Trick or Trick

Written by
 Directed by
 Previous

## Briefing

It's Halloween. Ponch suffers from some bad luck including scaring a child into running away from home when he jokingly tells him he's going to arrest him. A ghost robs a number of stores. Getraer is intent on catching the CHP hobgoblin.

## Report

While out on patrol Jon and Ponch spot a brown van turn a corner without stopping and begin pursuing it. The van comes to a halt when it hits a scenery backdrop that's being moved, the rear van doors open and black cats spill out. The driver exits his van and tells Jon and Ponch he was meant to be on the set in 3 minutes which is why he was speeding. Jon tells him he could have killed someone. Ponch asks if the cats were going to be in the movie and the man tells them they were since it was a horror movie and they were the killers. The driver is anxious and wants to catch one of the cats, he promises not to run away. Ponch asks Jon if he saw how many of those cats ran in front of him. Jon asks him if he's superstitious, Ponch tells him he should know him better than that. The driver comes back with a cat in his arms and tells Ponch that there were 13 black cats and now there's only one. Ponch not believing his ears asks how many cats there were again, the driver repeats that there were 13 and asks why. Ponch tells him no reason, he was only asking.

Back at Central, Ponch walks under a ladder, Jon tells him it's a good thing he's not superstitious. Ponch is shaving in the locker room and Jon is polishing his boot. Grossie greets them a good morning whilst carrying a large wrapped item. Jon asks him if it's his lunch and Ponch asks him if it's an apple for teacher. Grossie shows them what he's got; a carved pumpkin head. Ponch cuts himself shaving and Grossie comments on how it's not easy to cut yourself on an electric razor. Jon comments that Ponch has run into 13 black cats, walked under a ladder, and now that. Ponch calls it superstitious nonsense. Ponch closes his locker and hears something smash, he opens it to have a look and the mirror fell off the door and broke.

Getraer goes through the briefing, and Baricza mentions the hobgoblin. Getraer tells them the police radio is to be used for official business only, and proceeds to tell any new men present about it. It hits a nerve with Cahill and corrects Getraer on his use of pronouns. Getraer tells all the new police persons about the hobgoblin. Someone uses the radio to broadcast original material and he's not sure if it's a man or a woman doing it. Getraer plans to do something about this time and tells the hobgoblin to think twice. Grossie tears a page from a pad on his desk.

A woman is making herself up to look like a ghost. The couple are in debt and the woman believes that Halloween will be a good cover to steal from people.

Grossie is handing out slips to everyone with their allotted hobgoblin schedule.

Jon and Ponch stop at a junction and a group of children cross the street, one of the children peels off and asks Ponch, trick or treat. Ponch tells him he's too early and he'll have some candy for them up the next couple of blocks if he can wait. The boy tells him if he's got no treats then trick it is and squirts his water pistol at Ponch. Ponch tells him that wasn't very nice, and the boy asks him if he's going to arrest him, Ponch asks Jon if they should handcuff him. Just then his sister comes back to the boy and tells him to come on, she calls him Tommy. Ponch realises that the water pistol was filled with perfume, Jon asks Ponch for a favour; to ride downwind.

Ponch wonders why it's always him. Jon reminds him of the black cats, ladder and the shaving incident. Ponch asks if he told him about the mirror, Jon doesn't and asks about it. Ponch tells him not to ask.

Some men are ripping up what's left of the whole turf from the front of someone's house. Jon and Ponch pass them and Jon questions why someone would be taking grass not laying it down, they go to investigate. The men finish taking the turf and drive off. The driver notices them and his friend wants him to pull over so they can explain it's just a prank, the driver tells him his truck is powerful and he can lose them. His friend tells him to pullover but he won't, a car reverses out of their drive causing the truck to swerve and come to a stop. The driver tells them it was just a prank as the man who lives at the house they took the lawn from drained his pool and this was his revenge.

Ponch buys a ton of candy and pours it all in his saddle bag. An angry parent comes over to them along with Tommy's sister, Julie. He's run away because Ponch threatened to arrest him. Ponch apologises and didn't mean for it to happen. Jon reassures the angry father that since he's already reported it everyone would be on the lookout for him. The man berates them for threatening a child, Jon fires back that the children should have been escorted by an adult and if he had been there it wouldn't have happened and re-iterates that it was only a joke. The father tells them it may have been a joke to them but not to Tommy and because of it he's run away and they're to blame.

Jon and Ponch ride through the residential areas questioning the children if they've seen little Tommy Stone and if they do see him to tell him to go home since their parents are really worried about him. Ponch tells them they should really be with an adult and escorts them to his bike. One of the children rips his mask off and tells Ponch that he is an adult. Ponch glances at Jon. The hobgoblin warns on the radio that the sergeant might be near.

Getraer arrives and asks if they heard the hobgoblin, Ponch quickly dismisses it was them. Getraer tells them he knows since he was watching them from the corner. He asks them about the missing boy. Getraer tells Ponch to change his aftershave before riding away. Ponch tells Jon his luck's changing and Jon asks how he figures that out. Ponch tells him it was his turn to be the hobgoblin but he forgot and wonders who filled in for him. Jon tells him it could only have been Grossie.

Jon and Ponch stop a couple of ladies out on a scavenger hunt trying to steal a street sign who in turn invite them to a party.

Jon and Ponch stop by an abandoned house commenting on how it looks spookier now more than ever.

The woman ghost decides to rob a supermarket. After she takes his money she runs away. Jon and Ponch pass her and comment on her. The owner of the supermarket comes running out and flags them down to tell them he was robbed by her. Jon and Ponch eventually spot her running across the street and into a park, Ponch chases her on foot and prompts Jon to ride off.

