The Big Plea

Friday - The Dragnet Podcast · Oct 6, 2026 · 30m

Originally Aired: October 13, 1953

Dragnet #217, "The Big Plea," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith are tracking down two holdup men operating in Los Angeles. Their investigation leads them to the Universal Hobby Shop in Van Nuys, where they question Stanley McGowan, an ex-convict working as a model ship rigger. McGowan is carefully staying clean while on parole, dutifully carrying his bucket and reporting to his parole officer. He reveals that Jim Boland, a fellow ex-con, had contacted him a couple months earlier looking for help. McGowan let Boland stay at his place briefly…