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Dragnet - "Big Bop" (Old Time Radio, 1953) · Dragnet | Old Time Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: John Robinson wrote this September 1, 1953 broadcast of Dragnet
0:05
Speaker 1: with Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben
0:09
Speaker 1: Alexander as Officer Frank Smith. It is episode 211, Big Bop,
0:15
Speaker 1: from the NBC series. In Los Angeles, Friday and Smith
0:20
Speaker 1: are assigned to robbery detail where a lone thief has
0:24
Speaker 1: spent three weeks targeting stores and check-cashing services. With a
0:28
Speaker 1: limited description and a pattern of escalating robberies, the detectives
0:32
Speaker 1: work to identify the man before he strikes again. Ladies
0:36
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, Dragnet, and now our story begins.
0:42
Speaker 2: Low in nicotine. Highest in quality. Best for you.
0:48
Speaker 3: Sustafil brings you Dragnet. Dragnet Ladies and gentlemen, the story
1:00
Speaker 3: you are about to hear is true. The names have
1:03
Speaker 3: been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant.
1:14
Speaker 3: You're assigned to robbery detail. For the past three weeks, a.
1:18
Speaker 4: Lone thief has been victimizing stores.
1:20
Speaker 3: And check-cashing agencies. You've got a description of the man,
1:23
Speaker 3: and so far you've failed to identify him.
1:25
Speaker 2: Your job, get it. Dragnet, the documented drama of an
1:33
Speaker 2: actual crime.
1:34
Speaker 5: For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los
1:37
Speaker 5: Angeles Police Department.
1:38
Speaker 2: You will travel step by step on the side of the.
1:41
Speaker 5: Law through an actual case transcribed from official police files.
1:45
Speaker 5: From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is
1:49
Speaker 5: the story of your police force in action.
1:57
Speaker 3: It was Friday, June 10th. It was warm in Los Angeles.
1:59
Speaker 3: We were working the day watch out a robbery detail.
2:01
Speaker 3: My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Chief of Detective
2:04
Speaker 3: Thad Brown.
2:05
Speaker 2: My name's Friday. We'd gotten a call if there'd been
2:07
Speaker 2: a holdup, and it was 10.36 a.m.
2:08
Speaker 3: When we got to the corner of Alvarado and Catalina Street.
2:11
Speaker 3: The Harrison Checkjacking Agency.
2:15
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, you'll have to come back.
2:16
Speaker 3: We've had some trouble and we're not open for business.
2:18
Speaker 2: Come back in about now. Police officer, sir. Oh, well,
2:20
Speaker 2: where have you been? I was held up, you know,
2:22
Speaker 2: held right up. Yes, sir.
2:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, a fellow in the police car was here and
2:25
Speaker 3: they told me you could come out. Well, where have
2:27
Speaker 3: you been? It's taken you long enough. Didn't you use
2:29
Speaker 3: the siren?
2:30
Speaker 2: Yes, sir.
2:30
Speaker 3: We came out as soon as we got the call.
2:31
Speaker 3: Just seems us taxpayers would get better service than that.
2:34
Speaker 2: Well, sir, the call just came in four minutes ago. Oh. Well,
2:39
Speaker 2: all right, then. Well, now, let me tell you all
2:41
Speaker 2: about it.
2:41
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, if you would, please. Oh, you just bet
2:43
Speaker 3: I would. Well, now, first off, I had trouble sleeping
2:46
Speaker 3: last night. I knew right off it was going to
2:47
Speaker 3: be a bad day. I can always tell you, you know,
2:49
Speaker 3: when I've had a bad night, the next day's always
2:51
Speaker 3: a doozy. Did you give the officers and the radio
2:53
Speaker 3: card description of the man?
2:55
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, yes, sir. I sure did. I gave it
2:57
Speaker 2: to them right off. Now, are you going to let
2:58
Speaker 2: me tell you all about the holdup? Yes, sir, if
3:00
Speaker 2: you go ahead, please. Well, I had a bad night.
3:03
Speaker 2: Real bad. I knew... Oh, say, say, my name's Harrison.
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Speaker 2: Ava Harrison.
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Speaker 3: I don't think that's your fellow's name. Oh, it's my partner,
3:10
Speaker 3: Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Oh, how do you do?
3:13
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Darn fool next door kept pounding the typewriter
3:16
Speaker 2: all night. He never let up. Sir? The man next door.
3:19
Speaker 2: That's why I didn't get any sleep. Some crackpot trying
3:21
Speaker 2: to be a writer. Oh, it's an awful thing. All
3:23
Speaker 2: night long. Dip, dip, dip, ding, dip, dip, ding. All night.
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Speaker 2: Not a wink of sleep. Yes, sir. If you'd just
3:30
Speaker 2: tell us about the robbery, please. You ain't interested, huh? Well, no, sir,
3:33
Speaker 2: it isn't, man. It's just that the more time we
3:35
Speaker 2: lose here, the harder it's going to be to apprehend
3:37
Speaker 2: the suspect. You understand that? Oh, well, yeah.
