[narrator] In Wisconsin, a group of burglars is caught in the act,
but they’ll stop at nothing to escape.
I observed the van coming at me nearly head-on
with Officer Tischer actively pursuing it.
[Officer Tischer speaking]
[narrator] In Texas, officers face an inferno...
[Officer speaking]
...that becomes a race against time.
The lady probably had less than five minutes to live.
[narrator] And a high-speed chase...
[Officer speaking]
Pursuits can change in a matter of seconds,
and you just never know what’s gonna happen.
[narrator] ...turns the streets deadly.
[Officer speaking]
[narrator] In Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Michigan,
is Milwaukee County.
It’s the fall of 2019, and police in the area
are investigating a string of burglaries hitting local retailers.
They believe the break-ins are connected.
What made these burglaries different
was that they would show up
typically driving a non-descript white utility van.
They would enter with a giant trash can,
and they would target specific high-value merchandise.
They often concealed their faces,
and they would wear gloves to make sure that they
didn’t leave any evidence behind.
We believed that the group had been responsible
for well over $100,000-worth of stolen merchandise.
I had personally briefed all of our officers
so that they would know what to look for
and what businesses we thought they would target within our city.
[narrator] And on September 8th, 2019, the crew strikes again.
This time, at the Greenfield Best Buy.
Three masked intruders head to the locked storage cabinets
at the back of the store.
[shop alarm blares]
The suspects trigger the alarm system alerting police.
I was informed by our dispatcher,
er, an alarm at Best Buy had been activated.
It’s approximately 30 blocks away
and my plan is to get there as fast as possible,
hoping that we would actually be able to catch the suspects in the act.
Whether they were armed or not is always something that poses a risk.
We also may be walking into an ambush.
As I was nearing the business, I did observe Officer Tischer arriving.
He deactivates his lights altogether to try to sneak into the parking lot area
of the business via the southern access point.
I know the other access point would be from the west,
so I decide to round the corner
in the same manner Officer Tischer did
with my lights off and no siren.
We want to try to keep somewhat an element of surprise.
[police radio chatter]
[Officer Tischer speaking]
I observed the van coming basically at me, nearly head-on
with Officer Tischer actively pursuing it.
And it started to feel like this could be an opportunity
to actually apprehend them in the act.
Once I saw the van perform a U-turn,
it headed back in my direction.
I thought that it was going to try to access the Interstate system
via that on-ramp, 50 feet to the north of where we were.
So I blocked its path there at the median break.
[Officer speaking]
-[siren blaring] -[tires screeching]
As it performed another U-turn,
Officer Tischer saw an opportunity to execute a PIT maneuver
to disable the vehicle.
The PIT was unsuccessful and the vehicle continued towards the on-ramp.
I knew that my opportunities to successfully perform a PIT maneuver would decrease
if I didn’t try to slow this vehicle down.
[Officer speaking]
[powerful bang]
Due to my positioning and the vehicle’s speed,
I just kinda grazed the back end of the suspect’s van.
[siren blaring]
-[metallic crunch] -[Officer Franco cries out]
[thudding]
[Officer Tischer speaking]
[intense music playing]
I saw the vehicle cross in front of me and lose its grip on the road.
We have to overcome the conditioning of not trying to crash your car.
Which is the advice and so important to...
for us in our training to break down the maneuver.
The adrenaline’s definitely kicking in.
And, um, it’s all about trying to maintain my focus
and not get blinded to any other potential risks.
I’m on an expressway where speeds can reach
anywhere from 60 miles to 80 mph are other motorists on the road.
There’s a lot of sound and a bit of chaos
with all the unknowns that are running through my mind.
Not knowing exactly how many suspects are in the vehicle,
whether they were armed or not. If there was any injuries.
[Officer Franco speaking]
[Officer Tischer speaking]
[Franco] I saw Officer Tischer
and I realized it was just he and I.
I could hear other sirens in the distance
but didn’t know how close other units were.
[Officer Tischer speaking]
[Franco] The hands are what potentially can hurt you,
whether they are gonna grab an instrument or possess a firearm.
[Officer Tischer speaking]
We wanted to keep everybody in the van for their safety
as well as prevent escape.
[suspect speaking]
[Officer Franco speaking]
I saw the driver actively sticking out of the driver’s side window
in a manner that appeared he was trying to exit the van.
[Officer Franco speaking]
[Franco] I could see he had a contusion on his forearm.
