Original subtitles

[ Frida y Nam? ting] This is the ciz‘y— [as Ange/es, California,

h"; a city on wheels, constantly on the mo ve,

There are three and a ha/fmi/lion cars in L 05 Ange/es,

a ver 7 32 miles offl’ee ways,

The maximum speed limit is 65 miles an hour

This is Central Receiving Hospital

On an average day, there are 76 7 accidents.

Every month 37 people die.

/t’s a high price to pay to get some where in a hurry,

especially when theyneverget there.

This is where their cars end up, what’s lefl‘ of them.

This is where the victims end up, what’s lefl‘ of them.

When they do, / go to work. / car/ya badge.

/t was Thursday/une 26. /t was clear in Los Ange/es.

We were working the day watch out of Felon y Fol/o w—up Section, A ccident /n ves tiga tion Division.

The boss is Captain janes.

My partner’s Bill Gannon.

My name is Friday

A t the request of Public /nformation Division,

Bill and / had a breakfast meeting with Herald—Exam i ner reporter Norm jacoby

We met at a place across the street fl’om the police building called The Shield Cafe.

[Man Narrating] The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent

You sure I can‘t buyyou two some breakfast? No, thanks,Jake. We‘ve eaten.

Mmm. Kinda hungry. Bacon and eggs sure smells good.

Did you get that art for me? Right here,Jake.

Good. We‘ll look at it in a minute.

As I mentioned to Cooke in P.I.D., paper wants a rather broad piece on accidents.

— Like to take in the entire state, notjust L.A. Okay? — Right. What do you need?

In the state ofCalifornia, what makes traffic the big problem?

Well, for one thing, there are over i 8 million people in the state.

There are over 10 million registered vehicles.

— How does that compare to other states? — Far more,Jake.

One out of every nine automobiles in the nation is registered here in California.

What can you give me on the number oftraffic accidents in LA. last year?

Fifty—eight thousand, nine hundred and ten.

— How many people killed? — Four hundred and fifty—two.

—And injured? — Forty—nine thousand.

You two rememberyour figures pretty well, don‘t you?

You do when you live with them every day and watch them go up.

How about tailgating— the guy behind you who rides your rear bumper all the way?

Probably the single major cause of pileups.

preople wouldjust apply the basic rule offollowing—

allow one car length behind the car ahead ofyou for every 10 miles ofspeed you‘re traveling.

Ifyou‘re going 60, allow six times the length ofyour car in order to stop safely.

All right, let‘s get to the art.

You‘ll notice that most ofthese photos were taken on the freeways.

— A great many ofthem were head—on collisions. — Yeah.

Most people are driving them at 65 to 70 miles an hour.

But Iet‘sjust take a speed of55 miles an hour, and there‘s a head—on.

— Do you have any idea what happens in that first second ofthe impact? — Suppose you tell me.

Well, among others, Cornell University has done quite a bit ofstudy on the nature ofauto crashes.

— Yeah, I know. — Their people have taken that first second ofimpact...

and they‘ve broken it down into tenths.

You‘re driving 55 miles an hour and you have a head—on.

This is what happens.

/n the first tenth of that fatal second the fl'ont bumper and grille collapses.

During the second tent/7, your hood rises and strikes the windshield

Fenders begin wrapping themselves around the object of collision.

You slam on the brakes, but your body is still mo ving at 55 miles an hour.

You stifi‘en your legs for the jolt, but theyboth snap at the knee joint

During the third tenth of a second your body catapults fl’om the seat

Broken knees ram into the dashboard

The steering wheel begins to collapse. The steering column drives to ward your chest

/n the fourth tent/7, two feet of the car’s fl'ont end are totally demolished

but the rear end is still traveling at 35 miles an hour.

Your body is moving forward at 55

/n the filth tent/7, your body’s impaled on the steering column.

Blood rushes in to your lungs.

During the sixth tent/7, the force of impact has built up so that your feet are ripped out of theirshoes.

The brake pedal shears of? The car fl’ame buck/es in the middle.

Your head slams into the windshield

/n the seventh tenth ofa second the entire carbodyis distorted

Hinges rip off doors spring open,

the seat flai/s loose, striking you fl’om behind

But it really doesn ’t matter. You ’re dead

You aren‘t around to experience the final three—tenths ofthis one second.

Neither are your passengers.

It doesn‘t take long to die.

[Friday Narra ting] Bill and / reported back to A ccident /n ves tiga tion Division.

We finished work for the day and were just getting ready to go home.

Captain janes had another idea. 4:45pm.

