jaynes.
01:16My partner's Bill Gannon.
01:19My name's Friday.
01:22At the request of Public Information Division, Bill and I had a breakfast meeting with Herald Examiner reporter Norm Jacoby.
01:28We met at a place across the street from the police building called the Shield Cafe.
01:43The story you are about to see is true.
01:46The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
02:11Are you sure I can't buy you two some breakfast?
02:13No thanks, Jake.
02:13We've eaten.
02:14I'm kind of hungry.
02:16Baking an egg sure smells good.
02:17Did you get that art for me?
02:19Right here, Jake.
02:20Good.
02:20We'll look at it in a minute.
02:21As I mentioned to Cook and PID, paper wants a rather broad piece on accidents.
02:25I'd like to take in the entire state, not just L.A., okay?
02:27Right.
02:28What do you need?
02:28In the state of California, what makes traffic the big problem?
02:31Well, for one thing, there are over 18 million people in the state.
02:34There are over 10 million registered vehicles.
02:36Well, how does that compare to other states?
02:37Far more, Jake.
02:39One out of every nine automobiles in the nation is registered here in California.
02:42What can you give me on the number of traffic accidents in L.A. last year?
02:4658,910.
02:47How many people killed?
02:49452.
02:49And injured?
02:5049,000.
02:51You two remember your figures pretty well, don't you?
02:53You do when you live with them every day, Jake, and watch them go up.
02:56How about tailgating?
02:57The guy behind you will ride your rear bumper all the way.
02:59Probably the single major cause of pileups.
03:02If people would just apply the basic rule of following, allow one car length behind the
03:07car ahead of you for every 10 miles of speed you're traveling.
03:10If you're going 60, allow six times the length of your car in order to stop safely.
03:14All right.
03:15Let's get to the art.
03:19Jake, you'll notice that most of these photos were taken on the freeways.
03:22A great many of them were head-on collisions.
03:24Yeah.
03:25Most people are driving them at 65 to 70 miles an hour.
03:28But let's just take a speed of 55 miles an hour and there's a head-on.
03:32Do you have any idea what happens in that first second of the impact?
03:35Suppose you tell me.
03:36Well, among others, Cornell University has done quite a bit of study on the nature of
03:40auto crashes.
03:41Yeah, I know.
03:41Their people have taken that first second of impact and they've broken it down into
03:45tenths.
03:46Now, you're driving 55 miles an hour and you have a head-on.
03:49This is what happens.
03:52In the first tenth of that fatal second, the front bumper and grille collapses.
03:56During the second tenth, your hood rises and strikes the windshield.
03:59Fenders begin wrapping themselves around the object of collision.
04:02You slam on your brakes, but your body is still moving at 55 miles an hour.
04:05You stiffen your legs for the jolt, but they both snap at the knee joint.
04:09During the third tenth of a second, your body catapults from the seat.
04:12Broken knees ram into the dashboard.
04:14The steering wheel begins to collapse.
04:15The steering column drives towards your chest.
04:18In the fourth tenth, two feet of the car's front end are totally demolished, but the rear
04:22end is still traveling at 35 miles an hour.
04:24Your body is moving forward at 55.
04:26In the fifth tenth, your body's impaled on the steering column.
04:29Blood rushes into your lungs.
04:31During the sixth tenth, the force of impact is built up so that your feet are ripped out of
04:35their shoes.
04:35The brake pedal shears off.
04:37The car frame buckles in the middle.
04:38Your head slams into the windshield.
04:40In the seventh tenth of a second, the entire car body is distorted.
04:44Hinges rip off.
04:45Doors spring open.
04:46The seat flails loose, striking you from behind.
04:48But it really doesn't matter.
04:50You're dead.
04:51You aren't around to experience the final three tenths of this one second.
04:55Neither are your passengers.
04:57It doesn't take long to die.
05:17Bill and I reported back to Accident Investigation Division.
05:20We finished work for the day and we're just getting ready to go home.
05:23Captain Jaynes had another idea.
05:244.45 p.m.
05:25Sorry, I have to work late.
05:27Hit and run in Magnolia in Vermont.
05:28Yeah.