We were able to gain a quick dialogue
so that there was understanding.
[Franco exhales sharply]
Clearly, there is... There’s fear and uncertainty in suspects’ minds, as well.
So speaking to somebody in a human manner can be just as crucial
as giving somebody, you know, commands and instructions.
[Officer Tischer speaking]
It was important to figure out what his hands were doing,
just so I could definitively say that there was no weapon involved.
[Officer Franco speaking]
It took me a few seconds to really figure out
that he was trying to wipe information from his cell phone.
[Officer Franco speaking]
We’re just focusing on the one individual
who is actively not following our instructions.
We didn’t really know what they were trying to do.
[narrator] Backup arrives.
[Officer Tischer] Don’t move around.
[Officer Franco speaking]
[siren blaring]
[Officer Tischer speaking]
We had them come out one by one keeping at least an officer
on each other suspect.
[narrator] Police now have all four suspects in custody.
In looking in the van, I did see what appeared to be
boxes from merchandise for electronics
as well as the notorious trash bin.
I see some laptop boxes and it was consistent with what this burglary crew
had been taking and selling.
It seemed that we had apprehended this crew that was heading these businesses.
It felt good to at least have people in custody,
but I knew that the job was far from over.
[narrator] The four suspects are identified as Richard Listenbee,
Kentrell Steppes,
Jason Harris and Michael Durkins.
Officers suspect they may be part of a bigger operation
[Det. Jason] I got the call that they had arrested a number of subjects
after they had broken into and fled from Best Buy.
I was excited, because it sounded as if
it was the group that we had been after.
My role was to start putting together what we would need
to make that initial case for burglary.
In speaking with Harris, Steppes, and Durkins,
it was clear that the suspects were recruited to, you know, steal this merchandise...
...and were all going to be giving it to a third party
that was not necessarily directly involved in the burglary that evening.
It seemed like they were inexperienced
and hadn’t done this type of thing before.
And when we looked at the video surveillance, it did seem to match up.
They seemed not to really have a clear-cut idea
of what they were supposed to be doing at any given time.
Then there was the other subject that was arrested,
Mr. Listenbee, who didn’t wanna speak with us initially.
[Officer speaking]
But based upon the video surveillance,
Mr. Listenbee seemed to be the only one
that really knew what he was doing inside the store
and he seemed to be kind of leading the efforts of the rest of the group.
They brought along a rolling garbage receptacle of some sort,
and they would specifically target high-value merchandise.
And this was exactly what the group had been targeting in the past.
And even though some of the actors may have been different,
there were ties that made these the same.
[narrator] Richard Listenbee is convicted of felony burglary
and sentenced to two-and-a-half years.
The getaway driver, Kentrell Steppes,
is convicted of burglary and eluding an officer.
He receives a three-year sentence.
Jason Harris and Michael Durkins
are also convicted of felony burglary
and are placed on probation for three years.
But the third party, believed to be the mastermind behind the burglaries,
is yet to be identified.
[Det. Birschbach] After the sentencing of the four subjects
the group has no longer been active in our area.
But this is still continuing in other states, in other locations.
And the investigation is still ongoing as far as where the merchandise
that was being stolen ultimately ended up.
Looking back on it it was, um, a very crazy opportunity
for me to utilize our training.
And to not only develop ourselves as officers
but to maintain and improve the work
and services we provide to our community.
[narrator] 33 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas, is the city of Kingsville.
[Garcia] I’ve been a police officer for almost two years.
Growing up, my dad was a police officer - and still is -
so I kinda had that inspiration from a young age.
Kingsville is a real, I guess, homey type of town.
You can pass by anybody and they’ll wave at you.
[dispatcher speaking]
[female caller speaking]
[both speaking]
Once we were told that there’s a female trapped inside this fire,
your brain starts going through any scenario,
anything that you can possibly do to get her out before it’s too late.
[siren blaring]
I realized that the address is located in the area that I’m patrolling.
Typically, police departments, since we’re on the street,
we’ll always get to call faster than the fire department.
We can assess it before Fire gets there.
[Garcia speaking]
[police colleague speaking]
We need to get this door open. We need to get this lady out.
[police colleague]
I’ve never kicked a door in before, so...
My first attempt at a kick did not even break the threshold of the door.
[Garcia straining]
After about five kicks the door breaks open.
