In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
[tense music]
[gunshot]
Detective Frank Cosgrove.
I was with the girl when she was shot,
so I'm not going anywhere.
So we're thinking that this girl's trafficked.
What are you doing talking to Mark Sirenko?
I've been working this prick for six months.
You walk up to his front door, start asking questions?
I saw you. I was there.
And I'm coming for you.
You have a CI on the inside?
Why don't we use him to solve the murder?
I need you to clone his burner.
Use your head. Be smart.
- Found our pimp. - NYPD!
No, no, no, no! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
Just shoot me! I just--I'd rather die!
So where would you like to start?
Would you feel comfortable telling us your name?
How about the name Ava?
You know a girl named Ava?
Do you know Ava's dead?
A man shot her just a couple of hours
after the two of you were together on that yacht.
I know this is difficult to talk about.
And I know that you don't want to be here.
But whatever did happen on that yacht,
you did nothing wrong.
You're a kid.
You--you can stop.
I don't need any of this.
You don't have to pretend like the world
is this big, happy place and that you're gonna help me.
I'm not pretending.
If I say that I'm gonna help you,
I am going to help you.
I already have help.
I already got people who love me, who protect me.
And I am not about to rat them out.
[suspenseful music]
♪
What is this?
I want you to see for yourself
this woman that loves you.
Casserole is baked, Sam.
We found you with a 14-year-old girl.
We also recovered your phone and laptop records.
We been through all your devices already.
Lots of pictures from lots of girls.
We got you, Sam.
The more you cooperate with us,
the better you live from here on out.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Yes, you do.
The only thing that people agree on these days,
Sam, is this:
burying people who've hurt young kids.
I don't-- I don't want to watch this.
Let's just watch a little bit longer, okay?
You ask me, I think it's time
to start worrying about you.
You're a survivor, Sam.
You're good at taking care of yourself.
Hell, it's the only reason you're alive right now.
So why don't you listen to that instinct
and start working with us?
Let's, uh-- let's talk about this
14-year-old girl we found you with.
Who is she? She live with you?
You take care of her?
'Cause she sure as hell tried to protect you.
She cut me up. Well, she tried.
You two are close, yeah?
She loves you.
I'm guessing you love her too.
I have no idea who that girl was.
That girl was on the yacht doing business.
If she's a whore, that's her choice.
We don't know each other.
And we sure as hell don't love each other.
You heard her.
Um, she doesn't mean that.
She's only saying that because you have her in cuffs.
Maybe, but I'm guessing that if she really loved you,
she would have said something else, hmm,
something a little more kind.
You charge me with whatever you want to charge me with.
I just want to get out of here.
I'm not charging you anything because you did nothing wrong.
That woman did.
No. No, no, no. Sam's a good person.
Okay, she--she--she loves me.
She protected me.
She didn't protect you.
She exploited you.
And she's gonna go to prison for it.
Then I'll say it was all my idea.
It's not gonna matter.
Nothing you do or say is gonna affect her reality.
It won't.
Nicole, that woman used you.
She and Sirenko used you.
She's going to prison for it.
And we're gonna find Sirenko, trust me.
Nicole, you and me, we're here.
I promise you, I will help you no matter what.
But right now, I need you to help me.
Ava's dead because of them.
Help Ava.
Please, help your friend.
Please.
[dramatic music]
♪
Nicole Merrick, 14, foster kid.
She ran away from her abusive foster parent
more than a year ago.
And how long was Nicole with Sam and Sirenko?
Just with Sam.
Nicole only saw Sirenko sometimes.
Sam she lived with for nine months.
Nicole, what can you tell me about
that morning on the yacht?
What do you remember about Ava?
We were meeting Sirenko's friend.
Nicole doesn't have any names.
But that night, her and Ava went to a party on that yacht
with a john, an old man.
That man is in this surveillance video,
but we can't catch his face.
So what's an old man to her?
She's thinking in his 60s,
had an accent, possibly Russian.
He was kind of gross.
I mean, he just kept talking.
I wasn't really paying attention.
I usually don't.
I bet.
I fake it.
