T.J. Hooker (1982–1986): Season 4, Episode 1 - Night Vigil - full transcript

(exciting synth music)

- Look at those kids.

The sun is hardly up

and they're already headed
off to catch some waves.

Don't you wish you
were with them?

- Oh, sure.

- Wake up and
get with it, partner.

Life is great!

- Gee, I told maintenance
to check that slow leak!

- We'll stop at a gas station.

Just coffee?



- I don't know, I
skipped breakfast.

- You feel like a
croissant this morning?

- (chuckling) Watch
your language.

Just coffee's fine.

- Hi Frank, how are you?

(tense music)

(gun firing)

- Didn't say, didn't say a
word, just cut her down.

He went out the back.

- Oh no.

Call an ambulance and police.

Move!

(guns firing)

(sirens wailing)



- Get back from there!

My God, it's Stacy.

- What happened here?

- Robbery.

He had the .45 on me,

then she just walked
in, he cut her down.

I called for the ambulance.

(gun firing)

- Four Adam 30, alert the
hospital, they're coming out.

Jim!

- Stacy?

- Paramedics are in there now.

What about the guy?

- I couldn't catch him.

He was down the
street when we got here.

I got the plates, we
just put it on the horn

but I never saw the driver.

- Did you get to her father?

- He'll meet you
at the hospital.

- The guy who shot her.

- Gone.

- Whoever he is, I want him.

- As we rolled
in here, she said,

life is great.

- How is she?

- There's a team of
doctors working on her.

One of them's gonna
come out and talk to us.

- I got a description of
the suspect over the radio.

- Two suspects now.

One who shot her and
whoever was driving the sedan.

How is she, Doctor?

- Critical.

Two problems we
have to deal with.

Only one bullet
hit her, in the chest.

It's lucky she was
wearing a bulletproof vest,

or she'd be dead.

But the bullet is now lodged
in the wall of her heart.

- What's the second problem?

- The bullet's impact slammed
her back against something.

That resulted in brain
concussion, shock, and now coma.

No question that we
have to remove that bullet

from the pericardium,
the lining of the heart,

but we are afraid to do so

until we can
stabilize her condition.

- Doctor, I had a chance
to think this through

while I was driving
over here, and,

look, if there are any
decisions that I have to make,

I'd appreciate knowing
as soon as possible.

Yeah, it's funny.

It's funny how the mind works.

I see her like, you know,
when she was about 11,

she broke her arm at
the playground at school.

You know, there was
nobody around, so,

I had to pick her up,

take her in, have
the cast put on.

I remember her, you
know, sitting next to me

in the car afterwards
and thinking,

such a hell of a big cast

for such a small kid.

- I want a 24-hour guard
around Stacy's room,

nobody in, nobody out
unless they've been cleared.

What about DMV on the the
gray sedan's license plate?

- Stolen about six weeks
ago out of the east side.

- Well that blows
our prime lead so far.

Okay, Corrigan.

Check robbery's MO bulletins

for anything that fits
with what we've got.

Need a name for the
scum who pulled the trigger.

He's got a record,
he's got a pad,

he's got a name.

- Done.

Then I'm doing
SID to help make up

an artist sketch of the big guy.

They're also bringing in the man

who owns the sandwich shop.

- Lab come up with
anything we can use?

- Maybe, one of
the slugs went into

a wall by the refrigerator.

Lab man who dug it out
said that it was armor-piercing.

- Cop killers.

That explains why the bullet
went through Stacy's vest.

- Well sure.

He capped off a few at me.

One of them went right
through two sides of a dumpster.

- He put in an
order for that ammo.

He wanted to kill a cop.

- Yeah, and I made
it easier for him.

- What are you talking about?

- I should have gone
into that shop with her.

- Hey, Jim.

You stop there every morning.

- Yeah, we stop
there every morning

and only one of
us went in, sure.

But I forgot for
just five minutes

that the uniform is a target,
no matter where you go.

I forgot my partner is a target.

And I let her walk
through that door alone.

- Those super-slugs
might work for us.

A lot of gun stores
don't carry them.

And most of them
that do are very careful

about who they sell them to.

I popped an armed robber
out here a couple of years ago,

he was carrying a dozen
clips of armor-piercing bullets.

