Studio 55

“OFFICER DOWN” (STORY OUTLINE FOR FEATURE FILM) BY CHARLES AND BETTY GABRIELE This is a story of mounting anger and frustration. A story of heartache and despair, and the inevitable choice of surrender or fight. The Hispanic and African-American communities suffer violence at a level that has never been seen. A culture has been born into these communities of murder and mayhem, a prerogative usually reserved for adults. But now it is the domain of the young teens and pre-teens who kill without remorse and without provocation. Ferocious, fearsome, bloodless children, no longer thought of as children. And with the passage of Proposition 21 it would appear that the judicial system no longer thinks of the murderous little bastards as children either.

It was on a Saturday afternoon that it happened, the thing that started it all. Sophie Esposito was on her front lawn trying to lure her cat out from under the porch. She rose to her feet from a crouched position and became the latest victim of a drive-by shooting in the barrio. The lovely ten year old face that was shattered by a stray bullet, the lithe body that held the promise of an Olympic medal – her gymnastics coach swore to it – a face that contained the incomparable smile of joyous youth; all of this, gone in a flash; a crumpled lifeless body, gone from lithe to limp. Oscar Esposito heard gunfire, a familiar sound, and charged out of his house to see his child who lay motionless. She was gone and he knew that his life no longer had any meaning. When the police arrived they attempted to console him. Impossible. He held his daughter in his arms, cursed everybody in sight including his God and swore vengeance. Two of the plainclothes officers approached Oscar and asked if they could speak to him. They were assigned to the gang squad. Their manner was unusual in that they requested a meeting sometime in the late evening, after the funeral. Oscar Esposito didn’t know that he was about to become a part of a cultural change that would profoundly affect the community. On an evening soon after the funeral, Oscar Esposito answered the phone and agreed to meet the detectives after midnight. They would pick him up and go to an undisclosed meeting place. As they drove away from the neighborhood, Detective Carlos Vega made no attempt to console Esposito, but made veiled reference to revenge.

The meeting place was a warehouse in the rear of a junkyard that was filled with dismantled cars. Oscar Esposito entered the warehouse with Detectives Carlos Vega and Eddie Jones. The light was poor but Oscar could see men seated at a long table. Oscar expected to see no familiar faces. He was more than a little surprised to see Henry Castillo, a man who lived only six houses away. Less than a year had passed since Oscar had offered his condolences to Henry, whose son Antonio, one of LA’s finest, a rookie cop, was murdered by gang members. There were no leads, the killers still at large. Henry Castillo had every right to be at this meeting. Heavy set, grim faced, in his late fifties, Henry, stood at the end of the long table and stared out over the heads of those who sat quietly. His eyes were glazed, his mind in reverse as he searched the faces of the men seated to determine their right to be there, their right to become founding members of the society, this secret new society.

Castillo spoke with heavy emphasis on every word to ensure that he was understood. “ You’re going to hear things tonight that may make you uncomfortable and you may want to leave. If you leave, it means that you were never here. And, of course, if you were never here, you can’t talk about it. We are here tonight to break the law. To make the punks pay for the pain and the heartache they have caused. There will come a time when the neighborhoods will no longer live in fear. It will be the gangs, the punks who will live in fear. There will be no mercy. Age will not matter. They will pay with their lives and the price will be five to one. For every one of us that falls, there will be five of them who die. VIVA LA SOCIEDAD DE VENGANZA!”

PROJECTED SCENES 1. The eight men who were present at the secret meeting and were invited into the society of revenge have left. The warehouse is empty but for Henry Castillo and Oscar Esposito. The two men stare at each other for a long moment then lock in a powerful embrace, sobbing nearly uncontrollably, tears streaming down their faces. The pain of unbearable loss. A retired thirty-year veteran of the LAPD, Henry was comfortable with his retirement, despite the loss of his wife Amelia when Hector was ten and Antonio was five. His oldest son, Hector, was a five-year veteran of the force, and his youngest son, Antonio, was attending the Police Academy. Henry was spared the disconnect that one usually feels in retirement because neither of his sons were married, and were still living at home. It was at the dinner table that Henry felt most connected. The conversation was always about police matters and the opportunity to advise his sons was never missed.

FLASHBACK: Henry’s son, Antonio, is seen graduating from the Police Academy. Scene includes celebration at home, relatives, neighbors, fellow officers attending. Shoot-out between gangs – drug related- Antonio Castillo, a rookie cop with partner are first to respond to scene. Castillo makes fatal mistake and drives police car into middle of scene – ends up in crossfire. As Castillo opens car door, gang member slips behind and hits Castillo with gun butt, knocking him back into car. Gang member takes handcuffs from Castillo and cuffs him to steering wheel, then ducks behind car shielding himself. The other officer is hit and dropped by fire from opposite side of street as he tries to exit car. A number of police cars arrive at the scene, shooting between gangs increases, police car Castillo is in is hit, and bursts into flames. Castillo is seen screaming and struggling to break free, to no avail, and dies horribly.

