Rainy Day

Written by
 Directed by
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## Briefing

A gang of men use their bike to steal cars off unsuspecting drivers when they tell them there's a mechanical fault with their car. While the driver is distracted his partner in crime steals the car. Persistent rain causes the motor officers to be assigned a patrol car. A mobile casino is operating on the freeway and their only witness refuses to talk.

## Traffic Violations

* Traffic Collision - Tow truck.
* Traffic stop - Gun collection confiscated.
* Speeding motor home - Apprehended.
* Speeding pick up truck - Apprehended.

## Report

A motor home on the freeway moves lane and Jon isn't particularly happy today. Ponch believes it's going to be a typical California morning. Jon is sure he felt a raindrop and believes they're going to be in a patrol car. Ponch tells him if it rains. Jon tells him why is water dropping then. Ponch tells him it will subside by the time they get to Central. A dark cloud looms over with thunder overhead.

The motor home houses a mobile casino and Dawson and Ned are a bit nervous because Jon and Ponch are riding behind them. A hostess comes to tell them that Mr Sanders is complaining. Dawson goes to check on him.

A motorcyclist has a friend riding pillion and they ride up to a car and tell them there's something wrong with their wheel. The car eventually pulls over and the biker gets off his bike to tell the driver there's something wrong with her rear wheel and to take a look at it. They go to the back wheel and while she's distracted his pillion friend gets in the drivers seat and steals her car. The man tells her he was a hitch-hiker he picked up and tells her to go to the nearest phone and ring the police while he'll go after the thief. The woman doesn't know where a phone is and is left on her own on the sidewalk.

It's raining heavily now. The guy riding pillion who stole the car stops and gets out, another man gets in the car and drives off. The motorcyclist comes around the corner and stops and celebrates with his friend.

Jon and Ponch are taking shelter in an underpass. A car skids in front of a school bus and crashes into it, Jon and Ponch go to help. The car that has crashed into the bus has caught fire, Jon calls it in. Ponch tries to rouse the school bus driver, when she stirs she notices the flames and Ponch tells her to go to the rear of the bus. She grabs a fire extinguisher and moves to the back, she's unable to open the rear door. Ponch tells her to smash the window so she does. Ponch throws the fire extinguisher at Jon, and he puts out the fire in the car. The woman driver introduces herself as Juliet Smith.

Ponch checks on the woman driver, she tells him she's glad there were no kids on board, and that she was going to go on a field trip with them. Jon offers her transportation but she tells them she'll get a lift off the tow truck. Ponch offers a field trip around Central to show the kids how the Highway Patrol operates, she agrees.

Jon and Ponch return to Central wet through. Baricza and Grossie poke fun at them. Because of the rain Getraer is sending his motor officers out in patrol cars, he assigns Grossie a car and then assigns. Getraer then assigns a car to Jon and Ponch.

Getraer reports on the car heists and then reports that the weather will still be wet all day and to be careful. Getraer gives Jon and Ponch the keys to a shiny new patrol car.

Ponch starts playing with the buttons inside the patrol car pointing to them and telling Jon what they do. He presses a white button and the trunk opens. Ponch goes out in the rain to shut it just as Getraer pops out to see him do it. Jon and Ponch drive off.

In the mobile casino, one of the hostesses tells Dawson, that Mr Sanders is complaining again. Mr Sanders doesn't like the odds and believes the tables are fixed. Mr Sanders tells him that he's lost a lot of money with no returns. The mobile casino pulls over and they let Mr Sanders off with his $100 entrance fee. When he attempts to reboard he's assaulted by Ned and left on the freeway.

Ponch notices it's stopped raining and wants to go back and get the bikes. Jon tells him the rain is meant to continue all day. Ponch spots Mr Sanders stumbling about and render aid. Jon calls for an ambulance. Ponch notices he's holding onto $100 bill.

At the hospital they go and see Mr Sanders to ask him what happened. He tells them that he was trying to hitch a ride and slipped and fell and the next thing he remembers is them picking him up. Ponch asks if married and asks if he wants them to contact his wife. Mr Sanders doesn't want to worry her.

Outside his room Ponch tells Jon his story is a little suspect, Jon agrees.

Jon and Ponch take a trip to Mr Sanders home, his wife answers the door and lets them in. She asks where her husband is, and they tell her he's in the hospital. They thought he'd been mugged but he had his wallet on him. She asks how much money was in his wallet and Jon tells her it was $100 and gives her the name of the doctor as well as the hospital he's in. Jon tells her they tried to call, Mrs Sanders tells Jon they have no phone since they can't pay the bill. She asks if he told them what happened, but she doesn't believe it and tells them he probably got roughed up by the people he was gambling with. She tells them that she loves him and can't help it if he's a compulsive gambler, she apologizes to them for not being more inviting and offers them tea. Jon tells her they have to go.

Back on the freeway Jon points towards Ponch's window and he takes a look. A car is passing by with the driver holding an umbrella outside his window. Ponch uses the loudspeaker and tells them man in the BMW to pull over. Jon tells him to tell him to stop under the underpass. The man stops under the underpass and shakes his umbrella, Ponch asks the driver to pull up a bit more since he's left them still in the rain.