He never told me
where he got 'em.

- He live out this way?

- No, he lives in
San Quentin now.

But his girlfriend
works out here,

and she scores on the
street every morning.

And the license plate
to that gray sedan

was grabbed out in
this neighborhood.

There she is.

Hey you, wait a minute!

Now wait up Lecha, we got you.

Come here, come here.

- Damn it, let go!

- Easy, easy, easy.

Lady lost her purse, get it.

- (laughing) Hooker.

I thought you were
a friend of mine.

- Well I am a friend,
you're gonna need one.

How much grass you got in here?

- How much grass
can I afford, huh?

Two joints.

- Two joints.

Two joints.

I wanna talk to you about
cop-killing bullets, Lecha.

Where can I find some?

- I'm no snitch!

- Tell your
probation officer that

if I book you for possession.

Now on the other hand,

it must get awfully
lonely for Roberto.

Maybe instead I could have
him transferred down to Chino.

Be nice and close for you.

- You could do all that?

- Sure.

Super-slugs.

- Lucky Loans.

But the owner don't
sell super-slugs

to people he don't know.

- Thanks, Lecha.

- Hey.

What about my purse?

- You'll need it for car
fare home. (clucking)

- It's a good sketch.

Frank the shop
owner was very helpful.

- Right.

We ran the suspect's
description and MO by CII.

They need more information
if they're gonna help us.

- What about this place?

- Sells armor-piercing ammo
to people like big guy here.

- Well, if you've got
good information like that,

we can stake the place, get
enough for a search warrant.

- I don't wanna stake the place,

I don't wanna take time
for a search warrant.

Stacy was shot two hours ago.

We don't know how many more cops

this guy is willing to kill.

- Can I help you people?

- You certainly can, buster.

I haven't got time
to shuck and jive,

so I'll jump straight to it.

Super-slugs,
armor-piercing ammo.

- Me?

Those mean mamas.

If you're looking to buy, I
consider them a public menace.

I don't handle them.

- Uh... Hey look,
I'll be right back.

- Know that guy?

He sure as hell knows you.

- Go, Jovina, go!

- It's the same car.

- [Gun Dealer] Never
laid eyes on him.

- Just like you never laid eyes

on the black kid
who ran out of here.

- I've said that.

No, I never laid eyes
on neither of them before!

- Sedan the same one
used in earlier incident

in which Officer Stacy
Sheridan was shot.

- You guys interested
in buying something?

I'll give you my
regular police discount,

20 up, 10 percent off,
otherwise you get out of my store,

you're bad for business.

Hey, man.
- Get your hands off me.

- Hooker, you can't do this!

- No, you got no right!

- Talk to me about rights!

I got a police
officer with a slug

jammed up against her heart!

I don't wanna hear
about your rights!

- Think about it, Hooker,
this may blow our chances.

And it isn't really
gonna help Stacy!

- Super-slugs.

The tips chemically treated.

Just like the ones
you sold that black kid.

Just like the ones that big guy

pumped into one
of us this morning.

- No, I told you.

- Tell me the truth!

When, when did
you sell the ammo?

- Last night, but
not to both of them.

- How much did you sell?

- Two boxes, but just to the
black kid, just to Toothpick!

- Toothpick.

- Only name I
ever heard, I swear.

- You sold the
.45 to the big guy?

- No!

Just the black kid.

I sold 'em both .45s.

- Two .45s, no waiting
period, no ID check?

No record clearance?

You're going to
jail, gun dealer.

- All right, you
climbed all over him

and it worked, but what if...

- No buts, it worked,
that's all that counts.

- Look, so far he's
maybe got police brutality.

You wanna give him
false arrest on top?

- Tattoo this on your
skull, both of you.

I'll walk over 10
dirtbags like him

if that's what it takes to
catch the punk that shot Stacy.

- Okay, we're not
faulting you on that,

but you book him and you're
putting everything on the line.

The case, your badge.

We eyeballed the second suspect,

we got a street name, Toothpick.

We'll go from
there, let him walk.

- That gun dealer spends
the night in a nice cold cell

and I hope the
plumbing doesn't work.

And maybe it'll influence him
the next time he gets the urge

to sell a gun to a cop-killer.

Take him in!

- Where you going?

- To the hospital.

