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

Transcript

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On October 26, 1954, NBC aired another case from the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Los Angeles Police Department in Dragnet. In episode 271, Big Key,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Jack Webb is Detective Sergeant Joe Friday, with Ben Alexander
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: as Officer Frank Smith. Assigned to robbery detail Friday, and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Smith investigate a hold-up man targeting Los Angeles drugstores, taking
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: cash and narcotics, and leaving the detectives with little to
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: work from. The investigation follows the department's methodical effort to
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: identify and locate the robber. And now, our story begins.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Dragnet.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. In
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: the past five weeks, an unidentified holdup man has robbed
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: 12 drugstores. He's taken money in narcotics. There's no lead
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: to who he is or where he is. Your job,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: find him.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: It was Tuesday, March 16th. It was warm in Los Angeles.
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: We were working the day watch out of robbery detail.
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Chief of Detectives
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: Thad Brown. My name's Friday. We were on our way
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: out from the office and.
• 1:35
  Speaker 5: It was 9.36 a.m.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: When we got to the corner of Hobart Boulevard and Westmoreland.
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: The Tishner Drugstore. In the back. Yeah.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Something you want? Yes, sir.
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: We'd like to see Harry Tishner.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm him.
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: Police officers. This is Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Hello.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: How you doing, sir? About the robbery, huh?
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: Would you like to tell us what happened?
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: I was robbed.
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: We'd just like you to tell us how. Oh.
• 2:00
  Speaker 6: Oh, now I'm with you. Yeah, I'm right with you.
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: Let's go back and sit down. You have to tell
• 2:06
  Speaker 6: them the story and time just melts away.
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Might as well be comfortable while we all fall out. Yes, sir.
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: Is this all right here? Yeah. Yeah.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: Like a phosphate or something? No, sir.
• 2:19
  Speaker 7: No, thank you.
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: And let's quit all this fooling around and get out
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: of the business. Want me to tell you about the holdup?
• 2:26
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir. We'd like that.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Good, good. That's just what I'm going to do.
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: Go ahead.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: Aren't you going to take anything down, right?
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: Well, yes, sir, as soon as you tell us the story. Now,
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: if you'd like to start it.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: Well, came in about 8.
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: That was this morning?
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 2:43
  Speaker 6: Just walked right in the door, came back to the
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: prescription counter, and stood there.
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: Had this little piece of paper in his hand. I
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: figured it was from a doctor, you know. Prescribed medicine. Yes, sir.
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: Wasn't. Well, go ahead. What was it? Note.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Written on there like this. This is a stick-up. Don't
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: make any noise.
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: It was a note, huh?
• 3:07
  Speaker 6: Just pushed the note across the counter. I didn't have
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: to have anybody push me off a cliff to know
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: what was going on.
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: No, sir.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: I was being robbed.
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir. Do you want to go ahead?
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: Well, after he showed me the note, he kind of
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: pushed me back into the little room at the rear
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: of the store.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: You know, kind of a store place.
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: Now, did he say anything to you at all?
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Not a word. Just pointed with that gun for me
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: to get into the back room. I went.
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: I see. What happened then?
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: He pushed me down to the floor and then tied
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: my hands and feet.
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: What did he use?
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: You mean to tie me up?
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: Rope. Oh.
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: Well, did he bring it into the store with him?
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: No, sir.
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: He picked it up in household on his way back
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: to the prescription counter.
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: I see. Go ahead, please.
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: Soon as we got to the store room, he took
• 3:51
  Speaker 6: off the label and then undid the rope. He made
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: a loop and put it around my feet. Next thing
• 3:56
  Speaker 6: I knew, I was all crossed up like a rolled.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: Roast, ready for the oven. I see. I'll say one
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: thing for the guy, though.
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: What's that? He's very neat.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: He died good and honest.
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Other officers, the ones in the black and white car,
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: you know.
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Left.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: Yeah, what about them?
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. Well, they took the ropes with them.
• 4:18
  Speaker 6: They said something about taking them.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: To a laboratory.