3:39
Speaker 3: Now, maybe if you just answer some questions for us,
3:41
Speaker 3: it might be easier and possibly a little faster.
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Speaker 2: Okay. All right. What time did the man come in?
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Speaker 2: About 10-12. Was he alone? Yeah. Did it look like
3:49
Speaker 2: there might have been anybody else with him? Nope. You know,
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Speaker 2: if he drove an automobile. Couldn't tell. Let's see.
3:54
Speaker 3: Well, would you tell us exactly what he said and
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Speaker 3: what he did from the time that you first saw him?
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Speaker 3: Came in, 10-12, had a gun, walked over to me,
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Speaker 3: armed the gun, told me to stick up.
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Speaker 2: Is that the way you fellas want it? Well, you
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Speaker 2: just relax, Harrison. What are you going to tell us
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Speaker 2: during your own work? I'm trying to do just that. Yes, sir.
4:09
Speaker 2: Maybe if I went slower, it'll be easier for you boys.
4:12
Speaker 2: All right, sir. You go right ahead.
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Speaker 3: Well, he came in. Stood around for a minute, then
4:18
Speaker 3: come over to the counter. I asked him if I
4:21
Speaker 3: could help him.
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Speaker 2: Uh-huh. We cashed checks, you know, payroll checks.
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Speaker 3: First off, I thought that's what he wanted, to cash
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Speaker 3: a check.
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Speaker 2: Wasn't so.
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Speaker 3: I asked him what he wanted and he pulled out
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Speaker 3: the gun. Told me to keep quiet and hand him
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Speaker 3: the money. Pointed the gun right at my heart, right here.
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Speaker 2: My heart. Are you with me so far, boy? Yes, sir.
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Speaker 2: Go ahead. So I gave him the money. All there
4:45
Speaker 2: was in the drawer. I see, sir. But how much
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Speaker 2: was taken, Mr. Harrison? About $ 1, 500.
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Speaker 3: He just took the paper money. He didn't want the silver.
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Speaker 3: Had two paper bags. Looked like he carried his lunch
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Speaker 3: in them. All kinds of wrinkles, you know.
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Speaker 2: Yes, sir.
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Speaker 3: Had me put the money in them. Then he told
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Speaker 3: me to lay down on the floor.
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Speaker 2: Lay there and count to a hundred. My one.
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Speaker 3: Told me not to move until I'd finished. He said
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Speaker 3: if I did, he'd come back and kill me. The
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Speaker 3: way he told me, you knew he meant it.
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Speaker 2: After that, he left. All right, sir. What if you
5:12
Speaker 2: can give us a description of the man? Sure, but
5:14
Speaker 2: I already gave one to the other cop. Think that enough?
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Speaker 2: We'd like to have you tell us if you would, Mr. Harrison. Oh,
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Speaker 2: them other fellows don't work with you, huh? Well, yes, sir,
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Speaker 2: they do. But we'd just like you to describe the
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Speaker 2: man to us. Well, what's the matter? Will they tell you? Well, yes, Mr. Harrison.
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Speaker 3: They'll tell us what the questions they asked. It was
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Speaker 3: for getting out of broadcast. We have to fill out
5:29
Speaker 3: a report and try to get the man who did this. Oh.
5:31
Speaker 3: Seems like a pretty funny way to operate. Don't tell
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Speaker 3: the other cop what's going on.
5:36
Speaker 2: How tall was the man, Harrison? Well, let's see. I'd
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Speaker 2: say about, oh, five feet. Maybe eight to ten inches. Mm-hmm.
5:45
Speaker 2: How much did he weigh, would you know? I'm just guessing,
5:47
Speaker 2: you know, Zee. I'm not sure. Yes, sir. We understand. Well,
5:50
Speaker 2: I'd say he weighed maybe, oh, 150, right around in there.
5:53
Speaker 2: How old was he, would you know? Maybe 25, 26.
5:55
Speaker 3: How about his coloring?
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Speaker 2: Was he dark or light complexion? Oh, dark. He had
6:00
Speaker 2: black hair, brown eyes. Mm, look at eyes. Steel balls.
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Speaker 2: Time to pick up a vacuum cleaner. Steel. Hard. Steel. Yes, sir.
6:08
Speaker 2: How was he dressed? Had a pair of Levi's on.
6:11
Speaker 2: Levi's in a V-shirt. He had a brown leather jacket on, too.
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Speaker 2: One with a fur collar. Was he clean-shaven? Oh, yes.
6:15
Speaker 2: His face looked like he just had a shave. And
6:18
Speaker 2: there's calcium powder on it. Uh-huh. Did he wear glasses? Yeah.
6:22
Speaker 2: What kind were they? I couldn't tell you. Just glasses. Well,
6:24
Speaker 2: did they have metal or plastic frames? Oh, plastic, yes. Like,
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Speaker 2: you know, kind of tan plastic. Heavy.
