Olive Green

In the unmarked police cruiser’s backseat, the Eastside building facades passed by as we got farther away from the police department headquarters. Where we’d end up wasn’t known. Would the location look aesthetically sufficient for the story?  The tension preceding actuation was punctuated by riding along with three Long Beach Police Detectives assigned to the homicide unit. My body bounced up and down as we sped through the backstreets and alleyway shortcuts. Before we arrived at the final destination they told me this alleyway intersection was a previous crime scene investigation site. Det. Daniel Mendoza (left), Det. Scott Lasch (centered) and Det. Malcolm Evans (right) posed for their commemorative portrait in celebration of solving the Michael K. Green a.k.a. Blacc Mike murder mystery. The set design and wardrobe were unplanned. Daniel and Malcolm wore shades of olive green that match the shade of olive green of their police cruiser and the house’s horizontal siding in the background. There are three sets of parallel power lines in agreement with the number of detectives.

There’s a quiet, underlining power emanating from their stance, by knowing their executing justice throughout the city streets. Their long hours and persistent dedication ushered hope to Ms. King and her family. Hope seemed distant and dark when Michael, her son was changing out of his skateboarding shoes into his dress shoes on top of a cement pillar near 20th and Olive. Michael was getting ready to go out that Spring night on April 9th, 2005. Shots burst forth from a group of men holding handguns aimed at the house where Michael was sitting. They came from a nearby alleyway and ran across the street. Instantly, without time to reach safety, Michael’s neck and hip got struck by hot lead bullets. The street filled up with hundreds of people wondering how this happened to Michael the skater as the police taped off the area and the ambulance came to rescue Michael from his sustained injuries.

Detective Scott Lasch had this to say, “I believe Loretta moved out to Perris, California to get away from Long Beach, California and collect her thoughts. In any court proceeding sometimes it takes up to two to three years to be adjudicated. I’ve seen them go as long as four to five years. It’s a hard process because there’s many court appearances where Loretta would have to come down and maybe be in court for approximately five to ten minutes and then the case would be trailed until the next day so she’d have to take the Greyhound bus and go back home. I attribute that to her because she is just an awesome mom who came down and loved her son.

She was so involved in this case that she kept me motivated as well. Sometimes it’s really tough to stay motivated because there are so many distractions and things that happen, but she was always there. She always called me and we had a good relationship during the process. I applaud her for coming down and being able to be so involved in these cases. I think it was a part of the closure to be involved in this. She was in this case from the beginning ‘til the end to where she was allowed to make a statement in court, which is a fantastic thing. It was such an honor for my partners Mendoza and Evans and all the members of the Long Beach Police Department that helped to be able to work this case. It truly was an honor to serve the family. I’m glad that the case worked well and was adjudicated.”

Det. Scott Lasch was a vertical ramp skateboarder, but has not skateboarded in awhile because the sport is not as forgiving as it used to be when he was younger. He grew up watching skateboarders like Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero. He had a half-pipe in his backyard. “As you get older the falls start to hurt more and last longer.” He paid skateboarding dues by loving the movement of the sport by being chased out of the Kitty Banks where the 91 intersects the 605 South by the California Highway Patrol. Scott dressed in turquoise and mauve attire conducted fly maneuvers as high as spires on the wooden half-pipe. During these golden years of the rising skateboard fanaticism appropriately placed Scott into the radical role of solving a murder committed against a fellow skateboarder by the providential Lord. He alone knows all stories by his authorship. Jesus Christ, the one who lives in our hearts and flows to the ends of our veins. There is no ending to where he rules and reigns.