03 March 2007

Angelz? Pheh! We've got Pecadillo

by Phil Johnson

we admit Angelz'z caricature of the Pros Apologian gang is seriously cool. (But we also want it noted that this is in stark contrast to the extreme uncoolness of the actual blogdesign at Aomin.org.) Last week, we were almost ready to concede that the caricature was cooler than anything we could possibly come up with over here.

Then Pecadillo totally bailed us out with this:



That's real. Except for the label with Pecadillo's name and the arrow pointing him out, there are no PhotoShop tricks in any of these pictures. Fox News nationwide interrupted their nonstop coverage of the Anna Nicole Smith funeral Friday morning for a live broadcast of the end of a dramatic LAPD pursuit. No less than our very own Pecadillo emerged from the police cruiser to taser and tackle the bad guy.

You can watch a local news report of the chase here. There's also a half-hour video covering the chase from the time news helicopters picked up on it. In the chase video, Pecadillo's car is the one with "157" painted on the top. It was the lead car in the chase until the first PIT maneuver was performed. Story here.

At the end of the half-hour video, some mention is made of the fact that the suspect received first aid from paramedics at the site. The collision of the suspect's skull with the sidewalk raised a pop-knot on his head about the shape and consistency of the end of a Costco frozen beef chub. The media have reported that none of the gentleman's injuries were deemed serious.

Pecadillo sustained a bruised and slightly-scraped kneecap. This, too, appears to be only a minor injury.

For anyone who may be concerned about the use of force portrayed in these videos: elsewhere, I've given biblical justification for the use of force in precisely these kinds of situations. (See here, here, here, and here.)

Note, moreover, that when the miscreant in this episode emerged from his vehicle, he appeared to have something in his hand. Also, during the brief foot chase, the perp can be seen removing the subcutaneous taser darts, which then became potential weapons. Since he had repeatedly and irrationally refused to comply with police and was tackled in a way that left his arms and hands underneath him and hidden from view, Pecadillo thought it prudent to apply some physical incentive to gain access to whatever the dude had in his hands as quickly as possible. As soon as the swarm of officers subdued the man and gained control of his arms, however, no further force was employed.

(Anyway, if someone wants to argue about the propriety of using this much force in the arrest of a non-compliant malefactor, that's not why I posted this info. Please take that discussion over to one of the radical pacifist blogs.)

Pecadillo's mom and I appreciate your regular prayers for his safety.

Phil's signature

PS:Pecadillo is personally offended by the fact that one of the local TV stations kept running the above video on Friday with a background script claiming that "it took seven police officers to bring the man down." He wants it noted that there is no truth whatsoever to that report. See for yourself.


53 comments:

James Scott Bell said...

Bravo. For our men and women in blue. For what they do under the weight of all the consent decrees and lawsuits and microscopic analyses by armchair quarterbacks. Well done, Pecadillo.

Ric said...

God Bless Pecadillo and the entire P.D. involved.

May the perp receive full justice and hopefully knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus and repent and receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior!

In God's Grace,
Ric

jen said...

Seven officers? No, all it took was one Pecadillo and the grace of God!

Way to go! Will pray for you and all the wonderful public servants in blue.

David Mohler said...

If Pecadillo gives me a ticket this week in LA, I am going to frame it. Or sell it on eBay.

Even So... said...

Good going...prayers for you and blessings to you...

donsands said...

I love to see this kind of stuff. Tremendous. You go Officer Pecadillo!

I thank God for His servants that protect us.

candy said...

Son follows dad's lead in tackling bad guys.

Family Blogs said...

Of all the posts I've read on Pyro over the past years, this is one of the best. So very very cool...

Good to see justice and law being applied, and to hear of Pecadillo's safety as well.

You are justly proud...

Leberwurst said...

The streets of San Fernando are once again safe for Starbuck's seekers on the go! Well, maybe not... See ya in Church!

