Original subtitles

This is the city, Los Angeles, California.

A lot of it has always been here:

the mountains... the deserts... the ocean.

Some of it had to be developed,

like oil... and water... and the land.

The rest was built from scratch.

A human mind conceived this... And this.

Man has an instinct to create

or to build or to improve,

but the human mind can go other ways, too.

Sometimes it gets lost.

Then it needs guidance.

Reading signs and obeying them

can sometimes help a confused mind.

They tell you which way to turn,

when not to turn,

where not to drive, where not to park.

In my business, this sign means something,

whether you drive or not.

Sometimes, if you don't heed it,

you'll see this sign.

I work here. I carry a badge.

It was Friday, October 6th.

It was cool in Los Angeles.

We're working the night watch out of Juvenile Division.

The boss is Captain Morris.

My partner's Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.

We were assigned to juvenile patrol,

and we had just gotten into the field.

We received a radio call

to go to a theater near Olympic and Western.

We were told the manager would give us the details.

All we knew was that a report had been received

on a juvenile ADW, assault with a deadly weapon.

The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

We're police officers. My name's Friday.

- This is Bill Gannon. - Glad you got here.

You're the theater manager, are you?

Yes, sir. The name is Nash, George Nash.

Okay, Rick, show the officers your back.

There's no reason to call the cops.

I told you not to! You heard me!

- Didn't I say no cops? - That's what you said.

I don't care what he said!

Nobody's gonna do a thing like this in my theater.

I said I'd take care of myself.

- Take care of what? - Nothing.

The creep who burned him. Look at his back!

Shut up, Lorraine. All right, turn around.

Turn around, son!

That's bad enough.

You can imagine how it'd be if he wasn't wearing a jacket.

Just look at it. It's ruined!

Acid burns.

H2S04.

Sulfuric.

It's a good thing he had these other clothes on.

Big deal. So you both took high school chemistry.

- What's your name, son? - Rick Schneiderman.

- Where do you live? - 1401 Axtell Avenue.

- How old are you? - 18.

- Now you. - Lorraine Harper.

3883½ Pine Grove.

16.

Now, suppose you tell us what happened.

Look, my back's on fire. If you don't mind,

I'd like to get something done about it.

I called for an ambulance.

Should be here any time now.

- Who burned you and why? - I don't know.

You get acid poured down your back, and you don't know why?

'Cause he's a kink. Go hold his head up to the light.

You ever have trouble with him before?

No more than anybody else.

Then you know him. Yeah, I know him.

- What's his name? - Gerald Paulson.

- How old is he? - I guess about 17.

- Where's he live? - I don't know.

- Mr. Nash? - No.

I couldn't even get him to tell me his name.

When I picked up the phone to report it,

he just took off and ran.

I'll check him out, Joe. All right if I use the phone?

Uh, would you rather use the extension?

Fine, thanks.

What happened before he poured the acid on you?

Nothing. He was sitting in the row behind us,

and the lights went out.

Pretty soon, I felt something hot on my back,

and I jumped up.

Then I got my jacket off, and it was all burned.

You're sure it was the Paulson boy who did it?

He still had the bottle in his hand.

Joe, Central Juvenile Index

turned up Gerald Paulson's address

from a traffic citation they have on file.

Where's he live?

Never mind. We'll handle it.

Go ahead. I'll get him later.

You may get yourself a lot of trouble, son.

From Gerald? He's so chicken,

he has to do it behind your back.

Don't you count on it, boy.

Next time, he might do it to your face.

We took an ADW report,

while the ambulance crew

treated Rick Schneiderman's back.

They told us the burns suffered by him

were not serious enough to require hospitalization.

He was advised to see his own physician.

7:30 p.m., we drove over to 1255 West Wayland Street,

the Paulson boy's address.

Gerald Paulson lived with his mother and stepfather,

Mr. and Mrs. Martin Kirsop. Gerald had not yet returned.

