Latest / Dragnet | Old Time Radio / Dragnet - "Big Gone" (Old Time Radio, 1954)

Transcript

Dragnet - "Big Gone" (Old Time Radio, 1954) · Dragnet | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Alexander
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: as Frank Smith return to Los Angeles for tonight's Dragnet.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Originally broadcast by NBC on November 30th, 1954, this is
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: episode 276, Big Gone. Friday and Smith are called to
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: a flower shop near 7th Street and Bunker Hill Avenue
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: after an attempted robbery leaves an employee wounded. The proprietor
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: reports that he fired repeatedly at one of the fleeing
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: gunmen outside the shop. But when the detectives arrive, the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: alleged robber is gone, along with any trace of him.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: It is a case that sends Friday and Smith from
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the first report toward the facts behind an empty sidewalk.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: We now take you back to the original broadcast.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: is true. The names have been changed.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: To protect the innocent. Drag men.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. You
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: get a call that a flower shop has been held up.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Two men have been shot. One of them killed.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Your job, check it out.
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: It was Tuesday, June 8th. It was warm in Los Angeles.
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: We were working the day watch out a robbery detail.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: My name's Frank Smith, the boss of Chief of Detectives
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: Thad Brown.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: My name's Friday. We were on our way out from
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: the office and it was 10.15 a.m. when we got
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: to the corner of 7th Street and Bunker Hill Avenue.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: The Stone and the Flower Shop. Back there, sir.
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: Wasn't any way for me to know what it was
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: all about until it was too late.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: Just stood there. Didn't move around. Just stood. Oh, you
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: fellas want to see me?
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: Police officers. This is Frank Smith. My name is Friday. Central?
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 2:02
  Speaker 5: Roberts, 1 of 16.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: You answer the call?
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: Yeah. I'm the fellow that shot the crook, you know. Yes, sir.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Did you get a description?
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's Metro sending a couple of cars to help
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: us look for the suspect.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Very good. Anything else I can do for you? No,
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: not right now.
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: Okay, I'll get on outside then.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Right, thank you. You'll take care of the report then,
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: won't you?
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Okay, we'll check with you. Good. Nice fellow. Yes, sir.
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: Could have used him back to home.
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: Sir?
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Sir?
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: Good man like that could have used him.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: What do you mean?
• 2:27
  Speaker 7: Ran a detective agency back home. Had a couple of
• 2:29
  Speaker 7: men sleuthing around.
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: Made a good one.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: Would you tell us what happened here?
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: Ain't nobody done that yet?
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: No, sir.
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: We just got a hot shot call. There's been a
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: robbery and shooting. We came right out from the office.
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: You heard about it?
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: No, sir.
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: Well, don't you worry. I'll fill you both in, give
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: you the whole story.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: All right, sir, if you would.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: Abner Stossett.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: What's that, sir?
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: Full name's Abner Davis Stossett.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: After Jeff. Who?
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: Jefferson Davis, the president.
• 2:55
  Speaker 7: Don't usually use a middle name People out here don't
• 2:57
  Speaker 7: seem to understand Three, just the front and back Abner Stoser.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, all right Now, if you tell us what
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: happened They.
• 3:03
  Speaker 7: Shot Danville That's the victim Yep, shot him right here
• 3:06
  Speaker 7: Just above the screen Here How'd it happen?
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: It looked like 38 automatic Well.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, but what led up to the shooting?
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: Two fellas, they tried to rob.
• 3:14
  Speaker 7: Him Mm-hmm Tried it with the wrong two men, tell
• 3:17
  Speaker 7: you that Mm-hmm Out loud Sir?
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Tell you that out loud Oh, I see Do you
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: want to go on?
• 3:23
  Speaker 7: Well, same thing every morning Yes, sir. We make up
• 3:26
  Speaker 7: the deposit slip, take the money to the bank. You're
• 3:28
  Speaker 7: the one who does it right and don't have to
• 3:29
  Speaker 7: do the walking. This time, Danville Road, I was going
• 3:32
  Speaker 7: to make a trip.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: I was about to leave.