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Speaker 3: You know, the kind that don't have the little curvy
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Speaker 3: things around the ears. Just big pieces that went over
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Speaker 3: the top.
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Speaker 2: Did the man touch anything with his hand? No, no,
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Speaker 2: he didn't. The other officers asked me that, too. He
6:40
Speaker 2: didn't touch a thing. Was anybody else present at the time? No,
6:44
Speaker 2: no one else. I was the only one here.
6:45
Speaker 3: Well, did the man have any marks or scars that
6:47
Speaker 3: you noticed? No, at least not that I saw. Was
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Speaker 3: there anything unusual about him? Anything that might help us
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Speaker 3: identify him? Well, that mustache has helped, sir.
6:55
Speaker 2: His mustache?
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Speaker 3: I think it's phonier than a three-dollar bill. Looks like
6:59
Speaker 3: it to me. Well, I thought you said the man
7:01
Speaker 3: was clean-shaven.
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Speaker 2: I did. All around the mustache. I didn't think he
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Speaker 2: met like that. He's probably pre-saving under that, too. Sure
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Speaker 2: looked phony to me. Why do you say that? He
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Speaker 2: was red. He was dark. Had black hair, black eyebrows.
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Speaker 2: Don't seem like he'd come up with a red mustache.
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Speaker 2: Seem like it to you? Sorry to say, sir. Don't
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Speaker 2: seem like it to me, not at all. I tell you,
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Speaker 2: nothing else. What's that, sir? I think them glasses was fake, too.
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Speaker 3: Glasses was funny, you know, like it hadn't been ground,
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Speaker 3: kind of flat.
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Speaker 2: I think they was phony, just like the dust, sir.
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Speaker 5: Dusty.
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Speaker 2: Moustache. Red moustache with black hair. Phony. All right, sir.
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Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
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Speaker 3: And we'd like you to come down to the office
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Speaker 3: and look at some other pictures, if you would. See
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Speaker 3: if you can identify the man. Be glad to. I'll
7:45
Speaker 3: not do it today, though.
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Speaker 2: Why's that, sir? Well, I already told you. You had
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Speaker 2: a picture of him down there. I'd probably miss him.
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Speaker 2: It's been a real bad day for me. Ah, well.
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Speaker 2: Tomorrow will be better, though. Why's that, sir? Gonna get
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Speaker 2: some sleep tonight. Is that so? Ride the landlady. Yeah.
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Speaker 2: She left me in his room. I took it. What's
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Speaker 2: that thing? He didn't do much typing without his ribbon,
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Speaker 2: did he? For the past three weeks, we'd heard the
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Speaker 2: same story.
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Speaker 3: A man had entered a check-cashing agency or a small
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Speaker 3: neighborhood store and at gunpoint taken all the currency. Each time,
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Speaker 3: he'd hit just after the owner or the manager had
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Speaker 3: come back from the bank. The descriptions we'd gotten in
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Speaker 3: each theft was the same. Each of the victims looked
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Speaker 3: over the mug books, but they were unable to identify
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Speaker 3: the suspect. The stats office had made an M.O. run
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Speaker 3: going back 10 years. The leads they turned up were
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Speaker 3: run down, but they led us nowhere. Communications to George
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Speaker 3: Brereton up at C.I.I. in Sacramento had turned up no
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Speaker 3: new information. We were right where we were after the
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Speaker 3: first robbery. We had a suspect we couldn't identify, a
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Speaker 3: suspect that we couldn't find. 10.45 a.m., the latest victim
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Speaker 3: closed up his place of business and started to accompany
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Speaker 3: us downtown. As we walked out of the store, a
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Speaker 3: police car pulled up to the curb, and the back
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Speaker 3: seat was a man of about 25 years of age.
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Speaker 3: The officer told us that they'd caught the man running
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Speaker 3: down an alley three blocks away. The man who matched
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Speaker 3: the description of the thief identified himself as Rudy Martin,
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Speaker 3: While the radio car officer stood by, we.
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Speaker 2: Took the suspect over to our car to see April Harrison,
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Speaker 2: the victim. Caught him already, huh? Is this the man
9:16
Speaker 2: who held you up, sir? Let me get out and
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Speaker 2: take a good look. All right. Tell him to turn sideways,
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Speaker 2: north and south. All right. No, no, I'll turn sideways.
9:29
Speaker 2: I see him. Are you sure?
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Speaker 3: That's the man, even without his mustache and glasses.
9:36
Speaker 2: I can tell. He's lying. He don't know what he's saying.
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Speaker 2: Don't you talk that way to me, young fellow. And
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Speaker 2: where's my money? What did you do with my money?
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Speaker 2: I haven't got it. I never took any money from
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Speaker 2: you or anybody else. You're crazy. I'll teach you to
9:46
Speaker 2: talk to me like that. Never mind. If we need
9:48
Speaker 2: anything more, we'll be back to talk to you. You
9:50
Speaker 2: mean you're going to take me downtown now that you've
9:52
Speaker 2: talked to the fellow? No, sir. We'll get in touch
9:54
Speaker 2: with you later. You make him tell you where he
9:56
Speaker 2: hid the money.