SB said...

That's a man there

That's man stuff

I am very encouraged to see a man of God doing his work heartily as unto the Lord. You did well, Phil raising your sons.

Solameanie said...

I add my applause to the comments here. Great stuff.

I am also certain, Phil, that this gives you great pause about driving at night in Van Nuys against Pec's advice. A creamy latte isn't worth the pain of being tasered. (winkgrin)

Jason Alligood said...

Wow! Way to go Pecadillo! I have a brother-in-law in law enforcement who is around the same age. This is huge!

More Than Conquerors said...

The only way James White & Co. can top this is if they can come up with a video of Dr. White tasering Dave Hunt.

I'm speaking metaphorically, of course.

Chris Freeland said...

Bad Boys Bad Boys, Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do with 'dillo comes for you?

I emailed COPS this morning - maybe we could get an entire episode devoted to Pecadillo's heroics. Jack Bauer's got nothing on this guy!

JackW said...

Neat ... I happened to watching this live as it happened. The first report was that the guy was shot by the police, shots fired. I had to go back to work at that point, so it's nice to hear the truth and how it turned out.

Phil Johnson said...

Jack W.

That's right. On the Fox News video (linked via the picture above) the helicopter pilot says, "Shots fired!" when Pecadillo uses the taser. That's even the title of the video clip in their archive.

For the record, no shots were actually fired.

Janet said...

Nice work Pecadillo!! Glad you are safe.

The pictures and video are awesome.

The chub comment had me laughing out loud.

FX Turk said...

When one grows up in NY, one finds it very difficult not to let a situation like this turn into smack talk.

V-E-R-Y difficult.

I'm going to go self-medicate for a head cold and walk away ...

LeeC said...

Boy, the lenghts some folks will go to just to upstage James White...


Seriously though. Thanks for your service Pec. Praise God that ended well.

jen said...

Ok, I'm kind of new here (or just very blonde)...

Pecadillo is Phil's son?

Phil Johnson said...

Pecadillo is the youngest of my three sons. Longtime Pyrofans have followed his career via the blog. Here's a summary for those new to the blog and wishing to catch up:

I blogged about the beginning of his career in law enforcement here, less than a year and a half ago.

Then I blogged about his graduation from the academy here, last June.

Then I blogged about how his crimefighting skilz have put a crimp in my own lifestyle here.

And I blogged about a dangerous incident that hit too close to home here.

Pecadillo was on his way to becoming a legendary humor-blogger before he joined the LAPD and gave up having any free time to write. Now he handles security for TeamPyro and blogs about twice a year.

John Haller said...

I'm sure actually getting to see him in action makes his Mom feel better about the whole thing.

jen said...

Thanks... As you were posting this answer, I on a fact-finding mission and realized the answer.

I started reading you last summer, so I read the latter two posts, but didn't put it together that he was your son.

I considered removing my comment so as to not appear so stupid, but then I decided that my naivete might give someone a small chuckle, so it remains. :)

So without having time for extensive research, might I ask why the name Pecadillo? Is Pecadillo a nickname?

jen said...

I on a fact-finding mission

That should read:
I went on a fact-finding mission...

I'm just embarassing myself all over your blog today. *blush*

Phil Johnson said...

John Haller:

Fortunately, she didn't see it live. That would have done her in, I'm afraid.

Jen:

"Pecadillo" was the name he chose to blog with. He picked it out of thin air, I think, because the domain was available, and at first he was trying to be anonymous. His actual nickname is different, but he would prolly taser me if I used it at the blog.

Carla Rolfe said...

"The only way James White & Co. can top this is if they can come up with a video of Dr. White tasering Dave Hunt. I'm speaking metaphorically, of course."

That made me lol for real. I'm just glad Pec is okay & bad guy is off the streets.

Pecadillo said...

No, "Pecadillo" is my Hebrew name. Here's the history behind the name.

Doug said...