• 3:34
  Speaker 7: These two young guys come into the place. First off,
• 3:36
  Speaker 7: I figured they want to buy some flowers.
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: You know, something like that.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: Danville is going to take care of them. Excuse me
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: a minute, Wade.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir. Go right ahead.
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: Stone and Flores.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: Oh, no. We can take care of it for you.
• 3:52
  Speaker 5: That's right. Where do you want them sent? Now, just
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: let me check the book here a minute. Walnut Creek.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: Yep, yeah, we can do it for you.
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: No, sir, we'll send them by wire. Well, they'll be
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: delivered in about an hour. Mm-hmm.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: You want the long stems? Yeah, well, they're $ 7. 50 a dozen.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: That's right. Yes, you want to give me the charge
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: information on that card?
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: How do you spell that?
• 4:23
  Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, the number? No, sir, the one on the
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: lower right. Yeah, it's 726. All right, is there a message?
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: No, not at all, sir. I think it's real pretty. Yeah. No,
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: they'll put the card in. We just wire the order.
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: They'll be very nice.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 4:45
  Speaker 7: Call us again.
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: That's right. Bye.
• 4:47
  Speaker 7: Got to send some roses up to Walnut Creek. Birthday
• 4:50
  Speaker 7: for a girl named Irma.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: What if we get back to what happened here?
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: Well, these two fellas came in.
• 4:55
  Speaker 7: They just stood there with their feet kind of spread
• 4:57
  Speaker 7: out like they just got off a boat, you know?
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Stood there, just looked around.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: Was there anybody else in the store?
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: Just Danville and me. I see.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: What did the men say to you?
• 5:05
  Speaker 7: Only one of them talked, the dark one. He asked
• 5:07
  Speaker 7: me if there was anybody in the back. I told
• 5:11
  Speaker 7: him there wasn't, and that's when he showed me the pistol.
• 5:13
  Speaker 7: Stood there in high cotton, waving it around. Told me
• 5:15
  Speaker 7: to hand over the bag of money.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: Were you carrying it at the time?
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: I told you that before. I was on my way
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: to the bank. Danville wrote the slip. I was going
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: to the bank.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: Understood. Now, what'd he say when he showed you the gun?
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: Said it was a stick-up.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: Remember his exact words?
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: Well, I'm kind of fast for a man. Let me see.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: I think it was, don't try anything, it's a stick-up.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: Like that, he said it.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: I see. Now, how'd the shooting start?
• 5:36
  Speaker 7: Danville said he wasn't going to have no kid talk
• 5:37
  Speaker 7: to him like that. He reached out, took a swing
• 5:39
  Speaker 7: at the kid. A real roundhouse.
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: Dark kid ducked back, pulled the trigger, shot Danville right here.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Spleen.
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: Dropped like a rock. I pulled out my gun and
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: started shooting.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: You always carry a gun?
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: When I'm going to the bank, you never know what's
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: going to happen.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: You have a permit?
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: It's against the law to carry a gun without permission,
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: ain't it?
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: Well, then I got it.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: After you pulled your gun, what happened?
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: I shot him.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I can understand that.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: Shot right at the dark belt.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: You hit him?
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: I don't often miss. I see. Hit him three times,
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: here in the chest.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: What was the other man doing while this was happening?
• 6:14
  Speaker 7: He pulled out a gun, too, and the balloon went up.
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: Bullets flying all over the place.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: Then both of them took off, ran out of the place.
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: I followed them. Got to the door.
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: The dark one turned around. Gonna shoot at me again.
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: Didn't move fast enough. I pulled the trigger, hit him
• 6:27
  Speaker 7: right in the middle of the chest. Went down like
• 6:29
  Speaker 7: a dropped duck egg.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: What about the other one?
