Cops

Hey, everyone, I'm Terry Crew.

And you are about to witness...

...history in the making,

...as this is the 1,000th episode of "Cops."

Tonight, we're taking you on a high-speed chase...

...down the flashback freeway.

Fasten your seat belts. This is... "Cops: Beyond the Bust."

– Taser, taser, taser! – Oww! Ohh!

"Cops" is filmed on location...

...with the men and women of law enforcement.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty...

...in a court of law.

Tonight, we're looking back at 30 seasons of "Cops"...

...the car chases, the smackdowns, the drug busts.

We're also gonna catch up with some of the cops...

...and the suspects they busted to see where they're at now.

In the thousand episodes of "Cops," there have been over 370 car chases.

And when you put a desperate suspect behind the wheel...

...of a car with a dogged cop on his tail, things tend to get rather... smashed up.

Let's take a look back at some of the hot pursuits caught on "Cops."

Ten-one, we got a vehicle pursuit.

Tried to, uh, run over the sarge.

– We got a white van that just robbed a Walmart. – (SCREECH AND CRASH)

Oh! – Code 31, he wrecked out!

– (SIREN BLARING) – Oh!

– ( TIRES SCREECH ) – ( CRASH )

– (TIRES SCREECH) – Aced him. He just rammed me.

– ( TIRES SCREECH ) – ( RADIO CHATTER )

– (SIREN BLARING) – Stop!

Get on it! Get on it!

We're gonna lose him!

Tires are all gone. There goes the rest.

(ON RADIO) Now facing, uh, northbound on the southbound lane.

– ( RADIO CHATTER ) – ( AUDIENCE LAUGHS )

– ( SIREN BLARING ) – ( CRASH )

Across the street there.

Oh, man. – (TIRES SCREECHING)

Boom. – (CRASH)

– Hit! 3-1-7, 3-1-7. – (SIREN BLARING)

Stacked it up.

The series "Cops" has the unique distinction...

...of being one of the first and longest-runnig reality shows on television.

But unlike some "reality" shows of today, this (BLEEP) is actually real.

Real police officers, real suspects, and real life-or-death situations.

And no one knows that better than Sergeant Erik Clarkson,

...when he found himself in a potentially lethal car chase in 2000.

Let's watch.

My name is Erik Clarkson.

Back then I was 30 years of age, still considered a rookie.

Got one takin' off, southbound on Avenue.

He's passin' 108th right now.

I was 23 years old, and I was just gettin' into methamphetamines.

So I was high that day, drivin' the car around.

Yeah, go ahead and call it. He just stuck somethin' out the window.

I don't know what it was. He's stickin' somethin' out.

– Oh! Shots fired! Shots fired! – (PEOPLE GASP)

Hard to tell exactly how many rounds he fired,

...'cause the only rounds that you could really hear...

...are the ones that are impacting the car.

I don't think I ever thought to myself, "Hey I'm gonna kill a cop today."

I think my thought was, "Fire off a couple rounds, maybe you back off..."

"...a little bit," and that plan kinda backfired, 'cause it just brought every cop...

...in Washington State behind me.

It's really frustrating because I wanna shoot back.

When there's houses all around, there's just no way I can hang out the car and drive...

...and shoot at the same time at those speeds.

(ON RADIO) Another shot fired. Driver's firing shots.

Another shot fired. Driver is firing shots.

As I started to swerve, unfortunately,

...I put the cameraman, Richie Forman,

...right in the line of fire.

And you can see in the video at a certain point, he's trying to hold up the camera...

...above his head, and... and duck down.

If I get a chance, I'm gonna go and hit him and take him out here.

I'm out of it.

I hit some of that loose concrete, which punctured my tire.

I'm just, like, "Oh man, this guy can't get away."

So when Clarkson wrecked, I pretty much figured I was done.

I figured they were gonna kill me,

...so it intensified that "I need to get away" even mor.

He had blown out some tires too,

...and then he crashes through a fence...

...in a trailer park, and now he's out on foot.

– Get on the ground! Aah!

Get on the ground on your stomach!

So I was originally charged with first degree assault with a weapons enhancement...

...for a total of 171 months.

So I decided to get clean in prison, and to this day I don't use meth,

...and I don't hang around people that do.

Let's bring out Sergeant Erik Clarkson...

...and cameraman Richie Forman to get their side of the story.

– How you doin', Terry? – Sergeant, good to see you.

– Good to see you, man. – All right, Richie. Come on, have a seat.

Now, Sergeant, how did this whole thing go down?