Sorry you have to work late. Hit—and—run on Magnolia and Vermont. Yeah?

Pedestrians were in a marked crosswalk. T—car‘ll be waiting foryou.

Any word on the victims? Both D.O.A.

[Friday Narra ting] 4.52 p. m.

Because of outbound evening commuter trafiic,

it took us 20 minutes to get to the scene of the accident

The officers who completed the initial report met us at the location.

They filled us in.

The victims were an elderly man and woman. They were crossing the street fiom opposite directions when they were hit

Theyboth died instant/y

The ofificers had taken statements fiom half a dozen witnesses.

The y ga ve us their names.

They told us that two of the witnesses were waiting for us in a nearby bar.

Ed Neiman? Norton Bernard?

I‘m Neiman. This is Nort Bernard.

Police officers. We‘re investigating that hit—and—run. I understand you witnessed it.

— Yeah, we seen it. — Did you see what kind ofa car it was?

One ofthose bigjobs, you know, like a Lincoln or a Caddy.

Looked like a Buick to me. Dark blue.

Was that the color— dark blue?

Yea/7, that’s right You cou/dn ’t miss that

There is got to have been a dent in the fiont end like you won’t believe.

He must have been makin‘ 60, easy.

— Anybody else with you two at the time ofthe accident? — Yeah. Talk to Dugan.

— He‘ll tell you I‘m right. Itwas a Buick. —Who‘s Dugan?

A buddy ofours. Cabdriver. He saw the whole thing too. Call him. He‘ll tellyou I‘m right.

—What‘s his full name? — Dugan. Bob Dugan.

— You know his home address? — No, but his cabstand‘s right outside. You might catch him.

— Thanks. — Wanna do me a favor?

— Yeah, what‘s that? — When you find out what kind ofcar it is, will you let me know?

[Friday Narra ting] 5' 7 8 p. m.

At the cabstand one of the drivers told us that Dugan was ofi‘ duty

He checked with his dispatcher and got Dugan ’s address.

/t was in the neighborhood

525 p. m. We drove to Bob Dugan ’s address.

/t was an apartment house four blocks fiom the scene of the accident

[Dugan] Yeah? Who’s there? Police officers.

Yeah?

Did you witness a hit—and—run accident at Magnolia and Vermont this afternoon at 4:1 5?

Yeah. We‘d like to talk to you about it.

I‘d inviteyou in, but the place is a mess. How‘d you guys find out I saw it?

— You wanna tell us what you saw? — I got no time for thatjazz.

IfI had to play witness for every accident I saw, I‘d spend halfmy life in a courtroom.

— You get paid for this kind of work /don ’t — Are you gonna tell us what you saw?

Why not? You‘re here.

/ was dropping ofi‘ a fare at a bar there and was heading east on Magnolia.

There was a crosswalk right in front ofme, and this old lady stepped offthe curb just as I let my fare out.

It was a buck and a quarter with a ten—cent tip.

/ heard some jerk squeal his brakes and / looked up just in time...

to see an old lady and an old man get hit, but good, by somejoker in a Lincoln.

He was barre/ing down fiom Vermont He took ofi‘ like the Russians were in Pasadena.

— You say it was a Lincoln? — Yeah. Dark blue.

New, maybe. Well, it wasn ’t more than a year old

You were pretty close. Did you get the license number? Could you describe the driver?

— Nah. He was moving too fast. — You remember anything else about the car?

Bumper stickers, anything like that?

— No, that‘s all. — Okay. Thanks, Dugan.

— You figure I‘m gonna have to go to court? — Maybe.

I gotta lose a day‘s pay so somebody can collect a big chunk ofinsurance money on those two senior citizens?

— You‘ll do better than they did, won‘t you? — How‘s that?

You‘re alive to collect yours.

[Friday Narra ting] 7.33 p. m.

Before leaving the area we interviewed three other witnesses.

Two of them corroborated Dugan ’s statement

We had an Area "C ” broadcast put out

We described the hit—and—run vehicle as a dark blue late—model Lincoln...

with possible damage to the windshield and fiont end

7:48 p. m. We returned to the ofifice.

We filled the captain in on what we had

Lab‘s checking the victims‘ clothing for traces of paint, any other physical evidence.

I‘d like to give what we‘ve got to the newspapers, radio and TV. Go ahead.

IfI had something to hide, I wouldn‘t want seven million people looking for it.

[Friday Narrating] Friday, june 27.

As the result of the fiont—page play the papers had given the story, we ’d had se vera/ phone calls.

8.33 a. m. We checked them all out, but they led no where.