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 4:22
  Speaker 8: Well, you can see if.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: You want to. It's very neat.
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir. What happened after the bandit tied you up?
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: Robbed me. You personally?
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: Yes, personally and otherwise.
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: Well, sir, would you please tell us?
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: Well, first off, he went to the safe and took
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: the tin box out, opened it right up and took
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: the money.
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: Is that all he stole from the cash box? Yeah.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: I had some government bonds in there, but he didn't
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: take those. Mm-hmm. Guess he knew they wouldn't do him
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: any good.
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: All right, sir.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: He didn't take them. Took the money, but didn't take
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: the government bonds.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: According to what you told the officers this morning, the
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: thief took a supply of narcotics, too.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: Is that correct?
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, he got them from the safe, too.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Well, now, after he finished with the safe, what happened?
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: He left. He walked out of the place. He just
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: ambled right out.
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: During the time he was in the store, he didn't
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: say anything at all, is that right? Did anybody else
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: come in while he was here?
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: You mean like a customer?
• 5:11
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: Nope. Oh, excuse me.
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: That might be our office, Mr. Tishner. We left this number.
• 5:18
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: If it is, I'll tell you.
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: Tishner Drugs.
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: Uh-huh.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, Mrs. Kentweather. Uh-huh. No, shouldn't be.
• 5:30
  Speaker 8: Uh-huh. No, I can't do that.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: If you have your doctor call me, I'll make it
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: up and send it over.
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: No. No, not without a prescription. Uh-huh.
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: Okay. Well, I'll call you when it's.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Ready, then, and you can send Lanny over. Right. Bye, Mrs. Cantworthy.
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Oh, well, if that's the way you feel, I won't.
• 5:55
  Speaker 8: Oh, sure.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: Okay. Goodbye. Gee, I can't imagine why she'd say a
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: thing like that. There's no reason at all.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Sir? Mrs.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Cantworthy.
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: Called me when her son comes over to get the
• 6:06
  Speaker 6: prescription not to give.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: Him any candy.
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: Oh, I see.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: I usually throw in a licorice rip, you know. Mm-hmm.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: Don't want me to do it. That's too bad.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir. I wonder if we could go ahead with
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: the description. Sure, I guess so. Well, now, from what
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: you told the investigating officers, the man's about 35 to 38.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: Is that right? Mm-hmm.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: Light in color, 5 feet 10, 175 pounds, no visible.
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: Marks or scars.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: Is that right? Well, I guess that's pretty close.
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: Well, if it was anything different, we'd appreciate you telling
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: us now.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: No, not with you. Because I can't understand why Mrs.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Catworthy would say a thing like that. It's a penny lick,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: you schwit. A little bitty thing.
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir, we understand.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Like that. Couldn't hurt anybody.
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Would you be able to identify the holed-up man if
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: you saw him again?
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, no trouble. I'd know him.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: Uh-huh.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: He'd never say a thing like that.
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: Sir?
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: The fellow who robbed me.
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: What do you mean?
• 6:57
  Speaker 6: Oh, on the way out, the way I was laying,
• 6:59
  Speaker 6: I saw him stop. Right up there by the can
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: in magazines. Stopped dead in his tracks. He went over
• 7:04
  Speaker 6: and helped himself.
• 7:05
  Speaker 9: Mm-hmm.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: Took the top off and helped himself to a handful.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: Sure must like them.
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: What was that, sir?
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: Licorice whips. Just reached into the jar and took a handful.
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: After that, he left, is that right? Yeah.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: As soon as he put his gloves back on.
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: What was that?
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: Couldn't work the top of the jar with the gloves,
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: so he took them off.
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: No.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: Used his bare hands.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: 10.02 a.m., Frank put in a call to Harlan Stahl
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: and Layton Fingerprints. We asked him to come out and
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: go over the glass candy jar. While we waited for him,
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: Frank and I checked the list of stolen narcotics with
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: the druggist, Harry Tishner. We also made arrangements for him
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: to come downtown and look through the mug books. When
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: the glass candy jar was checked, Harlan Stahl was able
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: to come up with two partial prints. They were enough
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: for comparison, but not for identification. 11.15 a.m., Frank and
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: I left the store and spent the rest of the
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: afternoon checking out the list of names we'd gotten from.