Well, it was about 3:00 in the morning. I was drivin' around,

...just patrollin', and I saw this El Camino go by, so I turned around on it.

And immediately he did what's called a "crazy Ivan."

What we call a "crazy Ivan" is just an unpredictable turn,

...no turn signal, you just turn really quick,

...which raised my suspicion even more.

And at that... that point, I was like, "Hey, this guy's runnin'."

I looked over at Richie, and Richie was asleep...

...with the camera on his lap, and...

And so I said, "Richie, Richie, you might wanna get this."

Woke Richie up and... and then the chase was on.

Well, when you finally woke up, Richie...

– (LAUGHTER) – You know what? We just... we just...

...have to clarify this. I was not sleeping. I was checking my eyelids...

– ...for holes. – There we go, okay.

Because I wanted to be tactically sound that night...

I hear you, I hear you. You are a pro. – ...and have his back.

I know you are, 'cause you're on this show.

You are now in a high-speed police chase.

What was goin' through your mind?

You know what? I've... I've been in car chases before, and this one...

...kind of started off like normal. And then all of a sudden, the shots rang out.

What's really weird is I wasn't scared.

– I was like, "We got a really cool story." – Wow.

– "This is gonna be really cool." – Now have you ever been shot at before, Sergeant?

That time was my very first time.

– How did you feel? – Very excited.

– And, it's... – (LAUGHING)

My... my adrenaline just went through the roof, and then, I'm thinkin'...

...and it's bein' caught on camera at the same time, which was just crazy.

After that episode aired, Sjohn Guertin sent you both a letter.

Can you tell us about that?

I received an apology letter basically, sayin' that he... he was on meth that night,

...addicted to meth, and that wasn't him.

I didn't think a lot of it. Tossed it aside,

"Well, I'm not gonna be pen pals with this guy."

– And, that's it. – Wow.

It was kind of the same for me. I... I never got any other letters before.

I thought he might've been in a program or somethin',

...you know, to help think about what he did and stuff like that, so.

Well, let's bring out Sjohn Guertin!

How you doin', sir? How you doin'? How you doin'?

Now, Sjohn... please tell us,

...you know, what happened that day from your perspectiv.

I got a little too high.

I mean I was, uh... I was wrapped up in drugs,

...and, not in my right mind.

Now how did you manage to turn your life around?

One day I just kinda decided, "I'm done."

"I don't want nothin' to do with none of that no more," and...

– Amen. – (APPLAUSE)

Have you ever met Richie and Erik face to face?

Oh, yeah. I was actually at work.

I've been out five years now, but I work on the railroad.

Doin' the testing, you know, make sure all the gate arms come down...

...across the intersections, and... so at every intersection you have officers,

...and I'm lookin' over there, and I'm like, "Man, I know that guy." You know?

– (LAUGHTER) – And I keep lookin', and I'm tryin' to see...

...his name badge, and then I seen him seein' me and I was like,

...yep, that's him. So I was like, "What's up, Clarkson?"

– And it was funny 'cause, he does this. – (LAUGHTER)

Whoo!

– Whoa. – So I got 20 cops around me, and this guy just put his hand...

...on his gun, and I'm like, "Oh, man."

– I was just teasin'. – (LAUGHTER)

Man. Would you say the night that you were arrested by him...

...was the night that saved your life?

Chances are, yeah. If I didn't go to prison, I'd probably be dead.

You know?

Is there anything you'd like to say to these gentlemen in person, right now?

I think we've made our... peace, so to speak, already, you know?

I apologize for, uh... you know... ain't nobody got a right to shoot at...

...any of you, you know what I mean? Anybody, really.

– Especially the camera guy. Don't shoot at me. – (LAUGHTER)

Well, thank you, Sjohn, for sharing your story with us,

...and sharing your turnaround.

– (APPLAUSE) – This is why police officers...

...and people who do a show like this can help people,

...and you are an amazing example of that, Sjohn. Thank you, everybody.

– (APPLAUSE) – Sjohn Guertin.

– Richie, Sergeant, thank you very much. – You got it, man.

Thank you for bein' here.

For police officers, the pat-down is pretty much an everyday occurrence.

But sometimes, the things they find hidden on their suspects...

...are a little... let's just watch.

Do not move.

– (RADIO CHATTER) – Ahhhh...

This guy's got a gun, and he's sayin' it could go off, so...

Yeah. Be real careful.

Oh, there's one in there.

– Go ahead, man. – This one looks like some sort of MAC-11

– ...knockoff. – (LAUGHING)

I don't know what this is. Looks like tobacco.

Why do you have tobacco wrapped in...