The woman runs across the road causing an on coming car to narrowly miss her and hit a parked car resulting in it being rolled over. Ponch stops to help the driver, he appears to be drunk and describes the ghost as a pink elephant in a white nightie.

The hobgoblin warns that the sergeant is around and about listening. Ponch thinks Grossie is going to get caught, Getraer is going to find him soon enough. Jon tells him if Grossie is smarter than their pink elephant in PJ's then Getraer hasn't got a chance.

A woman stops her car next to a group of trick or treaters. She exits her car and then grabs the bag of sweets off a child and runs back into her car and drives off. The woman who is looking after the group flags down Jon and Ponch and tells them what happened.

The ghost is counting her ill gotten gains. Her partner doesn't like the look on her face. She tells him that even if they pay off his debt they still need to eat. Her partner isn't so sure they should risk it since they have enough to pay off his debt. She begs him to do it one more time, he makes her promise this will be the last time.

Jon and Ponch stop by the spooky house again. The hobgoblin reminds everyone to keep to their schedules or it isn't fair. Jon tells Ponch he forgot. Jon and Ponch believe that Tommy's hiding in the spooky house since it's Halloween.

They investigate the house and hear a noise, when they check it's just a cat. Jon decides to look upstairs. Ponch looks around the floor and is spooked by his own reflection. Ponch hears a noise and goes out to find out what it was, Jon comes down the stairs to tell him his foot went through the floor. They go to the kitchen and hear a noise coming from a large cardboard box, they move it and Tommy is sitting behind it. Tommy asks if they're there to arrest him. Ponch picks him up and tells him he's not. Tommy tells Ponch he smells funny.

Jon and Ponch pass by the sign the women wanted to take and it's not there. Ponch asks if they should go to the party to check if they have taken it. Jon tells him he doesn't want to spend the rest of the night cataloging stolen goods. Ponch tells him he should give them the benefit of the doubt and go. Jon agrees to go. The hobgoblin's final message for the night is that he's disappointed he was let down by his pals. Jon feels Grossie is a little bit upset but Ponch tells him he got away with it again.

Whilst they are waiting by the missing sign post, a woman parks her car in the drive and promptly exits, steals a child's swag bag of candy and drives off. Jon and Ponch chase after her. The woman reaches her house and runs in with the bag of candy. Jon and Ponch arrive and knock on her door but there's no response. Jon peeks through her window and spot her pouring the sweets onto the floor and going through them furiously. Jon calls Ponch over to take a look and then they knock on her door again. She opens it and tells them it was only going to be a matter of time anyway. Jon gets down to business and asks her what she's doing. The woman is distraught, she lost a diamond engagement ring when she was handing out candy to the children and the last time she remember having it on was when she gave candy to a skeleton. Therefore she's been robbing skeletons all night to try and get it back since her fiance is coming tonight and she'd be mortified if he doesn't see him with it on. Ponch tells her that she's scared a lot of kids because of it and she should have just called the police to help.

Ponch suggests that the ring might be in her candy bowl since she had to reach in it first. The woman didn't think of and grabs the bowl from his hands in desperation to check. She pours the sweets on the carpet and goes through them praying her ring is there. Jon offers to help her and finds her ring for her. The woman asks if she's under arrest to which Jon tells her there's been no formal complaints against her and to keep her fingers crossed.

The ghost robs a liquor store and an APB goes out. Jon responds to the call. The ghost gets in a van and drives off hotly pursued by Jon and Ponch. Two guys are throwing eggs at each other on the road and the van passes through them, one of the eggs hits the windshield causing the van to swerve and stop. Jon shouts at them to exit the van but the driver tells him he can't since he's broken his other arm. The woman comes out of the van and blames the pesky kids for their downfall.

Jon and Ponch arrive at the party they were invited to by the scavenger hunters. The woman tells them they're late and they might recognise some of the guests. Baricza and Cahill are on the couch and Grossie is by the pinball machine and Getraer is playing pool. The girls tell them they would have lost the hunt if they hadn't showed up, Ponch asks about the sign. They tell him they didn't take it but they know who did but they won't tell. The last item on their list was to bring a police officer to the party and since they have two they win.

Jon asks Getraer if he caught the hobgoblin. Getraer asks for the rooms attention and raises a toast to the members of his shift. He comments on how everyone forgot to do their bit on the hobgoblin radio and even knows the times. Getraer tells Grossie he was busted because the pad he used left an impression resulting in Getraer knowing about the schedule.

## Notes

* When Ponch opens his locker to see the broken mirror, there are a pair of trousers hanging inside that have the stripe going all the way down to the bottom of the leg. Motor officers leg stripe stops just after the start of the boot. Patrol car officers leg stripes go all the way to the bottom.
* This episode pays homage to Scooby Doo, where the adult is usually dressed up in an outfit and blames those pesky kids for getting caught!

## Cast

### Main Cast

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

### Recurring

* Brodie Greer: Baricza
* Paul Linke: Grossman
* Brianne Leary: Sindy Cahill

### Guest Stars

* Elaine Joyce: Susan
* Fran Ryan: Nancy

### Others

* Edward Call: Manager
* Barbera Leigh: Paula
* Jenny Sherman: Karen
* Hal Baylor: Reed
* John Dennis: Collins
* Joe Medalis: Mr Stone
* Susan Page: Julie (Stone)
* Justin Dana: Tommy (Stone)
* Jack Perkins: Drunk
* Hap Lawrence: Truck Driver
* Gary Dubin: Teenager
* Tony O'Dell: Teenager
* Bobby Porter: Sammy
* Daryl Cooksey: Skeleton
* Jeff Cotler: Allan
* Brandi Tucker: Child
* Beatrice Colen: Mary