(machine beeping)

- Nurse.

What's going on here?

I walked in on Officer
Sheridan and she's alone.

- I just stepped
out for a moment.

- To do what?

Call your boyfriend?

Where's her father?

- Dr. Coe is having
the other team members

brief him on the situation.

- Is there a problem here?

- I just stepped out
to get her medication

and this gentleman seems to be.

- Understood, go
back to your patient.

- Thank you.

- I don't care
what she's getting.

I don't want Officer
Sheridan left unattended.

- They are monitoring devices

which relay instantly
to this station.

The slightest change
in her condition...

But I understand your
concern, Sergeant Hooker.

And I share it.

- Is her condition
deteriorating?

- There's been some
leakage of blood

from the pericardium, or
lining, into the heart proper.

If it continues, it impairs
the heart function.

- And you can't
cut the bullet out

because of the
concussion, her coma.

- It's quite possible she
wouldn't survive the operation.

- Are you saying she'll die
if you do and die if you don't.

- I'm sorry, but I guess that's
what I'm saying, Sergeant.

(carnival music)

- Hey, Roller, how's it going?

- Fine.

Hey I don't know
that I know you, man.

- Oh, it doesn't matter.

Now I'm looking for Toothpick.

- Sorry.

Hey, you the man, right?

Where am I supposed to
know this Toothpick from?

- Oh, you and he worked
with the street prostitute

at the bus station.

You'd meet late buses,
pros would pick up a trick,

take him to the Hotel Clayton,

then you and Toothpick
used to roll 'em.

- Hey that's a nice story,

but I'm sorry man, I don't
know know Toothpick.

- Oh sure you do.

Sure!

I wanna know his real
name, where he's at.

- Hey, I suspect you
think I'm somebody else.

- You're the punk, all right.

We got four outstanding
warrants on you

for outstanding performance.

Assault, rape.

It's not that I'm
not glad to see you,

but what you are doing here?

- You're not the only one
checking the Monica file tonight.

I also found out our
friend Roller here

had an associate with just
the street name, Toothpick.

- Hey, man!

- All right, let's try again.

Toothpick, what's his real name?

- I never knew it!

- You ever try skating on water?

You can drown before
you can get the skates off.

- Hook!

- Lay off me!

- Hey man, I never
knew it, I swear!

I never knew it!

He didn't want to be
called nothing but Toothpick.

- How'd you meet this Toothpick?

- I never met him.

I just saw him hanging
around the school yard,

you know, shooting baskets.

- What school
would that be, Roller?

- Carver High!

We was just talking!

- Yeah, and you just struck
up a friendship, is that it?

Get in there!

Good bust.

- Sure it's a good bust.

Throw him off the
pier and what happens.

- I wasn't gonna
take it that far.

- Yeah, but he didn't know that.

- I know.

That sleaze gunrunner.

Is he enjoying his
night in the can?

- You're a dreamer.

10 minutes after his lawyer

reached the city
attorney's office,

we got orders to kick him loose.

Before the end of the
watch we got a call,

from Internal Affairs.

- Let me guess.

They'll be waiting
for me in the morning.

(machine beeping)

- The bartender where
Lecha Martinez works

says you chased her down
and copped her marijuana.

What'd you do with it?

- I flushed it
down a park toilet.

- That was contraband.

And it was evidence in what
could have been a good arrest.

- Lecha had some
seeds and some sticks

and a couple of joints.

No deputy DA in the city

is gonna go to court
over a couple of joints.

And it was a waste of
time and taxpayer money

to cite her and arrest
her, and you know it.

- Maybe it was a waste of time

because you were in a
hurry to get to Lucky Loans.

My information is that
when you got there,

you beat the hell
out of the gun dealer.

- That isn't true.

- Then to cover yourself you
had Officer Romano and Corrigan

take Robinson in on a
misdemeanor firearms charge.

Do you really expect
that to stand up in court?

- Gentlemen, we seem to be
on a different wavelength here.

Robinson violated the law and
he was arrested and booked.

- You did hit him.

- He swung at me, I stopped him!

He also sold the bullets that
took down a police officer!

- It doesn't bother you
that Robinson's attorney

is filing a police brutality
and false arrest suit

against you and the city, and
that the deputy city attorney

says that he can't prosecute

because of your illegal
search and seizure.