"The chub comment had me laughing out loud."

The only problem with a comment like the chub comment is that while I am rolling on the floor, I then have to explain to my wife the history of the comment and it loses its humor... Oh, well. I enjoyed it anyway.

jen said...

It's all becoming clear to me now.
Takes some of us a little while longer...

rodney said...

No question - it was extremely impressive.

What about some action shots of your oldest son filling out some tax forms?

John Haller said...

Upon further review, clearly a solo tackle.

Think it might make the top 10 on ESPN?

Sharon said...

"Cops" is my all-time favorite show, cause the good guys always win. People know not to call me Saturday nights between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m.

You go, Pec!

Anonymous said...

Wow Phil, how do you deal with your boy Pec being in such a hazardous vocation? My son is in Bible college (TMC) and wants to be a pastor, that's hazardous enough...

Godspeed, Pecadillo.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your support. As a cop who worked down in South Los Angeles for several years I can tell you that you never want to take on a perp by yourself. Our motto is "always bring more men to play with than the bad guys."

It's always interesting how the media spins these events around to make it sound like us cops are being just completely ridiculous when we don't want to have an ol' fashioned, one on one, showdown with Billy the Kid. All I got to say is "WHATEVER!"

Stephen Thomas said...

I bet any day now, the guy who keeps robbing the AOMin offices will come back with Dr. White there, and we will get to see him taken down "Citizen on Patrol" style, all caught on the security cameras. And since James White carries guns that the LAPD wouldn't allow its officers to ever use, well...When that day comes, it will one-up the Pyro blog.

Now that I think of it, since Dr. White has been going youtube crazy, he should put up his "AK-47 vs. 50 magnum" video. That will definately put aomin back into the top spot.

Kim said...

Jen:

Don't worry about making "blonde" comments. I've done it here (and condinue to) and other locations with great regularity.

Doug McMasters said...

Wow. Royale and I take the boys for a fun few days in Paris and come back to London to read this!

Way to go, Pecadillo. And, Darlene, you continue to be in our prayers.

No cool car chases here--not enough room on the M25 for that.

Jim Bublitz said...

Great job Pecadillo!

Phil, maybe you should consider showing your support by allowing Pecadillo to have some more PIT maneuver practice versus your family car. He could perhaps pull in behind you and Darlene on the way to church and give you a good spin. Darlene would be at the wheel of course, and in fact, she wouldn't really need to know it was going to happen ahead of time (that could be your little secret with Pecadillo).

Also, could Pecadillo issue a warrant for James White's arrest for having an outdated blog design? On second though, James would just write books in jail, and it would end up being not very punitive :-)

FX Turk said...

Actually, I would love to find out if the rest of the force calls him by his -real- nickname.

And since a bullet cannot travel half-way across a continent, I wonder if I should divulge this Johnson family secret ...

FX Turk said...

Yes: James White is very tough with his big guns against defenseless vegetables.

No question: using a high-calibre weapon on a pumpkin definitely makes you as tough as a guy who can take down a meth-head with his bare hands.

No question at all.

FX Turk said...

I just re-read the "origin of Pecadillo" thread, and I have to say: I miss Habitans in Sicco.

Solameanie said...

I have a prediction. I'll bet within 24 hours, we'll see reports from some of the blogs that TeamPyro is calling for the tasering of Dave Hunt, Brian McLaren, Steve Chalke, Doug Pagitt, Anne Lamott, and Bishop Spong.

So in advance for the nice folks at Snopes dot com, do not believe this story if it gets circulated. It isn't true. Not one word of it.

I also predict a run on Costco frozen meat chubs over the next week.

~Mark said...

Wow, way to go Pecadillo! It's good to see a God-fearing law enforcer at work.

Aaron said...

Frank,

Go ahead and begin designing the new bumper sticker for Phil & Darlene's car:

My LAPD Cop son can taser your Perp son.