/ called 5. /. D and talked to forensic chemist Ray Murray

His report was negative. He had found nothing on the victims’c/othing we could go on.

/oe.

Might be somethin‘. Yeah.

Woman over on Magnolia claims she saw the accident. Yeah?

Says she knows where the hit—and—run vehicle is.

The woman who called lived in an apartment house on the corner of Magnolia and Vermont

848 a. m.

I‘m glad you could come. It‘s bothered me ever since I saw it and didn‘t call the police right away.

When I read about it this morning, I knewI couldn‘t live with myself ifI didn‘t tell everything I knew.

I saw the whole thing right here from my window.

But I didn‘t know itwas him until this morning. I waited until he left, and then I checked.

— You didn‘t know it was who, ma‘am? — Mr. Stuart, with a “U“ in it.

He lives in the building, practically next door.

/ spotted him right away From the day he mo ved in / knew he was strange.

Claims he‘s an architect. But I checked. You know what he does? Makes dolls. Builds toy houses.

He was the one ran over those people.

This Stuart, what‘s his first name? Would you know?

/ would ifhe ’d put his first name on his mailbox. But he doesn ’t People like that never do.

What makes you so sure that Stuart‘s the man that ran those two people down?

I saw it happen right out my window.

I thought he looked suspicious when he came in last night, and this morning he didn‘t take his car to work.

/ went down to the garage— We have indoor parking in this building— and there it was— his car, all covered up.

What kind ofcar does he drive? 0h, / don’t know about things like that

But it’s the same car that hit those people. / bet there is blood all over it

— The car‘s parked in the garage? — Ifhe didn‘t sneak back in and slip it out.

But I‘ve been watching. I can see the driveway from here.

All right, Mrs. Bronson. Thankyou very much. We‘ll check it out. /t’s myduty, isn’t it?

I mean, as a good citizen and all. It‘s not like I was meddling in other people‘s business.

— No, ma‘am. — I don‘t like to mix in other people‘s affairs.

— But when I smell something wrong, I keep my eyes open. — Yes, ma‘am.

More people do that, be a better world.

A blue Lincoln it ain‘t.

[Friday Narra ting] 9:20 a. m. Bill called the ofifice to fill the captain in.

He told us that a garage owner on Pico Bou/e vard had called in.

He said that the previous night he had replaced a shattered windshield in a blue Lincoln sedan.

The garage was located on West Pico, near L a Cienega Bou/e vard

/t took us about 20 minutes to get there. 9:40 a. m.

The owner’s name was Gus Archer.

He showed us the windshield he had remo ved fiom the blue Lincoln sedan.

Pulled it out of a blue ’64 Lincoln. Fella said he ’d hit a dog

Seemed prettyshook up when he came in. What time was that?

About 6:30, 7:00 last night. Somewhere around there. Said he needed the car this morning.

I told him I‘d make him a good deal on taking the dents out, doing the rest ofthe body work.

He said he‘d check with his insurance man first and maybe he‘d get back for an estimate.

— You have his name, address? — Sure.

I keep good records. License number, registration, all that right on thejob sheet.

Had to charge him overtime for the labor. I was here till 9:00 last night getting it done.

We‘re gonna have to impound this windshield.

Sure. I read in the paper about those two old people getting killed.

You figure maybe this guy done it?

— Well, one thing‘s sure, isn‘t it? — What‘s that?

He‘s gonna have to come up with a better story on that windshield.

[No Audible Dialogue]

[Friday Narrating] 70: 75 a. m.

We took the damaged windshield along with us. /t would be booked as evidence.

The registered owner of the suspect vehicle was Clayton Filmore.

The address was on Bradbury Street in West L os Ange/es.

Yes? We‘re police officers.

We‘re looking for a Clayton Filmore. Yes?

Maywe come in? All right.

I hope this won‘t take long. I have an appointment, and I‘m late.

You‘re Mrs. Filmore, are you? Yes.

Your husband at home? No, he isn‘t. What‘s he done this time?

—We‘d like to talkto him. — He‘s been drinking again. Is that it?

— We‘re investigating a traffic accident, ma‘am. — And Clay‘s involved.

Do you oryour husband own a blue ‘64 Lincoln sedan?

[Sighs] Clay does, yes.

— The car here now? — He drove it to work.

—Where‘s that, Mrs. Filmore? — The Craig Building on Wilshire.

All right. Thankyou, Mrs. Filmore.

— You‘ll forgive me ifI don‘t appear too interested in all this. — How‘s that, Mrs. Filmore?