• 7:59
  Speaker 5: The stats office. Several of the possibles looked good.
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: But after each one of them was investigated, we still
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: didn't have a suspect in custody. Wednesday morning, March 17th,
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: at 8.06 a.m., Frank and I met in the squad room.
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: Morning, Joe. Hi.
• 8:12
  Speaker 8: Tried to call you this morning.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Thought maybe you'd want to stop and have some breakfast.
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: No, I left the house early. Did you check the book?
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: Anything? Skipper wants to talk to us. I figured that'd happen.
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: Is he in now? Yeah. Come on, let's get it
• 8:23
  Speaker 5: over with.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. No, not yet.
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: I'm going to try and line it up this afternoon. Yeah,
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: I'll call you back. Yeah, they're here right now. Bye.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: Do you want to see us, Captain?
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, come in.
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: Sit down.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: Go on in.
• 8:49
  Speaker 10: I won't tell you who's on my back about this thing,
• 8:51
  Speaker 10: and you don't give me any excuses, right?
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: Sure. Where are you? Still in front of the first store.
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: That's how long ago? Yeah, it's been five weeks. What
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: do you know about him? WMA, description, closed. Match on
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: all the jobs? Close enough so we know it's the
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: same guy. Okay, what else? He uses a stolen car
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: to get to the store. He drives it away.
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: Isn't too careful to hide the license plate. We've been
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: able to come up with three out of the five.
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: Check the cars out? Yeah, clean. Not a print on them.
• 9:17
  Speaker 5: Nothing else.
• 9:17
  Speaker 8: Picked up something yesterday.
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: Should help when we nail them. What's that? Most all,
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: listed a couple of partials from a candy jar. Gonna
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: be enough for comparison. Can't make the suspect on him, huh? No,
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: not enough to classify him. What about the narcotics he's taking?
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: He show up anyplace? No, not that we can find.
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: We've been down all the alleys. There's nothing there. Talk
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: to Luccarelli. Hop Squad's got nothing on it. If none
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: of it's showing up, then it could mean he's using
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: the stuff himself. That's what we got figured. How about
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: the stats office? They spend much more time down there.
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: They're going to put us to work with the machines. Informants? Well,
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: they've given us smiles. That's about all. You think they're holding? No.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: Come over here. Take a look at the map. The
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: way he's picking the places, he's set up a pretty
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: definite operating schedule.
• 10:00
  Speaker 10: Here, Venice Boulevard, Kingsley Drive, Western, Adams, Washington, the rest
• 10:03
  Speaker 10: of them, they're all grouped in this area.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: You got to figure he's going to keep working in
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: vicinity until he hits them all. Then maybe he'll move
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: on to something else. It might help if we could
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: come up with a reason that he's working there. Anything
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: you can come up with has got to help. Yeah,
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: we know. But it's true that he's been using the
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: narcotics himself.
• 10:18
  Speaker 10: It's just a matter of time before we hand this
• 10:20
  Speaker 10: one over to Homicide. He's going to walk into a store.
• 10:22
  Speaker 10: Somebody's going to give him trouble.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: If he's on the needle, he isn't going to take it. Yeah.
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: So it adds up to a big stop.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: The past.
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: Well, if we work the area, it's going to take
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: a lot of men, you know. We'll get them. I've
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: talked to Stoner. He's taking care of all the help
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: you need from here. There'll be four teams available. You
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: can call Metro Division for whatever else you need.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: We'll set it up for tonight, then. Check with communications.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: Make sure you get the three ways working. Right. This
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: guy's been pressing his luck for a long time.
• 10:45
  Speaker 11: Yeah.
