00:00:00
Phoebe Judge: What are you most often diving for, looking for weapons, or bodies, or...? Dave
Mascarenas: Our basic search is for bombs,
00:00:13
bodies, narcotics, and evidence.
Phoebe Judge: Dave Mascarenas is a sergeant with the LAPD. He's also the
supervisor for their Underwater Dive Unit,
00:00:21
where he's been diving for the last 18 years.
Dave Mascarenas: Our diving aspect is not like
00:00:26
what most people think that you go down
recreationally, and you can see 100 feet,
00:00:31
and the water's warm, and all that good stuff.
Our average dive, the waters are cold off our
00:00:38
coast so we're wearing 7 millimeter,
quarter-inch wetsuits, and most of the time our visibility is less than a foot.
Phoebe Judge: He started scuba diving in
00:00:48
high school, performed waterborne operations
in the military, and then joined the LAPD,
00:00:52
where he's worked in a lot of different
units. The crash unit, anti-gang unit, bike patrol in Hollywood, but no matter what
department he was working with, he could be
00:01:02
called away at any time to go on a dive.
Dave Mascarenas: I have been in underground
00:01:07
watersheds that are about 100 feet wide, by
200 feet long, by almost 100 feet deep that
00:01:13
are completely enclosed in cement, and had to
be lowered in by a rope to get in there and do
00:01:18
investigations. That's kind of troubling, when you
know that there's no escape if you have an issue.
00:01:24
I have been in dams, in top of mountains. I
have been in the LA River searching for bodies.
00:01:34
I had to be deployed by helicopter into the ocean,
and do giant strides off the piers. We pretty
00:01:41
much do everything in our department, because we
try not to say no to an investigation if at all
00:01:47
possible because then we're sending a message that
hey this is a good idea to dump evidence here.
00:01:53
Phoebe Judge: But in the summer of 2013, the LAPD
Dive Unit got a call that sounded so unreasonable
00:02:00
it had to be a joke. Detectives had gotten a tip
on a high-profile murder case — a case they still
00:02:06
aren't releasing many details about. The murder
happened in 2011, and the investigation had
00:02:11
gone cold — until they got word that evidence
may have been thrown in the La Brea tar pits.
00:02:20
It was like being asked to scuba dive
in a pit of toxic, cold molasses. How could you even see in it, let alone breathe?
Dave Mascarenas: And at first we were joking
00:02:30
about it. It's like, "Yeah, that's not really
going to happen. There's no way we could pull
00:02:35
that off." But once we receive a request from
a detective to do an investigation, my job is
00:02:42
to see if that's something that we can do.
Phoebe Judge: I would feel like that would
00:02:45
be something that you'd say, "I'm
sorry that is nothing we can do." Dave Mascarenas: Well, keep in mind that,
yes, we're the Underwater Dive Unit,
00:02:51
but there's a lot of things that we can do
that might not necessarily mean we have to
00:02:58
do a dive investigation. We have remote-operated
vehicles. We have accessories and equipment that
00:03:06
we can deploy sometimes. And nobody knew if
anything would function or not. Everybody's
00:03:12
best guess was no, nothing would work.
Phoebe Judge: When he says, "Everybody's
00:03:16
best guess was no," he means everybody. This
was an all hands on deck analysis. The LA Fire
00:03:22
Department, Port Police, Beach Police, geologists,
archeologists, diving experts, and even the people
00:03:28
who design the underwater search equipment.
Their concern was that those remote operated
00:03:34
vehicles emit small electric sparks. Even when
they're supposed to be airtight to go underwater,
00:03:40
no one could be certain they wouldn't let
off sparks that might cause an explosion
00:03:45
and set the whole tar pit on fire. They tried
other options. Hooks, and grabbers, magnets,
00:03:52
nothing worked. But they were able to use a
sonar system to confirm that the pieces of
00:03:58
evidence were in fact down there in the tar.
Dave Mascarenas: So now we were in a situation
00:04:03
where we have identified items that need
to be looked at, and we can't retrieve them
00:04:10
via equipment. So we decided that maybe we
would try to put a diver into the tar...
00:04:20
[Music.]
Phoebe Judge: Did you sit around and pick straws, [laughter] or did you think ‘this is
my calling?’ How did you get chosen to do this?
00:04:35
Dave Mascarenas: Well at that time I was the
OIC, the officer in charge of the investigation.
00:04:40
But this is a scenario where I could be asking
somebody to go in harm's way, and most likely
00:04:46
they're not going to come back from it. How would
I feel being the person that makes the phone call,
00:04:52
and says I told my officer to do that, and he
did it, and knowing he's most likely going to get
00:04:57
hurt, and he does? And then I have to deal with
the family. So I decided if anybody was going to
00:05:03
do it, it was going to be me and that way nothing
could possibly come back. If I get injured,
00:05:09
or I don't come back, well, it was my decision.