9:56
Speaker 3: $ 1, 500, all in paper.
9:58
Speaker 2: You make him tell you. All right, sir. We'll do that.
10:00
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Well, I'll be right here. Anything you want me to do,
10:03
Speaker 3: just give a holler. I want to see this fellow
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Speaker 3: get what's coming to him.
10:07
Speaker 2: Yes, sir. Here's our card, and you call us if
10:09
Speaker 2: you need to. Yeah, you do that. And make him
10:11
Speaker 2: tell you what he's done with the money. Now, you
10:14
Speaker 2: want to get him back money? I'll check with the radio, sir. Joe,
10:19
Speaker 2: you want him to follow us to the office? Yeah,
10:20
Speaker 2: tell him we'll take Martin here to the robbery division.
10:22
Speaker 2: We'll check him later. Right. All right, Martin, put your
10:26
Speaker 2: hands up as high as you can. With handcuffs on?
10:28
Speaker 2: With them on. He ain't gonna find me, thanks. All right,
10:31
Speaker 2: get him up. See, I told you. This is a
10:36
Speaker 2: bad thing that man did. I haven't done anything to him.
10:38
Speaker 2: I didn't take his money. No bad, Martin. Back in
10:40
Speaker 2: the seat. All right. You ever seen that man before? No. No,
10:44
Speaker 2: I haven't. He mad at you for any reason? I
10:45
Speaker 2: told you, I never saw him before. He says he
10:47
Speaker 2: knows you. He says you held him up a little
10:48
Speaker 2: while ago. He's crazy. Why'd he say something like that
10:50
Speaker 2: without a reason? I don't know. Your wallet back here? Yeah.
10:53
Speaker 2: Might slide up a little. Any money in it? No,
10:57
Speaker 2: I got some change. Maybe 40, 50 cents. Just a
11:02
Speaker 2: few cards there and a couple of phone numbers. That's all.
11:04
Speaker 2: There's no money. Mm-hmm. Who's this? This is Johnny Salvatore.
11:09
Speaker 2: He's a friend of mine. Chris Turan? Another friend. They
11:12
Speaker 2: haven't done nothing.
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Speaker 3: They're both nice guys. And look, you've got no right
11:15
Speaker 3: to do this. You've got no right to arrest him.
11:16
Speaker 2: I just want to talk to you. If you haven't
11:17
Speaker 2: done anything wrong, then you haven't got anything to worry about,
11:19
Speaker 2: have you? That sounds good, but what am I doing
11:20
Speaker 2: sitting here in this car with you?
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Speaker 3: All right, now tell us the real story, huh?
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Speaker 2: I had nothing to tell. I was over by Central
11:25
Speaker 2: Avenue when these two cops came by and picked me up.
11:27
Speaker 2: I wasn't doing anything.
11:28
Speaker 3: The officers say you were running down an alley. They
11:29
Speaker 3: say that you wouldn't stop when they told you to.
11:31
Speaker 2: Now, how about all that? I was scared. You can
11:33
Speaker 2: see how that had happened, can't you? What'd you do
11:34
Speaker 2: with the gun? Wasn't any gun. Victim says it was.
11:36
Speaker 2: I don't know what you're talking about. You registered for
11:39
Speaker 2: the draft, Martin? Yeah. Well, where's your draft card? Isn't
11:42
Speaker 2: it in the wallet? No, it isn't. Guess I must
11:45
Speaker 2: have lost it. You ever been arrested? You hear me, Martin? Mm-hmm.
11:50
Speaker 2: How about it? Yeah, a couple of times. What for?
11:53
Speaker 2: Back where? Here, back east. Where back east? Okay, see?
11:57
Speaker 2: You sure that's all? Yeah.
11:58
Speaker 3: Who are you doing in that alley this morning?
12:01
Speaker 2: I was on my way to see a guy.
12:02
Speaker 6: Who?
12:03
Speaker 2: A friend of mine. Okay, Joe. Yeah. I'll call in.
12:07
Speaker 2: We can get started. Okay. 1K80 to Control 1. 1K80
12:12
Speaker 2: to Control 1. Control 1 to 1K80. Go ahead. Prisoner
12:20
Speaker 2: in custody. Show us out to room 27A, City Hall.
12:22
Speaker 2: KMA 367. Roger. 1-8-0. KMA 367. You all set? Yeah.
12:24
Speaker 2: Let's go.
12:24
Speaker 6: Now, who's this friend you're going to.
12:27
Speaker 2: See, Martin? You have to know that? We have to know.
12:38
Speaker 2: Chris Tarrant. What are we going to see him about?
12:40
Speaker 2: A job. He said he could line one up for him.
12:42
Speaker 2: What do you have? Room and house down our wall.