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: I'm bound to run short on it sometime. Robbery, Donahoe. Yeah. When? Mm-hmm. Okay,
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: we'll take care of him. Looks like you just got partners.
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: What do you mean? Your boy just made a 13,
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: drugstore out on Pico. Yeah. They don't expect a victim
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: to live.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: Frank and I left the office and drove over to
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. We talked with the officer on duty.
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: He told us that the victim's name was George Raylor.
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: He owned a small neighborhood drugstore at the corner of
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: Pico Boulevard and Vineyard Avenue. He went on to say
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: that he didn't have all of the particulars of the beating,
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: but that it had occurred during the commission of a robbery.
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: We talked to Dr. Sebastian.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: He told us that the elderly man was suffering from
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: a fractured skull, broken ribs, and possible internal injuries. He
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: added that from Raylor's appearance, it looked as if he'd
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: been beaten about the head and shoulders with a.
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Heavy instrument and then kicked in the chest.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: We left word to call as soon as he could
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: be questioned, then we drove over to the store on Pico.
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: Yes, is there something I can do for you?
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: Police officers. Oh, how's Mr.
• 11:51
  Speaker 5: Ray?
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: Have you seen him?
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: No, we haven't yet.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: You heard anything? Is he going to be all right?
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: Well, we don't know that yet.
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: I sure hope so. The guy who hit him sure
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: did a job.
• 11:58
  Speaker 8: Just beat him something awful.
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we know.
• 12:01
  Speaker 8: Not enough just hitting him, but then he knocked him
• 12:03
  Speaker 8: down and stomped him.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: Awful. You were here when it happened?
• 12:06
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I saw the whole thing.
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: You want to tell us what happened?
• 12:09
  Speaker 8: You mean for the investigation?
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: That's right. Okay. You want to give us your name first?
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: Calvin Webster.
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: You work here in the store, do you, son? Yeah,
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: that's right.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: Sort of a general left hand.
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: What was that?
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Well, you see, Mrs. Rayler's his right hand.
• 12:21
  Speaker 8: I'm the left.
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: She wasn't here today.
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: Down having her hair fixed.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: Probably just as good.
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: All right, Webster. You want to tell us?
• 12:30
  Speaker 9: Well, the phone came in about 8.30, right after we opened.
• 12:32
  Speaker 9: Came in and went back to the prescription counter. I
• 12:35
  Speaker 9: was going back to tell him that Mr.
• 12:36
  Speaker 8: Rayler would be right out, and then he was.
• 12:38
  Speaker 11: Rayler?
• 12:39
  Speaker 9: Yeah, he was back checking the stock on vitamin pills.
• 12:42
  Speaker 9: We do a big business in them. I have to
• 12:43
  Speaker 9: have a pretty careful watch on the supply.
• 12:45
  Speaker 8: Wouldn't want to get caught short.
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: All right, go ahead.
• 12:48
  Speaker 8: Well, the fellow, the hold-up man, you know.
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: Yeah, go ahead.
• 12:51
  Speaker 9: He took this little piece of paper out of his coat.
• 12:53
  Speaker 8: I figured it was a prescription.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: Looked like it. Well, it wasn't.
• 12:56
  Speaker 8: It turned out to be the note where he said
• 12:57
  Speaker 8: he wanted the money.
• 12:59
  Speaker 5: Did you see the note?
• 13:00
  Speaker 8: Well, not so as I can read it.
• 13:01
  Speaker 9: First I knew there was something wrong when Mr.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: Raylor started to yell at the guy.
• 13:04
  Speaker 8: Told him to get out of the store. Ran around
• 13:05
  Speaker 8: the counter and tried to grab him.
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 13:07
  Speaker 8: Yelling all the time for me.
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: To call the police.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Call the cops. Call the cops. Like that he yelled
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: at me.
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: What'd you do?
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: I looked to see if I had a dime.
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: What?
• 13:15
  Speaker 8: Well, you see, in the past, Mr.
• 13:16
  Speaker 9: Raylor's had trouble with people making phone calls on a
• 13:19
  Speaker 9: private phone.