05:29Pedestrians were in a marked crosswalk.
05:31T-car will be waiting for you.
05:32Any worried on the victims?
05:33Both DOA.
05:434.52 p.m.
05:45Because of outbound evening commuter traffic, it took us 20 minutes to get to the scene of
05:48the accident.
05:51The officers who completed the initial report met us at the location.
05:54They filled us in.
05:55The victims were an elderly man and woman.
05:58They were crossing the street from opposite directions when they were hit.
06:00They both died instantly.
06:02The officers had taken statements from half a dozen witnesses.
06:05They gave us their names.
06:07They told us that two of the witnesses were waiting for us in a nearby bar.
06:23Ed Neiman, Norton Bernard.
06:25I'm Neiman.
06:26This is Norton Bernard.
06:27Police officers were investigating that hit and run.
06:29I understand you witnessed it.
06:31Yeah, we've seen it.
06:32Did you see what kind of a car it was?
06:34Yeah, one of those big jobs, you know, like Lincoln or a caddy.
06:37Looked like a Buick to me.
06:38Dark blue.
06:38Was that the color?
06:39Dark blue?
06:40Yeah, that's right.
06:41You couldn't miss that.
06:42Man, I mean, there's gotta have been a dent in the front end like you won't believe.
06:46He must have been making 60 easy.
06:48Anybody else with you two at the time of the accident?
06:50Yeah, talk to Dugan.
06:51He'll tell you I'm right.
06:52It was a Buick.
06:53Who's Dugan?
06:54A buddy of ours, cab driver.
06:55He saw the whole thing, too.
06:56You call him, he'll tell you I'm right.
06:58What's his full name?
06:59Dugan.
06:59Bob Dugan.
07:00You know his home address?
07:01No, but his cab stands right outside there.
07:03You might catch him.
07:04Thanks.
07:05Hey, you want to do me a favor?
07:06Yeah, what's that?
07:07When you find out for sure what kind of car it is, will you let me know?
07:32Yeah, who's there?
07:37Police officers.
07:40Yeah?
07:40Did you witness a hit-and-run accident at Magnolia in Vermont this afternoon at 4.15?
07:45Yeah.
07:45We'd like to talk to you about it.
07:47I'd invite you in, but the place is a mess.
07:49How'd you guys find out I saw it?
07:50You want to tell us what you saw?
07:51Look, I got no time for that, Jazz.
07:53If I had to play witness for every accident I saw, I'd spend half of my life in the courtroom.
07:56Look, you get paid for this kind of work.
07:57I don't.
07:58Are you going to tell us what you saw?
08:00Why not?
08:00You're here.
08:01I was dropping off a fare at a bar there, and I was heading east on Magnolia.
08:05There was a crosswalk right in front of me, and this old lady stepped off the curb just as I
08:08let my fare out.
08:10It was a buck and a quarter with a ten-cent tip.
08:12I heard some jerk squeal his brakes, and I looked up just in time to see an old lady and
08:16an old man get hit but good by some joker in a Lincoln.
08:19He was barreling down from Vermont, heading west.
08:22He took off like the Russians were in Pasadena.
08:24You say it was a Lincoln?
08:25Yeah, a dark blue.
08:26New, maybe.
08:27Well, it wasn't more than a year old.
08:29You were pretty close.
08:30Did you get the license number?
08:31Could you describe the driver?
08:32No, he was moving too fast.
08:33You remember anything else about the car?
08:35Bumper stickers, anything like that?
08:37No, that's all.
08:38Okay.
08:39Thanks, Dugan.
08:39Hey, wait a minute.
08:40You figure I'm going to have to go to court?
08:41Maybe.
08:42I got to lose a day's pay so somebody can collect a big chunk of insurance money on those two
08:46senior citizens?
08:47Well, now, you'll do better than they did, won't you?
08:49How's that?
08:50You're alive to collect yours.
09:007.33 p.m.
09:01Before leaving the area, we interviewed three other witnesses.
09:04Two of them corroborated Dugan's statement.
09:07We had an Area C broadcast put out.
09:09We described the hit-and-run vehicle as a dark blue late model Lincoln with possible damage to the windshield
09:15and front end.