12:44
Speaker 2: All right. Do you want to tell us what you
12:45
Speaker 2: did with that money? What money? I don't know how
12:47
Speaker 2: to tell you any better. I didn't have anything to
12:48
Speaker 2: do with that guy. I don't know nothing about any robbery.
12:51
Speaker 2: I was on my way to see a friend about
12:53
Speaker 2: a job. A couple of cops picked me up. That's
12:54
Speaker 2: all there is to it. Nothing more. If you think
12:56
Speaker 2: you can make this thing stick, then you go right ahead.
12:58
Speaker 2: I don't think you can. Well, we got a lot
13:00
Speaker 2: of time, Martin. So have I. I got nothing to do.
13:02
Speaker 2: A night's sleep and a couple of meals. That's what
13:04
Speaker 2: I stand to come up with. I got no problem.
13:06
Speaker 2: Go ahead, lock me up. You're going to have to
13:08
Speaker 2: let me go. I don't care what the old guy says.
13:10
Speaker 2: I didn't hold him up. Not him or anybody else
13:12
Speaker 2: can say I did.
13:12
Speaker 3: The clothes you got on match the ones the hold-up
13:14
Speaker 3: man wore.
13:15
Speaker 2: So what? A lot of people wear these kind of clothes.
13:16
Speaker 2: The victim identified you. The guy made a mistake. I
13:18
Speaker 2: told you that. All right, Martin, you called it. I
13:20
Speaker 2: hope you know what you're talking about.
13:21
Speaker 3: The victim of the robbery identified you, and there's five
13:23
Speaker 3: more we think we can tie you into. We make
13:25
Speaker 3: you on the rest of them, and you've got a
13:25
Speaker 3: real trouble here. Now, you'll save us and yourself a
13:27
Speaker 3: lot of time if you'll tell us the truth.
13:28
Speaker 2: You wouldn't know it if you saw it. Well, there's
13:30
Speaker 2: one way to find out, isn't there? Yeah? Try us. 10.52 a.m.
13:38
Speaker 3: We took the suspect back to the city hall and
13:40
Speaker 3: we talked to him for over three hours. He refused
13:42
Speaker 3: to admit any knowledge of the holdup. We checked him
13:45
Speaker 3: through R & I and we came up with the
13:46
Speaker 3: arrest record that he told us about. In checking his record,
13:49
Speaker 3: we found that the suspect was wanted for draft evasion.
13:52
Speaker 3: In the meantime, the other victims of the holdup man
13:54
Speaker 3: had been brought down to the office. The suspect was
13:56
Speaker 3: placed in a show-up with several other persons. They all
13:59
Speaker 3: failed to identify Martin as the thief.
14:02
Speaker 2: In checking further with the last victim, Harrison, he stated
14:05
Speaker 2: that he probably made a wrong identification.
14:07
Speaker 3: We had a search of Martin's room made, but we
14:09
Speaker 3: were unable.
14:10
Speaker 2: To come up with anything. The two friends he'd mentioned.
14:12
Speaker 3: Were checked out, but there was no record on either
14:14
Speaker 3: one of them. The suspect was turned over to the
14:16
Speaker 3: federal authorities for prosecution on.
14:17
Speaker 2: The draft evasion charge. We were right back where we
14:20
Speaker 2: started three weeks before.
14:21
Speaker 3: The next morning, Saturday, June 11th, we started all over again.
14:25
Speaker 3: This time we went back into the file 15 years.
14:28
Speaker 3: Anybody who even vaguely matched the description was checked out.
14:31
Speaker 2: The M.O. of the thief was rechecked. The machines came
14:34
Speaker 2: up with an additional 17 possibles.
14:36
Speaker 3: Each of these was checked out. It took us two weeks,
14:38
Speaker 3: and at the end of that time, we were back
14:40
Speaker 3: where we started again. We had nothing but a description
14:42
Speaker 3: that apparently didn't match anybody in our files, and an M.O.
14:45
Speaker 3: that didn't fit any known criminal. During the time that
14:47
Speaker 3: we'd been checking out leads, the bandit was inactive. Additional
14:50
Speaker 3: cars from Metro Division had been assigned to the detail,
14:52
Speaker 3: and rolling stakeouts were maintained around check-cashing agencies throughout the city.
14:56
Speaker 3: But the holdup man had apparently dropped from sight.
14:59
Speaker 2: Saturday, June 27th. I checked into the office. Bobby Smith.
15:08
Speaker 3: Yeah.
15:08
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, Ben. Huh? Oh, here's Smith. Little John. You
15:12
Speaker 2: see him, Joe? No, I don't think he's here. Little John? No,
15:17
Speaker 2: he's not here. No, Ben, he isn't here. All right,
15:20
Speaker 2: wait a minute. I'll check the book. Yeah, here. You know,
15:26
Speaker 2: I left by an hour ago. Yeah, I love you, Ben.