• 13:20
  Speaker 8: So he had one of those little lock things put
• 13:21
  Speaker 8: on it. You can answer incoming calls, but you can't
• 13:24
  Speaker 8: phone out.
• 13:25
  Speaker 5: I see.
• 13:26
  Speaker 8: So I needed a dime to call the cops.
• 13:27
  Speaker 11: Yeah.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: Well, I didn't have one.
• 13:29
  Speaker 8: Only 75 cents for my lunch.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: A half and a quarter.
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: I see.
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: Well, all this time Mr. Raylor's yelling. He's yelling and
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: the robber's hitting.
• 13:36
  Speaker 8: Him and I didn't know what to do.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Uh-huh.
• 13:38
  Speaker 8: I thought about running back and trying to.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: Help, but Mr.
• 13:41
  Speaker 8: Raylor don't like for nobody to do something different than
• 13:43
  Speaker 8: what he says.
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 13:44
  Speaker 8: He told me to phone.
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: Yeah, sure.
• 13:47
  Speaker 8: When all of a sudden, bang, the fella hit Mr.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Raylor with a gun.
• 13:50
  Speaker 8: Took it right out of his pocket and hit him
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: on the head.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Next thing, Mr.
• 13:53
  Speaker 8: Raylor's on the floor.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: This fella's stomping him.
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: I couldn't just stand.
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: By no more, so I went back to help.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: Too late.
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: What was that?
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: It was too late. Mr.
• 14:01
  Speaker 8: Raylor was on the floor, and this guy was pointing
• 14:03
  Speaker 8: the gun at me and was leaving the store. I
• 14:05
  Speaker 8: didn't see how it would help any to try and
• 14:06
  Speaker 8: stop him.
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: Was there anybody else in the store at the time? No,
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: just Mr.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: Raylor and me. We just opened up.
• 14:12
  Speaker 8: Still kind of getting ready.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: For the day.
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: Did you get a good look at this guy?
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: I saw him good.
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: All right, then you'll be able to give us a description.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll tell you how he looked.
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: Did you see if he drove a car?
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: I guess so.
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: Don't you know for sure?
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: Well, no, I didn't go out after him.
• 14:27
  Speaker 8: I figured that it would take somebody a lot bigger
• 14:28
  Speaker 8: than me to stop him. Besides, I had to take
• 14:30
  Speaker 8: care of Mr.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: Rayler.
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: I see. Did you see the gun he was using?
• 14:34
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I got a real good look at it when
• 14:35
  Speaker 8: he was hitting the boss.
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: That's fine. What kind of a gun was it?
• 14:38
  Speaker 8: A pistol, you know, like you see in the movies.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Now, look, son, was it a revolver or an automatic?
• 14:42
  Speaker 8: I think it was a revolver.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: It had a barrel on it. Short.
• 14:47
  Speaker 8: About that long.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Uh-huh.
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: We'd like you to come downtown and look at some pictures,
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: if you would.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: At the city hall?
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: That's right.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: I'll be glad to help out as soon as Mrs.
• 14:55
  Speaker 8: Raylor comes back.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: I'll go with you.
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: All right, fine.
• 14:58
  Speaker 8: I can't leave the store alone.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: You know. Uh-huh. You want to give us the description
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: of the man now?
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: You bet. I'm sure if you catch the fellow.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: So do we.
• 15:05
  Speaker 8: This the same guy I've been reading about in the papers?
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: That's right.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: He's mean.
• 15:09
  Speaker 8: Real mean, doing a thing.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: Like that to Mr.
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: Raylor.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we know.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: He's been getting away with it.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: For a long time, hasn't he? Like a guy running
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: up a big bill.
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: That's right. He'll pay it.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: As soon as someone arrived to take care of the drugstore,
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: we took Calvin Webster down to the city hall. He
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: was shown all of the mug books and pictures of
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: recent parolees. He was unable to make an identification. We
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: had him returned to his home, and then Frank and
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: I checked with Dr. Sebastian over at George Street Receiving Hospital.