You don't have to do that anymore.
So what changed?
What happened?
The morning...
Ava was gonna take a walk on the yacht for a little bit,
and he realized that
Ava had been recording him.
On her phone?
That's odd because we never recovered a phone.
Yeah, I would have found it on Ava when she died.
Then she must have lost it when she was running.
So Ava must have been recording the sex.
This old man, he--
he realizes that she's recording...
He went crazy.
Then he ran after her,
and he grabbed her by the hair
and smashed her into the countertop.
And then Ava went and--and grabbed a champagne bottle,
and she whacked him in the face and then ran.
And I--I--I didn't know what to do.
The old guy ran after Sirenko and started screaming at him
and telling him to-- to chase after her,
like she was gonna ruin everything.
What do you think that he meant by that, everything?
I don't know.
I just started crying.
Of course you did.
And that's when Sirenko ran off the boat
and he chased after Ava.
[suspenseful music]
Nicole,
is the man that you're talking about here?
Look at me.
You can do this because you are brave.
♪
That's him.
That's Sirenko.
He chased after Ava.
All right, Sirenko's phone is on.
It's pinging from his house.
So we move hard, we move fast.
And anyone we find in Sirenko's house, we cuff along with him.
One of his associates has already been arrested,
so he's probably expecting us.
Assume that he's armed and willing to fight back.
Watch your corners and stay tight.
Be careful.
Let's move.
All right, the gate's open.
♪
NYPD! NYPD!
Police! - Police!
Clear. - Clear.
Clear.
Guys, wasn't there supposed to be a garage behind here?
What is this?
What?
Scratches on the floor.
Frank.
Yeah, hold on a sec.
♪
- Clear. - Clear.
Clear.
Garage is clear. No sign of Sirenko.
Bring in the search team.
Stop.
Everyone, turn your radios off now.
Frank, you guys good?
Don't come in here!
What's going on?
Cosgrove, talk to me.
Stay back. We're good.
It's all the makings of a bomb.
♪
That was ammonium nitrate, diesel fuel.
He's making an ANFO.
It's the same material used in Oklahoma City.
It makes sense for Sirenko.
He just has no experience with this kind of thing.
He's not a bomber. - But we found what we found.
We recovered Sirenko's phone.
But the whole thing was wiped, so we got no way to track him.
For all we know, he could be long gone by now.
We're sure it was an IED?
A very big one.
El, what could Sirenko want with that bomb?
Look, I've been tracking him for months.
He's got no ties to any terrorist organizations.
He's not even a political guy.
The only thing I can think of is,
maybe he's gonna use it against one of his competitors?
It's definitely an IED.
From the looks of the components,
it's a real large-scale device capable of doing mass damage.
We get here in time?
No--everything in there is empty.
The device itself is gone.
We've got track marks on the ground.
Looks like they hauled the device in the truck.
Could be a U-Haul, it could be anything
as long as it's big enough.
Jesus.
Let's call in Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Do we have more than this?
You're telling me that this man Sirenko
has no priors in domestic terrorism?
No, but his basement was full of explosives.
The device is gone.
So we have every reason to believe
that he's on the move with it.
I understand that.
But how do we know he's even targeting New York City?
We have 9 million people in this city to protect.
What's this man's target and where the hell is he headed?
If we knew that, we'd be giving it to you, but we don't.
So we need to shut down all potential
high traffic targets. - No, no, no.
We're not doing that until we bring this
up the ladder to the mayor.
The mayor?
You want to slow things down so the mayor can weigh in?
We're talking about widespread panic here.
And what if we're wrong?
Well, if we're wrong, we're wrong.
Nobody gets hurt.
It's a hell of a lot better than doing nothing
and being right.
What's the capability of this device?
It's hard to say.
But from the components we found,
looks like Sirenko built a vehicle-borne IED.
That means 50 gallon barrels of explosive materials
and 1,000 pounds of explosive capacity.
It can take down a whole building.
There's a thousand things this could be.
We just don't know yet.
Let's evacuate first, ask questions later.
Sounds like a little panic is in order.
So call your boss and shut the city down now.
