Read Online Lines and shadows by Joseph Wambaugh - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Joseph Wambaugh
Tags: Fiction, General, Social Science, Mystery & Detective, True Crime, California, Undercover operations, Alien labor, Foreign workers, San Diego, Mexican, Mexicans, Police patrol, Border patrols
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walked a little fester. Then one of the young men said, "They're going to arrest you cabrones!"
But these dumb pollos seemed way more scared of them than of la migra . Still, he tried once more and said, " Vengan carnales !"
But calling them brothers didn't help either. These pollos picked up the pace. Finally one of their benefactors, who was wearing about a hundred jailhouse tattoos on both arms and hands, started running toward them. A funny thing happened. The cops began hotfooting it down Darwin Way and they started feeling like pollos. The five of them were running from three lowlife vatos who were cursing and threatening them—but not yet demanding money, a crucial element in the crime of robbery.
One of the street thugs got sick and tired of this and, cornering them in a cul-de-sac, picked up some rocks from the ground. Then the hoodlums were looking at shiny brass shields and realizing they had really screwed up, and the pollos-cum-cops began chasing the thugs back the way they had come.
Tony Puente was very surprised to have felt, however briefly, like an illegal alien. To feel threatened by everyone. To be abused by petty hoodlums who probably could have been bought off by a few extorted dollars.
It was only a "probable cause" arrest. The thugs had not as yet demanded money. They would not be charged with robbery and were released the next day. It was an unremarkable encounter except that it proved that they could look like aliens. But there was the other thing, the strange sensation as they got into the parts they were playing. They told Dick Snider to get them union cards from the actors guild. They tried it again the next night. Two men with the look of smugglers offered to give the pollos a ride to Los Angeles for $100, and were arrested for a violation of the "wildcatting" law in the California penal code: that is, offering transportation for money, without a license. Not a great pinch, but their alien disguises and mannerisms were working. file://C:\Documents and Settings\tim\Desktop\books to read\Wambaugh, Joseph - Lines a... 11/20/2009
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Page 37 of 256
Within the next several days on the streets of San Ysidro they had broken up into groups of three or more and had been accosted by many street hoodlums, ranging in age from thirteen to twenty-nine years. They had been threatened with knives, sticks, rocks, screwdrivers, and asked to give up money. A couple of the Mexican-American street crooks had tried to escape and a couple had succeeded. Otherwise there was no problem arresting them. The decoy business was a piece of cake.
There were lots of show biz gags about who was going to be the next Robert De Niro. Then they decided to take their act on the road, into the canyons where the real bandits did business, the banditos from the other side who sometimes left their victims rotting in the mesquite.
They,were already beginning to form a class structure. At this stage of the experiment there were three walking teams. The first was inevitably comprised of Manny Lopez, Tony Puente and Eddie Cervantes. Tony Puente was one of the senior men in terms of police experience. Eddie Cervantes, the smallest, was the most aggressive and outspoken. He was from Texas and talked a slightly accented Tex-Mex English. He had grown up speaking Spanish and was fluent.
The fourth member of "the varsity," as they began calling themselves, would vary. Manny Lopez would give the others a rotating shot at walking with the varsity. On this night it was Carlos Chacon, and very soon his extraordinarily expressive eyes would get about three times as big as the muzzle on the sawed-off 12-gauge under his coat. And the slithering question mark of a right eyebrow would be crawling all over the balding forehead of Manny Lopez. This, when a Tijuana bandit walked up and introduced himself. At dusk the varsity had begun walking their new foot beat on the top flatland along the international border between the Tijuana airport and
But these dumb pollos seemed way more scared of them than of la migra . Still, he tried once more and said, " Vengan carnales !"
But calling them brothers didn't help either. These pollos picked up the pace. Finally one of their benefactors, who was wearing about a hundred jailhouse tattoos on both arms and hands, started running toward them. A funny thing happened. The cops began hotfooting it down Darwin Way and they started feeling like pollos. The five of them were running from three lowlife vatos who were cursing and threatening them—but not yet demanding money, a crucial element in the crime of robbery.
One of the street thugs got sick and tired of this and, cornering them in a cul-de-sac, picked up some rocks from the ground. Then the hoodlums were looking at shiny brass shields and realizing they had really screwed up, and the pollos-cum-cops began chasing the thugs back the way they had come.
Tony Puente was very surprised to have felt, however briefly, like an illegal alien. To feel threatened by everyone. To be abused by petty hoodlums who probably could have been bought off by a few extorted dollars.
It was only a "probable cause" arrest. The thugs had not as yet demanded money. They would not be charged with robbery and were released the next day. It was an unremarkable encounter except that it proved that they could look like aliens. But there was the other thing, the strange sensation as they got into the parts they were playing. They told Dick Snider to get them union cards from the actors guild. They tried it again the next night. Two men with the look of smugglers offered to give the pollos a ride to Los Angeles for $100, and were arrested for a violation of the "wildcatting" law in the California penal code: that is, offering transportation for money, without a license. Not a great pinch, but their alien disguises and mannerisms were working. file://C:\Documents and Settings\tim\Desktop\books to read\Wambaugh, Joseph - Lines a... 11/20/2009
dummy1
Page 37 of 256
Within the next several days on the streets of San Ysidro they had broken up into groups of three or more and had been accosted by many street hoodlums, ranging in age from thirteen to twenty-nine years. They had been threatened with knives, sticks, rocks, screwdrivers, and asked to give up money. A couple of the Mexican-American street crooks had tried to escape and a couple had succeeded. Otherwise there was no problem arresting them. The decoy business was a piece of cake.
There were lots of show biz gags about who was going to be the next Robert De Niro. Then they decided to take their act on the road, into the canyons where the real bandits did business, the banditos from the other side who sometimes left their victims rotting in the mesquite.
They,were already beginning to form a class structure. At this stage of the experiment there were three walking teams. The first was inevitably comprised of Manny Lopez, Tony Puente and Eddie Cervantes. Tony Puente was one of the senior men in terms of police experience. Eddie Cervantes, the smallest, was the most aggressive and outspoken. He was from Texas and talked a slightly accented Tex-Mex English. He had grown up speaking Spanish and was fluent.
The fourth member of "the varsity," as they began calling themselves, would vary. Manny Lopez would give the others a rotating shot at walking with the varsity. On this night it was Carlos Chacon, and very soon his extraordinarily expressive eyes would get about three times as big as the muzzle on the sawed-off 12-gauge under his coat. And the slithering question mark of a right eyebrow would be crawling all over the balding forehead of Manny Lopez. This, when a Tijuana bandit walked up and introduced himself. At dusk the varsity had begun walking their new foot beat on the top flatland along the international border between the Tijuana airport and
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