Phoebe Judge: Did you stop and — wait,
00:05:14
are you married?
Dave Mascarenas: I am married, 29 years. Phoebe Judge: 29, and you have kids?
Dave Mascarenas: I have two sons, 31 and 25.
00:05:21
Phoebe Judge: So did you call your wife, and
say, "Listen I have to do this crazy thing,
00:05:27
what do you think?" Or you decided
it's better not to tell her? Dave Mascarenas: No, that was one of those
scenarios where you beg for forgiveness later,
00:05:37
and not say anything. I looked at it like
this: I've had a good life. I've had a great
00:05:41
career. I've done a lot of things. My kids are
older. If something bad happened, my wife's
00:05:46
going to be taken care of. And when I talked
to my lieutenant at the time who's now retired,
00:05:51
he basically said, "Dave do we want to send the
message that we can't do this, there's somewhere a
00:06:00
bad guy can go and get away with something?"
[Music.] Phoebe Judge: And so, he and his colleagues
started planning and preparing for the dive.
00:06:11
But most of that planning went straight out
the window as soon as he got underwater.
00:06:16
I'm Phoebe Judge, this is Criminal. [Music.]
Dave Mascarenas: There was actually three pits. The main pit
that most people see,iIt looks just like a big
00:06:28
small lake of black tar, the consistency
of pudding, it looks like to me. Phoebe Judge: Tens of thousands of years ago,
tectonic pressure starting forcing oil up
00:06:40
to the surface of the earth, and it pooled in
these small lakes in what is now Los Angeles.
00:06:47
And the reason they're something
of a tourist attraction is because prehistoric animals would wade in,
and get stuck. They couldn't escape, and would
00:06:55
eventually die, and their bones were perfectly
preserved by the oil. They're still there today.
00:07:02
There's a saber toothed tiger that's
thought to be 44,000 years old, and a coyote that's 46,000 years old.
It looks like something you would walk into
00:07:12
and just disappear forever.
Dave Mascarenas: Yes, you see bubbles coming up. That's the methane
gas coming through, and some are bigger,
00:07:19
and smaller so you're always hearing popping
noises. But it basically yeah, it looks like
00:07:24
once you step in you're not coming back. In fact
they even have a couple of prehistoric dinosaur
00:07:31
creatures that are fake ones that they have on
the side. Some of them are halfway in the pit,
00:07:38
showing, depicting what happened in the past.
Phoebe Judge: On June 6th, 2013, Dave and his
00:07:45
team arrived at the tar pits very early
in the morning. Dave wore a hazardous material suit. The suit manufacturers said
they thought it should hold up in the tar,
00:07:54
but also that if too much time passed the suit
could dissolve and eventually burn itself up.
00:08:01
So Dave took extra precautions. He put duct tape
on all the seals. For his breathing, air was
00:08:08
pumped down from the surface, and they'd set up a
radio system so Dave could hear instructions from
00:08:14
people on land. I asked him if he was nervous.
Dave Mascarenas: I don't know about being nervous,
00:08:19
my more thought was I've got to pull this off.
We're probably only going to get one shot at
00:08:24
this. And now everybody's there, the media, and
everywhere else, and I have all my peers there.
00:08:32
I want to do the best job that we can, and I want
to do it as safely as possible. And at the end of
00:08:37
the day I wanted to be able to go back home.
Phoebe Judge: The first step was to bring in a
00:08:42
firetruck to use the high powered hoses to clear
away the top layer of tar until the surface was
00:08:48
something more, as Dave says, "liquidy." Then
they rigged safety lines in two different
00:08:53
directions going across the pit, and lowered a
rowboat into the tar. And then Dave waded in.
00:09:00
Dave Mascarenas: As soon as I got in, as soon
as my face passed through the first layer,
00:09:06
and went through the second layer, and third layer
all you see is a dull green avocado-colored hue.
00:09:17
Some parts of the tar were like pudding where
you could basically pat it, and feel it,
00:09:25
and you would be okay, and other parts you
touched and you immediately got stuck. And
00:09:31
it was like a cartoon commercial where your gloves
would stretch a foot until it finally gave away.
00:09:39
Phoebe Judge: The plan was that people on
land would monitor the sonar. They would
00:09:44
then guide Dave through his radio on where
to look, or in this case where to put out
00:09:49
his hands and try to grab at something.