09:187.48 p.m.
09:19We returned to the office.
09:20We filled the captain in on what we had.
09:22Lab's checking the victim's clothing for traces of paint, any other physical evidence.
09:25I'd like to give what we've got to the newspapers, radio, and TV.
09:28Go ahead.
09:29If I had something to hide, I wouldn't want seven million people looking for it.
09:39Friday, June 27th.
09:40As the result of the front-page play the papers had given the story, we'd had several phone calls.
09:458.33 a.m.
09:47We checked them all out, but they led nowhere.
09:50I called SID and talked to forensic chemist Ray Murray.
09:54His report was negative.
09:55He had found nothing on the victim's clothing we could go on.
10:01Joe, might be something.
10:02Yeah.
10:03A woman over on Magnolia claimed she saw the accident.
10:05Yeah.
10:06Says she knows where the hit-and-run vehicle is.
10:15The woman who called lived in an apartment house on the corner of Magnolia and Vermont.
10:198.48 a.m.
10:22I'm glad you could come.
10:23It's bothered me ever since I saw it and didn't call the police right away.
10:26And when I read about it this morning, I knew I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't tell
10:28everything I knew.
10:29I saw the whole thing right here from my window.
10:31But I didn't know it was him until this morning.
10:33I waited until he left, and then I checked.
10:34You didn't know it was who, ma'am?
10:36Mr. Stewart, with a U in it.
10:38He lives right here in the building, practically next door.
10:40I spotted him right away.
10:41From the day he moved in, I knew he was strange.
10:42Claims he's an architect, but I checked.
10:44You know what he does?
10:45Makes dolls, builds toy houses.
10:46He was the one who ran over those people.
10:48This Stewart, what's his first name?
10:49Would you know?
10:50Why, what if he'd put his first name on his mailbox?
10:52But he doesn't.
10:53People like that never do, you know.
10:54Now, what makes you so sure that Stewart's the man that ran those two people down?
10:57I saw it happen right there, right out my window.
10:59I thought he looked suspicious when he came in last night, and this morning I looked.
11:02He didn't take his car to work like he usually does.
11:04I went down to the garage.
11:05We have indoor parking in this building, you know, and there it was.
11:07His car, all covered up.
11:09What kind of a car does he drive, would you know?
11:10Oh, I don't know about things like that, but it's the same car that hit those people.
11:13I bet there's blood all over it.
11:14You say the car is parked in the garage?
11:16If he didn't sneak back in and slip it out, but I've been watching.
11:18I can see the driveway from here.
11:20All right, Miss Bronson.
11:21Thank you very much.
11:22We'll check it out.
11:22It's my duty, isn't it?
11:23I mean, as a good citizen and all, it's not like I was meddling in other people's business.
11:27No, ma'am.
11:28I don't like to mix in other people's affairs, but when I smell something wrong, I keep my
11:34in other world.
11:56A blue Lincoln, it ain't.
12:069 20 a.m bill called the office to fill the captain in he told us that a garage owner
12:11on
12:11pico boulevard had called in he said that the previous night he had replaced a shattered
12:15windshield in a blue lincoln sedan the garage was located on west pico near la cienega boulevard
12:22it took us about 20 minutes to get there 9 40 a.m the owner's name was gus archer he
12:29showed us the
12:30windshield he had removed from the blue lincoln sedan pulled it out of a blue 64 lincoln fella
12:35said he'd hit a dog seemed pretty shook up when he came in what time was that about 6 37
12:40last night
12:41somewhere around there said he'd need the car this morning i told him i'd make him a good deal on
12:44taking the dents out doing the rest of body work he said he'd check with his insurance man first
12:49and maybe he'd get back for an estimate you have his name address sure i keep good records license
12:54number registration all that right on the job sheet had to charge him overtime for the labor i was here
12:59till 9 last night getting it done we're gonna have to impound this windshield sure i read in
13:04the paper about those two old people getting killed you figure maybe this guy done it well one
13:09thing's sure isn't it what's that he's gonna have to come up with a better story on that windshield
13:2010 15 a.m we took the damaged windshield along with us it would be booked as evidence
13:26the registered owner of the suspect vehicle was clayton fillmore the address was on bradbury street
13:31in west los angeles yes we're police officers we're looking for a clayton fillmore yes may we
13:37come in all right i hope this won't take long i have an appointment and i'm late you're mrs fillmore