- No, that doesn't bother me.

And if the deputy CA
wants to throw this case out

and let that sucker
walk, I'll open the door

and kick him all the
way down to the bricks.

Because I already got
what I want from him.

Information that will
help me take down

the guy who shot
Officer Sheridan.

And that's what's
important to me.

Listen, give me a couple
days to wrap this thing up.

Then, I'll come back

and I'll face Robinson's
lawyer, whatever.

- Maybe you should quit
while you're behind, Hooker.

- What's that mean?

- It means it's official
from downtown,

you're out of the investigation

into the assault
on Stacy Sheridan.

From now on it's
out of your hands.

You're not to go near it!

- You coming along, then?

- We'll be getting around
to you very soon, Corrigan.

We just got a
report on the arrest

you and Hooker put
together last night.

- Oh, worry about
that arrest later.

Look, there's some things
you may not understand

about this case, about Hooker.

- He wasn't shy about
explaining himself.

- Oh sure he's angry about

what happened to Stacy
Sheridan, we all are.

But Hooker was more
than just her training officer.

He was there when she was born.

He's been like a godfather
to Stacy ever since.

You're looking at 20 years now.

- That's exactly
what we're looking at,

20 years down the drain.

Given his record,
maybe it's inevitable.

- What, given his record?

Hey listen, the day you
people can put together

a service record like Hooker's.

- Thanks, Corrigan.

I appreciate your input.

- I don't think I did you

a whole lot of good
with those people.

- I appreciate the effort,

but they came with
their minds made up.

But the order for
me to stay out of it

doesn't include
you two, does it?

- Of course not, why?

- Well it makes
sense for the captain

to assign me to a Z-car and
team the two of you together,

assuming you're compatible.

- Well.

His legs aren't quite
as good as Stacy's,

but, temporarily, until
Stacy's back in harness.

- Romano?

- Yeah.

- Hooker.

You're under direct orders.

If you don't comply
they're gonna break you.

- I know what you're
trying to say, Jim.

Do me a favor.

Don't say it.

- Romano.

You know about
Hooker, don't you?

- Yeah, I figured it out.

He's gotta keep going
until he gets the big guy.

It could cost him his badge.

He doesn't want it
to cost me mine, too.

- In other late news,
policewoman Stacy Sheridan,

wounded in a beach side
convenience store holdup,

remains in guarded condition
at Community Hospital.

There is still no clue as to
the identity of the bandits

who gunned her down in
brutal fashion yesterday morning.

- Great, he's back!

- Beautiful.

I was hoping he would
forget where I live.

- Jovina, look, we need...

- It used to be we just
needed each other.

(knocking)

- Okay.

Well did you see
something you like?

- Yeah.

Jewelry store at the marina.

Come on!

How about Chinese food?

- Good idea.

The policewoman's still alive.

- Don't worry about it.

She'll be dead in a while.

Trust me. (laughing)

(whistling)

- Come on, let's
pick it up, come on!

Come on, it's the start
of the practice, let's go!

- Cassius!

- Hooker, hey! (laughing)

Ah, it's been a
long time, Sergeant.

- You're a coach here now?

- And a member of the faculty.

- Congratulations.

- You know from that
day you busted me,

I've been nothing
but a goal-oriented,

upward-mobile, dedicated dude.

- Way to go, buddy.

I'm looking for a kid who
might have played here once,

named Toothpick.

- Hooker, he was a
few years after me.

But he was a
pretty fair ballplayer.

I remember him.

- What's his real name?

- You'll get writer's cramp.

Willie Joe Ellington
Brown, the third.

- Friend of yours?

- Not long he wasn't.

That sucker ripped
off the silver medallions

that the team won for winning
the league championship,

and then he hawked 'em.

- Do you know where
I might find him now?

- No.

But if you do, you
give him a fat lip for me.

- It'd be my pleasure.

(dramatic synth music)

- What did you do, huh?

- She do something?

- Yeah, she made a funny move.

What were you up to, huh?

(beeping)

- [Dispatcher] Four Adam 14

and any other unit
able to respond.

A 211 silent at Dupree's Jewels.

Carlyle and Coronado Way,
Four Adam 14 handle, code three.

- Four Adam 14.