[suspenseful music]
I'm on it.
- Where are you going? - I'm gonna find a bomb.
It worked. I can't believe it.
I thought you were crazy, but--
- What worked? - Your plan. It worked.
I did what you asked, I reached out to my contact,
told him the police were sweating me,
just like you told me to. It's kind of genius.
Actually, I think I really scared him.
I mean, proof's in the pie.
Pudding. It's in the pudding.
Oh, well, wherever it is--
- That wire good to go, Jet? - Yeah.
I don't love this location
because I would have preferred if--
I--I know what you're saying.
Jet, we had this discussion. What did we discuss?
Not projecting my fears and anxieties onto the CIs.
It's okay. I got thick skin.
All right, let's go over it again.
- Go over what? - The plan.
The rest of the plan. Come on.
I play like I'm scared. The cops brought me in.
They think I'm involved with this bomb.
Mm-hmm.
They threatened me with all kinds of crazy charges.
I don't say nothing, so they start asking about Sirenko.
Exactly, until Sirenko himself leads the conversation
towards the target-- - Towards the target.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it.
Uh--uh--the point is to get him talking
and keep him talking so that he reveals the location.
You can't just go in there and bust him 'cause if you do,
he'll lawyer up and never tell you
where the bomb is planted at.
Just--just--just don't push too hard.
I'm not gonna push.
I'm good to go.
So you--no, you're not-- hey, come here.
You're not good to go.
Now look, you feel anything, you know,
anything squirrelly, anything too hot,
just say, "I'm out of here."
We'll come running.
Your safety is my first priority.
[sighs] Now who's projecting fears and anxieties?
Vince, I'm serious.
Guy's dangerous. - I know.
He's got a bomb. I got it. I'm good.
We're doing this.
[sighs]
Thanks for looking out.
I appreciate it.
I do.
Let's go.
♪
[engine humming]
All right, everybody feeling sharp?
Ready to go.
South side of the structure is clear.
All quiet on the western front.
Heads up. I got an incoming.
Black van.
Plate hotel, golf, 7, 8, 9, 4.
[keyboard clicking]
Plates come back to a Delaware LLC.
Black van approaching. Delaware plates.
Two white males inside.
Copy that. Be ready to move on my word.
[suspenseful music]
♪
Finally.
You are a hard-ass man to track down.
You know how many people I had to call
to get a message to you? - Hey, come on.
We can't talk here?
There's too much heat.
- In an empty alley? - Shut up and walk.
Shut up and walk?
Dude, truth is, I'm looking out for you.
- You're looking out for me? - Yeah.
- How's that? - How's that?
Cops grabbed me up, bro. They came at me hot.
They accused me of making some sort of bomb?
Come on.
Let's go, Vince.
Where the hell are they going?
We don't have that building secure.
Do we have a layout?
Looks like some kind of garment factory.
Yo, what is this place?
We'll talk about everything, but not here.
Do the safe thing, Vince. Call this.
Let's go.
They're getting on the elevator.
Where are they going? What floor?
Going down to the basement level.
I wish I had a blueprint for this building,
but I'm not finding any.
All right, stay steady, Vince.
♪
Gotta be honest. I don't love it down here.
So tell me, what exactly did the police say to you?
Like I told you, man, they asked about this bomb.
They think I'm involved.
- Why? - Why what?
Why do they think you're involved?
Oh, um, they said they saw me with you the other night
in some surveillance video at your club.
All right, let's try this again.
Now, what did they ask you?
Well, they said they searched your house,
found explosives inside.
All right, say anything else?
Well, yeah, they wanted to know who and/or what
you were looking to blow up. - Vince, back off.
But obviously, I got no idea, so--
but look, bro, they're gonna take another run at me.
And the more you tell me the better I can protect you,
throw them off the scent.
Slow down, Vince. Stop trying so hard.
Elliot, just give us the word.
We're ready.
So you want to tell me what's happening?
Uh, what do you want me to tell the cops if they come back?
I can help you, but you gotta let me.
[static crackling]
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?
I can't hear him.
He's too far underground.
Signal is breaking up.