END FLASHBACK Henry Castillo slowly rises from his chair, pounds the table with his fist and curses loudly. “I’m going to rip their hearts out, like they did to me!” 2. Second meeting of secret society – logistics are discussed. The warehouse, that will always be the meeting place, is owned by Henry’s cousin Enrique, who grieves as deeply as Henry over the loss of Antonio. Henry begins to detail a specific plan to the men of La Sociedad De Venganza. The first order of business is the acquisition of untraceable weapons. It would pose no problem: Police property rooms often loose track of weapons in custody. Castillo now begins to formulate plans that include specific details. He convinces the group that brutality in the extreme is the M.O. Unless they are able to strike fear into the hearts of the gangs, nothing will be accomplished. There will be no sympathy, no matter the age or gender of the gang members. Castillo indicates that their actions must be symbolic and the assassinations are to be carried out clandestinely. This method will allow for the disposition of the body, which according to Castillo is the real imperative. Each body will be deposited in a dumpster, and a placard will be hung around the neck of the body; the placard will contain a number indicating there will be more assassinations. Castillo’s face contained a wry smile as he explained the operation was to be called, “taking out the trash.”

3. Henry Castillo’s rage has reached an uncontrollable state. Assassinations have already taken place, at least six, over a period of a month. The police are completely mystified. It is believed that a rival gang is responsible, but the placard that hangs around the necks of the assassinated gang members, with the inscription, “S.O.V.” is indecipherable. The investigation has not produced the fact that “S.O.V.” is a reference to “La Sociedad De Venganza – The Society of Vengeance.” 4. Now there is growing concern that Castillo has an undeclared agenda. More than eliminating the gang members, he is obsessed with finding the gang member responsible for his son Antonio’s death. Castillo intimates he has a special fate in store for his son’s killer. Some of the members fear that Castillo’s intensity and particularly his attempt to discover the identity of his son’s killer are all too obvious. It could bring scrutiny to the group before its mission is completed.

5. Castillo’s search intensifies and he discovers the nick-name of his son’s killer, “Cobra.” He’s easily identified by the large tattoos of a Cobra ready to strike on his chest and back. 6. When it is discovered that Enrique’s son Ernesto, a newly anointed gang member, may know the real identity and whereabouts of Cobra, the tension increases. 7. Castillo convinces Ernesto the “Cobra” has spilled the blood of his family and his allegiance is to the family, not to the gang. 8. Now with the knowledge of Cobra’s location and habits, Castillo begins to stalk his prey. For three nights running, Castillo observes and waits until finally the opportunity arrives. Sometime past midnight he sees Cobra park his car in an alley and walk quietly to a corner. There Cobra is met by two other men, and a drug deal goes down. Castillo takes advantage of Cobra’s preoccupation and moves stealthily down the alley. Reaching Cobra’s car, he gets into the back seat and conceals himself. Minutes later, Cobra gets behind the wheel of his car and is chilled by the feel, and clicking sound, of a semi-automatic pressed to the back of his head.

“Drive,” Castillo says. “Look, man, I got a pocket fulla cash, you can have it all.” “I don’t want your cash, punk.” “What the fuck do you want, man?” “Your life, punk.”

9. Continuing to hold the pistol to Cobra’s head, Castillo directs him to drive to the warehouse. Once there, Castillo tapes Cobra’s mouth and eyes with duct tape, then forces him out of the car. Handcuffing Cobra’s hands behind his back, Castillo marches Cobra into the warehouse. Keeping his captive blind and silent except for muffled sounds, Castillo manages to chain Cobra spread-eagle between two steel posts. Castillo’s hands begin to shake as he rips the tape from Cobra’s eyes, eyes that are terror stricken. The smell of gasoline and the sight of a blowtorch sitting on the concrete floor causes Cobra to struggle wildly, taking up the slack in his chains. Now Castillo rips the tape from Cobra’s mouth. Cobra screams a deafening scream as spittle flies from his mouth. “Why you doin’ this, man? Yer fuckin’ crazy, man!” Castillo reaches for the can of gasoline and begins to sob, nearly blinded by a rush of tears. As he douses Cobra with gasoline, Cobra screams so loudly he renders himself hoarse and is reduced to whimpering. With the blowtorch blazing, Castillo sobbing almost uncontrollably, he burns Cobra to a crisp, and shouts, “Venganza, you punk, venganza!”

Castillo stands before the burnt body with stooped shoulders, head bowed, still holding the blowtorch. Outside the warehouse, the sirens of two police cars blare, and Castillo hears loud voices. “Open up. Open up, police!” Castillo doesn’t respond, and suddenly one of the police cruisers crashes through the large double doors. With his hands raised, Castillo turns to see two cops rushing towards, and then past him. They unchain the corpse, roll it up in a canvas tarp, drop it into the trunk of the first police cruiser, and race away. Two men emerge from the second police cruiser and approach Castillo, who stands motionless with his hands still raised, his head still bowed. He hears the voice of his son Hector, “It’s okay, Pop, it’s okay.” Castillo collapses into the arms of his son. They embrace for a long moment, then Hector places his arm around his father’s shoulders, and they walk out. (Rear angle shot – roll credits) THE END