• 6:32
  Speaker 7: He started running down the street. I guess about the
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: only thing he was wanting was to get away.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Took two shots at him while he was running.
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: I blazed away. Only had two more bullets in the gun.
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: I gave them both to him.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: You hit him?
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, at least once, because I saw him jerk. It
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: might have been both times. He kept running, though.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: What'd you do then?
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: Then come back in here, see what I can do
• 6:49
  Speaker 7: for Danville, made him as comfortable as I could, and
• 6:52
  Speaker 7: then I called the police.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 6:54
  Speaker 7: He came sliding up and took out after the fellow
• 6:56
  Speaker 7: that got away. The ambulance came and picked up Danville
• 6:58
  Speaker 7: and the other guy.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir. Now, I wonder if you could give us
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: the description of the man that got away.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Yes. I'll call Georgia Street and check on the other suspect.
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: That ain't gonna do no good.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: What?
• 7:09
  Speaker 7: You don't have to inquire about him.
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: He's dead.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: You're sure about that?
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: Son, I know when somebody's dead. Yes, sir.
• 7:16
  Speaker 7: I hit that fella four times in the chest with a.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: 44.
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: I saw him drop. About as much life as a
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: sack of cornmeal. He was dead.
• 7:24
  Speaker 8: I'll check anyway.
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: All right. Yes, you're sorry.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: What are you sorry about?
• 7:31
  Speaker 7: I say it's a real sorry that you can't work
• 7:33
  Speaker 7: with that other young fella that was in here.
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: You know the one in uniform. He was a bright boy.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: This fella here, he couldn't even fill out an application
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: for our agency.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Would you give us the description?
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: First lines.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: I beg your pardon?
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: I say he wouldn't even be able to fill out
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: the first line. Didn't know who Jeff Davis was. Hard
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: to believe.
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and how about that description?
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: Well, the fellow.
• 7:54
  Speaker 7: Was about your height, weighed in maybe 150, around there.
• 7:56
  Speaker 7: He had light hair, lighter at the top and down
• 7:59
  Speaker 7: by his head like.
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: He was bleached in the sun.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: Any marks or scars?
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: No, nothing that would stand out. He had a kind
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: of a flat face.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: What about his clothes?
• 8:06
  Speaker 7: White shirt, kind of tan pants, carrying a leather jacket
• 8:10
  Speaker 7: with the fur around the collar.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I know what you mean.
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: Both of them had those.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Was there anything in the way they talked? An accent, maybe?
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: No, just north talk. I can't tell the difference much
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: of the time.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: Would you know the man if you saw him again?
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: Bet I would.
• 8:23
  Speaker 7: Just stand him up in front of me and I'll
• 8:24
  Speaker 7: lay it on, point him right out.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: What did you find out? I talked to the hospital, Joe. Yeah.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: Are you sure you hit one of the suspects, mister?
• 8:31
  Speaker 8: Positive.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: And he was on the sidewalk?
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: Saw him hit and die.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: What's the matter? The ambulance only brought in one person. Yeah.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Dead man's gone.
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: They put in a call to the hospital and made
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: arrangements to talk to the ambulance crew. They told us
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: that they'd only picked up one person at the scene.
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: They went on to say that there wasn't another injured
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: party on the premises anywhere. A check with the officer
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: who answered the original call brought out the information that
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: there hadn't been anybody on the sidewalk when the radio
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: car had gotten there. Frank put out a local broadcast
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: to all cars in the area, and I went back
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: to talk to Abner Stossett.
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: I told you before, that boy ain't too bright.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: Now, you're sure you shot that man?
• 9:13
  Speaker 7: Look, I'll go along with you and say maybe I
• 9:15
  Speaker 7: did miss the first three times.
• 9:17
  Speaker 5: That ain't likely, but just for the sake, I'll admit it.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: All right, sir.