Tony Byrne said...

lol@"Except for the label with Pecadillo's name and the arrow pointing him out, there are no PhotoShop tricks in any of these pictures."

They should have had the arrow pointing out the famous "Pecadillo" the whole time, including the web address to his blog!

p.s. Angelz should have each character in the caricature picture with one eyebrow going up and down, just to irritate Cent :-) That would rule!

FX Turk said...

tony:

imitation is the most kraven form of flattery. If he did that, he would be admitting that all the really good ideas in the reformed blogosphere come from me.

As if that would offend me ...

Dave Armstrong said...

To my knowledge, I'm the only person besides James White whom Angelz has caricatured twice. I'm greatly honored!

Sister Judith Hannah said...

Dear Pyromaniacs and Friends:

This is Sr. Judith Hannah again... how much I enjoy your lively discussion of serious Christian issues... I would like to add a different perspective to the Pecadillo article and comments ...with no criticism intended at all for friend Pecadillo himself.

Anyone having worked in any kind of position of authority with the public KNOWS HOW HARD IT IS... especially if you are a Christian. Myself, I had such a hard position (years ago :) ) in a state prison institution as a teacher. But now, back to the issue at hand...

In the Garden before HE+ was taken, The LORD asked His+ disciples if there were any swords (among them). They answered yes... an amazing amount of 2. [Luke 22/ John 18.]

We all know that 2 swords against the Temple police and mob of hostile others would not at all afford any amount of protection. Yet, The LORD said, "It is ENOUGH."

Well, ... enough FOR WHAT?

It was enough for The LORD JESUS CHRIST to show us what HE+ wanted His+ people to do with the sword: PUT IT AWAY.

Under the First Covenant, God's people were allowed to bear the sword.

But under the NEW Covenant, JESUS CHANGED this. It is written: CHRIST suffered for us, and left us an example that we should follow in His+ footsteps. His+ footsteps involve suffering.

The NEW Covenant shows that not only did Our LORD refuse the sword in His+ behalf, he also refused to allow His+ followers to make Him+ a king by force.

Furthermore, … and we Christians need to take heed to this…The LORD JESUS never, ever led or taught His+ followers to use the sword... not even to right the wrongs of the Roman oppressors or criminal element in society.

There is NOT ONE EXAMPLE in the NEW Covenant of The LORD or His+ followers "righting the wrongs" of society by use of the sword.

Yes, they DID right the wrongs, but they used the weapons of OUR+ warfare to do it...weapons which were not and STILL ARE NOT carnal... but mighty through GOD... to the pulling down of strongholds.

In Revelation it is written he who takes the sword will die by the sword. And, it goes without saying that the LORD's sermons on the mount and plains taught us all how to treat our friends AND OUR ENEMIES.

So, the REAL issue is this: Is Scripture God-Breathed ... or not?

If we of this age are confused as to what the plain words of the NEW Covenant may mean, then look at the example left to us of the first church.

NONE of the Early Church (Pre-Nicene, during the first 2 centuries) allowed its members to be sword-bearers.

Even the first Nicene Council forbad Christians from bearing the sword and practicing violence.

Some might say: What about defending the innocent (as police do)? Scripture says a Christian simply does NOT entangle himself with the affairs of this life.

The Early Christians (before Nicea) would not hold any type of public office because it could eventually lead to applying the law or lawsuit or force or harm to another human being.

The Early Christians busied themselves -- not with running this world-- but with being single of eye: citizens of a different kingdom, about their FATHER'S business of spreading the Gospel, making disciples of CHRIST JESUS, and... suffering for His+ name's sake.

Yes, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

I'm certain many Pyromaniacs and friends will not agree with this, but I would challenge you to CHECK IT OUT in Scriptures and the 200 years or more of the Earliest Church writings.

May The LORD bless you as you prayerfully consider these words. May HE+ draw us ever deeper, higher, and closer to HIM+ as The Day approaches.