13:46are
13:46you yes your husband at home no he isn't what's he done this time we'd like to talk to him
13:51he's been
13:52drinking again is that it we're investigating a traffic accident man and clay's involved do you
13:56or your husband own a blue 1964 lincoln sedan clay does yes the car here now he drove it to
14:02work
14:02where's that mrs fillmore the craig building on wilshire all right thank you miss fillmore you'll
14:07forgive me if i don't appear too interested in all this how's that miss fillmore nothing absolutely
14:12nothing that clay does would surprise me anymore he hasn't always been this way it wasn't when i married
14:17him is that right are you men married i am then maybe you can tell me what happens to a
14:23man after
14:23five years of marriage seems to be the magic number doesn't it five years what makes him change
14:29how can two people feel they're so much in love and then fall out of love so easily
14:33well i wouldn't know ma'am clay's really home these days this house is just a way station for him
14:38place to change his clothes park his car we go for days at a time without seeing each other
14:44i wish i knew i wish i knew what i've done wrong sorry miss fillmore and again thank you i'm
14:51sorry
14:51too i guess all women become over talkative at a time like this don't they how's that when they're on
14:57way to see their lawyer about a divorce the craig building was less than eight blocks from the scene
15:19of the hit and run accident 10 46 a.m it was a new high-rise office building fillmore had
15:26an office
15:27on the 28th floor may i help you we're police officers we'd like to see clayton fillmore one moment
15:33there are two policemen here to see you
15:37would you go right in please thank you miss
15:43well i've been expecting you coincidence you should come just now my attorney paul bateman
15:49my name's friday this bill gannon my car is parked in the garage of this building on the second level
15:54space 36 my attorney tells me you'll probably impound it as evidence he further advises me to make no
15:59additional statement that correct paul that's right i've informed my client of his constitutional
16:04rights please state the charge all right sir mr fillmore you're under arrest for twenty thousand
16:09one vc hit and run felony and 192 three apc felony manslaughter all right suppose we have to go
16:17downtown huh yes sir uh marjorie cancel my appointments for the rest of the day yes sir anything else uh
16:31you might call my wife and tell her i won't be home for dinner
16:4211 05 a.m before we left the craig building we checked clayton fillmore's car it was a blue 64
16:48lincoln sedan we made arrangements to have it towed into the central property impound garage
16:55fillmore would be booked on two counts of hit and run felony and two counts of felony manslaughter
16:59how much long is this going to take paul we should have you out on bail in time for lunch
17:04well fine all right sergeant friday lead the way don't look so hangdog how old did you say those
17:10two were that you say i hit the woman was 67 the man was 73 well i'm sorry but it
17:16isn't as if they
17:17were going to live much longer anyway isn't that right i'd suggest you don't say anything more clay
17:21but it's true i am sorry yeah well sorry won't bring them back fillmore the dedicated cop now you have
17:27a
17:27right to remain silent clay i advise you to do so there's no rule against him listening is it
17:32depends on what you say to him sergeant yeah well i'll try to be careful fillmore maybe as far as
17:37you're concerned those two people lived all the life you figure they should but what gives you the
17:40right to end it for him it doesn't really bother you does it you were in a 30 mile zone
17:44you were
17:45doing 50 maybe 55 miles an hour those two people you hit were knocked 77 feet six inches down the
17:49street from the point of impact we believe he'd been drinking this time too this isn't the first time
17:54for you you got a drunk driving record that goes back to your high school days every time you've
17:58beaten it haven't you down the hall there's traffic enforcement division we've got good laws and they
18:03try to enforce them but they got an impossible job there are 130 miles of freeway in this city
18:08better than 6 000 miles of surface streets every 10 minutes there's an accident every 10 minutes
18:12somebody like you tries to kill himself or somebody else you blew 20 minutes of that time all by
18:17yourself mister you kill two human beings two people who are alive and breathing seconds before you ran
18:22them down and you've got the monumental gall to stand here and say they wouldn't have lived much