There’s a big cloud of hot air,
and gases escapes from that door,
knocking me back to my partner.
[Garcia]
There’s potential that something could happen to me,
but this lady’s life is...
Is more important at this point to get her out.
[Garcia]
So I hit the ground and start crawling inside.
[police colleague]
[Garcia]
[Garcia coughing]
It’s thick smoke and it’s hard to breathe.
[police colleague]
[coughing]
I could hear her yelling back at me from where she was
and knew that I could safely get to her if I went back outside.
[narrator] Multiple officers arrive on scene.
[Raymond] When I arrived on scene,
You could see the flames, you could see the smoke.
At that time, I mean, I saw my FTO Martinez running.
I mean, I took off running right after him
trying to get to the point where it was.
[Lt. Martinez]
[police colleague]
The first priority is life. Making sure that everybody’s okay.
Not just in that apartment, but I knew how fast the fire could spread.
[Lt. Martinez speaking]
[narrator] The fire is on the first floor.
Officers must evacuate the upper floors.
When I went upstairs what took me by surprise
was how, like, thick the smoke was.
You know, you see in the movies
they’re running through fires, like, you know, no issues.
But as soon as I go up into that big cloud of smoke, I start choking on it.
I’m like, "Oh, man, I can’t breathe in this thing."
[Avalos speaking]
[tenant speaking]
[indistinct]
[indistinct shouting]
[Avalos coughing]
[police colleague]
[Avalos]
[tenant speaking]
[Lt. Martinez] So, I get her, we go downstairs
and then I try to get my second wind
so I can manage three other doors that I need to knock on.
[breathing heavily]
’Cause at that point,
I don’t know if the smoke’s inside of their apartment complexes
or if it is just stuck right there in the hallway.
[heavy coughing]
[indistinct]
[Ptl. Avalos coughing]
[Ptl. Avalos] When the smoke was just choking me,
I mean, I was trying to breathe the best I could,
but every breath you took was, like, more smoke I swallowed.
[officer 1]
[officer 2]
She was in there, but we didn’t know where.
[officer 1]
[Lt. Martinez] I started to imagine the apartment,
how many bedrooms there were, where the restroom was.
I knew that was gonna be our only way in.
[indistinct chatter]
[Ptl. Garcia]
[Lt. Martinez]
[dispatch]
[woman]
[dispatch]
[woman]
[officer coughing]
[Garcia] Dispatch is still communicating with her,
so we know she’s alive.
We just need to get to her,
and we need to figure out fast,
because the smoke is thick,
the fire is hot.
[indistinct shouting]
[glass breaking]
[Lt. Martinez]
[indistinct chatter]
[Ptl. Garcia] Given what I saw from the inside of the apartment,
the lady probably had less than five minutes to live.
[Garcia]
[narrator] While officers try to locate the trapped woman,
smoke continues to fill the apartment building.
[Ptl. Avalos panting]
I went and backed up, started banging on all the doors.
I’m trying to hold my breath and run at the same time.
I needed to do what I could
to try to reach out to them and make sure they were safe.
[man yelling] Get in here.
[Ptl. Avalos]
[indistinct male voice]
[Ptl. Avalos]
[indistinct chatter]
[Ptl. Avalos]
[man]
[woman]
[man]
[Ptl. Avalos]
-There you go. -[man coughs]
[Ptl. Avalos]
[breathing heavily]
Had three more doors to go.
Had a flashlight,
and I didn’t even see it in front of my face.
[woman]
[Ptl. Avalos]
[coughs]
[officer]
Another officer had checked the patio door,
and once that was open,
you could see where the flames were coming from,
which was the kitchen area,
but you really couldn’t see anything else.
[officer 1]
[officer 2]
[Lt. Martinez] It was very important that we got to this female fast,
but at that specific time, we didn’t know where she was.
[Ptl. Avalos]
[coughs]
[indistinct female voice]
[Ptl. Avalos]
[coughs heavily]
It got to the point where I started getting light-headed.
I was like, " We need to get back downstairs," you know?
Realized if I go back up again,
I’m probably gonna become a liability.
[narrator] As more firefighters arrive,
Dispatch asks the trapped woman to let them know where she is.
[dispatch]
[woman]
[Ptl. Garcia]
[officer on radio]
[knocks on window]
[bangs on window]
[woman]
[Ptl. Garcia] When I hear her shouting back at me,
we’re not searching anymore now, we’re rescuing.