The parents were advised of the incident

and instructed to bring their son to Georgia Juvenile

as soon as he arrived home.

7:35 p.m.

We booked the Schneiderman boy's

acid-burned clothing as evidence.

We resumed patrol. The area was fairly quiet.

At 8:15 p.m., a radio call informed us

that the parents and the subject, Gerald Paulson,

were now at Georgia Street.

We reported 1K80 out to Juvenile.

Mrs. Kirsop, Mr. Kirsop.

We did as you said, Sergeant.

This is our son Gerald.

What happens now?

We want to talk to him.

Can we be with him?

We'd like to talk to him alone.

It's okay, Mom.

We'll wait. Is that all right?

Yes, sir. Come on, son, this way.

All right, son, sit down there.

All right, let's have your full name.

Gerald Roy Paulson.

I was named after my father,

not the one that's here with me.

That's my stepfather.

Yeah, son, we know.

My real father's dead.

I just barely remember him.

I was 5 when it happened.

I'm 16½ now.

All right, son, there's something we have to tell you.

You have the right to remain silent.

Any statements you make

can and will be used against you in a court of law

or any Juvenile Court proceedings.

Yes, sir, I know that.

You have the right to the presence of an attorney.

If you can't afford one, one will be appointed

without charge before any questioning.

Now, do you understand that?

Yes, sir, but there's not much point to it, is there?

What do you mean?

Well, you know what I did.

Whatever Rick and the theater manager said is true.

There'd be no need for them to lie about it.

Well, we'd like to hear your side.

I appreciate that.

I know you're trying to be fair,

but I did what they said.

- I put acid on Rick's jacket. - Why?

I guess I just wanted to see what would happen.

Now, you can do better than that, son.

Were you having trouble with this other boy?

Rick? No, sir, not before tonight.

What about the girl?

Sir?

The girl, is she a friend of yours?

No, sir. I didn't even know her.

Now, you look here, son. We have to make a report.

Now, what do we put down here?

That you just poured acid on a boy for no reason at all?

No, sir.

Then why did you do it?

Well, he was bugging me.

He was bugging you?

Yes, sir, he and that girl.

You want to tell us how they were bothering you?

Well, you know, giggling, and whispering, and stuff,

and talking back to the screen.

I guess they were having a good time,

but they sure ruined the movie

for everybody sitting near them.

And you just happened to have that bottle of acid with you?

Yes, sir.

I didn't have time to take it home

before the movie started.

- Where'd you get it? - From a supply house.

I bought it for my experiments.

Chemistry, that's my hobby.

I've got a lab in our garage.

Well, I hope that explains everything.

- No, not everything. - Sir?

If you handled chemicals before,

you know sulfuric acid is dangerous.

But I just put it on his jacket.

And his back. He was burned.

He was? I... I didn't mean for that to happen.

How bad was it?

Well, any acid burn is bad.

You ruined his jacket.

Well, suppose I bought him a new one?

Would that do any good?

Maybe.

I won't ask my mother for it.

I'll save it up from my allowance.

What do you think, sir? Will that help?

I'll buy him a new one.

Suppose you'd have gotten that acid in his eyes, boy?

Yes, sir.

Would you have bought him some new ones?

8:35 p.m. The subject was booked

under Section 602 WIC 244 PC,

assault with a caustic chemical.

I filled in the watch commander, Lieutenant Bongard.

Since Gerald Paulson had no prior record,

and the parents appeared concerned

and assured us they would control him,

it was decided not to detain the subject.

He would, however, have a hearing in Juvenile Court.

Mr. and Mrs. Kirsop were told

they would be notified by the probation department

as to when the hearing would be held.

The subject was then released to his parents.

8:40 p.m. Bill and I went back on patrol.

For the next 30 minutes,

we cruised the area, checking hotspots.

No one reported any trouble.

9:10 p.m.

Kind of quiet for a Friday night.

Yeah, seems to be, for a change.

I don't know, Joe.

