"SMASH & GRAB" October 8, 1999

Episode 81       Airdate: 10/08/99      Writer: Shawn Ryan and Glen Mazzara     Director: Robert Mandel
Guest Stars: Dean Norris, Max Perlich, Clare Wren, Armando Ortega.

Nash and Joe are in the 'Cuda along with three men in the back - one is a rabbi and another is a blind man, as Nash vows "Never ever again." They have just finished another bizarre off-duty case.

A multiple fire breaks out in a jewelry store. A firetruck arrives - four firemen get out and proceed to smash the cases and grab the jewelry. The owner fights back - George Pollux is shot dead. The "firemen" escape in the firetruck. The SIU arrives - Nash obtains an eyewitness account from two boys. The boys describe an older type of firetruck with the number 52 on it, and the truck had five firemen.

Caitlin traces the truck as an old mothballed SFPD truck. Ex-con Billy Hopkins is identified as the person who picked up fire gear with an official fire department purchase order. Billy was paid $2000 to deliver the gear to a parking lot. A former firemen, Frank Madigan is the prime suspect. Madigan did time for manslaughter, accidentally killing the man who had an affair with his wife. Harvey and Evan go to question Madigan's colleagues at the firehouse, but they reveal nothing. Frank's wife, Eileen thinks he is in Kuwait. Meanwhile, Frank pays off his son's hospital bill with $75,000 in cash.

Nash has finally cleared his bankruptcy cause by his accountant. But there is no time for relief, as Nash apparently hits a roller blader crossing the street. Sure enough, an attractive process server serves Nash with papers - he is being sued by Drew Cranston for 2.1 million dollars. Joe gets his brother-in-law Eladio to defend Nash. A meeting with Cranston and his lawyer solidifies Nash's resolve to not pay a penny to Cranston. Nash's friend, a crime scene reconstructionist affirms that the accident was a set-up. Meanwhile, Harvey unloads his Bob Weir concert tickets on Joe. Harvey cannot make the concert because Anna has dumped Jerry (their son) on Harvey at the last minute.

Nash discovers that his auto insurance has lapsed because Caitlin has filed away his insurance bill into a folder. They quarrel, and Nash ends up spending the night alone on the couch. They continue to quarrel the next morning at the SIU. A prison connection is discovered. At Corcoran State Prison, Madigan's cell mate Lou Ortiz is revealed in a traced phone call Madigan makes to his wife.

Another jewelry store robbery takes place - Harvey and Evan respond but are hosed down by the firemen. They get away with 1.2 million in the same smash and grab, multiple fire scenario. Barry Rizor, twiced convicted ex-felon for securities fraud and grand theft, and another Corcoran State Prison connection is the fence for the jewelry. Evan and Harvey force him to reveal Madigan's whereabouts because Rizor is a three-strike candidate for life imprisonment.

The same attractive process server serves Joe - Joe is also being sued for failing to prevent Nash from hitting Drew Cranston. Joe surveils the wheelchaired and neckbraced Cranston and discovers he is a Peeping Tom. Caitlin makes up with Nash by giving him an IOU slip of paper. Nash calls her on it by having Caitlin strip down to her underwear to attract the voyeur Cranston. Cranston jumps out of his wheelchair to get a look at Caitlin. Sure enough Nash and Joe are there to take a picture of the healthy Cranston. Cranston is so startled that he falls off the roof and really injures himself.

In another jewelry heist, a victim lies on the floor unconscious. As the robbers flee, Madigan decides to help the victim and administer CPR. Harvey and Evan arrive to discover a left-over Madigan saving the life of the victim. Nash interrogates him, and gets Madigan to help by revealing the location of Lou Ortiz and the rest of the gang. The SIU go and arrest the rest of the gang.

At Nash's apartment, Nash and Caitlin make-up - she invites him into the bedroom once again.

For more, see commentary for Episode 81

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