[dispatch]
[woman]
[dispatch]
[woman]
[Ptl. Garcia]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[Lt. Martinez]
[window glass smashing]
[woman]
[Lt. Martinez]
Once we broke the window,
there was a large desk between us and the elderly female.
[Ptl. Garcia]
[Lt. Martinez]
[Ptl. Garcia]
She couldn’t climb over it or on top of it,
because of her abilities.
[officers]
[officer 1]
[officers]
[officer 2]
[officers]
[woman]
[officers]
[woman]
[officers]
[Lt. Martinez] So, Officer Brown made that decision
to go in there and move the desk.
[Ptl. Brown]
[Garcia] It’s hot,
and it’s about to get even hotter when this fire breaks through this door.
[Lt. Martinez]
I took the time to remove my vest
to lay it on the windowsill.
I didn’t want her to cut herself.
[Ptl. Garcia]
[woman]
[Garcia] Okay.
[woman] Oh, my God.
[indistinct chatter]
[Ptl. Garcia] Hold on, hold on.
[Lt. Martinez] You know, it felt good to know that,
"Hey, this female’s okay."
[Ptl. Brown groans]
[Ptl. Brown]
[Ptl. Garcia]
Next question is, "How many more people are in this apartment?"
[officer]
[Ptl. Garcia]
I heard no other screams coming from the apartment.
[Garcia]
[tense music playing]
[officers]
At that point, it shifts in my mind.
This complex still has heavy smoke.
I need to make sure that anybody and everybody is safe.
[panting]
[Garcia]
[officers]
I’m looking for kids,
looking for adults,
looking for people sleeping,
and possibly if animals are still inside.
[officers]
[indistinct chatter]
[Garcia]
[officer]
After clearing the upstairs rooms,
all the little areas,
I knew that we had done everything that we could.
The Fire Department starts cleaning up the area,
making sure fire doesn’t spread anywhere else.
[indistinct chatter]
[narrator] Then, the woman’s family arrives on scene.
They are safe and unharmed.
[man]
[officer]
[Ptl. Garcia] During that moment,
I realized they made it out unattended,
or that they were never there to begin with.
[Lt. Martinez] Once they arrived,
the mystery of whether there was anybody inside the apartment was solved,
and so it was just a relief.
[man] It’s a miracle.
I’m thankful that the family arrived when they did,
because we would’ve probably taken that next step
and go into that apartment.
[narrator] Because Kingsville Police and Fire acted so quickly
and so courageously,
none of the residents were seriously harmed.
[Garcia] In those instances, you have to trust that
you’re gonna be smart enough to do what you have to
and not hurt yourself
or put yourself in a position where you’re gonna get your guys hurt.
We didn’t choose to do it to...
to be superheroes,
we chose to do it because we wanna help people.
[narrator] Greenfield, Wisconsin
is a small city just outside of Milwaukee.
[Officer Wroblewski] I’m a late-shift patrol officer.
We spend the majority of our time doing traffic enforcement
on our city streets.
If we have places where we know that there’s issues of crime,
we’ll be out as a presence in that area, being proactive.
I’m monitoring traffic on South 27th Street,
which is a major road in our city.
I saw a black Durango speeding,
and I began to pull up behind it.
I ran the license plate through our computer system.
It confirmed that it was stolen.
The vehicle made an illegal U-turn through a red light
and began rapidly accelerating.
[Officer Wrablewski]
[police car siren blaring]
I’m a little nervous, knowing it’s a stolen car.
You never know what they’re actually fleeing for.
I saw the suspect vehicle begin swerving.
It is extremely dangerous and reckless driving.
If they hit someone, they would likely cause significant damage or injury.
My tactics were to maintain, and keep up with the vehicle at a safe distance.
I was not considering a PIT to safely cause a spinout
until I had other officers with me,
because it was a stolen car,
and you never know who else is in that vehicle that might have weapons.
When Officer Wroblewski had called out pursuits on this vehicle,
I was probably a few minutes away.
Due to the speeds that he was driving at,
it was clear to me that it was important to end the pursuit.
[siren blaring]
[Officer Wroblewski]
Maybe if we made a quick turn into a residential neighborhood,
now the risks are significantly higher.
There is multiple stop signs, parked cars,
and you never know who is nearby an intersection.
[Officer Wroblewski]
The vehicle then did another turn back into the residential neighborhood.
