All language subtitles for First.On.The.Scene.S01E01.REPACK.1080p.WEB.H264-PeeWee

Los Angeles, California...

with 13 million people...

and over 1,000 emergencies a day...

it's often referred to

as the local news capital
of the world.

Video journalists have captured
an unbelievable catalogue of events.

To see what our members
had to endure is very difficult.

This is almost like a movie.
It's hard to believe this was real.

With our first-on-scene
heroes' perspectives,

this is an insight
into their most thrilling moments.

In this episode,

an armed and dangerous driver
cannot be stopped.

He doesn't give himself up.

And a tense standoff
between police and a store robber.

This woman has one priority,
and it isn't what the police want.

Rescuers risk everything

in an attempt
to save an exhausted man.

And police are stunned
by this robber's weapon of choice.

It's 1:55 a.m. in Anaheim,

the home of Disneyland,
just outside of Los Angeles,

and an unusual pursuit is underway.

The suspect isn't driving a car,
a minivan or even a truck.

Things are about to get crazy.

Every pursuit that officers get in
is different in one way or another.

This pursuit is unique
because it involves a fire truck.

It is not easy
to drive a fire engine in.

In fact, it almost looks
like flying a plane up there.

How on earth does someone get
behind the wheel of a fire truck

and actually know how to drive it?

Driving a fire truck
is no easy feat,

and with no training or experience,
this pursuit could be fatal.

I get excited when these calls
come out because it's a moneymaker.

The news loves these stories.

With the California Highway Patrol
right on its tail,

the suspect slows things right down.

The police will be thinking about
how they can stop this pursuit.

The problem is,
they don't know who this guy is,

what he's capable of,

and he's behind the wheel
of a stolen fire truck.

I don't know why,

but when the pursuits
start happening,

the public
loves to come out and get involved.

This random good Samaritan

comes out and stands
in front of the fire truck.

Wow. How dangerous is that?

Well, it got quite scary there

when you see the guy in the truck
actually reversing

and the police cars
were just scattering.

The police officers
must've been thinking, "Holy moly.

What is going on here?
What's he doing?"

The situation escalates.

Police now have a reckless civilian
making a dangerous chase even worse.

What is happening?

Why is this guy standing
in front of this fire truck?

Is this guy gonna get run over?

In a crazy,
unexpected turn of events,

the civilian starts walking
towards the fire truck

and incredibly, it starts reversing.

Maybe he knew the guy.
Maybe the guy was a friend of his,

and he tried to help him.

It appears that the suspect
and the person to stop the pursuit

may have known each other.

It looked like the man that jumped
in front of the ladder truck

was...successful
in getting the guy to slow down

and decide to open the door.

The suspect climbs out of the truck,

crawls over to police
and surrenders.

This guy
single-handedly stopped the pursuit

by standing
in front of that fire truck.

Oh, my God, he did it.

It's shocking
that somebody would steal

any sort
of first-responder type vehicle,

whether it's a fire engine,
a police car, ambulances.

Unfortunately,
it does happen from time to time.

I'm just glad
that nobody was injured.

Whoever left the keys
in this fire truck

is gonna have a lot of explaining
to do to the fire chief.

Let's keep the fire trucks
for the professionals.

The driver was taken into custody.

Nobody was harmed.

But the truck
needed extensive repairs.

Our next story
takes us down the coast

to the beachy city of San Diego,

where police officers
have been called to a pharmacy

after reports
that a woman has stolen

several hundred dollars
worth of merchandise.

When they arrive,
it seems this criminal mastermind

is willing to risk it all
for one last sip.

Yes, this is a bizarre story.

A female inside of a pharmacy store
takes a bunch of stuff.

When the police show up,
they try and apprehend her.

Well, apparently
she was having a bad day.

The suspect in this case
knew she was going to jail.

She was intoxicated
and she wanted to finish her bottle

before she was taken into custody.