15:29
Speaker 2: On the clogging? Okay, wait a minute. Here's the pencil. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. 0281. Right, yeah. Okay, Ben.
15:42
Speaker 2: I got something here. A teletype from San Diego, from
15:44
Speaker 2: Hewitt and Davis. Yeah, what is it? I'll read it
15:46
Speaker 2: to you. RE, you're APB. Data June 10th. RE, robbery.
15:50
Speaker 2: Robbery occurred this city last night. M.O.
15:52
Speaker 3: And description matches your suspect. We have identification as Jerry Lanez.
15:57
Speaker 3: San Diego number 146382. Our sending mugshot. Huh, looks like
16:00
Speaker 3: a break. Well, it might have been even when we finished.
16:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, he got away.
16:04
Speaker 6: 12.15 p.m.
16:10
Speaker 3: A special delivery letter arrived from San Diego with the
16:12
Speaker 3: mug shots of Jerry Lane.
16:14
Speaker 2: There was also a note from Sergeant Carl Davis.
16:16
Speaker 3: He explained that the suspect had held up a small
16:18
Speaker 3: liquor store in the city and had badly beaten the owner.
16:21
Speaker 3: A witness was shown the mug books and was able
16:23
Speaker 3: to pick out the bandit. He was identified as a
16:25
Speaker 3: Jerry Lane. He had only one arrest record, and that
16:28
Speaker 3: was for a misdemeanor offense in San Diego County. We
16:31
Speaker 3: checked the names through our identification bureau, but there was
16:33
Speaker 3: no record on him in our files. The mug shots
16:36
Speaker 3: of San Diego had been taken over four years previously,
16:39
Speaker 3: but the victims of the robberies in Los Angeles had
16:41
Speaker 3: no trouble identifying it, even without the glasses and the moustache.
16:45
Speaker 3: Additional broadcasts were gotten out, sharing their names, and radiograms
16:48
Speaker 3: were sent to Washington and to Sacramento requesting any available information.
16:53
Speaker 2: Another week passed while the search went on.
16:55
Speaker 3: During that time, the holdup man hit once more, this
16:58
Speaker 3: time in National City.
16:59
Speaker 2: Just south of San Diego.
17:01
Speaker 3: From the reports we got, the M.O. matched the one
17:03
Speaker 3: previously used. The suspect made good his escape. Tuesday morning, 11.30 a.m.
17:08
Speaker 3: Frank and I had been out running down a lead.
17:10
Speaker 3: We just got back to the office.
17:13
Speaker 2: Well, there's another one that didn't go anyplace. Yeah.
17:15
Speaker 3: You know, Joe, if somebody could figure out a way
17:17
Speaker 3: to filter out the bad leads, it'd sure save a
17:19
Speaker 3: lot of.
17:19
Speaker 4: Legwork, wouldn't it?
17:20
Speaker 2: Yes, I get it. Robbery Friday. Yeah, all right. See you. Yeah. Hi, Pappy. Yeah.
17:28
Speaker 2: When was that? Yeah, anything on him? Mm-hmm. Yeah, well,
17:34
Speaker 2: you're probably right. Well, I guess the only thing we
17:37
Speaker 2: can do is put out another broadcast. Yeah. No, nothing
17:41
Speaker 2: up here. What'd you say? Right, yeah. Well, if anything
17:45
Speaker 2: else turns up, let us know, will you? Right. Oh,
17:47
Speaker 2: wait a minute. Say hello to Carl. All right, Pappy. Yeah,
17:50
Speaker 2: we'll be talking to you. Right. Thanks. Bye. What's he got? Well,
17:54
Speaker 2: it's our suspect, Jerry Lane. Yeah. He's going to have
17:56
Speaker 2: to stand for more than 211 charge now. What do
17:58
Speaker 2: you mean? The latest victim just died.
18:10
Speaker 3: From the information we got on the phone, it looked
18:12
Speaker 3: like Jerry Lane would be headed for Los Angeles. One
18:14
Speaker 3: of the witnesses to the latest robbery said that the
18:16
Speaker 3: suspect drove away in either a 1942 Plymouth or a
18:19
Speaker 3: Dodge Coupe. The color of the car was listed as
18:22
Speaker 3: either a dark blue or black. Descriptions of the car
18:25
Speaker 3: and of the suspect were printed up and distributed to
18:27
Speaker 3: all law enforcement agencies between Los Angeles and the Mexican border.
18:31
Speaker 3: Al Gaten from the San Diego department got in touch
18:33
Speaker 3: with the Mexican authorities and a close check was kept
18:36
Speaker 3: on all cars crossing into Mexico. According to our information,
18:40
Speaker 3: Jerry Lane had robbed at least eight places and stolen
18:43
Speaker 3: a little under $ 9, 000.
18:44
Speaker 2: In a period of six weeks.