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: He told us that the latest victim had been transferred
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: to the county hospital and was out of the critical stage.
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: He went on to say, however, that it would be
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: several hours before we'd be able to talk to him.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: We checked with Captain Donahoe and Lieutenant Stoner. We also
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: contacted officers from Metropolitan Division and made arrangements for the
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: additional cars that we'd need in setting up the rolling stakeout.
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: That night at 7.30 p.m., the plan was put into operation.
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: Ten undercover cars maintained a watch on the drugstores in
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: the area. All suspicious vehicles were checked on. All pedestrians
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: loitering in the vicinity were interrogated. Our suspect remained free.
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: Three days went by without result. The bandit had stopped
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: his operations. On Sunday, March 21st, Frank and I were
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: driving up Western Avenue, just north of Pico.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: What do you think?
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: I don't know. Maybe after he had that trouble with
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: the railer, he decided to call it quits.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: Doesn't figure.
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: Guy that's had the brakes he has, not gonna let
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: something like a beating stop him.
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: Well, hope you're right.
• 16:34
  Speaker 11: All units on frequency one, stand by. All units on
• 16:38
  Speaker 11: frequency one, stand by.
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: Might be a good one. Yeah. Stand by one, J-14.
• 16:44
  Speaker 11: All units in the vicinity of 1947 Wilton Place, 1947
• 16:46
  Speaker 11: Wilton Place, an officer needs help.
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: Code 3.
• 16:48
  Speaker 11: All units in the vicinity of 1947 Wilton Place, an
• 16:51
  Speaker 11: officer needs help.
• 16:52
  Speaker 5: Code 3. You got the lens?
• 16:53
  Speaker 11: Yeah, here you are.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: An officer needs help. Of all the calls in the book,
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: this is the one that no officer wants to get.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: Not because of an outdone sense of loyalty to a
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: fellow police officer, but because it means that somebody has
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: decided that lawful authority has no meaning for them. Such
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: a person is an extreme menace to every citizen in
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: the city. By showing that they have no respect for
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: the competence of an armed professional officer, they have also
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: shown that they will not consider for an instant the
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: life of an unarmed citizen. By the time we arrived
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: at the scene, there were 14 police units in attendance.
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: From one of the officers, we got the story.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: You know, I was working the streets, saw this young
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: guy run out of the liquor store, stopped to see
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: what was going on.
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: Told him the fellow to stop.
• 17:51
  Speaker 8: Didn't make any difference.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: Kept going, huh? Yeah.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Officer in the car told him to stop or he'd shoot,
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: and the suspect turned around and fired at the policeman.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: How is he? Flesh wound. What about the suspect? Oh,
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: he didn't get the chance.
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: To fire more than twice. That him over there?
• 18:02
  Speaker 11: Yeah.
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: Anything from the owner of the liquor store?
• 18:04
  Speaker 9: Well, just that the suspect tried to hold him up.
• 18:07
  Speaker 8: He walked in, showed him a note.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: The owner went along with it.
• 18:09
  Speaker 8: Handed over the money, and then the suspect left.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: Better take a look.
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: Well, it might be a break.
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: It's a hard way to get it, isn't it? I'll
• 18:19
  Speaker 5: take a look. How about it? I can't tell for sure. Huh?
• 18:26
  Speaker 5: Description doesn't match too good. Yeah? No. I don't think
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: it's our suspect.
• 18:41
  Speaker 7: You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your
• 18:44
  Speaker 7: police force in action.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: The wounded police officer was taken to George Street Receiving
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: Hospital for treatment.
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: The suspect was removed to the county morgue.
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: Pictures were taken, and when they were shown to the
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: victims of the drugstore bandit, they all said he was
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: not the man we were after. The rolling stakeout continued
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: without result. During the next week, we answered several 211
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: calls in drugstores, but the M.O.
• 19:12
  Speaker 5: The thief used eliminated him as our suspect. Thursday, March 25th.
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: Frank and I checked into the squad room.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: How's it going, Joe?