The suspect is not compliant.

She's trying
to drink her bottle of wine.

And so we have a standoff
till she's done.

She gets out a bottle of wine,

starts drinking
and drinking and drinking.

She has no care in the world

and certainly
doesn't even seem bothered

that there are
police pointing guns at her.

With weapons drawn
and police patience wearing thin,

the standoff continues
as the suspect remains defiant.

She's not going anywhere.

She's trying
to live out her last moments.

And this is essentially a standoff.

I mean, this is like the Wild West.

Things can change at any moment.

As a cameraman
on something like this,

you wanna get the shot,
but you don't wanna get shot.

You never know
how these things are gonna end.

It could be peaceful.

It could be extremely violent.

There's a lot of police there
with guns drawn.

If that suspect
runs, pulls out a weapon,

there's gonna be gunfire
all over the place.

You let your guard down,
you can be in big trouble.

Five seconds, and you can be dead.

When it comes
to the police department,

we try to make sure
that time is on our side.

We wanna wait the person out
so that they give up peacefully.

The suspect eventually
finishes her bottle of wine

and surrenders to the police.

They just had to wait it out...
until she finished her wine.

I mean, I love
a good bottle of wine any day,

but this is really utilising

those resources
that can be elsewhere, saving lives.

There's no reason to have
that many resources on the car.

We'd have walked up
and taken her into custody

without all of that wait time
or all the people around.

That was unnecessary.

Lucky for her, it ended peacefully.

Because I've seen
situations like this before

that have turned around
and gone curly quickly.

Cheers to justice served.

Another case closed
by the sobering power of wine.

Coming up later...

You can see that the suspect
used something really unusual.

-I've never heard that in my life.
-But first...

We are seeing
these armed home invasions happen

in a lot of these protected areas,
like Beverly Hills.

Suspects are following
these homeowners

back to their residence.

A home burglary
occurs every 15 seconds

in the United States.

This means that approximately
4,800 invasions happen every day.

Home invasions are a nightmare
for anyone to think about.

It may just be a knock on the door.

You answer the door,
and they push their way in.

People have become
more and more bold.

We are seeing
these armed home invasions happen

in a lot of these protected areas,

like Beverly Hills,
Bel-Air, Holmby Hills.

A lot of the times, the suspects
are following these homeowners

back to their residence

before they jump in
and try and rob them.

In the mind of a criminal,
that's an easy come up.

It's dead of night in the peaceful
neighbourhood of El Monte,

east of downtown Los Angeles.

But the tranquillity
is quickly shattered

as police rush to the scene
of a terrifying home invasion.

Two intruders broke into a home,

and a scuffle happened

between three residents
and the intruders.

Gunfire was heard.

Whenever you hear
a code come out with "shots fired,"

you know
it's gonna be a good story.

When a violent situation

where you have an individual
with a gun or a shooting,

we have to work
with law enforcement

for them to clear that area.

Then we can tend to the medical
needs of those injured.

One suspect
is arrested by police immediately.

The other
decides to make a run for it.

A manhunt is underway.

Three people from the house

were transported
to hospital with minor injuries.

We used to never cover
armed home invasions in these areas.

Now that's where these criminals
are really striking

because they know there's gonna be

more that they can get
their hands on.

The search is on as SWAT officers

comb the area
with a sense of urgency.

After a tense pursuit,

another suspect is caught,
and justice is served once again.

But the hunt is far from over

as a dangerous criminal
remains on the loose.

It's close to 1:00 a.m.
in South Los Angeles,

and an armed man is playing

a dangerous game of cat and mouse
with the police.

This is a wild pursuit.

Obviously, a very disgruntled man
behind the wheel.

He's clearly and visibly upset.

He's driving erratically,
on three wheels, smoking the tires,

reversing his vehicle
towards police officers.

In this situation, the suspect led
the officers on a lengthy pursuit.

He was not following orders.

