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CHAPTER 2

The Stop

At the time of Unit 78-8’s request, several CHP units were nearby in a position to assist with the stop.

Officers Ed Holmes and Richard Robinson, Unit 78-16R, were patrolling about five miles southeast of Castaic, near the town of Saugus. They were southbound on Route 126 East (San Fernando Road), near the Saugus Café. (Fig. 3)

Officers Harry Ingold and Roger Palmer, Unit 78-19R, were just a few miles further south, near the town center of Newhall. They were heading northbound toward 78-16R on the same road (San Fernando Road, Route 126 West) near the Way Station Coffee Shop in downtown Newhall, when 78-8 radioed that they were in position behind the Pontiac. (Refer again to Fig. 3)

Unit 78-12, Officers James E. Pence and George M. Alleyn, were in position about three miles south of Unit 78-8, on the southbound entrance to Interstate 5 at Valencia Boulevard. In coordination with Unit 78-8, they planned to join the pursuit there and assist 78-8 with the stop shortly thereafter. (Refer again to Fig. 3)

The plan was good, but it was not meant to be. Having spotted 78-8 in his trail, Davis unexpectedly chose to exit Interstate 5 at Henry Mayo Drive, a little more than one mile north of Unit 78-12’s position, shortly after 23:54. Unit 78-8 followed the Pontiac westbound on Henry Mayo Drive as Unit 78-12 reversed direction, raced across the overpass, and hurried northbound on Interstate 5 to join 78-8 a mile north on Henry Mayo. (Fig. 4)

When Unit 78-16R heard Unit 78-8 broadcast that they were exiting the freeway at Henry Mayo Drive and were going to make the stop, they made a U-turn in front of the Thatcher Glass Company on San Fernando Road and began to respond. Unit 78-19R also made a U-turn and proceeded northbound on San Fernando Road from Newhall to assist. (Refer again to Fig. 4.) Moments later, the responding units heard a transmission from Unit 78-12 saying that they were approaching the scene and would back up 78-8 with the stop—“We’re with them now.” Feeling that two units would be enough to cover the call, Units 78-16R and 78-19R both discontinued their response. Unit 78-16R made another U-turn near the intersection of Henry Mayo Drive and Boquet Canyon Road, and continued travel back in their original direction, southbound on San Fernando Road. Unit 78-19R continued northbound on San Fernando Road from Newhall, towards Unit 78-16R. (Fig. 5)

With Unit 78-12 one minute behind, the Pontiac turned northbound on The Old Road (the old, pre-freeway Highway 99) from Henry Mayo Drive and immediately into the driveway that led into the Standard Gas Station and the parking lot of J’s Coffee Shop. (Fig. 6) As they pulled into the driveway, Officer Frago trained the white spotlight on the passenger side of the patrol car onto the Pontiac.

Instead of pulling deep into the parking lot, Davis suddenly stopped the red Pontiac, just past the throat of the driveway and about 55 feet short of the gas pump island of the Standard Gas Station. This left Unit 78-8 stuck in the middle of the driveway, a little over one car length behind the Pontiac, with a low (approximately three- to four-foot deep) ditch to either side. (Fig. 7)

Officers Gore and Frago elected to proceed with the stop from this constrained position and made no attempt to direct the driver of the Pontiac to move the vehicle to another location in the parking lot. The time was just a few seconds before 23:55. As Officer Gore put the transmission of the 1969 Dodge Polara patrol vehicle into “Park,” Unit 78-12 was approaching the northbound Henry Mayo Drive exit, just a minute behind.

Davis and Twining were already proceeding with their plan.