Eddie Pulaski

Eddie Pulaski is a main character and the quaternary antagonist in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

He is voiced by Chris Penn.

History[]

Pulaski's role as an antagonist in the game stems entirely from his role as the right-hand man of Frank Tenpenny. Tenpenny, Pulaski and Jimmy Hernandez make up the extremely corrupt unit of the LSPD known as C.R.A.S.H.. In the beta, Pulaski had longer black hair.

He owns a white Buffalo, with the license plate reading "PULASKI".

Background[]

Big Smoke once refers to him as Tenpenny's "Polish lap dog",^[1] indicating he might be of Polish descent. His surname is also a hint to this.

Events of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]

At some point prior to 1992, he joined the Los Santos Police Department. He later joined the Community Resource Against Street Hoodlums (C.R.A.S.H.) division under the leadership of corrupt policeman Frank Tenpenny, who slowly turned Pulaski into a corrupt police officer and showed him the "truth" of how the law should be handled, viewing the job as more 'percentages' and keeping the gangs in the city on an equal footing. Eddie would become Tenpenny's partner in crime. Over the years he had been working with Tenpenny, he developed a high level of deluded trust in their partnership (if anything, Tenpenny was simply using Pulaski to cover his back when needed) and an irreverent outlook on those he saw as below the law. He also served as Tenpenny's crooked henchman most of the time, doing numerous illegal activities and covering up the truth.

The two's criminal operations were threatened by Ralph Pendelbury, an LSPD officer who attempted to expose them to Internal Affairs after uncovering their corruption. Later, Jimmy Hernandez joined C.R.A.S.H. as their new partner. Hernandez was then 'initiated' into their criminal gang by killing Pendelbury while being threatened to be killed by Tenpenny and Pulaski.

Life with Carl Johnson[]

Eddie Pulaski, alongside Tenpenny and Hernandez, are first seen arresting Carl Johnson in Ganton on his return to Los Santos from Liberty City for his mother's funeral. The three then drive Johnson around the city's poorer neighborhoods and hand him the gun that Hernandez had used to kill Pendelbury ten minutes previously, thus giving them leverage over Johnson. The three then throw him from their moving police car, leaving him in Jefferson, a part of the city controlled by Johnson's rivals the Ballas. The three, after throwing Johnson out of their car, return to the scene of Pendelbury's murder. Pulaski continues to work with Tenpenny and Hernandez, but also becomes aware of Big Smoke and Ryder's involvement in the death of Johnson's mother, committed by the Ballas who Smoke and Ryder had allied themselves while remaining high-ranking members of the Grove Street Families.

Pulaski begins to go to Big Smoke's house in Idlewood and meets Johnson briefly but meets him again at Smoke's house where Tenpenny reminds Johnson that he knows 'everything' about him and that he has his eye on him. Pulaski even throws his cigarette at Carl. Smoke, however, brushes these off by saying that Tenpenny and Pulaski won't leave him alone due to his connections with the Grove Street Families and has Johnson help him kill Los Santos Vagos gangsters making a deal with the San Fierro Rifa. Johnson also meets Tenpenny, Pulaski and Hernandez at Ryder's house in Grove Street where they tell them of a train loaded with weapons coming into the city, which Johnson and Ryder then attack, taking the weapons.

Tenpenny and Pulaski, after helping Big Smoke and Ryder, begin to put pressure on Johnson to work for him and first uses their leverage to have Johnson kill a Los Santos Vagos 'cop-killing' gangster, which Johnson does. Tenpenny and Pulaski then have Johnson disrupt a meeting between the Ballas and Russian Mafia, with Johnson killing everyone in the building. Johnson then begins to work with others but is later called by Cesar Vialpando, his sister's boyfriend and the Varrios Los Aztecas leader, with Johnson joining him in an alleyway in Verdant Bluffs. Vialpando and Johnson then witness Tenpenny, Pulaski, Smoke and Ryder unveil the green Sabre used in the killing of Johnson's mother. Johnson then remembers his brother, Sweet, who had gone to Mulholland Intersection for a shoot-out against the Ballas. Sweet is shot during the shooting and the Los Santos Police Department arrest him after they ambush the area.

Badlands and San Fierro[]

Sweet is taken 'upstate' by the police (as revealed by Mike Toreno) but Johnson, also present at the shooting, is taken by Tenpenny, Pulaski and Hernandez to Angel Pine in Whetstone. They have him kill and then photograph an old police officer being protected by the FBI in a cabin on Mount Chiliad, as he is about to turn state evidence against Tenpenny.

Johnson later moved to San Fierro after winning a run down garage in Doherty. Shortly after arriving he is contacted by Tenpenny who has him go to the Vank Hoff Hotel in Financial to take a DA's car, while working as a valet, to put some of Truth's old marijuana, from his farm, in the trunk. Johnson then phones We Tip to inform them of the DA, who is threatening to expose Tenpenny and Pulaski. The San Fierro Police Department then turn up and arrest the DA for possessing the marijuana. Tenpenny and Pulaski then turn up at Johnson's garage and have him follow a journalist on his journey to Los Santos where he meets his informant. Johnson then kills the two to again protect Tenpenny and Pulaski.

