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Dragnet - "Max Tyler - Escaped Convict" (Old Time Radio, 1950) · The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A string of armed holdups at Los Angeles jewelry stores
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: bring Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner, Ben Romero, onto
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the LAPD robbery detail. Their investigation takes a personal turn
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: when Friday learns that Max Tyler, a friend from his
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Army days, is connected with the case. From NBC with
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Jack Webb as Friday and Barton Yarbrough as Romero, this
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: is Dragnet, episode 32, Max Tyler, escaped convict, first heard
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: January 5th, 1950. The case moves from the robbery desk
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: to a search for an escaped man Friday once knew.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Here is the original broadcast.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: is true. Only the names have been changed to protect
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: the innocent.
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: Fatima Cigarettes, best of all long cigarettes, brings you Dragnet.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: © BF-WATCH TV 2021.
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: If you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: all long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. Fatima is the long cigarette
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos, superbly blended
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: to make Fatima extra mild. And that's why Fatima has
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: other long cigarette. That's why Fatima is doubling and redoubling
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: its smokers. So, if you want a long cigarette, smoke
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: the best of all long cigarettes.
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: Smoke Fatima.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: the law through an actual case from official police files.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: the story of your police force in action.
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: It was Tuesday, February 8th. It was cold in Los Angeles.
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: We were working the night watch out of robbery detail.
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad Brown, chief
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: of detectives. My name's Friday. I was on the way
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: over from the city hall, and it was 8.35 p.m.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: when I got to the second floor of the Georgia
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: Street Receiving Hospital treatment room. Joe, hi. Hi, Doc. Ben,
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: how's it going? Okay.
• 3:02
  Speaker 6: It hurt for a while. Doc gave me an injection.
• 3:04
  Speaker 6: Six of a grain of morphine, novocaine injection. Bullet still
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: on your shoulder? Doc's about ready to take it out.
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: As soon as I get the wound cleaned, here's the
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: soap and water nurse. Alcohol sponge, please.
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: How's it look, Doctor? There's the x-ray. Shallow penetrating wound
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: in the deltoid area. Sludge. Larger than the soft tissue
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: right here.
• 3:23
  Speaker 7: Oh, yeah.
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: No bone involvement. Okay, the bullet was spent. That's great.
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: Feel okay?
• 3:29
  Speaker 8: Sure.
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: Nurse, let's dial that applicator, please. All right. Let's see now.
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: Where'd you leave Tyler, Joe? Interrogation room. Reynolds and Thompson
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: are with him. Let me have the probe, nurse. Yeah.
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: Feel anything, Romero? No. That's it. You hear that? Hear what?
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: Located the slug with the probe. Oh. Nurse, plus F. Thanks.
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: Here we go. Oh, this is Teddy. You call your wife? No,
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: she don't worry. There it is, boys. Want a market
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: for evidence? Yeah, give it to me, will you? I will.
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: There's sterile saline solution. Here, get the woman. No sign
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: of Tyler's partner, huh, Joe? Guy got me? No, not yet, no.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: Sterile dressings, please. How long did you know this Tyler?
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: Before he went wrong, I mean. I met him in
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: the army, helped him line up a job when he
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: got on. It's too bad.
• 4:21
  Speaker 9: Sure is funny. Making a friend of yours pull an
• 4:24
  Speaker 9: armed robbery. I was just surprised, you know.
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah, kind of. You want me to drive you home
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: when the doc's finished?
• 4:30
  Speaker 9: Let's go back to the office and talk to Tyler first, okay?
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: Is that all right, doc?
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: No.
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: You're staying right here, Romero, until tomorrow morning. If you
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: haven't got a temperature by then, I.
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: Might release you. Oh, it's only a flesh wound, doc.
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: I feel all right.
• 4:41
  Speaker 6: I'm not taking any chances with gunshot wounds. If infection
• 4:45
  Speaker 6: set in and you were laid up, I'd have the
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: pension committee to answer to.
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: You're staying here. Sounds like an order. It is. You
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: can pick them up from the PNF ward tomorrow morning. Okay.
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: You gonna need anything, Ben?
• 4:55
  Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: A phone to tell my wife I won't be home
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: for dinner. His name was Max Tyler, white, male American,
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: age 32. Dark hair, brown eyes, medium build, married, father
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: of twin boys. He was a friend of mine. We
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: served together in the army overseas, and when the war finished,
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: I came back to my job on the force, and
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: Max went back to his old job. It didn't fit
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: him anymore. He stopped working and started drinking. His wife
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: didn't help much. Max started with small trouble, but it
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: grew fast. On the afternoon of February the 8th, Tuesday,
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: Ben and I surprised two men holding up a Main
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: Street jewelry shop. Shots were exchanged, and Ben received a
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: flesh wound in the shoulder. One of the hold-up men escaped.