• 9:20
  Speaker 7: But I know I hit him outside. I was closer
• 9:23
  Speaker 7: to him than I am to you. Ain't nobody could
• 9:25
  Speaker 7: miss that close.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: Come on outside. Take a look at the sidewalk. You
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: tell me if it's my imagination. All right, fine.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: I got it out, Joe. All the cars in the
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: area you're looking for. All right, fine, Joe.
• 9:36
  Speaker 7: One thing I'm always proud of is the way I
• 9:39
  Speaker 7: can shoot. I don't hardly ever miss. I know I
• 9:42
  Speaker 7: didn't this time.
• 9:42
  Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Now, just look at that. Take a look.
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: You tell me that's blood, ain't it? Yes, sir.
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: It looks like it. It is.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: I was standing right here. Right here.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: He was there.
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: He turned around and tried to shoot me. I fired
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: at him. He went down right there.
• 9:59
  Speaker 8: You can see.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: where the big stain is. Right there.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: How'd they get there?
• 10:05
  Speaker 5: What do you mean?
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: Well, did you see a car?
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I told the other cops about it.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: That's it right there.
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: I drove up in it and got out.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: Did you see them get out of the car?
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I was just leaving the store and I saw
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: them right after they come.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: In the store. All right, you go and check the car. Yeah.
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: Now, don't go touching it. The cop said not to. Mm-hmm.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: Was there anybody else who saw the man on the sidewalk?
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: You mean besides me?
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: Not that I know of. As soon as I entered
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: my gun at the blonde fella, I went back in
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: the store. I stayed there till the police car pulled up.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: Not more than three, maybe four minutes.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: Not more, but I'm telling you, he was right here.
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: Lying there, and he was dead.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. Crime lab's on the way out to check the car.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: Well, looks like the suspect might have gotten up and
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: walked away, doesn't it?
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: If he did, then it's really one for the books.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: A trail of bloodstains here.
• 10:51
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 10:51
  Speaker 7: There's never nothing like this happen back home. Back there
• 10:55
  Speaker 7: when you shoot somebody, he's got the courtesy to stay shot.
• 10:57
  Speaker 9: The trail stops.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: Let's check over there and see if we can pick
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: it up. Yeah. How about it? Nothing. It just stops,
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: that's all.
• 11:13
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: Maybe somebody picked him up in the car. Yeah, must be.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: Was there anybody else parked in front of the store
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: at the time?
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: Not that I remember. You can see yourself.
• 11:21
  Speaker 7: We got the sign where it says just for the customers.
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: You're absolutely sure there was nobody else?
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: If I wasn't, I'd have told this fella.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: You didn't see the man get up off the sidewalk?
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: No, there wasn't no reason for me to look at him.
• 11:33
  Speaker 7: Far as I was concerned, he was dead. Still ain't
• 11:36
  Speaker 7: sure he wasn't.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: Well, the trail of bloodstains showed that he did leave here.
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: Still don't sell me.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Better start a check in the neighborhood.
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: Right. You want me to help you?
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: No, sir, that won't be necessary.
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: Mr. Friday.
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: Could I talk to you for a minute?
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: Alone.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Excuse me, Frank. Yeah.
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: Mr. Friday.
• 11:58
  Speaker 7: I saw that man fall. I saw him hit the sidewalk.
• 12:01
  Speaker 7: I know he was hurt bad. He wasn't gonna get up,
• 12:04
  Speaker 7: I'm sure of it.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, we understand.
• 12:06
  Speaker 8: I told him all that.
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: I just don't see how I could have made a
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: mistake like that. That fella couldn't have gotten up. He's dead.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, we believe you, but he's not here.
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: That don't change a thing, my boy.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: How's that?
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: He's dead someplace else, that's all.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: An immediate search was started of all buildings in the area.
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: If the suspect had walked away from the scene, the
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: amount of blood on the sidewalk.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Indicated he couldn't have gotten far without help.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: While Frank and I talked to the shopkeepers in the vicinity,
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: a check was made of the car the thieves had used.