Death[]

Johnson continues to enjoy life in San Fierro before moving out into Tierra Robada and Bone County, and then settling into Las Venturas. He is contacted again by Tenpenny and Pulaski from a house in Prickle Pine. Tenpenny informs Johnson that despite their best efforts and the efforts of Johnson, the 'gig is nearly up'. Tenpenny tells Johnson that keeping his badge is not important and that they are the same, trying to get out of the hole, so when someone steps on him he steps on Johnson. He then tells Johnson to go to Aldea Malvada, a ghost town, to collect a dossier and kill the DEA and FBI agent, which Johnson does. He later meets the two at Las Brujas, another ghost town, where he hands the dossier to Pulaski while Hernandez holds him at gun point. After taking the dossier, Tenpenny knocks Hernandez unconscious with a shovel and accuses him of reporting to Internal Affairs. Tenpenny then leaves and tells Pulaski to deal with Hernandez and Johnson. After digging a hole for Hernandez and himself, Johnson tries to convince Pulaski that he is merely being used and that he will be the next killed, but Pulaski refuses to listen. Hernandez manages to regain consciousness and lunges at Pulaski, only to be shot dead. Pulaski then cowardly tries to escape with his white Buffalo car.

During the car chase, Pulaski insisted that Tenpenny wanted to keep CJ alive and would always find an excuse every time Pulaski demanded that CJ be killed. He also angers Carl, rilling him up with numerous disgusting and outrageous comments about his mother and sister. CJ ended up wrecking Pulaski's car and mortally injuring him, before asking a dying Pulaski if he has any "last requests". Pulaski asks to have sex with Kendl, which infuriates Carl, who kills Pulaski by dealing him a strong kick to the head.

Aftermath[]

During the mission Riot, when Frank Tenpenny is in court, the courts and newspapers presume that Pulaski is in hiding, but CJ (and, as later revealed, Tenpenny) knows otherwise. Just after Big Smoke is killed, Tenpenny comments: "You killed Pulaski, and now this fat fuck? There's no stopping you!".

Character[]

Personality[]

Pulaski is depicted as a very violent, sadistic, and impulsive man. He appears to be somewhat sycophantic towards Tenpenny, always agreeing with whatever he says, suggesting he could be something of a "yes man". As part of C.R.A.S.H., Pulaski always tried to be paired as equal to Tenpenny and repeatedly tries to gain first name terms with him, despite Tenpenny repeatedly calling him out and reminding Pulaski that he is Pulaski's superior and should be addressed as Officer Tenpenny.

It is possible he harbors racial prejudices, or is at least racially insensitive, as he makes a derogatory comment towards the Mexican cab driver who drove Carl from the Airport in the introduction, although he does immediately apologize to Officer Hernandez after the incident.

Pulaski has shown a strong personal hatred towards Carl, often trying to get rid of him, only for Tenpenny to find "some excuse to keep [Carl] alive". In the High Noon mission, however, he finally has clearance to kill Carl but fails to do so. He appears to have few qualms in abusing people verbally or physically and seems to be fond of practicing his brutality on others.

Pulaski's favorite radio station seems to be Master Sounds 98.3.

Murders Committed[]

• Jimmy Hernandez - Killed for attempting to disband C.R.A.S.H. by giving information to Internal Affairs.

Influence[]

Pulaski seems to be partially inspired by Brian Liddy, one of the officers implicated in the Rampart scandal. He bears a certain visual resemblance to Liddy, while also resembling the late actor Chris Penn, who provided his voice. Additionally, Pulaski shares his first name with Penn's most famous character, 'Nice Guy' Eddie, from Reservoir Dogs.

Mission Appearances[]

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]

• The Introduction
• In the Beginning
• Running Dog
• Wrong Side of the Tracks
• Catalyst
• Burning Desire
• Gray Imports
• The Green Sabre
• Snail Trail
• Misappropriation
• High Noon (Killed)

Gallery[]

Eddie Pulaski in The Definitive Edition of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Trivia[]

• He also shares his first name with Captain Ed Hocken, the superior officer of the protagonist Lieutenant Frank Drebin from the 1982 TV series Police Squad! and The Naked Gun film series that succeeded it. However, Eddie is rather Frank's junior officer.
• He shares his surname with Casimir Pulaski, who was a Polish soldier and fought during American Revolutionary War. There is also a possibility that he was named after the city of Pulaski, in Tennessee (which was named after Casimir Pulaski), where the white-supremacist association Ku Klux Klan was founded. Pulaski's Polish ancestry is referenced by Big Smoke in End of the Line, who refers to him as Tenpenny's "Polish Lapdog".
• One of Ken Rosenberg's lines in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, when Tommy Vercetti is busted, mentions a Sergeant Pulaski, though it is unknown who exactly this refers to.^[2]

References[]

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