18:27longer you may be out on bail in a couple hours and if so you take this to lunch with
18:31you two people
18:32are lying over there in the county morgue and you put them there you were in a hurry the night
18:35you
18:35killed them you're in a hurry now to see how fast you can forget i want to wish you a
18:39lot of luck
18:40i hope it takes the rest of your life now have a good lunch
18:561 15 p.m bill and i began putting all the paperwork together on the film or hit and run
19:00joe bill thought you'd like to know yes sir clayton fillmore just walked out and made bail
19:141 35 p.m we got a call at forensic chemist ray murray in the scientific investigation division
19:20wanted to see us 1964 blue lincoln sedan found a small piece of leather here at the front bumper
19:26matches the shoe the male victim was wearing cloth imprint on the vehicle matches his clothing
19:30anything else ray yeah blood on the windshield matches the female victim hair embedded in the
19:35glass matches up too no doubt about it joe yeah fillmore's car killed them both
19:42a complaint against clayton fillmore was issued by the district attorney's office
19:46three months later the case came to trial
19:503 15 p.m friday september 15th well well suspended sentence three years probation 250 fine
19:59doesn't seem like much does it oh i don't know that's 125 for each life
20:15thursday february 18th five months had gone by since the clayton fillmore trial
20:196 p.m we were just getting ready to go home for the day
20:23got one for you go on traffic wants us to cover they're shorthanded
20:26two car pile up at sixth and vixel rough one yes sir four victims involved
20:30yeah two doa two critical
20:36we left the office and headed across town for sixth and vixel streets
20:59friday and gannon a id wheelock two mary 139 pretty bad sergeant two of them didn't last five minutes till
21:05the ambulance got here a couple of teenage girls man and wife in the impact vehicle both
21:09critic you checked with witnesses yeah wrote down eight of them what'd they do run a signal
21:14yeah man and his wife ran it on red must have been doing 50 according to the witnesses
21:18you got the victim's names wheelock right sergeant thanks
21:23bill man and wife driving the impact vehicle
21:25yeah mr and mrs clayton fillmore
21:28sure is a mess isn't it sure is
21:406 48 p.m after checking with various witnesses who saw the accident bill and i drove over to central
21:46receiving hospital to make the usual follow-up report
21:50we talked to the doctor in attendance he told us that clayton fillmore was under heavy sedation and could not
21:55be talked to
21:56mrs fillmore was in better condition what at first appeared to be a critical condition was further diagnosed as traumatic
22:02shock
22:02she had seven broken ribs and was suffering from contusions
22:06the doctor said we could see her for a few minutes
22:15mrs fillmore clay have you seen clay no ma'am he's under sedation oh dear god dear god how did
22:23it happen
22:23how did it happen clay promised me what's that mrs fillmore he said if i dropped the divorce proceedings
22:30he'd straighten out he hasn't has he doesn't look like it ma'am he killed those two young girls didn't
22:36he
22:37yes ma'am i wish i were dead
22:41oh how i wish i were dead try to take it easy mrs fillmore
22:47did they tell you what happened to clay he's going to lose both his legs
22:52both his legs yes ma'am he was in a hurry to get to this cocktail party
22:57he had a few drinks in his office before he left i tried to tell him not to have any
23:03more to drink
23:03he wouldn't listen he never does
23:09his drinks cost him his legs yes ma'am we were late leaving his office i tried to tell him
23:16he said not to worry we'd make it on time
23:20was in a hurry sergeant he won't be anymore
23:43the story you have just seen is true the names were changed to protect the innocent
23:50on may 20th trial was held in department 185 superior court of the state of california
23:56in and for the county of los angeles in a moment the results of that trial
24:04the suspect was found guilty on two counts of felony manslaughter
24:07felony manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year
24:13or in the state prison for not more than five years since this was his second offense
24:18clayton r fillmore received the maximum sentence
24:21however because of his permanent disability resulting from the accident
24:26the sentence was suspended he was also forbidden to ever drive a vehicle again as long as he lived
24:32despite the fact that artificial legs would have made it possible for him to do so
24:36to be good
25:01THE END
25:30THE END
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