What possesses a youngster like that Paulson kid?

Nice house, seemed like good parents.

Ah, you know as well as I do.

- Yeah? - Good home, decent parents.

They don't always get the job done.

You know, sometimes I wonder.

What's that?

Well, does it ever strike you this way?

Some kids just seem to check into life with a sour streak.

Ah, you'll get some argument there, Joe.

Some psychologists tell you environment's everything.

Yeah, I know.

But that's tough to buy sometimes, isn't it?

Being on the job as long as we have,

you begin to swing more toward that sour theory.

Some kids just seem to be born to turn out wrong.

Most of the kids we handle,

there doesn't seem to be any real discipline in the home.

Seems to me like the youngsters have too big a say these days.

Oh, I don't mean you have to lean on a kid all the time,

but they've even lost some semblance of parental respect.

Doesn't it look that way to you?

Yeah, I'll go along with it,

but sometimes all the discipline in the world

won't straighten a lot of them out.

Things are moving faster than when we were kids.

Oh, can't complain, God knows,

when our economy is healthy,

when there's real technological progress in all areas.

We seem to pay a bigger price

than we realize for those things.

Yeah.

You take me, Joe. I've got four kids.

My 16-year-old boy wants a car.

I tell him no. He's too young.

The guy up the block lets his kid have one.

My boy says he doesn't belong, if he can't have a car.

All the kids his age at school drive.

All at once, I'm a real pagan.

I hold off giving permission, as long as I can.

The boy gets a job packing groceries at a market,

saves his money, still wants the car.

Yeah.

I'm in competition as a father

with the guy down the block.

Didn't used to be that way, Joe.

Times were different.

That's what's affecting a lot of kids today,

no discipline, not the kind that means anything.

They're way too young

when they have a say in the home these days.

As a society, we seem to be pushing youth ahead too fast.

We're doing them a real disservice, in my book.

Maybe so.

And they're missing the best part of their lives,

growing up like kids, not teenage adults.

Yeah.

You tell me, Joe, what's the answer?

Well, if we knew that, we'd be out of a job.

9:18 p.m. We received a Code 2 call.

1K80, roger.

1255 West Wayland Street.

The Paulson boy's address.

I'm sorry about this, Sergeant.

I tried to keep it in the family,

but the boy wouldn't cooperate.

Come in, please.

What seems to be the trouble?

Sergeant, I don't know what Gerald told you,

but, well, I guess you get the idea.

What's that, sir?

We didn't get along very good.

Oh, it's as much my fault as anybody's.

It seems like being a father

is something you have to learn right from the start.

Yes, sir.

Well, you can't jump right into it, I guess,

especially at my time of life.

You have a family, Sergeant?

No, sir, I'm not married.

Well, maybe I've been too strict with the boy.

That's, that's what his mother always said.

Yeah.

After what happened tonight, that business with the acid,

that made her change her attitude.

For the first time, she backed me up.

She said, "Gerald, do as your father tells you."

- You can guess what happened. - Yes, sir.

He said some pretty awful things to her...

Me, too, but that doesn't matter.

I'm not his real father.

Well, just what was it you told him to do?

To clear all that chemistry stuff out of the garage.

Yes, sir?

And those things in his room, that Army junk.

I told him if he didn't get rid of it, I would.

- Where's his room? - Down there.

That's what really set him off.

He shouted, "You stay out of my room!

If you go in there, I'll kill you."

- Is he in there? - Not now.

Didn't I tell you? He ran away.

No, sir, you didn't.

We'd like to check his room.

I figured you might want to.

It was his mother going against him that really did it.

She's the only one that could reason with him.

Now I don't know who he'll listen to.

.45 caliber automatic, M1 carbine.

I don't know how he got those things.

It's not hard. You can buy them without a permit.

You're supposed to be 21.

Well, there ought to be a law against it.

Yes, sir.

Did you know he had one of these?

Oh, that I do know about.

Gerald told me he got those hand grenades from a friend.