18:47
Speaker 3: While we continued our investigation, the San Diego authorities followed
18:50
Speaker 3: up the leads they had. In the course of checking
18:53
Speaker 3: out the friends and associates listed on Lane's arrest record,
18:56
Speaker 3: they came up with the information that he had at
18:57
Speaker 3: one time been employed as a musician in a downtown nightclub.
19:01
Speaker 3: They interviewed the employees of the place, but they were
19:04
Speaker 3: not able to get a definite lead on the suspect.
19:07
Speaker 3: With the mugshot that they'd sent us, and knowing that
19:09
Speaker 3: he was a professional musician, we checked with the local
19:11
Speaker 3: office of the musicians' union. They told us that he
19:14
Speaker 3: was not in good standing. They were unable to give
19:16
Speaker 3: us the address of the suspect, but they did give
19:18
Speaker 3: us the name and address of a bar where he'd
19:20
Speaker 3: worked several years before.
19:22
Speaker 2: At 8.30 p.m. that night, Frank and I talked to
19:24
Speaker 2: one of the waitresses in the place. No, they cut
19:27
Speaker 2: out the band a year or so ago. Not enough
19:29
Speaker 2: business to keep it going. Uh-huh. Did you work here
19:31
Speaker 2: when they did have a band? Sure. I've been here
19:33
Speaker 2: since they remodeled the place. Been four years, anyway. Hey,
19:36
Speaker 2: you fell up like a drink down the house. No,
19:38
Speaker 2: thank you. You know a man named Jerry Lane? What
19:40
Speaker 2: does he do? Well, he's a musician. We understand he
19:42
Speaker 2: plays clarinet. Lane. Yeah, it seems to me I do
19:46
Speaker 2: remember him. Not too tall, kind of nice looking if
19:48
Speaker 2: you went to remember him. You know he'd get in
19:51
Speaker 2: touch with him? No, I haven't had the slightest idea.
19:53
Speaker 2: Had to be a pretty big lust. Had to let
19:55
Speaker 2: him go. Union told him lay off the booze, but
19:58
Speaker 2: he didn't pay no attention. Always showing up late. A
20:00
Speaker 2: real lust. Possibly the owner might know where he is?
20:03
Speaker 2: It isn't likely. I'm married to the owner. I know
20:05
Speaker 2: most of the stuff that goes on around here. I see.
20:08
Speaker 2: Can you give us any idea where we might be
20:09
Speaker 2: able to get a lead on him? Some of his friends?
20:11
Speaker 2: Maybe another musician? No. Hey, wait a minute. Ma'am? I
20:14
Speaker 2: might know someone. Let me make a phone call. Well,
20:16
Speaker 2: if you give us the phone number, we can put
20:17
Speaker 2: in the call. I'd rather not do that. She just
20:19
Speaker 2: sure needs to see a lot of Jerry. Maybe she
20:21
Speaker 2: don't want to get mixed up in a thing like this.
20:23
Speaker 2: I'll call her and find out. You know, she'll tell me.
20:25
Speaker 2: If she doesn't, there's no harm done. Okay.
20:29
Speaker 4: Got a dime?
20:32
Speaker 2: There's two nickels. Okay. Thanks.
20:38
Speaker 3: I'd rather you leave the door open if you will.
20:41
Speaker 2: Yes.
20:41
Speaker 6: Hello, may I speak to Betty Hodgins, please?
20:45
Speaker 3: Yes.
20:45
Speaker 2: All right. They're calling us. Nice girl. Never figured I
21:03
Speaker 2: would be found, Jerry. Hello, Betty? Betty's up in Miami. Um,
21:09
Speaker 2: she's fine. You? Oh, she's fine. So, Betty, I have
21:13
Speaker 2: to bother you, but do you know where I can
21:15
Speaker 2: get in touch with Jerry Lane? Yeah.
21:19
Speaker 1: Uh-huh.
21:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, wait a minute. You got a pencil?
21:22
Speaker 6: Yeah.
21:22
Speaker 2: Here you go. Now, what did I just say? Uh-huh. Yeah,
21:28
Speaker 2: I got it. No, no, it's nothing serious. No. No,
21:32
Speaker 2: business isn't that good. Yeah, we forgot the piano. Yeah,
21:36
Speaker 2: I got it. All right. Well, thanks, baby. You got
21:41
Speaker 2: it done, right? Yes, ma'am. Here's the address. The club
21:44
Speaker 2: down on 6th. Mm-hmm. Betty says he's there almost every night.
21:47
Speaker 6: 9.42 p.m.
21:52
Speaker 2: We called the office and had another team of men
21:54
Speaker 2: sent out.
21:54
Speaker 3: We notified Homicide Detail that we'd picked up another lead
21:57
Speaker 3: and they sent out a team of men to give
21:58
Speaker 3: us any help that we might need in apprehending the suspect.
22:01
Speaker 3: The address we'd been given was the Georgetown Club, a
22:03
Speaker 3: small place on West 6th Street. When we got there,
22:05
Speaker 3: the place was crowded and the band was in the
22:07
Speaker 3: middle of a second set. We checked with one of
22:09
Speaker 3: the bartenders.
