Some Thoughts About Things That Happened by Stan Bressler
Remember when John Malmquist responded to a 211 at the motel, at Avocado and PCH? He walked right into the office and a guy was standing there with a gun pointed at him. The desk clerk said John had a note book in his hand and he dropped the note book on the floor and pulled his gun out and pointed it at the suspect and told him to drop his gun. The suspect was evidently so surprised by John’s actions that he dropped his gun and put his hands up.
Sgt. Jelensky never cared if you wrote a lot of tickets or made a lot of arrests. He was easy to work for and was there if you needed him. One thing about him was he expected you to write a lot of FI cards. You could have 20 tickets and a few arrests but if you didn’t have those FI cards you were in trouble.
Who remembers who got out of his chair at the old station and left the building, never to return, when Jim Spears shot the telephone in the next office? If you guessed Capt. McManigal you were right. Seems Jim was looking at his gun in the office next to McManigal’s when it accidently discharged and blew the phone to pieces. Mac was thinking about retiring and that just hurried up his decision.
Were you around the day that the famous saying, “I am abandoning ship” was heard over the radio? It seems that one of our officers was driving the jeep on the beach when he got too close to the surf line. The jeep, with officer inside, was caught in a big wave and swept into the ocean. The officer (was it Felix?) got out of the jeep just before it completely sunk and while standing on the side of the jeep made the famous comment over his pack set.
Officer White (not Gerry White) used to drive around with his gun and holster resting on his lap. He had a habit of thumbing the hammer occasionally. One day he put out a call that someone had shot at him. Everyone headed toward Balboa and PCH. It turned out that no one had shot at White. He had thumbed the hammer of his gun a little harder than usual and it had gone off. Luckily, he was not hurt.