Nothing, absolutely nothing that Clay does would surprise me anymore.

He hasn ’t always been this way

— He wasn‘t when I married him. — Is that right?

—Areyou men married? —I am.

Then maybe you can tell me— What happens to a man after five years of marriage?

Seems to be the magic number, doesn ’t it? Five years.

What makes him change?

How can two people feel they‘re so much in love, and then fall out oflove so easily?

— Oh, I wouldn‘t know, ma‘am. — Clay‘s rarely home these days.

This house isjust a way station for him,

a place to change his clothes, park his car.

We go for days at a time without seeing each other.

Iwish I knew.

— I wish I knew what I‘ve done wrong. — Sorry, Mrs. Filmore.

And again, thankyou. /’msorrytoo.

I guess all women become overtalkative at a time like this, don‘t they?

— How‘s that? — When they‘re on the way to see their lawyer about a divorce.

[Friday Narra ting] The Craig Building was less than eight blocks fiom the scene of the hit—and—run accident

/t was a new high—nse ofifice building Filmore had an ofifice on the 28th floor.

MayI helpyou? We‘re police officers.

We‘d like to see Clayton Filmore. One moment.

There are two policemen here to see you.

Go right in, please. Thankyou, miss.

Well, /’ve been expecting you

Coincidence you should come just now My attorney, Paul Ba teman.

My name‘s Friday. This is Bill Gannon.

My car‘s parked in the garage ofthis building on the second level, space 36.

Myattorne y tells me you ’// probably impound it as e vidence.

He further advises me to make no additional statement. That correct, Paul?

That‘s right. I‘ve informed my client ofhis constitutional rights. Please state the charge.

All right, sir. Mr. Filmore, you‘re under arrest for 20001 V.C., hit—and—run felony,

and 192.3A P.C., felony manslaughter.

— All right. Suppose we have to go downtown, huh? — Yes, sir.

Uh, Marjory, cancel my appointments for the rest ofthe day.

Yes, sir. Anything else?

Uh,you might call mywife and tell herI won‘t be home for dinner.

[Friday Narrating] 7 7:05 am.

Before we lefi‘ the Craig Building we checked Clayton Filmore is car.

/t was a blue ’64 Lincoln sedan.

We made arrangements to have it towed in to the Central Property /mpound Garage.

Filmore would be booked on two counts of hit—and—run felony and two counts of felon y manslaughter.

How much longer is this going to take, Paul?

— We should have you out on bail in time for lunch. — Fine.

Sergeant Friday, lead the way.

Don ’t look so hang—dog How old did you say those two were that you say/ hit?

The woman was 67. The man was 73.

Well, I‘m sorry, but it isn‘t as ifthey were going to live much longer anyway. Isn‘t that right?

/ suggest that you don ’t say anything more, Clay

— But it‘s true. I am sorry. — Well, sorry won‘t bring ‘em back, Filmore.

A dedicated cop.

You have a right to remain silent, Clay / advise you to do so.

— There‘s no rule against him listening, is there? — Depends on what you say to him.

Yeah, well, I‘ll try to be careful.

Filmore, maybe as far as you‘re concerned those two people lived all the life you figure they should.

But what gives you the right to end it for ‘em? It doesn‘t really botheryou, does it?

You were in a 30—mi/e zone. You were doing 50, maybe 55 miles an hour.

Those two people you hit were knocked 77 feet, six inches down the street from the point ofimpact.

We believe you‘d been drinking this time too. This isn‘t the first time foryou.

You’ve got a drunk driving record that goes back to your high school days.

Every time you‘ve beaten it, haven‘t you?

Down the hall there is Traffic Enforcement Division.

We‘ve got good laws and they try to enforce ‘em, but they‘ve got an impossiblejob.

There are 130 miles offreeway in this city, better than 6,000 miles ofsurface streets.

Every 1 0 minutes there‘s an accident.

Every 1 0 minutes somebody like you tries to kill himselfor somebody else.

You blew 20 minutes ofthat time all byyourself.

Mister, you killed two human beings,

two people who were alive and breathing seconds before you ran ‘em down.

And you‘ve got the monumental gall to stand here and say they wouldn‘t have lived much longer.

You may be out on bail in a couple of hours, and ifso, you take this to lunch with you:

Two people are lying over there in the County Morgue, and you put ‘em there.

You were in a hurry the night you killed ’em. You’re in a hurry now to see how fast you can forget

I wanna wish you a lot ofluck. I hope it takes the rest ofyour life.

Now have a good lunch.

[Friday Narrating] 7:75 pm.