22:11
Speaker 2: Sure. That's Jerry playing clarinet. See? Great suit. Yeah. Does
22:15
Speaker 2: he work here? No. He shows up almost every night
22:18
Speaker 2: to sing with the band. Union doesn't like it. They
22:20
Speaker 2: talk to the boss about it. He's going to get
22:22
Speaker 2: the bum out of here. Cost a lot of trouble.
22:24
Speaker 2: Is that right? Sure. All the way to the country drunk,
22:27
Speaker 2: I actually act like he's high on gold. You want
22:30
Speaker 2: me to get him for you? Yeah, tell him there
22:32
Speaker 2: are a couple of friends who'd like to talk to him,
22:33
Speaker 2: will you? I'll do it right now. You don't want
22:36
Speaker 2: me to say you can't? No, we don't. I didn't
22:38
Speaker 2: think so. Okay, I get it. Thank you. Some place
22:45
Speaker 2: they got here, huh?
22:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, sure is crowded in there.
22:47
Speaker 2: Right. They're watching us. That's how we are. Now, let's
22:53
Speaker 2: get them outside. It's easier to take there. There's too
22:56
Speaker 2: many people here. The bartender's got them now. Let's let them.
23:01
Speaker 3: Get outside before we move away.
23:05
Speaker 2: All right. Now, there you go. Sure, well, where are they?
23:19
Speaker 2: Got a couple of friends. Where are they? They said
23:21
Speaker 2: they would be here. Now, wait a minute. Here they are.
23:24
Speaker 3: Oh.
23:26
Speaker 2: How are you? Where did I know you? Excuse me, bud.
23:31
Speaker 2: I got to get back in there. If your fellas
23:33
Speaker 2: don't hear me no more, I'll get back to work, huh? Yeah, thanks, bud.
23:35
Speaker 2: Go ahead. No problem. I don't know what this is
23:39
Speaker 2: all about. I don't know you guys. Police officers. You're
23:41
Speaker 2: under arrest. What for? Thanks. Yes. Stand still. What are
23:46
Speaker 2: you trying to do? You got nothing on me. Stand still.
23:48
Speaker 2: Just stay away from me, cop, or leave me alone.
23:51
Speaker 2: All right, hold up. All right, now come on. Stand still.
23:54
Speaker 6: Come on.
23:56
Speaker 2: Come on, stand still. Come on, clean gun. Now put
24:00
Speaker 2: your hands behind you. I didn't do anything.
24:07
Speaker 5: You got no reason to shove me around.
24:11
Speaker 2: Cut my mouth, please. Yeah, well, that makes two of us.
24:14
Speaker 2: What are you asking me for? What have I done?
24:16
Speaker 2: I have too much to drink. Is that it? I
24:17
Speaker 2: wasn't following anybody in there.
24:19
Speaker 3: That's a nice trialing, but it won't work. We got
24:21
Speaker 3: a half a dozen positive indications on you for robbery.
24:23
Speaker 2: I didn't hurt anybody. He killed a man. Yeah. The
24:28
Speaker 2: last one. I heard he died. Is it true? Did
24:32
Speaker 2: he die? That's right. I didn't know what I was doing,
24:35
Speaker 2: you know. I wasn't responsible. I just didn't feel so good.
24:39
Speaker 2: It wasn't my fault. He wouldn't give me the money.
24:44
Speaker 2: I didn't know what I was doing. That's going to
24:45
Speaker 2: make a difference, isn't it? I didn't know what I
24:47
Speaker 2: was doing. I wouldn't know about that, Lane. That's going
24:49
Speaker 2: to be up to the jury, but you can bet
24:50
Speaker 2: on one thing. What's that? Don't know what they're doing.
24:52
Speaker 4: The story you've just heard is true.
25:04
Speaker 2: The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
25:07
Speaker 5: On December 17th, trial was held in Department 92, Superior
25:11
Speaker 5: Court of the State.
25:11
Speaker 2: Of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles.
25:14
Speaker 2: In a moment, the results of that trial.
25:25
Speaker 5: Gerald Carlisle Lane was tried and convicted of murder in
25:27
Speaker 5: the first degree and was executed in the lethal gas
25:30
Speaker 5: chamber at the State Penitentiary, San Quentin, California.
25:34
Speaker 6: You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases
25:42
Speaker 6: from official files.
26:01
Speaker 5: Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker,
26:04
Speaker 5: Los Angeles Police Department. Technical advisors, Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant
26:09
Speaker 5: Marty Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brasher. Heard tonight was Ben Alexander,
26:12
Speaker 5: Vic Rodman, Lillian Bias, Terry Bartell.
26:15
Speaker 2: Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schumann. Al Gibney speaking.
26:23
Speaker 1: Our time with Dragnet, episode 211, Big Bop, comes to
26:28
Speaker 1: a close. Follow Dragnet for more classic broadcasts.