Roger.

Let's go.

(siren wailing)

- Police, freeze!

- Jovina, let's go!

Move it, move it!

(gun firing)

Jovina, move it!

- Lotta help on the
way, who hit you?

- Salt and pepper
team, gray sedan.

Driver is a black female.

Still on Coronado
Way the last we saw.

Four Adam 14, officer down.

- You fool, you
shot another cop!

- Ain't that great?

(laughing)

- Chuck's gonna make
it, Mitch, take it easy.

- Sarge, it comes
right on top of

Stacy Sheridan getting hit.

It's gotta be the same
guy who did them both.

- No question.

All right, you guys.

We're at Four Adam
30's command post.

You'll take all incoming calls.

Log all reports from parameter
positions and search units.

(beeping) Hold on.

Four Adam 30.

- Four Adam 16 and Four Adam 12.

We found the gray sedan
in the parking lot, and empty,

at Admiral Way and Grove.

Looks like they
switched vehicles.

- Put a hold on the gray sedan.

And you guys get
back here right away.

And tell Four Adam
12 not to take a tow

until the lab boys get there.

- That's a roger.

- Trying real hard
to make my day.

- Sergeant Hooker, come on.

Hooker, you were
under a direct order

to stay away from this case.

- Well there was an
officer down and wounded,

what did you expect me to do?

- When you heard the description

of the gray sedan,
you could have...

- The gray sedan is in a
parking lot somewhere.

The big guy and his
buddy are off and running

while you're standing...

- That's enough, Hooker.

Lieutenant Bannon will
take over the command post.

There's no reason for
you to remain at the scene.

- I telephoned a friend of mine.

He gave me Toothpick's name.

Willie Joe Ellington Brown III.

- A mouthful.

Does he have a record?

- GTA, assault, stat
rape, he's expanding.

I'm meeting my
friend at Sherry's bar.

Why don't the
two of you drop in?

- What's up?

- Mitchell heard our black
suspect yell to the driver,

move it, Jovina.

- There certainly
aren't a million girls

with a name like Jovina.

- That's for sure.

I'm gonna drop by the
hospital on my way down.

If I'm delayed, why don't
you two introduce yourself.

His name is Cassius Isley.

- Her condition
is still unstable.

There's a lessening
of pressure, however,

and no sign of bleeding or
hemorrhaging in the brain.

- What about the
lining around her heart?

- Blood is now starting
to flow more steadily

and in larger amounts
from the pericardial sac

into the heart proper.

- You said that could be fatal.

- It will be fatal if
we don't operate.

I guess I've been hiding behind
all this medical terminology

because I wasn't
anxious to tell you that.

I've scheduled her operation
for five this afternoon,

with your permission.

- You have it.

- [Dispatcher] Four Adam 30,
meet Four Adam 16 on track two.

- Roger, Dispatch.

This is Four Adam 30, go 60.

- We met with your
friend, Cassius Isley.

He remember a Jovina
from the neighborhood.

A hooker.

And she was Toothpick's
girlfriend in school.

Name is Jovina Wright.

She was in the
slammer on a drug bust

but she's out on parole.

- Do you have an address on her?

- [Corrigan] Living in a
Mulberry Street development.

- Meet me there.

- We're on our way.

(exciting synth music)

- West building, apartment 1305.

Hold it right there, Jovina.

Police!

Toothpick, give it up!

Stick with her.

- Oh man.

- I want him alive.

All right, Willie Joe
Brown, I want the big guy,

and you're gonna
help me find him.

- No!

You find him yourself, sucker!

Let go, let go!

- Hey you, come here, come here!

- Let go of me!

- Where is he?

- I ain't telling you nothing!

- Hooker, for God's sakes,
you said you wanted him alive!

- Cuff him.

- [Romano] Hands on your head!

- Get in.

- They want you at
the hospital, Hooker.

Stacy was conscious
briefly, she asked for you.

It just came over the horn.

- Okay.

Take him in, Jovina
stays with me.

I'll handcuff her to the
steering wheel if I have to.

- Hey!

Hey, Romano just stopped you

from hammering her
boyfriend's brains out!

- Think about it.

That turkey's not gonna
talk, but Jovina might.

The trouble is, you take her in,

some bail bondsman
could have her kicked loose

before you finish
writing the arrest report.