They had attempted numerous times
to get the vehicle to stop.

My initial gut reaction
to seeing this is,

"Ugh, no, it's going to be dangerous
for whomever's on the scene

because it's
a domestic violence call."

So domestic violence situations

are the most dangerous situations
that police officers go on.

The suspect, nine out of ten times,

is armed, dangerous
and...does not care.

In this case, the suspect was armed.
He had a gun.

It raises the level of danger

once you know
that the suspect is armed

and he's not willing
to give himself up.

You never know
what a person is capable of.

-Talk about whatever...
-You're gonna get shot!

Officers use a spike strip

in a desperate attempt
to stop the deranged driver.

It barely slows him down.

Sometimes the cameramen
get too close to situations.

A cameraman has a difficult job.

They have to capture footage,

and sometimes that involves him,
yeah, getting a little too close.

There's that bit in us

that wants to get
as close as possible.

In a situation like this,

the cameraman
doesn't wanna become the story.

We have to take cover at any moment.

You're gonna get shot!

Coming up...

He doesn't give himself up.

And then, all of a sudden,
you hear shots being fired.

After responding
to a domestic violence call

in South Los Angeles,

police are led on a wild pursuit.

This suspect is armed, dangerous

and refusing
to go down without a fight.

Anything could happen.

This is a wild pursuit.

They had attempted numerous times
to get the vehicle to stop.

In this case, the suspect was armed.
He had a gun.

You never know what a person
is capable of or willing to do.

The police officers
always wanna come

to a peaceful resolution
at the end of a pursuit.

But in this case,
the guy did not wanna give up.

Regardless of what they tried,

he didn't stop until the vehicle
was finally...unable to continue.

At the end of this pursuit,
the suspect stops.

The chase comes to a screeching halt

as the minivan
finally grinds to a stop.

Police have got him surrounded.

But he doesn't give himself up.

The driver
emerges clutching a blanket

before suddenly drawing a gun.

Officers have
the responsibility to preserve life.

At the moment
where a suspect starts shooting,

they have a duty to act.

Then, all of a sudden,
you hear shots being fired.

So officers returned fire.

When I've been
in similar situations to this,

you've got to stay out of the way,
but you've also got to get the shot.

We wanna run toward those gunshots,
unfortunately.

And sometimes you can get
in the crosshairs of that.

You can see the cameraman
was ducking for cover.

The suspect was taken to a hospital,
where he unfortunately died.

It doesn't rain much
in Southern California.

But when it does, it really rains.

Our infrastructure
just really can't handle it.

We always, every year,
see flooding, without a doubt.

This situation
was extremely dangerous.

It's 9:37 a.m.,

and multiple emergency responders
and search and rescue units

have been dispatched to an incident

of a man stuck
in a fast-moving flash flood.

So, what we saw was
what we'd call a swift water rescue.

Those incidents

become very challenging
for first responders.

Someone ended up
in the flood control channel,

and a torrent of water
coming past.

If you're standing there,
you're gone.

You've gotta grab hold
of something tight.

If this person wasn't able
to hang on to that vegetation,

that person would just continue
to go downstream.

If you get swept away
in that situation, you're done.

They will probably not find you.

How do you even attempt
to figure out how to get them out?

Unfortunately, a lot of times,
the water rescues that we see

are where there are
homeless encampments.

It's very common for homeless people

to live near the wash area
or river beds.

They don't have television
out there.

They can't watch the local news.
They don't have cell phones.

So they have no idea
the severity of the weather

and the torrential downpour
that can happen.

You're asleep.

Next thing you know, you got
boulders and trees coming past you.

But he has a massive problem.
How do you solve it?

You bring in everything you can.

Helicopter hoist rescues are
a daring feat of bravery and skill,

where one false move
could spell disaster.

As firefighters, we wanna make sure
we're there to solve the problem.

We don't wanna become
part of the problem.