The driver apologises and tells them that his windscreen wipers broke. Jon asks for his licence and registration. Jon spots a handgun under the driver seat and asks him about it, the driver tells him it's his. Jon moves further into the car to look around and spots a shotgun under the backseats and questions the driver about it, he tells him it's a riot gun for riots. Jon finds an ivory handled handgun in the passenger seat, the driver tells him it's his son's and the cylinder jammed and he is taking it to be fixed. Jon then finds a small pistol and the driver tells him that it belongs to his wife and it's her dinner party gun. Jon asks if he has anymore and the driver tells him there's more in the trunk. Jon asks him to step over to it and Ponch opens the trunk, there's a handgun in there. Jon asks why he needs a gun in the trunk, the driver tells him when he returns home late one night he might get mugged and that it happened to a friend of his. Jon asks if he has permits for all his guns and he tells them they were registered when he bought them. Ponch tells him that registration is a condition of purchase but he also needs a permit to carry concealed weapons. The driver tells them that he's entitled to protect himself. Jon questions him asking why he needs 5 loaded guns, the driver confesses he has 6. Jon asks where the shotgun is, and the driver tells him it's at home in the shower. Ponch asks him why he needs a gun in the shower, the driver asks them if they've seen the movie Psycho.

On the freeway the motorbike car thieves are at it again.

Ponch tells Jon he's never seen a man so angry. Jon tells him they did confiscated $1000 worth of his collection. Ponch tells him they didn't get the shower gun and they laugh.

The car thieves steal a woman's car and the biker spots Jon and Ponch in their patrol car. He shoves the woman driver and rides off. They park up behind the woman driver and Ponch checks up on her, she tells them they took her car. Ponch tells her to stay where she is and a patrol car will come and pick her up. They chase after the thieves. Ponch calls it in.

After a chase in a flood channel they manage to apprehend the biker when he attempts to leave the channel and is stopped by Baricza's patrol car coming down the slope he was hoping to make his escape route.

Getraer congratulates the pair on catching the car thief. But then asks Ponch why he's invited a bunch of kids over on a rainy day to take a tour. Reception is filled with children, Getraer gives Ponch the responsibility of showing them round. Juliet apologises for bringing them round, they were meant to go to the Zoo but it's rained out so she decided to bring them to Central. Ponch corrals the kids and asks them to say 'Good afternoon, Ponch' at the top of their lungs. The sound is heard during briefing.

Getraer tells everyone that he believes the Creeper gang is back in the city and their only witness refuses to talk. Getraer tells them to look out for expensive cars bunched together or cars on the freeway that are stationary too long. Ponch brings in the kids into briefing.

Mr Sanders returns home. He sneaks in and takes a shotgun from the cupboard under the stairs and a couple of shells. Mr Sanders notices his wife's coat and a suitcase in the front room and then his wife comes down the stairs. He wasn't expecting her to be home and she tells him she was fired from her job because she asked for another advance. He tells her things will change, and she tells him it will because she won't be coming back.

Ponch waves off the kids and sets a date with Juliet.

Mrs Sanders calls Jon at Central and tells him about her husband and the shotgun, Jon asks if she'll be home and after a long pause she tells him she will be. Getraer puts out an APB.

The mobile casino is picking up clients and just before they set off Mr Sanders arrives. Ned spots him and drives off with Mr Sanders chasing after them.

Jon and Ponch stop on an overpass and spot the motor home and Mr Sanders chasing after it. They give chase, Ponch calls it in. Mr Sanders side swipes the motor home a couple of times to try and get it to stop. Ponch uses the loudspeaker and tells the motor home to stop. Ponch asks Mr Sanders to pull over but he side swipes their patrol car instead, the chase ends when he almost rolls his truck and brings it to a stop.

Baricza arrives and pulls a shotgun on the motor home and tells everyone to get out.

Jon helps Mr Sanders from his truck. Ponch goes to call it in, and notices the dent on the patrol car.

Jon and Ponch have the patrol car polished and waxed ready to take to Getraer. They park the patrol car and Jon wants to toss a coin to see who tells Getraer. Ponch tells him he wasn't the one driving and if he wants to flip to find out who tells Getraer he was the one driving then he can flip. Just as Jon flips the coin, Getraer walks out. Grossie returns and reverses his patrol car into theirs exactly where they got hit. Getraer holds his hand to his head, Grossie thumps his steering wheel and looks at Getraer. Jon glances at Ponch and then back to Getraer. Ponch looks at Getraer and then glances at Jon.

## Notes

* Jon and Ponch seem to appear out of nowhere from behind a motor home on the freeway.
* After Baricza and Grossie poke fun at Jon and Ponch, someone puts papers in one of the pigeon holes and causes the papers in the pigeon hole below it to fall out onto the floor.
* Jon and Ponch stop on an overpass. The freeway below them is being worked on, meaning there is no traffic on that stretch of freeway and there would be no reason to be there since there's no traffic to watch. Luckily for our boys the mobile casino and Mr Saunders happen to be on that stretch of road.
* This is one of three times Baricza draws a weapon.
* Grossie is shown returning to Central on his own but during the chase with the car thief he's riding shotgun with Baricza.

### Quotes

* Ponch/[Jon]: I don't know, a well dressed middle aged man with a $100 bill on him hitch-hiking on the freeway? I don't buy it, do you? [No I don't buy it, I don't even take it as a gift.]
* Jon/[Ponch]: Hey, you want to flip and see who tells Getraer? [Flip my foot, man. I wasn't driving. You said you'd face it.] Hey, I said we'll face it. [Okay, Jon. You did it. If you want to flip to see who tells Getraer you did it, then flip.]

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Larry Wilcox: Jon Baker
* Erik Estrada: Frank Poncherello
* Robert Pine: Joe Getraer

### Recurring

* Brodie Greer: Baricza
* Paul Linke: Grossman

### Others

* Herb Edelman: Sanders
* Jacqueline Scott; Ethyl
* Johnny Seven: Dawson
* Julie Cobb: Juliet (Smith)
* David Spielberg: Herb
* Cliff Emmich: Ned
* Dan Magiera: Cyclist
* Mary Cross: Doctor
* Ava Lazar: Hostess
* Kathryn Haddock: Victim #1
* Tara Fields: Victim #2