Respectfully submitted,
Sr. Judith Hannah
Order of the GOOD SHEPHERD+
sisterjudithhannah@yahoo.com

Chad V. said...

Luke 22:36He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

Sister Judith Hannah said...

Dear Chad and brethren at Pyromaniacs:

I'm thinking I was unclear in my last post. I am entirely at fault for not including the specific Scripture references in Luke 22, for then you could have easily seen that verse 36 (Chad's verse) is elaborated upon in verse 38! To wit:

The Luke 22:36 Scripture where The LORD JESUS CHRIST says "...he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one..." is indeed explained by the FOLLOWING two verses.

The disciples, still being natural-minded, said, "LORD, hehold, here are two swords. And HE+ said unto them, "IT IS ENOUGH." (verse 38)

Thus, it is seen that The LORD corrected the natural-minded sentiments of his zealous disciples who were ready to defend HIM+ with carnal weapons... totally against his teachings on the mount and on the plain.

Verses 49-51 of Luke 22 is even more evident of The LORD's Way: the discicples plainly asked HIM+ if they should smite with the swords... all 2 of them! And Peter flew into action, "defending" The LORD.

We all know what The LORD did for his enemy. HE+ healed the cut off ear of the servant of the High Priest. Peter most likely wasn't aiming for the ear but for his head, to kill him.

Even for the MOST WORTHY CAUSE IN THE WORLD... i.e., the defense of The LORD JESUS HIMSELF... The LORD would not tolerate the sword.

If you look at this verse in the Greek, you will find that the KJV "suffer ye thus far" is really a Greek idiom which means:

"STOP IT (you all)! THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Let us refresh our minds and our spirits with the words found in I Peter, the sword-bearer-who-was-converted-to-CHRIST JESUS...

"For even hereunto were ye called: because CHRIST also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His+ steps." I Peter 2: 21

In the issue at hand, it is important to realize that The LORD JESUS would have had to THROW AWAY the entire sermon on the mount (about loving one's enemies, going the second mile, turning the other cheek) in order to allow HIS+ disciples usage of the sword for "good causes."

The first church, the early Christians of the FIRST 200 YEARS, plus some, were known because of their zealousness in FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE of The LORD JESUS CHRIST.

They would do no injury to anyone. In societal crimes, they prayed for the victim, and tried to witness to him. They prayed for the judge, and tried to convert him to Christianity. AND THEY PRAYED FOR THE CRIMINAL, and tried to convert him to CHRIST JESUS.

They viewed the populace as saved or unsaved, period. Their function was to get ALL converted, the "good" element, the "bad" element, and the "victimized" element.


ONLY Christians are able to bring the Light of CHRIST to those walking in darkness; the unsaved are not able to do this.

Let the unsaved be about this world's business. Our kingdom is NOT OF THIS WORLD.

AND LET US CHRISTIANS BE ABOUT OUR FATHER'S BUSINESS... like Our LORD was, at all times, even unto death.

No animosity, dear brethren... just a thought to ponder .

Go towards JESUS.

Sister Judith Hannah
Order of the GOOD SHEPHERD + + +
sisterjudithhannah@yahoo.com

Phil Johnson said...

Romans 13:3-4: "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

"For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."

Mrs Pilgrim said...

Phil, I have a question, and it's an honest question brought about by Sr. JH:

Did Jesus tell the centurion to hang up his sword?

How about Cornelius (Acts 10)? Was he instructed to stop being a soldier?

I don't know a lot about these sorts of things, granted, but I just went through those and don't recall either of those men being told to quit their jobs in law enforcement...

This is a real question. Do we have anything that demonstrates that Christians must never use force?

Jason Robertson said...

(music playing in my head: What cha gonna do, what cha gonna do when they come for you...)

So much for the "G" rating! Way to go Pecadillo -- still our favorite pyro -- especially since you are the pyro that's packing!