Felons Interrupted
Thursday, July 31 2008 | Comments (0)
Dog and the gang are back in Hawaii at last and they pursue two cases back to back, with little time to rest. One of them presents the challenge of confronting a fugitive in a public restaurant.
Back in Hawaii now, the Da Kine office has been redecorated and the crew if putting finishing touches on the decor. The Chapmans did some of the work themselves: Duane Lee laid the new carpet, Leland repainted the walls, they did a complete makeover. Beth and Dog admire their new front window. Dog banters with some of the people passing by, especially one toddler who recognizes Beth and Dog and keeps pointing to their pictures in the window and then to them. When Dog asks, "who's the boss!" The boy points to Beth, so he must have really seen the show.
There is no rest for those who chase the wicked and the crew meets to discuss the felon of the day, Leo. Leo, out on a $20,000 bond, is charged with possession and drug paraphernalia. His girlfriend, the co-signer of the bond, says he's getting high again, is abusive, and even through a chair through their picture window. She wants off the bond. They decide to revoke his bail.
Leo is not new to crime. years ago he did 5 years for possession and has been in and out of prison since for drugs, car theft, and more. "So we're not going after Peter Pan here," Dog reminds them, "he could get dangerous, he could get physical, he could get crazy." They suit up and head to Leo's address, ready for anything. Dog assumes that, since Leo is a seasoned felon, he will arm himself and go into hiding as soon as he realizes he's being pursued.
Suited up and ready to go, the team heads to the cars, only to be interrupted by a phone call. Leo's place was raided that morning and he's already in custody. The chase is off.
Let down and frustrated, Dog confirms that Leo is in jail. All of them feel let down. Leland says, "We got all hyped up and ready to go and our adrenaline started to flow a little bit and all of a sudden, 'oh, never mind,' it was just a teaser."
Dog tries to look on the bright side. The police found all sorts of drugs at his place. Maybe it was best they took him down, "You just have to take deep breaths and go after the next guy."
The next guy is John, charged with several counts of possession. Dog says that just by looking at his mug shot he can tell John is a runner. The cosigner says he's been "running amok" and has been associating with other criminals. He's been out late at night stealing stuff, sells it off a swap meets in the morning, then spends the afternoon and evening running around town. They decide to revoke his $11,000 bond.
They start to call him, but just then the co-signer calls to say they are out together, walking to the polo fields near his house. Again they suit up and head out. They grab John's file and Duane Lee notes that when John first came in they pegged him as a sketchy character. They marked his file with a red flag to say "watch this guy." Dog feels that getting him off the streets will make a lot of people safer.
They can't get the co-signer back on the phone, so they cruise by the polo field looking for him. The get a tip that he may be on a side street near a McDonald's and Beth and Lyssa finally spot him sitting in a truck parked on the side of the road.
The team surrounds the truck and catch John by surprise. He is obviously high and he's cuffed before he really seems to know what's going on. They pull him out of the truck and Leland searches him. He seems to be clean, so Leland puts leg irons on him and they get him into their vans.
Duane Lee notes that he has known this guy awhile and he's going downhill; he looks much worse than he did a couple years ago. He's been using for 15 years and Dog talks to him about quitting drugs--about whether, after all these years, he even can quit. Dog reminds John that he should be a father to his kids and needs to kick the stuff to do that. That gets to John, who agrees to get into rehab if they can just get keep him out of jail.
John admits he's never tried rehab and Dog tells him he'd like it. If nothing else, he'd gain a little weight and look healthier. John is 41, and Dog says that he knows from experience that it'll only take a couple sandwiches to fatten him up. At "our age" (Dog is 50) you see it quick on your gut." That gets John laughing and once again Dog has turned an enemy into a friend.
Dog tells John that he hopes he learns two things from his encounter with the Dog. That Dog is his buddy and that he needs to quit drugs. "You should consider this a warning; a shot across the bow. You need to quit this stuff!"
As Dog goes into the jail to arrange to drop John off, John confesses to Duane Lee that he has a few ounces of dope in his sock. Duane Lee takes it and dumps it out on the street, spreading it around with his foot. He mentions this to Dog after John is inside and Both Dog and Duane harass Leland a bit for missing it ... twice! Once when he searched John and again when he put the leg cuffs on him.
Da Kine has a tank full of tropical fish, and Duane Lee feels it adds a calming feeling to the office. The fish are sick though and everyone is discussing what to do about the "ick" (Duane Lee impressively rattles off the full Latin name for the disease). Beth is especially worried about her dogfish, "It's the coolest fish we've got."
They bring a fish specialist in who medicates the tank and feeds the dogfish by hand. He's sick, but not as bad as they thought. Duane thinks the dogfish looks better already, "Look at him. He's ready to fight!"
Its time to go back to work. The next guy is Leo, again. He's back out and Duane has found out that they never dropped his bond. They are still responsible for him! Beth is pissed, "We let $20 grand slip through the cracks?!" They gear up to go get the guy.
They bring up an aerial map to show where Leo's house is, behind his mother's house on a large tract of land out in the country. They work out a plan to spy on his house so they can catch him outside; they do't want to try to confront him inside the house. They suit up and head out.
His house seems deserted. They are sure a look out spotted them on the way into the property and there are lots of neighbors watching them as they search through the trashed out areas around the house. Any one of them could be calling Leo to tell him what Dog and his crew are up to. They question some of the neighbors, but no one has seen him.
Dog doesn't trust him and they continue to search the area for him. Eventually they decide to move the cars away from the house, but stay near enough they can watch the road in. Leo calls again immediately and swears he'll be there in 25 minutes. He is obviously scared. Dog wants to wait. Beth doesn't think he'll show.
Leo keeps calling to say he's getting closer. Dog gets on the phone and doesn't cut him any slack. He screams into the phone, "Show up at your house in five minutes or run!" They head to the house and Duane and Dog both have angry conversations with the panicked felon. Dog wants to keep on him, keep him angry and off balance so he'll do something stupid.
Leo does. He admits he's at a local McDonald's and they head over to find him. He's sitting by a window where they can clearly see them, though he doesn't move when Dog motions to him to come out. He doesn't answer when Dog asks him his name either and it takes Dog dragging him out of his seat to get Leo's attention. They drag him away from his meal and cuff him. Dog reminds Leland to search him good, then they get him in the car and off to jail.
Leo insists he's been off meth for several months, "I gotta go to work man." He is frantic, yelling that he works hard, has been staying off drugs, built that house himself and pays the mortgage. He doesn't seem to understand why Dog is after him. He didn't call in when he was supposed to, but he insists that he was in jail that day and couldn't. The "stuff" the police found at his house was an empty crack pipe out in his yard. He is clean and is struggling to stay clean.
They argue all the way to the jail. Leo insists that all his crimes are car related and that he doesn't traffic drugs. He only didn't come home right away because he was hungry and wanted a meal before facing Dog and Duane Lee. Dog finally feels sorry for him and they stop at a McDonald's to get him his Quarter Pounder. Dog is starting to win him over. Beth comes back out with food for everyone and they sit out in the parking lot, eating McDs. "I'd like to get to know you when you're not tweaking," Dog tells him. "It'd be an honor," Leo replies.
"In the criminal world, he's a decent guy. Is he ready for the free world rules and regulations? Thou shalt not steal? No. He's not ready for that. He's a chronic drug user." Dog has hope for him though, and later, when Leo is back out, Dog invites him over to Da Kine so they can hang out and discuss his future. Dog agrees that he can recommend that the court send him to rehab instead of jail. Dog thinks there is a chance he can be turned around, and if there is even a slim chance, Dog will take it.
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