Grenades? He has more than one of them?

Well, there are two of them, aren't there?

Not in here.

Well, he always kept them in that box.

They're just souvenirs.

Maybe he took the other one with him.

Anyway, he told me they were just duds.

I don't know what he told you about the other one,

but he lied to you about this one.

Yes?

This is no dud.

9:25 p.m. We requested all units in the general area

to be on the lookout for Gerald Roy Paulson.

They were warned that he was probably in possession

of a live hand grenade

and, most likely, emotionally disturbed.

What do you think, Joe?

Well, he's got a live grenade.

Yeah.

We've got to figure he might try to use it.

A boy like that gets mad easy,

but enough to throw a hand grenade at somebody?

Oh, that's not a big step up.

- From what? - Throwing acid.

9:35 p.m. Still no report on Gerald Paulson

from the other units in the field.

Bill and I felt that there was an outside possibility

that the Paulson boy

might again confront Rick Schneiderman,

the boy he had poured the acid on.

He lived in an apartment on Axtell Avenue.

Oh, it's you.

Did you talk to that Paulson creep?

We talked to him.

You haven't seen him, have you?

Not since earlier.

You staying home tonight?

- I hadn't planned on it, no. - Plan on it.

Why? Is he out looking for me?

We didn't say that, but we've reason to believe

that he's armed and dangerous.

I'm not afraid of that kink.

Your parents at home?

My mother is. She's in bed.

She doesn't feel good, something she ate.

Stay home and keep her company tonight.

You think he's out to get me?

He did once tonight.

We want you to stay home until we pick him up.

What's he up to?

You have any idea where we might locate him?

He's no buddy of mine. I wouldn't know.

Well, what about his friends, anybody he runs around with?

He's got friends?

Well, there must be somebody he likes.

I'm telling you the truth.

I've got no idea. I can't help you.

I'm going to leave you one of our cards.

If he comes around here, don't you fool with him.

You give us a call right away. Understand?

Sure, sounds like he's really done something this time.

Not yet. We want to get him before he does.

9:48 p.m. The Schneiderman boy assured us

that he would remain at home and that he would contact us

if Gerald Paulson showed up.

We ran down the name of the boys' vice principal,

where the subjects went to school.

10:14 p.m. We called the vice principal,

Mr. E.J. Binion, and asked for his help.

He told us the subject, Gerald Paulson,

had a social problem, and he was a loner.

Mr. Binion had also told us that the only person

who might be considered a friend of Gerald Paulson's

was a boy named Paul Whidden.

We ran down his address and drove over. - 40 p.m.

I don't understand Gerald. He's very difficult.

We're really good friends, I think.

That is, he'll look me up every day for a while,

and then with no explanation,

I won't see him again for weeks.

Have you seen him tonight?

I wish you'd tell me why you're looking for him.

I don't want to get him in trouble.

He's in trouble, Paul.

We're trying to keep him from going any deeper.

How long ago was he here?

Well, about 10:00.

Yes, I remember the news came on just as he left.

- Where was he going? Did he tell you? - No, sir.

How'd he appear to you? Did he act strange?

Well, I guess he did seem kind of funny.

I don't know what it was,

like he just couldn't sit still or stop talking.

What'd he talk about?

Mostly about joining the Navy, UDT.

I didn't pay much attention.

He's always talking about UDT.

I don't even know what it stands for.

Underwater demolition team. What else?

Pardon? What else did he talk about?

Nothing, nothing special.

You're holding something back.

- Now, what is it, Paul? - No, sir, I'm not.

All right, look. I'm gonna talk to you straight,

and you'd better listen good.

Gerald is armed.

Maybe you knew that, maybe you didn't.

The point is he's dangerous.

Unless we get to him in a hurry, somebody might get hurt.

Now, do you want that to happen?

No, sir, of course not.

Then tell us what you know and right now.

All he said was "Paul, don't go to bed before midnight.

You'll be hearing from me."