Dave Mascarenas: However, it was very difficult. You can't swim normally in tar. You
can't really kick. So what we came up with is,
00:09:59
we had a 30 or 40 foot pole that the
guys from the boat put in the tar, and once I submerged I grabbed onto that pole,
and I would use that to pull myself down,
00:10:12
and to pull myself. And then keep moving it
forward a foot at a time into the directions
00:10:19
that the radio man was giving me. "We
need you to move three feet to your right,
00:10:24
two feet to your left." That kind of
thing. Because my gauges and equipment I couldn't see, and nothing was working.
Phoebe Judge: So they'd be radioing to you,
00:10:36
and saying, "It's there. That's there. Put
your hand down." You'd put your hand down,
00:10:38
you'd feel the object, whatever this
evidence is, and you'd grab it, and then you'd put it somewhere, in a pocket or...?
Dave Mascarenas: Well it's not — I wish it
00:10:48
was as easy as that. Now, you have a dry suit
on, you have a glove on. Have you ever put on
00:10:55
like two or three layers of gloves when it's
real cold in the wintertime for the snow,
00:10:59
and you can't really grab very well? That's kind
of the same situation. So you had to say, "Okay,
00:11:05
that's not, basically, shape or size of what
I'm looking for. This is basically the shape
00:11:11
or size of what I'm looking for." And there was no
way of putting it in an evidence bag or container.
00:11:16
So what I basically did is once I found that
item I brought it up to the guys in the boat,
00:11:22
and they put it in an evidence container.
Phoebe Judge: You could have had your hand
00:11:27
on a million year old crocodile jaw.
Dave Mascarenas: I could have. Yeah, there was some weird things down there, so...
Phoebe Judge: It was supposed to be a nine minute
00:11:37
dive. That's what they'd planned. It wasn't
safe to be down there longer. First off,
00:11:41
it was very hot, but also because the
longer his hazardous material suit was exposed to the tar, the more likely it was
to dissolve. But then Dave got stuck.
00:11:52
Dave Mascarenas: I got my whole arm and hand
and shoulder stuck, and to, all of it came up
00:11:57
to my face mask. And I started grabbing on
the pole, and pulling as hard as I could,
00:12:02
and let them know that I'm stuck, and to start
pulling with the ropes. And then my left leg got
00:12:08
stuck, and my fin got stuck. And I thought,
"Well, I gave it a good shot." I can feel
00:12:18
the pressure on my — I'm wearing a harness
system so I could literally feel it pulling
00:12:22
on chest and ribs, and finally I got out.
Phoebe Judge: He got unstuck, and pulled himself
00:12:29
to the surface to hand the recovered object to the
men in the rowboat. He could have called it a day,
00:12:34
but he knew that there was more evidence
down there. The job wasn't done. And in
00:12:39
spite of that close call, Dave went back
down. And immediately got stuck again.
00:12:44
Dave Mascarenas: And that time I don't even know
how I didn't lose my fin. I felt it coming off,
00:12:52
and I went to reach down with my hand,
and when my hand got stuck the glove felt
00:12:55
like it stretched about a foot to two feet, my
fingers and everything, and finally snapped out.
00:13:02
And I thought, "Okay, well I'm not going to make
it this time. Somebody is going to have to make
00:13:08
that phone call." And I got out, so.
Phoebe Judge: This is a good commercial for duct tape.
Dave Mascarenas: Duct tape actually worked.
00:13:19
Phoebe Judge: What was supposed to be a nine
minute dive ended up being 77 minutes. Because
00:13:26
none of his dive equipment functioned, no one
knows how deep Dave went, but the estimate is
00:13:31
anywhere from 7 to 17 feet.
[Music.]. What did it look like when you
emerged? You must have just been,
00:13:42
you must have been quite a sight.
Dave Mascarenas: I was mostly full of tar. My suit had to be trashed. The mask was full
of tar. My gloves were full of tar trash. The
00:13:58
fins, actually, whatever the material were,
they were partly melted and deformed. And
00:14:04
when we took off the gloves my
hands were full of tar, and then somehow my hood had to have moved because when
they took off the mask one side of my face,
00:14:15
and my ears, and my neck were full of tar.
Phoebe Judge: He was nauseated and lightheaded,
00:14:19
but after being checked out by the EMTs
and monitored for a couple of hours, they gave him an all-clear.
[Music.]
00:14:27
So, what did you say when you got
home that night to your wife? Dave Mascarenas: I actually didn't get a chance
to say anything. Like normal, I don't like to
00:14:36
come home and talk about my work because the
different units I've been at — I've been in a
00:14:41
lot of specialized units, I've had some very bad
experiences. Some of the stuff you've seen on TV
00:14:47
I've been involved in, kind of thing. So I would
just come home, and normally I'd have my clothes
00:14:52
in a plastic bag and say, "Here take this to the
cleaners, and don't touch it because it's got
00:14:59
biohazard on it, or something."