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: It was found to be stolen, and arrangements were made
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: to talk to the owner. Members of the crime lab
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: crew came out and checked the vehicle. They were unable
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: to turn up anything we could use in identifying the
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: holdup men.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: 11.28 a.m., Frank and I talked to the owner of
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: a small tobacco shop.
• 12:53
  Speaker 8: I saw the whole thing.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Well, where were you during the shooting, Mr. Collard? Right
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: out in front.
• 12:57
  Speaker 8: I looked down the street and there it was, just
• 12:58
  Speaker 8: like it was a cinemascope.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Now, sir, did you see the actual shooting?
• 13:02
  Speaker 8: Well, not the first. No, I was in here behind
• 13:04
  Speaker 8: the counter fixing up a new bunch of pipes we
• 13:06
  Speaker 8: just got in, putting them up on the board. All
• 13:08
  Speaker 8: of a sudden, I heard this noise. First off, I
• 13:10
  Speaker 8: thought it might be a backfire.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: Then I knew. Yes, sir. It wasn't.
• 13:14
  Speaker 8: It was shots. So I went outside to see what
• 13:16
  Speaker 8: was going on. Next thing I see, these three guys
• 13:19
  Speaker 8: come out on the sidewalk. Right in front of the
• 13:21
  Speaker 8: flower shop. Three of them. Abner and a couple more.
• 13:25
  Speaker 8: One of them black-haired.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: The other was.
• 13:26
  Speaker 8: Kind of blonde. One of them tried to get Abner.
• 13:29
  Speaker 8: The other one took off in this direction. I see
• 13:32
  Speaker 8: Abner raise that gun of his and pointed at me,
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: and I ducked inside.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Did one of the men go by here?
• 13:36
  Speaker 8: Yes, Abner shot at him a couple of times. Must
• 13:39
  Speaker 8: have hit him, because I could see he was hurt
• 13:41
  Speaker 8: when he run past.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: Did you see where he went?
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: No.
• 13:44
  Speaker 8: I told you, when those shots started to go by,
• 13:46
  Speaker 8: I didn't want to wait around to see if one
• 13:47
  Speaker 8: of them was monogrammed for me.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: I left. All right. Can you tell us what direction
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: the man took?
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: Not after he went for the door. Must have gone
• 13:53
  Speaker 8: around the corner.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Well, why do you say that?
• 13:55
  Speaker 8: Oh, because when I went back out, I couldn't see him.
• 13:57
  Speaker 8: If he'd gone up the street, I'd have been able to.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: Now, did you see the man out in front of
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: the store?
• 14:01
  Speaker 8: You mean Abner?
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: No, sir, the one he was shooting at.
• 14:03
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I got a pretty good look at him.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: Where was he?
• 14:05
  Speaker 8: He was just lying there. He wasn't moving around much.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Did you see him get up?
• 14:10
  Speaker 8: No, no. What's all this about the other guy for?
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Well, what do you mean?
• 14:13
  Speaker 8: The one Abner killed. Why all the questions about him?
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: Well, sir, he's gone.
• 14:18
  Speaker 8: You mean he got away?
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir, it looks that way.
• 14:21
  Speaker 8: Well, I don't see how that could be. I went
• 14:23
  Speaker 8: right by him, a couple of feet away. There was
• 14:25
  Speaker 8: no life in him then, nothing. He left there and
• 14:28
  Speaker 8: somebody had to carry him.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir. That's the way it looks.
• 14:31
  Speaker 8: No reason for anybody to do it. The man was dead.
• 14:33
  Speaker 8: There's no reason at all.
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: Well, there must have been one. Why? He's not there.
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: Frank and I checked out the rest of the neighborhood,
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: but we failed to turn up any information. None of
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: the shopkeepers in the vicinity had seen.
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: Where the blonde hold-up man had gone.
