The Retired Cop

Case #56 - re The People vs Rocky Costa (lie down Sparky, roll over…good boy) When Rocky Costa was a Sgt on the Early Mornings shift, he was pretty big. He was no Fat Sam mind you. He couldn’t even give Fat Sam a run for his vending machine money, but he was still pretty big. One graveyard shift, some deputies jammed a duster (a guy high on P.C.P.) on Gardena Bl. and Figueroa St., right in the middle of the intersection. It was about midnight, and it was cold, but the guy was barefoot and shirtless and sweating his ass off. The deputies requested the Field Sgt respond. Sgt Costa responded along with me and my partner, Jeff Adams in 162B and about four other deputies. So there we were, eight deputies in a semicircle around the duster, with Sgt Costa at the apex of the semicircle. One deputy was giving commands to the duster, which the duster was ignoring. The other deputies were getting ready to swarm the duster and take him to the ground, when Sgt Costa told us to hold off. He walk...