We're watching
the whole thing unfold

right in front of our eyes
with the helicopters.

The best option might be

a first responder
come down from a helicopter

and then put the patient
into a harness,

and then extract them that way.

You have two outcomes
in something like this.

You drown, or you get rescued.

You've got tree branches, huge logs.

You've got boulders.
You've got dirt.

Imagine all that coming down
at the speed of a car.

The rescue operation was incredible.

They did what they had to do,
and they saved his life.

They got him out safely.

The people that are doing that
are highly-trained professionals.

We saw a really positive outcome
in this footage.

I mean, they're
just the bravest humans alive.

I've been on situations like this
where people haven't made it.

The man was saved and on dry ground
by 10:13 a.m.

He was medically evaluated

and reported
to be in good condition.

This guy
is extremely, extremely lucky.

Coming up...

You can see that the suspect
used something really unusual.

It's just...It's bizarre.

Also...

That's probably not
somebody of sober mind.

I mean, how do you approach
a situation like this?

You don't know
what that person's thinking.

Los Angeles, the City of Angels,

the City of Dreams

and the City
of Liquor Store Robbers?

It's 12:50 a.m.,

and one store owner
is in for a shock.

In the City of Angels,
there are tons of robberies

and armed robberies.

However, in this particular video,

you can see that the suspect
used something really unusual.

The weird thing about this story
is one of the suspects...

had a cattle prod.

The cattle-prod-wielding criminal
robs about $5,000 in five minutes

in the second stop on his rampage.

I've been to many robberies
in my career,

and I've never seen
a suspect armed with a cattle prod.

It's like a long Taser.

I've never heard that in my life.
It's just...It's bizarre.

Typically, this can go really wrong
in a lot of cases that I've seen.

They're an immense danger.

Sometimes it results

in these clerks
getting beat up or killed.

Knowing he is outmatched,
the shop clerk surrenders.

The clerk did
what you're supposed to do,

which is just,
"Take what you want. Go for it."

After this had happened,
I talked to the store owner,

and he was more upset

that they took his phone
with his family pictures on

than the $5,000.

The store owner is unharmed,

but the cattle-prod robber
gets away.

The next story takes us
all the way south of Los Angeles

to the coast of San Diego.

Police have received
calls of a disturbance

in an apartment complex,

but they are in for a sharp surprise
when they arrive.

This is an extremely
dangerous situation.

A guy's wandering around

outside of his apartment complex
with a huge sword.

My initial thoughts are

that's probably not
somebody of sober mind.

This call was someone
who had been swinging a sword around

outside of his apartment complex.

I mean, how do you approach
a situation like this?

How do you...tackle
someone that has a sword?

You don't know
what that person's thinking.

He looked very confused at times.

He definitely probably
was doing some bad drugs.

You don't know
if they're mentally disturbed.

You don't know
if they've just had a bad day.

He looks agitated.
He looks he's pacing up and down.

There's a bunch of cops there.

They all have their rifles out.

With the spotlight, you can see
the red laser on his chest.

Having heard the commotion,

a resident
recklessly steps in to help.

The good Samaritan was pretty brave.

I'm not sure that I would approach
somebody with the sword.

In their mind, they think
they're helping the police,

but in fact,
they're putting themselves at risk.

You know what he's thinking?

He can turn around
and run towards you.

And at that point, what do you do?
It's a sword. It's not a knife.

The thing is a sword.

Shockingly, the brave resident

is able to successfully disarm
the suspect.

He disarmed the subject.

However, he also put himself at risk

because officers
had their guns drawn.

The amount of resources it took
to bring this to a conclusion...

I mean, you got police dogs.
You got specially trained officers.

You got just every resource
you can imagine.

It's a good all-around end
to the story

because nobody got hurt.

The interfering civilian
got lucky this time.

The sword-wielding suspect
is taken into custody.

Subtitles: Lea Espector
plint.com