You got eyes?
No, video and sound is shot.
This building must be pure concrete.
Signal can't get through.
[static crackling]
Okay, okay, I got a second of video.
- I'm trying to help you. - They're just talking.
What do you want me to say?
I don't want you to say anything.
You just ask for a lawyer, hmm?
All right?
Yeah, I can do that.
Lawyer up. That's smart.
♪
What do you say, uh, we get out of here?
Uh, you feel like having a cocktail?
On me, of course. - Jet, he sounds nervous.
This guy is never nervous. You got eyes?
It doesn't look like anything's going on.
They're just standing there now in the basement.
Vince looks like--
looks like he's looking at some kind of equipment.
What are you talking about?
Just tell me what he's looking at.
Tools?
Looks like someone might be pouring a new foundation.
There's a concrete mixer down there.
It's a hit. We gotta move!
[tires squealing]
♪
If you need any help with this bomb thing, I--
I'm your guy, okay?
I'm out of here!
[gunshots]
♪
Elliot!
Elliot, help me!
[grunts]
Elliot!
[grunting]
[screams]
Go to the basement. Find the other guy.
I'm going after Sirenko.
Jet, tell me you got eyes on him.
Elliot! [grunts]
I--I don't.
I think Vince's camera got knocked off.
Sirenko made it inside the elevator with him.
You have to hurry, Stabler.
[gunshots]
Oh, God.
[breathing heavily]
Sirenko!
♪
I've lost eyes on Sirenko.
He's down the back stairwell, southeast side.
Oh.
Hey, Vince, Vince, Vince.
Okay, okay, you're okay.
Jet, I need a bus.
I'm in the building, fourth floor,
vic has multiple gunshot wounds.
All right, hey, hey, hey, look at me.
Look at me. Stay with me.
All right, you did good.
You're gonna be fine, all right?
It's not that bad. - You're a bad liar.
Everything's gonna be fine.
Get me an ETA on the bus. I need hands up here.
Bus is en route.
Please...
I don't want to die.
You're not gonna die.
Just breathe, breathe.
You with me? I got you.
I got you. I'm not going anywhere.
Hold on to me.
In and out, just breathe.
Hold on tight.
Hold on, all right.
You just have to stay here, all right?
Vince.
[somber music]
♪
Sirenko ran to the building next door.
Our guys were on him, but--
good thing is, he's on foot.
Benson has patrol on every inch in a four-block radius.
Investigative alerts are out.
We'll find him.
I'm sorry.
He was just a kid.
Just a kid.
[indistinct chatter]
So what do you want? You want a deal?
Because right now, you got more leverage
than you're ever gonna have for the rest of your life.
Right now, this moment.
So you tell me what you know and I'll make happen
whatever you want to make, whatever you want.
I'm gonna ask you again. Where's Sirenko?
Where would he go?
We know he has a bomb. We know he's gonna use it.
What's he planning? What is it?
I want a lawyer.
You want a lawyer.
Been sitting in here with me for over an hour.
Just wasting time.
You're too late.
Where is it?
Tick.
Where is it?
Boom.
Elliot, let's go.
We don't have time for this.
I'm so sorry about your CI.
Just tell me you got something
on that son-of-a-bitch.
We have no leads yet.
We're going after Sirenko's body guards, his muscle.
Are you kidding me?
You have half the NYPD out on a goose chase with you,
and all you end up with is a dead CI?
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I've got this.
I--Elliot, I've got this!
Back up.
[tense music]
Stop.
We are doing everything we can to find this bomb, everything.
You don't get to come in here and question our tactics.
That is not how this works. You understand me?
I got something. Something real.
The van Sirenko drove to that parking garage,
it's clean, stolen plates, no good descriptors.
I really wouldn't have been able to do much with it.
But it's a newer model.
It has GPS.
They turned the monitors off,
but the thing still records.
The van visits all the same places
you would expect it to-- Sirenko's house,
his nightclub, his crew's place.
But this one is the interesting one.
House in Queens.
The van's been there seven times in the past two weeks.
Van sits out front for a few hours,
then pulls out, drives back to Sirenko's house.