And this day I was coming in, I walk in the door,
00:15:03
and my wife is standing there, and she had a
mean look in her face. And I said, "Hi honey."
00:15:07
And the first thing she did, she punched me, and
she punched me hard. She works out so she hit me
00:15:14
pretty hard. And then she burst out in tears, and
then hugged me, and she said, "You almost died,
00:15:19
and you didn't even tell me?" I'm like, "Well what
are you talking about?" She said, "It was all over
00:15:24
the news. We were watching it at work."
Leslie Mascarenas: Yeah, I wasn't happy.
00:15:29
Phoebe Judge: Dave's wife Leslie Mascarenas.
Leslie Mascarenas: I walked through the door,
00:15:34
and I walked up to him, and I
punched him in the chest. Not hard. And then I hugged him, and I said, "Don't
ever do that again." And he said,
00:15:44
"Okay." I think he was shocked because I've
never hit him like that. I was just so angry,
00:15:52
but then just so happy that he was still
standing there, and he wasn't dead or in
00:16:01
the hospital seriously injured, or something,
with the methane gas. So I was kind of mad and
00:16:06
happy at the same time. [Laughs.] And scared.
Phoebe Judge: You said that you didn't punch
00:16:13
him hard, but he says that you did. And he said
that you punched him hard because you work out.
00:16:18
Leslie Mascarenas: [Laughs.] Well for
a girl I guess it was hard. [Laughs.] I do try to take care of myself, so.
Phoebe Judge: What is it like to live
00:16:32
with someone who is actually doing a job,
and has this mentality, and mindset of,
00:16:38
I care about my job, I love my job so
much that, yeah, I'll risk my life? Leslie Mascarenas: And it's funny because
people ask me that all the time like,
00:16:47
"Aren't you nervous?" Or, "Don't you get
nervous every time he goes to work." And I said,
00:16:52
"No, he's one of those people that you
just know he can take care of himself." You know? It's just who he is. And I knew
that marrying him. So you just have to take it
00:17:05
in stride. If I worried about it every day I would
probably have ulcers, or something. [Laughs.]
00:17:13
[Music.]
Phoebe Judge: The evidence Dave recovered in the tar pits did
help the detectives bring suspects into custody.
00:17:28
We checked in with them one more time last
week to see if he could give us any update
00:17:31
on the case. And he wrote in an email
that the investigation is still open, and at least one individual is outstanding.
He says his fellow officers have a nickname for
00:17:42
him now: La Brea Dave. And while you'd think this
would give him a free pass on the next weird job
00:17:47
it hasn't. Now people know what he can do.
[Music.] Criminal is produced by Lauren Spohrer and me.
Audio engineering help from Rob Byers and Russ
00:18:05
Henry. Julienne Alexander makes original
illustrations for each episode of Criminal.
00:18:10
You can see them at thisiscriminal.com,
where you can also find a link to the new Criminal 2016 calendar, and a set of
postcards with our favorite illustrations.
00:18:21
Criminal is recorded in the studios
of North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC. We're a proud member of Radiotopia
from PRX, a collective of the 13 best
00:18:31
podcasts around. Shows like The Allusionist
made by our pal Helen Zaltzman. In it she
00:18:37
explores the backstory behind language, and
the ins and out of words we use every day.
00:18:41
In her episode Toki Pona she teams up with
fellow Radiotopian Nate DiMeo from The Memory
00:18:47
Palace to learn a language in 30 hours.
Helen Zaltzman: There's a language which is
00:18:51
said to be the smallest language in the world. It
has around 123 words, 14 letters of the alphabet,
00:18:58
and apparently you can become fluent in it in
around 30 hours of study. It's called Toki Pona.
00:19:05
Nate DiMeo: Jan — that's
right — jan lili li melli... Helen Zaltzman: Soweli mute. Soweli mute.
Soweli mute. Many badgers. Soweli... Nate DiMeo:
00:19:13
Soweli melli li pona...
Phoebe Judge: Go listen. Nate DiMeo: Soweli melli li pona...
Phoebe Judge: Radiotopia from PRX is
00:19:19
supported by the Knight Foundation and MailChimp,
celebrating creativity, chaos, and teamwork.
00:19:24
We'll be back in the new year with a whole
new batch of stories. Thanks very much for
00:19:28
listening this year, and for all your support. It
means an awful lot. Happy holidays to you all.
00:19:34
I'm Phoebe Judge, and until
next year, this is Criminal. [Music.]
Jingle: Radiotopia. From PRX.