Bill and / began putting all the paperwork together on the Filmore hit—and—run.

Joe. Bill.

Thought you‘d like to know. Yes, sir?

Clayton Filmorejust walked out. He made bail.

[Friday Narrating] 7:35 pm.

Forensic chemist Ra y Murray in the Scientific /n vest/gation Division wanted to see us.

1964 blue Lincoln sedan.

Found a small piece ofleather adhered to the front bumper.

Matches the shoe the male victim was wearing. Mm—hmm.

Cloth imprint on the vehicle matches his clothing. Anything else, Ray?

Yeah. Blood on the windshield matches the female victim.

Hair embedded in the glass matches up too.

No doubt about it,joe. Yeah?

Filmore‘s car killed ‘em both.

[Friday Narra ting] A complaint against Clayton Filmore was issued by the district attorney’s ofifice.

Three months later, the case came to trial

3:75 pm, Friday, September 75

Well— [Sighs] Well—

Suspended sentence, three years probation, $250 fine.

That doesn‘t seem like much, does it?

Oh, I don‘t know. That‘s $1 25 for each life.

[Friday Narrating] Thursday, February 78

Five months had gone by since the Clayton Filmore trial

6:00 p. m. We were just getting ready to go home for the day

Got one foryou to go on. Traffic wants us to cover. They‘re shorthanded.

Two—car pileup at Sixth and Bixel. A rough one. Yes, sir.

Four victims involved. Yeah?

Two D.O.A., two critical.

[Friday Narra ting] We lefi‘ the ofifice and headed across town for Sixth and Bier Streets.

[Siren Wailing]

Friday and Gannon, A.I.D.

Wheelock, 2—Mary 139.

Pretty bad, Sergeant. Two of‘em didn‘t last five minutes till the ambulance got here.

C oup/e of teenage girls. Man and wife in the impact vehicle, both critical

— You check with witnesses? — Yeah. Wrote down eight of‘em.

— What‘d they do, run a signal? —Yeah. Man and his wife ran it on red.

Must have been doing 5 0, according to the witnesses. You got the victims‘ names, Wheelock?

— Right, Sergeant. — Thanks.

Bill. Man and wife driving the impact vehicle?

Yeah. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Filmore.

— Sure is a mess, isn‘t it? —Sure is.

[Friday Narra ting] 6:48 p. m.

Afi‘er checking with various witnesses who saw the accident,

Bill and / drove over to Central Receiving Hospital to make the usual fol/o w—up report

We talked to the doctor in attendance.

He told us that Clayton Filmore was underheai4/sedation and could not be talked to.

Mrs. Filmore was in better condition.

What at first appeared to be a critical condition was further diagnosed as trauma tic shock

She had se ven broken ribs and was sufi‘ering fiom contusions.

The doctorsaid we cou/dsee her fora few minutes.

Mrs. Filmore?

Clay— Have you seen Clay?

No, ma‘am. He‘s under sedation.

Oh, dear God, dear God. How did it happen?

How did it happen? Clay promised me.

— What‘s that, Mrs. Filmore? — He said ifI‘d drop the divorce proceedings, he‘d straighten out.

— He hasn‘t, has he? — Doesn‘t look like it, ma‘am.

— He killed those two young girls, didn‘t he? —Yes, ma‘am.

I wish I were dead.

Oh, how I wish I were dead.

Try to take it easy, Mrs. Filmore.

Did they tell you what happened to Clay?

He‘s going to lose both his legs.

— Both his legs. —Yes, ma‘am.

He was in a hurry to get to this cocktail party.

He had a few drinks in his office before he left.

I tried to tell him not to have any more to drink, but he wouldn‘t listen.

He never does.

— Those drinks cost him his legs. —Yes, ma‘am.

We were late leaving his office.

I tried to tell him.

He said not to worry. We‘d make it on time.

He was in a hurry, Sergeant.

He won‘t be anymore.

[Man Narrating] The story you ha ve just seen is true.

The names were changed to protect the innocent

On May 20, trial was held in Department 785,

Superior Court of the State of California,

in and for the County of L os Ange/es.

/n a moment, the results of that trial

The suspect was found guilty on two counts of felon y manslaughter.

Felony manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail fornot more than one year...

or in the state prison for not more than five years.

Since this was his second ofi‘ense,

Clayton R Filmore received the maximum sentence.

However, because of his permanent disability resulting fiom the accident,

the sentence was suspended

He was also forbidden to ever drive a vehicle again as long as he lived

despite the fact that artificial legs would ha ve made it possible for him to do so.