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: Kind of tired.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I'm going to get this one wrapped up, and
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: I'm going to try to take a few days off.
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: Robbery Friday. Yes, that's right. No, we're handling. When was that?
• 19:36
  Speaker 5: All right, would you like to give me that address?
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: All right, yes, I have it. We'll check it out.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: Might be something in. Thanks for letting us know. Right.
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: What was that? No, if it turns out, we'll let
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: you know. Right. Thanks again.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Bye. What do you got?
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: A call from a radio unit out in Hollywood.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: They answered a 415 this morning. A woman and her
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: husband were having a brawl.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: Uh-huh.
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: A man had left when the officers got there. The
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: woman refused to make a complaint. She placed the original call? No,
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: it came from one of the neighbors. Uh-huh. When the
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: officers were leaving, the woman said she'd handle the beef herself,
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: said she'd take care of her husband, called him a
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: lousy hold-up man. Yeah. She made the statement she could
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: put him in San Quentin inside of five minutes.
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: Well, if he's the guy we're looking for, I don't
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: think we can do it that fast.
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: No, we sure tried. We left the office and drove
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: out to the address I'd gotten on the phone.
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: It was a small one-story house set well back on
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: the lot. When we got there, the lights were on.
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: Frank and I went up the front door and rang
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: the bell.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: Miss Kearney?
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: Police officers like to talk to you.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: What about?
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: Might be better if we talk inside. All right. This
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: is my partner, Frank Smith. My name's Friday. How you do? Hi.
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: You alone here in the house?
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: It's the baby and me.
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: I see. Where's your husband?
• 20:55
  Speaker 11: Look, before I start telling you a lot, why don't
• 20:57
  Speaker 11: you let me know what this is all about?
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: We got a report from a radio car that there
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: was a disturbance here this morning. Is that right? Yeah.
• 21:03
  Speaker 11: Wasn't anything. Me and Keith had a beef. Not even
• 21:05
  Speaker 11: worth calling the cops about.
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: The officer said you made the remark that your husband
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: was a hold-up man, that you could send him to prison.
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: Is that right?
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: They talk a lot, don't they?
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: They listen more, lady. You want to tell us what
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: you meant?
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: Well, go ahead.
• 21:17
  Speaker 11: You go back and tell the little boys in the
• 21:19
  Speaker 11: play suits they're wrong on this one.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: Is that so? Yeah, because I meant nothing. Nothing at all.
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: Pretty serious thing to say without a reason, though, isn't it?
• 21:25
  Speaker 11: This morning I had a reason.
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: What? You want to tell us what it was?
• 21:28
  Speaker 11: I don't see why not. Your cops start nosing around.
• 21:30
  Speaker 11: You'll find out anyway. I got trouble with my old man.
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: What kind of trouble?
• 21:34
  Speaker 11: He's out with other women. Didn't come home last night.
• 21:37
  Speaker 11: We had a beef about it. The cops were called
• 21:39
  Speaker 11: and they used their big ears. You guys made the
• 21:42
  Speaker 11: trip out here for nothing.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: Now beat it.
• 21:44
  Speaker 11: Now look what you've done. He's playing fine and you
• 21:46
  Speaker 11: come in and he now raised a big stink. You
• 21:48
  Speaker 11: got him all upset.
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: I'll get it.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: Hey, here you are, fella. Hey, no reason to cry.
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: What's your husband's full name?
• 21:59
  Speaker 11: Keith J.
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: Kearney. How long you live in Los Angeles? A little
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: over six weeks. Where are you from? Idaho. Your husband
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: ever been in trouble with the police before?
• 22:07
  Speaker 11: He's got a hard time not being in trouble with anybody.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: Has he ever been arrested?
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: I don't know. How long have you been married?
• 22:12
  Speaker 11: Seven years.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: And you don't know if he's ever been arrested?
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: No, I don't.
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: You got a picture of your husband?
• 22:17
  Speaker 11: You mean that you can have?
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: We'd like to take a look at it, yeah.