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: All of them who had seen the man on the
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: sidewalk were willing to testify that he was dead... Yet
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: the physical evidence at the scene indicated that he'd gotten
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: up under his own power and walked away carrying four
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: bullets in his chest.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: 2.40 p.m. Frank and I returned to our car and
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: began to cruise the streets in the area. 3.15 p.m. Well,
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: it doesn't look like we're going to find him. Well, Frank,
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: he's got to be here someplace. Unless somebody picked him up. Yeah,
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: that's possible. Yeah. Fellow on the bench over there, you
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: see him? Oh, yeah. Waiting for the bus. He was
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: there when we went by before. Take it easy when
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: you pass him this time.
• 15:26
  Speaker 10: All right.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Better pull over.
• 15:30
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: Matches the description. Uh-huh. Looks like mud stains on his
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: shirt from here.
• 15:41
  Speaker 9: It sure does.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: Fits in good.
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: You cover him from that side. I'll go this way. Right. Joe,
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: he's got a gun! Joe, you all right? Yeah, thanks
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: to this mailbox. I saw him pull a gun, thought
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: sure he got you. Well, he didn't miss by much. Well,
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: we better check him. Yeah. I hit him twice, Joe.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: Take it easy. He's dead.
• 16:03
  Speaker 9: There wasn't anything I could do.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: It was you or him. Puts us in a corner. Yeah.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: He was our lead to the other suspect.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 16:19
  Speaker 10: You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your
• 16:22
  Speaker 10: police force in action.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: The coroner came out and removed the body. The victim
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: was identified as Jeffrey Burnham, age 27. From his package,
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: we found that he'd been arrested several times on charges
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: of armed robbery and that he'd served one term in
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: San Quentin. Abner Stosset identified him positively as one.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: Of the holdup men.
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: Frank and I went back to the office to do
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: a complete check on his friends and known acquaintances in
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: the hope that we could turn up something to lead
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: us to the other man. The search for the dark
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: suspect was continued during the night without result. The next morning,
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: we met with Lieutenant Stoner and we made arrangements for
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: additional men to aid us in checking out the list
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: that we'd made on Burnham's friends.
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: 8.47 a.m. You ready? Yeah, let's go. I get it.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: Probably Friday. Yes, sir.
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: Runaway.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Bye.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: It's the victim, Abner Stossett. Yeah? Says he came across
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: something this morning. What was it? Should tell us who
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: the missing man is.
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: We left the office and drove out to the florist shop.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: Abner Stossett met us at the door.
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: I don't know why I didn't think of it yesterday.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: What's that, sir?
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: Remember how I told you they was both carrying leather jackets?
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:41
  Speaker 7: After I shot the one fellow on the sidewalk, I
• 17:43
  Speaker 7: came back in here to take care of Danville.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: I looked around to find something to put under his head. Wait, here, man.
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: I'll get it.
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: All right. I guess I didn't think much about it.
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: You know, kind of all upset.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Uh-huh.
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: We're cleaning up this morning. I found it. It should
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: give you something to work on.
• 17:58
  Speaker 7: Well?
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: There it is. You can still see the stains on
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: where the fella dropped it. Yeah.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Are you sure this jacket belonged to the missing suspect? Yeah.
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: You remember how I saw him drop it when he
• 18:07
  Speaker 5: got shot? I remember it good.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: All right, sir. Thank you very much. We'll check it out.
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: You shouldn't be too much trouble.
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: Here, take a look. I found this myself here.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: Where?
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: Laundry tag.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: We took the jacket over to the crime lab.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: Lieutenant Lee Jones started to check through his records for
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: the name of the cleaner that had serviced the garment.
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: Frank and I went back to the office and talked
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: with Officers O'Donnell and Gerber. They told us that the
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: list of the suspect's friends had been checked without result.
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: The search for the missing man had been called off
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: and the additional units had returned to Metro Division. At 4.30 p.m.,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: we got the call from Lee Jones. He gave us
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: the name and address of the cleaner. Frank and I
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: left the office and drove over to his shop.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
• 18:52
  Speaker 6: Something I can do for you?