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: The other one was apprehended. His name was Max Tyler. Hi, Larry.
• 5:45
  Speaker 8: Hi, Joe.
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: Glad you got here. Tyler says he won't talk to
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: anybody but you. Okay, boy. Thanks for standing by. Sure.
• 5:53
  Speaker 10: I'll be outside if you need anything.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Max. Joe. You're in deep this time. You shot a cop.
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: I didn't. This guy was with me. I didn't fire once.
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: You were in on the job.
• 6:10
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: Then don't expect presents.
• 6:12
  Speaker 7: I don't expect anything, Joe. Glad you came back. I
• 6:16
  Speaker 7: don't want to talk to those other cops.
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: I work in the same department they do. Same job.
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: It's easier to talk to you. What's your story?
• 6:22
  Speaker 7: I was crazy to try it. No alibis, Joe, but
• 6:26
  Speaker 7: I didn't know what I was doing. Believe me, I
• 6:28
  Speaker 7: just didn't remember.
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: I won't buy it, Max. You told me the same
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: thing 14 months ago when they picked you up for
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: those bum checks you were passing.
• 6:33
  Speaker 7: Sure, I hung some paper, but I'm no hood. Joe,
• 6:35
  Speaker 7: you know that. I was drinking. I needed dough for
• 6:39
  Speaker 7: Dorothy and the kids. You gotta believe me.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: I need a break. You said that before, too. I
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: went to bat for you, got off with six months
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: and three years probation. Now you turn up with another caper.
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: I know, Joe, I know. I'm sorry. You're sorry once, Max,
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: and it works. But one free ride's enough for anybody. Now,
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: that's it.
• 6:54
  Speaker 7: Did I say I wanted that kind of a break?
• 6:56
  Speaker 7: I'll serve my time, Joe. I'll serve every day I owe.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: I mean, what can you tell me you couldn't have
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: told the other cops? I want to ask you a favor. Yeah?
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: I know you're going to hook me on this.
• 7:08
  Speaker 7: So while I'm doing my time, Dorothy and the kids
• 7:11
  Speaker 7: are staying with relatives out in Eaglewood. Just keep an
• 7:16
  Speaker 7: eye on them, you know, Joe. I don't mean dough.
• 7:19
  Speaker 7: Dorothy can work with.
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: Kind of watch out for him, huh? Give him a break, Joe.
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: It's not their fault. Are you dirt, Joe? Yeah. Sure,
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: I'll take care of it. Now, you do something for me.
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: Anything you want, Guy. Let's have the straight story. Who
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: was the guy with you on that holdup this afternoon? Cresta,
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: George Cresta. You know him. Out of Folsom? Short guy,
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: black hair? Yeah, yeah. He's got a room above the
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: Red Owl Bar down on East 3rd near Broadway. That's
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: where he hangs out. Where can we find Cresta now? Oh,
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: maybe there. I don't know.
• 7:48
  Speaker 7: I'll give you a list of the places he goes.
• 7:50
  Speaker 7: Some of his friends I've met. He sure roped me in.
• 7:54
  Speaker 7: Said there wasn't going to be any rough stuff.
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: You were carrying an SNW-38? Sure, sure.
• 7:57
  Speaker 7: When they got outside the jewelry shop, Crested jammed the
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: gun in my hand. I had to put it away,
• 8:01
  Speaker 7: get it out of sight. Believe me, Joe, he roped
• 8:05
  Speaker 7: me into this. It sounds like an alibi, I know, but.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: This is your second time around, Max. It sounds like one. Okay,
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: I got nothing coming. Don't forget about Dorothy and the kids.
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: I promised you. Now, you want to give me a
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: full statement on the holdup now? Anything you say, Joe.
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: I'll call for a sonographer. Joe. Yeah. I'm sorry. I am.
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: I believe you. You got the feeling too late, that's all.
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: Max Tyler was arraigned in municipal court two days later.
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: Bail was set at $ 10, 000. Three days after that came
• 8:42
  Speaker 5: his preliminary hearing in municipal court. At his arraignment in
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: superior court, five weeks after he'd been apprehended, Tyler entered
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: a plea of not guilty. A date was set for
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: his trial in superior court. Meantime, the hunt for George Cresta,
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: Max's accomplice, went on. There wasn't a sign of him.
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: Our informants had no lead on him, and the all-points
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: bulletin containing all the information we had on Cresta brought
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: in nothing. On Monday, March 22nd, the trial of Max
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: Tyler was held in Superior Court. Ben and I were
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: subpoenaed to appear. The victim of the holdup, the jewelry
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: store manager, was the first to testify. He was questioned
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: by both the prosecutor and the counsel for the defense.
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: He left the stand at 11.25 a.m. If it please,
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: Your Honor.