Whose house is it?
A 73-year-old woman named Graciella Lopez.
Thing is, Graciella is living
in a nursing home downtown right now.
She rents her house out.
To who?
♪
NYPD, stop!
Freeze! Freeze! Show me your hands!
- [muttering] - Show me your hands.
Oh, Jesus.
Show me your hands. Show me your hands.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Don't move.
- I'm sorry. - Don't move.
- Okay, okay. - Who are you?
What's your name? How do you know Mark Sirenko?
Oh, God, please, I swear I'm not involved.
My name's John. John.
You have to start answering my questions.
What's your name? - John. John Ken.
John Ken. How do you know Mark Sirenko?
He found me, all right?
He said he would ruin my life if I didn't help him.
I didn't have a choice. She told me she was 18.
I was terrified. - Wait, wait.
Who told you they were 18?
A girl.
A girl I met online. She told me she was 18.
And then Sirenko, he shows up and tells me that she's 15.
Said he had pictures and video of us together.
What did he want from you?
Information about where I work, badges, parking info,
security cards. - Where do you work?
Hotel downtown.
He wants access to the building.
This hotel, you do events?
Yeah, we're hosting some NATO event.
Secretary's giving some speech.
When?
Today.
[sirens blaring]
♪
[phone keyboard clacking]
[cell phone beeps]
A lot of manpower here.
So you have credible information
that this is our target?
I am not doing this with you.
A claim of a blackmail scheme isn't exactly enough--
Then put it on us.
We'll take the heat from the mayor's office.
But we are going to evacuate.
All right, let's evacuate.
I need a two-block evacuation zone.
Clear every level of this building floor by floor.
Come on, people. Let's move. Let's move.
[tense music]
♪
Everybody out! Everybody out of the building.
I'm taking the second floor.
- I got down. - I'll take this level.
It's one of the most urgent threats to the global order
that we face today.
We must continue to stand united
in protecting Ukraine's right to defend itself
against foreign aggression.
NYPD, listen up.
We need to evacuate.
This is not a drill. Everybody up, out.
Follow the officers to the nearest exit.
Hey, we're evacuating the entire building.
Follow the officers down.
They'll lead you out.
Hey, everybody, listen up, NYPD.
Now, I need this building evacuated,
so I'm gonna need everyone to get up,
make your way down the stairs, calmly but quickly.
Everyone up. Make your way.
- Move quickly. - Calmly.
- This is not a drill. - Come on. Let's hurry.
Let's go, go.
Let's move.
Move out of the building, down the stairs.
Let's go, let's go, let's go--
I--
Help her up.
I got eyes-- I lost eyes on Sirenko.
He's in the south side of the building.
He's got a--he had to have delivered the device.
I'm in pursuit.
[sirens blaring]
Guys, evacuate. Get out.
[speaking Spanish]
Let's go, let's go.
Guys, evacuate. Come on. Let's go.
Cuidado!
Frank, you got eyes?
No, but he's here, Shaw.
I'm telling you, he is still here.
♪
Hey, what the hell are you still doing here?
Get out! Come on, evacuate the building.
Move.
NYPD.
If anybody is in here, come out with your hands up,
nice and slow.
♪
[liquid dripping]
What's going on?
You need help?
Yeah, glass breaker, you got one?
Yeah.
Keep evacuating.
Go, now.
♪
This is Detective Shaw.
I got eyes on the device.
I'm in the basement garage, south side, rear door.
This thing is huge.
It's in a gray van. Hood of the van is still hot.
Whoever dropped it has got to be in the area.
Detective Shaw, can you see a timer on that device?
Yeah, I see a timer. It's 3:37.
It's ticking down.
Now, walk me through this. Tell me what to do.
How do I stop this thing?
I'm gonna need you to evacuate, Detective Shaw.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Listen. Listen.
This thing is gonna take down the whole building, okay?
Listen to what I'm saying.
Walk me through this.
How do I stop it?
Shaw, they want you to evacuate.
Lieutenant, you're not listening.
If this thing goes off, it's-- - No, evacuate.