To safely do a PIT,
the PIT has to be done at a reasonable speed.
The speed bump slowed me down,
and I wasn’t able to do anything, besides follow the car.
[Officer Triumph] I’m nearing Officer Wroblewski.
I’m able to see his lights.
There’s a lot going through my head
as to different ways I can assist him,
and how we can put an end to it.
[Officer Wroblewski]
Officer Triumph was right behind me,
so I asked him to take over the radio broadcast
so I could focus all my attention
on trying to conduct the PIT on the vehicle.
[loud bang]
The PIT maneuver not working was disappointing,
’cause we knew that the pursuit needed to end.
[Officer Wroblewski on radio]
[indistinct on radio]
[loud bang]
As I saw it begin to brake significantly
to try and make a turn,
I knew that this was gonna be the best chance for a PIT,
due to the slower speed.
The vehicle begins to spin out and lose control.
I thought that the driver was now going to exit the vehicle,
and that we were going to have a foot chase.
He rammed my squad, head-on.
At this point, I realized that he wasn’t going to surrender,
and I’m wondering,
is he trying to continue to flee from us,
or is he trying to hurt us, at this point?
[Officer Wroblewski]
When the vehicle struck the partner’s car,
I was trapped in between my door and the vehicle door.
[indistinct yelling]
Is this guy gonna accelerate and pin me in my car door?
The vehicle continued to accelerate into me.
We may have to use other force to stop the driver.
The danger factor is extremely high.
[indistinct radio chatter]
[Officer Triumph] Officer Wroblewski was unable to escape from that position.
i was worried that he was gonna get hit by this vehicle,
get pinned and...
he’d get seriously injured or killed.
It definitely could’ve turned into a deadly force life incident,
and you wanna, you know, do everything else you can before it gets to that.
[Officer Wroblewski]
Eventually, the vehicle just broke free,
freeing me from the trap in between my door and my vehicle.
It’s definitely a relief,
a second to take a breath.
However, the driver was still continuing to get away.
There he goes.
[Officer Triumph] It is incredibly dangerous, what the driver was doing,
backing up with such force that he’s ripping off doors
and then, you know, hits a parked vehicle at speed in reverse,
so I decided to drive my squad
and struck the front end of his vehicle,
in an attempt to block him in.
Fully, this time.
[narrator] Backup arrives seconds later.
[Officer Panich] When I first pulled up,
I didn’t know what was going on.
Pursuits and highway stops can change in a matter of seconds,
and you just never know what’s gonna happen.
[Officer Wroblewski]
[Officer Triumph]
[Officer Wroblewski]
The Durango was still trying to accelerate away
and push Officer Triumph’s squad away from him,
and we began to set up around the vehicle.
[Officer Panich] While I was striking the window,
I noticed that the passenger door was unlocked.
I had deadly force on the driver at that point,
to stop him if he decided to do something else.
Once the person had his hands up,
an officer was in there with a Taser.
[Officer Wroblewski]
[man]
[Officer Wroblewski] I had officers on the passenger side of the vehicle,
covering him.
I approached the driver-side door,
and we dragged him out of the vehicle.
[man]
At that point, I jumped over one of the vehicles I was parked on,
and assisted with taking the person into custody.
[man]
[officers]
[man]
[Officer Triumph] It was a great feeling of relief
once we got him, you know, fully secured in the handcuffs,
and at that point, you know it’s all over
and he’s not gonna be continuing his dangerous behavior.
And what’s going through my head
is just wondering what the heck this guy is thinking.
[officer 1]
[officer 2]
[Officer Wroblewski] There’s definitely a massive adrenaline dump afterwards.
You look down the street
and see the amount of damage that this driver caused,
and my squad door almost completely ripped off.
It’s very nerve-racking that you were just in that dangerous of a position,
and you don’t even realize it.
[narrator] The suspect is James Harvey Zimbrich.
He is charged with eluding an officer
and reckless endangerment in the second degree.
He pleads guilty on both counts
and is sentenced to four years in prison.
His actions for that day were...
just super-dangerous.
He put a lot of people’s lives at risk,
when he could have just pulled over
and easily just been arrested for a possible stolen vehicle.
[Officer Wroblewski] I was significantly lucky
that Officer Triumph was blocking the vehicle from going any further into me.
If that vehicle had been a couple more inches to its left,
it probably would’ve struck me.