Two former Inglewood patrolmen recall the May 16, 1974, shoot-out at Mel’s Sporting Goods involving Patricia Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army, leaving bullet indentations in a Crenshaw Boulevard light pole as enduring physical evidence of a dramatic era.
The concrete light pole on Crenshaw Boulevard bears two distinct indentations, left behind by a submachine gun fired during a chaotic confrontation decades ago. According to reporting from the Latimes, those marks were made on May 16, 1974, by Patricia Hearst following a bungled shoplifting attempt at what was then Mel’s Sporting Goods, just south of Imperial Highway.
First Officers at Mel’s Sporting Goods
James Seymour and James Boggs were young patrolmen with less than two years on the job when they responded to frantic reports of heavy automatic-weapons fire at the Inglewood store. Arriving on the scene around 4 p.m., they found a crowd gathered outside and feared the worst.
It turned out that no one was injured in the initial exchange. Amid the confusion, Boggs spotted a man in the crowd with a gun in his waistband, grabbed him, and pushed him against the wall—only to discover the man was the store manager, according to the Latimes.
From a People Magazine Article to an SLA Manhunt
On the morning of the shooting, Seymour happened to read an article in People magazine about the Symbionese Liberation Army and clipped the names and descriptions of the fugitives. When police traced a gun left at the scene to SLA member Emily Harris, Seymour recalled taking the registration to a dubiously crusty federal agent.
He said to me, ‘Whaddya got, kid?’ I told him we thought the SLA were in the area. He says, ‘Just how do you know?’ I told him about the registration. His jaw dropped.
James Seymour, captain of detectives
That tip brought an influx of federal agents to the corner of Imperial and Crenshaw. Meanwhile, authorities recovered a parking ticket from a van abandoned by the suspects, leading them to an SLA hide-out in South-Central Los Angeles.
The Raid in South-Central Los Angeles
After being told to go home by their captain, Seymour and Boggs watched as spectators the following afternoon as police and federal agents stormed the South-Central house. Hearst was not inside, but most of the self-styled revolutionaries died in a televised blaze of flames and gunfire.
While the officers initially assumed Hearst perished in the fire, she had actually fled to Anaheim alongside the Harrises. They were eventually captured in San Francisco on September 18, 1975. Boggs subsequently spent much of 1976 and 1977 testifying before grand juries and in trials across Northern California, where he recalled crossing paths with Patricia’s father, Randolph Hearst.
He looked like any father would look in that kind of situation. Like he hadn’t slept in days. You could feel for what he was going through.
James Boggs, police officers union president
Reflections on Clemency and History
Seymour expressed indifference regarding the pardon talk, noting it would not change her life or affect job resumes. Boggs, however, voiced opposition to granting a pardon, arguing that firing across Crenshaw Boulevard was an intentional and dangerous crime regardless of her time as a kidnapping victim.
I have no ill feelings for her. It was a tragic thing that happened to her. I’m happy she’s put the whole thing behind her. But to try to erase it from history is another thing.
James Boggs, police officers union president