• 22:20
  Speaker 7: Not a luck.
• 22:20
  Speaker 11: I haven't got one.
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: Does he work?
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: Nothing can help it.
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: Doesn't hold a job of any kind, huh? No.
• 22:24
  Speaker 11: Keith's a professional avoider. He doesn't like anything steady. Beginning
• 22:28
  Speaker 11: to look like he.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: Means me, too.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: What's he do with his time?
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: Nothing. Just lives it.
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: Is he here in the evening?
• 22:34
  Speaker 11: If he was, there wouldn't have been the beef this
• 22:35
  Speaker 11: morning and you wouldn't be asking a lot of questions.
• 22:37
  Speaker 11: I don't know what you're trying to get me to say,
• 22:39
  Speaker 11: but I can't go along with you. You got a
• 22:40
  Speaker 11: problem with Keith, then talk to him.
• 22:42
  Speaker 8: Leave me out of it.
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: I'll get it.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: You know where your husband is now? No. You don't
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: have any idea, huh? Not the least.
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: There you are, little fella. There's your keys. Does your
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: husband drive a car?
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: What kind is it?
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: 41 Plymouth.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: When do you expect your husband back?
• 22:59
  Speaker 8: When he walks in the door.
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: All right, Miss Kearney, I think that'll do it. Sorry
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: if we've caused you any trouble.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: You haven't, you're not.
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: All right. Let's go, Frank. Yeah. Good night.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: Good night.
• 23:12
  Speaker 8: Good night.
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: Better check on the husband, huh? Yeah. Wait a minute.
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: Get a good look at those keys that the baby
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: was playing with.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: Oh, what?
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: Plastic tag on them had a license number. Yeah. One
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: of the stolen cars used in a drugstore holdup. Frank
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: and I went back to the car and drove around
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: the block, parking up the street from the Kearney residence.
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: We called the name of the man and his wife
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: into R & I, but there was no record on
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: either one of them. Because of the remark made by
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: his wife and the finding of the car keys, it
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: was decided to stake out on the house and wait
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: for the husband to return.
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: 7.30 p.m., 8.30, 9.00 p.m.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: The lights in the house went out, but there was
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: still no sign.
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: Of Keith Kearney. 10, 10.30. We called the office and
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: told them we'd wait it out. 10.45 p.m. Joe. Yeah?
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: Let's see what kind it is. Looks like a plumber. No.
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: Checks out, huh? Yeah. Let's take him.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: All right, Kearney, hold it up.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: Give it up, Kearney. Keep away from me, cop. He's
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: trying to make his house.
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Kearney, you're not going to make the front porch.
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: Don't give your family any more trouble than they got.
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: Now throw down that gun. All right, let's give it.
• 24:34
  Speaker 7: Back to him.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: He's down, Joe.
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: Come on.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Kearney.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Kearney.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: Careful. Come on, Kearney.
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: Throw that gun away. You hear me? Looks like he's
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: hurt bad.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: Hold it.
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: Yeah. How about it? He'll live. Call an ambulance. Right.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Did you kill him?
• 24:58
  Speaker 8: Did you kill him?
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: No, ma'am.
• 24:59
  Speaker 10: He's dead.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: You killed him.
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: He'll be all right. Don't lie to me. Poor Keith.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: You didn't give him a chance.
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: Not fair.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: He didn't even have a chance. You saw it all, lady.
• 25:08
  Speaker 8: Yeah, and it wasn't even a fair fight.
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: Never is when you pull a gun.
• 25:19
  Speaker 7: Keith Jarrus Kearney was tried and convicted on nine counts
• 25:23
  Speaker 7: of robbery in the first degree and received sentence as
• 25:25
  Speaker 7: prescribed by law. Robbery in the first degree is punishable
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: by imprisonment for a period of not less than five years.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Dragnet is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Radio Service.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: Bye-bye.
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: Our presentation of Dragnet, episode 271, Big Key, is complete.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: Follow Dragnet for more classic broadcasts.