1962: Frank Tomlinson In Street Fight With Black Muslims
Frank Tomlinson would have been about 22 or 23 in 1962. He and his partner approached some guys selling suits out of a car. They were jumped and during the melee, twenty or more Muslims streamed out of the temple and stomped and kicked Tomlinson and his partner. In the end, one Muslim lay dead. This would have been a great episode for Adam-12!
I wonder if Frank is still a counselor or minister at the church in SoCal? Man, he should write a book about his interesting career.
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The officer who was wounded was Frank Tomlinson, whose left elbow was shattered by a shot fired by one of the Muslims who wrested a gun away from one of the other officers…
Star News. April 29, 1962.
localarts, 
localarts 12:04 pm on June 7, 2013 Permalink |
Tough guy.
Jill C. Nelson 3:20 pm on June 7, 2013 Permalink |
Frank Tomlinson has written at least one book detailing his former career as an L.A.P.D. homicide detective: “Lessons of Life Learned at Crime Scenes of Death”. Tomlinson was my first interview for “Inches” and I’ll never forget him or our meeting. He had been reluctant to be interviewed for the book because of past experiences with journalists and the media so I had to assure him we were biographers, first and foremost, and that it was our intention to be as honest and balanced as we could possibly be. That assurance seemed to convince him to agree to participate.
By the time I came on board as a collaborator on the book in 2006, Sugar, 25 years my junior, was already a seasoned researcher and interviewer. Although we’d forged our partnership several months earlier, we didn’t meet in person until the summer of 2007. On that day I picked up Sugar from Huntington Beach where she was staying and we had a lunch date in Hollywood with Frank Tomlinson and his beautiful wife, Dianne. In person, Tomlinson is intimidating. He stands approximately 6’3″ and is extremely fit for a guy who had to have been in his early-mid-sixties. It was surreal to say the least. After telling us how displeased and disgusted he was with the E! True Hollywood episode on Holmes and the Wonderland murders (he felt the producers lacked integrity and did a hack job with all of the interviewees),Tomlinson informed us how the interview would go during our meeting and proceeded to push “start” on Sugar’s tiny cassette recorder while we waited for our lunch to be served. He talked for 45 minutes straight without allowing for us to ask questions or interrupt him. When he finished all he had to say, he reached across the table and pushed “stop”. Then we were allowed to ask questions.
After our lunch, we checked into our hotel and replayed back the tape. We knew that what we had was golden and we were very excited to say the least. To our schock, the tape had somehow garbled itself and we weren’t able to listen to the interview. Undaunted, Sugar said she thought she could repair it. We walked across the road to a dollar store and purchased a pair of scissors and scotch tape. True to her word, and after an hour sweating bullets, Sugar was able to refurbish the tape and we listened to the entire 45 minutes. What Tomlinson had to say about the Wonderland investigation was absolutely fascinating and refreshing. (He and Tom Lange both proofed our interviews with them prior to the book’s publication.) Just over one year later, Tomlinson appeared at our book launch in Hollywood holding a vase in each hand with fresh cut flowers which he proceeded to hand to us. There were smiles all around. It was truly a great night.
John W 5:50 pm on June 7, 2013 Permalink |
Thanks Jill! … Wow. I’m in the middle of my Chris Darden book (OJ Trial fever lately)… And it is good. As far as Inches, I have only looked at the pictures and will get on it asap. The LAPD brass and DA ended up at odds with their detectives, it seems.
Jill C. Nelson 5:11 pm on June 8, 2013 Permalink |
Yup, Tomlinson was given strict orders by his superiors NOT to arrest Nash even though there was sufficient reason to do so. Also, he did not have flattering things to say about former DA Ronald S. Cohen, now an L.A. Superior Court judge.
Jill C. Nelson 5:14 pm on June 8, 2013 Permalink |
*Coen*.
localarts 6:22 pm on June 8, 2013 Permalink |
I’ll say it again. Nash’s Power was far reaching. For the same reasons the powers that be never wanted Lange’s Four On The Floor published are in many way’s why a veil of protection was afforded Nash. Eddie Nash could have brought down a lot of political figures if he had chosen to exercise that power but there is a reason why he’s still kick’in at 84!