Malloy and Reed encounter a lion in an apartment building and investigate a break-in at a medical supply warehouse. Malloy fends off cop haters and maintains the peace.

Wells is excited to be the first officer assigned to the new helicopter patrol. Wells wants this assignment to lead to a life as a helicopter pilot. Adam-12's first call of the shift doesn't use the helicopter patrol as it is an inside job. After overcoming the language barrier with the solely Cantonese speaking servants, Malloy and Reed learn that the wealthy owners of the house to which they are called are locked inside the house's full sized safe by the people who burglarized the house. Adam-12 and the safe unit have to work fast as the people inside may run out of oxygen if they can't get inside quickly enough. Their second call involves two men who robbed a jewelry store, the robbers who managed to escape on motorcycle. The jewelry store owner provides a basic description of the men, which allows Adam-12 to bring into the fold the chopper unit to follow the motorcycle through the streets of Los Angeles, Wells providing information back to Adam-12 on the motorcycle's whereabouts. Beyond the outcome of this tail, the question becomes whether all the other chopper's future duties will have the same outcome.