- Look.

If you take her now, it's like
holding her incommunicado.

Corrigan and I can
hold both of them.

We're off her
investigation at the scene.

- We could even ask
for a search warrant.

They gotta be
here while we get it.

And here while we
search the place.

- If you aren't careful,

you two are gonna be in
as much trouble as I am.

Thank you.

- Okay, everybody out!

- Hey man, what is this, huh?

- Look, don't give
me a hard time,

or I'll finish the job
that Hooker started.

Okay?

- Hey what the hell
you say, copper?

Hey watch your
mouth, that's right!

- Hey shut up bigmouth!

You're the one got
me into this mess.

- Hooker.

- I'm here, Stacy.

- Suspect.

Male Caucasian.

Brown...

I don't...

- You rest easy.

We'll take care of him.

- Am I gonna die?

- Are you kidding?

A fighter like you?

You came kicking out
of your mother's womb.

I oughta know, I was there.

Remember?

I was there.

And I'm here now, Stacy.

- I'm afraid.

(fast beeping)

- Nurse.

Don't you remember
what you used to tell me?

When you were a little girl?

That the boogeyman would
come in the middle of the night,

and you'd throw
him out on his head,

because that's
what I told you to do.

You're a fighter, Stacy.

You can lick anything.

- Was she able to say
anything to you, Hooker?

- She tried to give me a
description of the suspect.

- [Dispatcher] Four Adam 30.

Ballistics reports a
match between the slugs

that wounded
Officer Jay Mitchell

at the marina
jewelry store heist,

and those that wounded
Officer Sheridan.

Any further requests?

- Negative.

Show me off the
air for investigation.

Take him to the car,
she stays with me.

- Jovina.

- Shut up!

- Let go of me,
Jovina, don't you say it!

- You lay a hand on me

and I'll scream down
the neighborhood.

- I'm here to help
you, not hurt you.

- (laughing) Sure you are.

- You're in deep, Jovina.

Armed robbery.

Assault with intent
to kill a police officer.

You're looking at a lot of time.

- That's heavy, huh?

- Yeah, that's heavy.

You're a young woman now.

You're gonna be an old
woman when you come out.

An old woman,

with no figure,

who spent most
of her years in jail.

You've already hit one jail,

you're on parole.

- He made me drive that car.

- That may be, but it's
not gonna help you now.

- What will?

- A name.

- You mean that big white dude?

I don't know.

- Let's go, Jovina.

- Come on.

I do know something.

- Sure you do.

- The place where he and
Toothpick meet is a cafeteria.

- Called what?

They met at a place
called Anna's, downtown.

I'm gonna stake it out.

- What about us?

- If I find him, you'll
be the first to know.

- More coffee?

You must be on your tenth cup.

- That big guy over there.

Does he come in here often?

- Yeah, like every day.

Sometimes two or three times.

- Alone?

- Mostly.

Couple of times a skinny
black dude joined him.

- Big guy, dark hair,

tan shirt, dark pants,
just came in here.

Is he registered?

- Uh, 505.

- Why don't you do me a favor.

Call the Academy Precinct,

tell them Sergeant
Hooker needs backup.

Tell them to send Four Adam 16.

- Four Adam 16.

- You got it.

Is there a freight
elevator in the back?

- No, just stairs.

- Thank you.

(gun firing)

(sirens wailing)

Good morning.

- Glad you're still here.

Where's Dad?

- We just brought you
up from post-operative.

He's downstairs talking to
the doctors that worked on you.

- I remember some of that.

Not much.

- Came out beautifully.

- You wouldn't lie to me.

- Never.

- Like you always said.

Street cops have tough hides.

Did you get him?

- I got him.

- Did you get him by the book?

- Well, there are a few things

Internal Affairs
aren't thrilled about.

But, I never went over the line.

Worst that can happen
is a few days off.

- Should have gone
by the book, Hooker.

That's what you've
always taught us.

- Well, we'll talk about it
when you're on your feet.

- Am I gonna be all right?

Walk and talk and
all that good stuff.

- You're going
to be terrific, kid.

- You know when I was in there,

the boogeyman came for me again.

- But you threw
him out on his head.

- Just like you told me too.

(exciting synth music)