Then he sort of laughed.

- What'd he mean by that? - I don't know.

Well, he must have been referring to something or somebody.

Now, think hard, Paul.

Well, just before, he made a phone call.

- Who'd he call? - Well, that won't help.

We'll decide that. Now, who was it?

Sharon Mather.

Is that his girlfriend?

I think he likes her, but they never had a date.

She goes with another guy. Where does she live?

Well, Gerald wouldn't go over there.

What makes you think so?

Well, he wasn't invited.

Sharon's having a party, a record party.

She didn't ask him.

You don't think he'd crash it?

No, sir. I know some of the guys who'll be there.

They don't like Gerald.

If he tried that, they'd throw him out.

- Maybe. - There's a lot of them.

- Yeah. - They're big guys,

and they're a lot stronger than Gerald.

No, son, not anymore.

10:50 p.m. Gerald Paulson had now been missing

with a live grenade for just over an hour.

So far, we were fairly certain he had not detonated it,

but we still didn't know where he was.

The only lead we had left was the girl having the party,

Sharon Mather.

She lived in the Baldwin Hills area.

It was 11:00 p.m. when we got there.

Miss Mather?

Oh, no. I'm the housekeeper.

She and Dr. Mather are out for the evening.

We're police officers.

Oh, I suppose it's about the noise.

I warned them the neighbors would complain.

No, ma'am. We're looking for a boy

with the name of Gerald Paulson.

Is he here?

Gerald Paulson?

I, I don't recognize the name.

Well, we'd like to check.

Well, yes, sir. Come in.

Where is the party? Any particular room?

- Around back on the patio. - Thank you.

Oh, dear, I do hope there's nothing wrong.

Yes, ma'am. So do we.

♪♪

Stay back! Stay back!

Don't come any closer!

All right, son. The party's over.

Let's have that grenade. Come on, hand it to me.

Stay back! Who called the cops?

Come on! Who called them?

Let's have that grenade, Paulson.

Keep coming closer, cop.

Just keep coming closer, and you won't know what hit ya.

Nobody in this house'll know!

All you people move out of here.

Go through the house and across the street.

Come on, move!

No, they don't! Nobody leaves 'til I say so!

I swear, I'll pull the pin.

I swear I will! I'll blow you all to pieces!

Gerald, why do you want to hurt a lot of innocent people?

What have they ever done to you?

Bunch of snobs, that's what they are,

phonies, never invitin' me to their stinkin' parties.

Well, I wasn't invited,

but they'll remember I was here!

Keep back! I'm warning you!

All right, the rest of you people out of here.

Do as you're told!

Move out in front of the house!

All of you!

You take one more step, and I'll kill you!

- I'll kill you! - All right, son,

you've shown everybody you mean business.

They know you mean it. Now let them leave.

They haven't done you any harm.

Just let them walk out of here.

I'm sick of listening to you cops.

I don't have to listen to you.

♪♪

Shut up!

You don't believe me, do ya?

You want to see all these kids killed, don't ya?

Now stand still.

For the last time, I'm giving the orders around here,

and we're all gonna stand here and listen to the music,

and we're gonna keep listening until I say to stop!

It's my party now, and you're all invited to stay.

You hear me?

♪♪

Get out of here, fast!

Let go of it!

Paulson, let go!

The pin, Bill, the pin!

Get it in there.

I'm trying, Joe. Just a minute.

We may not have one. Get it in there, Bill.

Whew, made it safe.

Come on, on your feet. All right, let's go.

Lousy cops.

All I wanted to do was scare 'em.

I never would've pulled the pin.

You did. Well, it was an accident.

You made me do that.

Sure.

All I wanted to do was scare 'em.

Well, you're going to have to go to court, Paulson,

without this grenade.

Yeah.

Now, you see if you can scare the judge.

As a result of the hearing,

the subject was placed under the supervision

of the State Department of Mental Hygiene

for treatment as a mentally ill person.