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: Police officers.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: This is Frank Smith. My name's Friday. How do you do, sir?
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: I hope there's nothing wrong.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: No, sir. We'd just like some information. I got it.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: It's yours. All right, sir. You ever see this before?
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: Leather jackets. A lot of them around.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: How about this tag here? One of yours, isn't it?
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: Let me see it.
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right, Mark.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: Can you tell us who brought this jacket in to
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: be cleaned?
• 19:14
  Speaker 6: That'd be hard to say.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: Well, the way we got it belongs to a fellow
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: about 25, dark hair, about 150 pounds.
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: We do a good-sized business. Hard to remember all the
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: people who come in.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: That's right, sir, but do you have any leather jackets? No.
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: Wait a minute.
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: Let me think a minute. Might be outside, but it
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: could be.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: What's that?
• 19:31
  Speaker 10: Halleck.
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: Norman Halleck.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: He looks like how you said.
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: I've done some work for him and his family.
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: It might be him.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: Can you tell us where we can find him?
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: There's an address in the book. I can look it
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: up for him.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: If you would, please.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: It might be.
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: I hear he's been in trouble with the cops before.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Would you know what for?
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: Oh, just neighborhood gossip. I didn't think I'd want to
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: put my.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: Name on it. Uh-huh.
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: Here it is. Norman Halleck, H-A-L-L-I-K, 10267 Sacramento Street.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: All right, sir. Thank you very much.
• 20:00
  Speaker 6: Why don't you tell me.
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: What he's done?
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: I think it'd be better if we talk to him
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: about that. Sure.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: It's his business anyway.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: That's the trouble with people nowadays. They're all the time
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: pushing in on somebody else.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Uh-huh.
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: Telling things they aren't sure about. Giving people bad names
• 20:11
  Speaker 6: for nothing.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: Well, there's one small difference here. Huh? This fellow made
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: his own name. We got Halleck's address. We drove back
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: to the office. We checked the name.
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: Through R & I and found that he had several
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: arrests for robbery and one for assault with a deadly weapon.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: We pulled his mugshot and drove out to see the victim,
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: Abner Stositz.
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: There's the... No, that ain't him.
• 20:36
  Speaker 10: No.
• 20:37
  Speaker 7: No.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: Wait a minute.
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: Here he is. You're sure, are you?
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think so. Let me see that again.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: Go ahead.
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: Eyes are the same.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: Hair's a little shorter.
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: No, it doesn't make any difference.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Sir?
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: That's the man.
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: Frank and I drove over to the address on Sacramento Street.
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: We checked with the landlady and she told us that
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: Norman Halleck was in his room.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: We went upstairs. Should be it. All set?
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: Freeze, Alec, right there. What do you want? Turn around.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: What?
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: Turn around. Put your hands up on that wall. Come on, move.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: Stand still. All right, he's clean, Joe. All right, let's go. Well,
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: what's this all about? Come on, let's go. Well, you've
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: got to make a charge. All right, suspicion of robbery.
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: Get out of your head. You tell us about it,
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: will you?
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: Sure, it's a bad beat.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: It always is, isn't it?
• 21:36
  Speaker 9: Well, it doesn't make any difference. You take me down,
• 21:38
  Speaker 9: book me. I'll be out right away. All I need
• 21:40
  Speaker 9: is a little time.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, then you're in real trouble. Huh? You just
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: ran out of it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: We searched the suspect's room, but we failed to find
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: anything to further tie him in with a robbery shooting.
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: He was taken to the city hall where Frank and
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: I talked to him in the interrogation room.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: How about it? Does that jacket belong to you?
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: The cleaner says it does.
• 22:00
  Speaker 9: A lot of leather jackets. How does he know this
• 22:02
  Speaker 9: one's mine?
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: All right, Halleck.