Get out of there right now.
Get everybody out.
Cosgrove, get your ass out of there.
[people yelling]
Out of the building. Out of the building.
Get these kids out of here.
Get them out! Let's go! Move, move! Let's go!
Down, down, let's go! Move, move, move!
Frank, where you going?
We gotta evacuate!
♪
[coughing]
- You good? - [groans] Yeah.
You good?
Where is he?
- What? - Sirenko.
No, no, no, no, no. We lost him.
- Are you all right? - Yeah.
- Who shot? - Sirenko, we lost him.
He's gone.
- You know which way he went? - No.
All right. You guys, head south.
You guys take west.
Let's go this way.
We've lost eyes on Sirenko.
Repeat, we've lost eyes on Sirenko.
I'm heading east on Exchange.
[tense music]
♪
Move, move.
Move.
Hey. Sirenko!
Dude!
All right, go, go.
Come on, come on.
Rollins and I are heading up William.
No sign of him.
Listen, we need to get Sirenko's face
out to the media, to every patrol officer out here.
I'm heading to Underwood.
He's gonna wanna go underground.
I need officers at all subway stops
and all taxi stands.
We can't let him get underground!
[panting]
Okay, anything?
Ah! Nothing.
♪
I got eyes on Sirenko.
He's heading south on William and Wall Street.
He's got a half a block on me. I need backup.
All right, everyone, you heard her.
We contain the area.
I want a perimeter set up between Broad Street,
Wall Street, and Water Street. Now.
Not letting this guy get away again.
Yeah, he's crossing the street.
♪
Get down. Get down! Get out of the way!
Stand back!
Stay back!
Step back! Get on the ground!
If you come inside, I'll kill everyone!
Sirenko, let her go!
[gunshots] - [screams]
[people yelling]
Stay down!
What's going on?
Took a hostage.
And there's more people inside.
- How many? - I don't know, three?
But it's hard to get a good look.
Okay. Call ESU in.
What are we doing just standing outside?
Why don't we go inside there and engage?
No, all right, we're not doing this cowboy.
All right, I want you two to take the rear entrance.
Now.
Call ESU.
Tell them that we need at least two snipers.
Also, get me a cell phone as soon as you can.
All right.
Elliot, where are you going?
Just wanna get eyes on the inside.
Go, go, go.
[line trilling]
[phone ringing]
You go get the phone.
If you try to run, I swear to God,
I will shoot you.
Go get the phone.
Bring me the phone, put it on speaker.
Let's go!
Set it down.
Hello.
This is Captain Benson with the New York Police Department.
They tell me you've taken some hostages.
I want an SUV with bulletproof glass
in ten minutes, or I start shooting people.
[sobbing]
And the first is gonna be a young girl.
I'm gonna shoot her right in the forehead.
Sirenko, listen to me.
I want you to hear me out, okay?
I want this to work out for both of us, okay?
And I know that we can figure this out
so we're both happy here.
So I'm gonna give you what you want,
but I'm gonna ask you to work with me.
You bring me the SUV,
and then we'll talk.
- Okay. - You have ten minutes.
[phone clatters]
[touch tones dialing]
I need a black SUV, and I need it immediately
at the hostage site.
And where is my containment?
Okay, I need a wall of officers now.
What do you see?
I got him.
He's in the back of a column,
so there's no clean shot on him.
How many hostages?
Everybody up!
On your feet! Get to the back!
Move! Move!
You think I'm messing around?
Okay, hold on a second.
♪
Move!
- He's heading to the back. - Take it.
- Hands on the wall! - Don't shoot, don't shoot!
Hands on the wall!
[door clatters open]
- Drop it! Drop the weapon. - Hey.
Drop it! Let her go!
♪
Where you going?
You want the gun?
Come get your gun.
Give you a chance like you did my undercover.
Pick it up.
Take the gun.
- Ease down, Stabler. - Pick it up.
Ease down.
[sirens waling]
Boy, you were dying to shoot me, huh?
[laughs]
Thanks for, uh...
Yeah.
Thanks for, uh... - Yeah, yeah.
[wolf howls]