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: Now, come on. We got your maid and you know it.
• 22:05
  Speaker 9: I've told you before, this is a bad beat.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: You're going to save yourself a lot of time if
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: you cop out.
• 22:08
  Speaker 9: I'm glad to help, but I can't give you anything.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: Where were you yesterday?
• 22:11
  Speaker 9: Home.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Anybody to back that up? Yeah. Well, then you can
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: come up with a name.
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: Sure, all you need.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: You know a Jeffrey Burnham?
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: Burnham?
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: B-U-R-N-H-A-M.
• 22:20
  Speaker 9: I know a lot of people.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: I might know him. All right, now this is a
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: simple question. Just give us an answer, will you?
• 22:24
  Speaker 9: You put it like that, I gotta say no.
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: Stand up.
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: Nothing wrong with your ears. Stand up. All right, now what?
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Take off your coat. What? Your coat.
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: Take it off.
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: You guys have gone straight up. All right, now what?
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: Take your shirt off.
• 22:42
  Speaker 8: Huh?
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: Come on. It's simple. Take the shirt off.
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: Will you, fella?
• 22:46
  Speaker 9: I put the third degree out. You're gonna freeze me
• 22:48
  Speaker 9: to death?
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Come on, move. All right, now what? Turn around.
• 22:57
  Speaker 9: When do you turn on the blue light?
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: Spring. Yeah. All right, you can put your clothes on
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: and sit down, Halleck. Come on.
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: You stay there, Halleck. Well, what do you think? He
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: looked awful good for a while, didn't he? Sure blows
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: it up. Yeah.
• 23:19
  Speaker 9: Supposed to be shot four times in the chest.
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: Not a bullet wound on him anywhere. A special show-up
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: was arranged and the suspect was shown to the victim.
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: On seeing Halleck in person, he was unable to give
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: us a positive identification.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: The suspect was detained at the main jail while we checked.
• 23:41
  Speaker 9: Out his alibi for the day of the robbery.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: It held.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: Several people swore that he was two miles from the
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: scene when the shooting took place. We questioned him about
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: the leather jacket. He was unable to come up with
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: an explanation as to how it could have gotten to
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: the scene. We checked out all of the people in
• 23:55
  Speaker 4: the building where he lived, all of his friends and associates.
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: And on June 11th, he was released from custody. 10.16 a.m.,
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: Frank and I got back to the office from the
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: main jail.
• 24:03
  Speaker 9: Well, I guess better check with the skipper, huh?
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: You got a good excuse? Yeah, we'll just tell him
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: the way it happened. He has to go along with it,
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: the truth. Well, Joe, it isn't logical that a man
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: could walk around with four bullets in his chest and
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: we can't find him.
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: Well, then you tell me what we're looking for. Don't
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: you think Halleck gave us all he had?
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: At least we know he's clean. Yeah. Well, where do
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: we go from here? We'll go tell the skipper. All right.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: Put it in the books and keep working on it.
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: We got one thing with it.
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: That guy's around someplace.
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: Sooner or later, somebody's going to have too much to drink,
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: maybe get in a fight with their girlfriend, trust somebody
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: too much, but they're going to say something.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: When they do, we'll hear about it. And we'll get
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: to them. Yeah. Just a matter of time. Mm-hmm. One thing,
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: we got more than.
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: He has.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard is true. The names
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: were changed to protect the innocent.
• 25:04
  Speaker 10: On June 11th, the meeting was held in the Captain's Office,
• 25:07
  Speaker 10: Robbery Division, Los Angeles Police Department. The case was completely
• 25:19
  Speaker 10: reviewed and a report written on the results of the investigation.
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: As of this date, that investigation is continuing. Dragnet.
• 25:27
  Speaker 10: The story of your police force in action is a
• 25:30
  Speaker 10: presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: We close with Dragnet's November 30th, 1954 broadcast. Follow Dragnet
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: for more classic broadcasts.