• 9:21
  Speaker 11: Counsel for the defense. Before the next witness testifies, I'd
• 9:24
  Speaker 11: like permission to approach the bench. Commission granted. Counsel and
• 9:28
  Speaker 11: prosecution may also proceed.
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: I wonder what that's all about, Jim. Something's up. Hello.
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: The judge is shaking his head.
• 9:35
  Speaker 9: The public defender is going back to the counsel's table there.
• 9:40
  Speaker 11: Counsel to the defense. Your Honor, it was my client's
• 9:43
  Speaker 11: desire to change his plea to guilty. Defendant, rise and
• 9:47
  Speaker 11: face the court. Max Tyler, is that your true name?
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: Yes, Your Honor.
• 9:54
  Speaker 12: On the 12th day of March of this year, in
• 9:56
  Speaker 12: Superior Court, Department 83, City and County of Los Angeles,
• 9:59
  Speaker 12: State of California. you have heretofore been arraigned on the
• 10:02
  Speaker 12: charge of robbery in the first degree. At that time,
• 10:05
  Speaker 12: you pled not guilty to the charge in question. Is
• 10:07
  Speaker 12: it now your desire to change that plea?
• 10:10
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir, it is.
• 10:11
  Speaker 11: You've reached this decision of your own free will? Yes,
• 10:15
  Speaker 11: I have.
• 10:16
  Speaker 12: With no force employed, no promise of gratuity or reward,
• 10:19
  Speaker 12: would you reach this decision?
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: No, sir.
• 10:22
  Speaker 11: Counsel to the prosecution.
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: Yes, Your Honor.
• 10:27
  Speaker 10: Max Tyler, on the 12th day of March of this
• 10:30
  Speaker 10: year in Superior Court, City and County of Los Angeles,
• 10:33
  Speaker 10: State of California, you are arraigned on the charge of
• 10:36
  Speaker 10: robbery in the first degree.
• 10:37
  Speaker 11: At that time, you entered a plea and set forth misinformation.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: How do you now plead?
• 10:42
  Speaker 11: Guilty or not guilty?
• 10:44
  Speaker 13: Guilty.
• 10:46
  Speaker 10: Is it stipulated that at the time of the commission
• 10:47
  Speaker 10: of the robbery, the.
• 10:48
  Speaker 11: Defendant was armed with a deadly weapon to.
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: Wit a revolver? So stipulated.
• 10:52
  Speaker 12: The court depicts the degree of robbery as robbery's first degree.
• 10:56
  Speaker 10: Your Honor, in the interest of justice, the people move
• 10:58
  Speaker 10: to dismiss count two, assault with a deadly weapon.
• 11:01
  Speaker 13: At this time, Your Honor, the defendant waives time for
• 11:03
  Speaker 13: sentencing and asks that he be sentenced immediately.
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: Just a moment.
• 11:09
  Speaker 12: Max Tyler, it's the judgment of this court. that on
• 11:13
  Speaker 12: the 8th day of February of this year, you did
• 11:15
  Speaker 12: enter the premises at 23108 East Main Street in the city,
• 11:20
  Speaker 12: and there did attempt the felonious taking of personal property
• 11:23
  Speaker 12: in the possession of another from his person in immediate
• 11:26
  Speaker 12: presence and against his will.
• 11:28
  Speaker 11: Further, said attempt was made while you were armed with
• 11:30
  Speaker 11: a dangerous and deadly weapon.
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: Now, I.
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: Mr.
• 11:34
  Speaker 12: Tyler, this court finds you guilty of robbery in the
• 11:36
  Speaker 12: first degree. Count two is dismissed.
• 11:39
  Speaker 5: That's it, Joe.
• 11:39
  Speaker 12: The decision of this court is that you be returned
• 11:42
  Speaker 12: to the county jail. The sheriff will transfer you to
• 11:44
  Speaker 12: the state penitentiary where you will serve the sentence as
• 11:46
  Speaker 12: prescribed by law.
• 11:48
  Speaker 11: Court is set for 15 minutes.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: Hey, Joe. There's Tyler over there. She's taking it pretty hard. Yeah,
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: come on. We better go see her. Hello, Dorothy.
• 12:04
  Speaker 8: I love him, Joe. What am I going to do
• 12:07
  Speaker 8: without him?
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: Children. I'll give it to you straight, Dorothy. You didn't
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: do much to keep Max out of this. You drank
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: right along with him. You don't deserve those kids. That's
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: my opinion.
• 12:15
  Speaker 8: Please, I know it. Don't make it any harder.
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: Don't. I'll do anything I can for the kids, Dorothy.
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: That's all.
• 12:21
  Speaker 8: What am I going to do without him? I can't
• 12:24
  Speaker 8: be all alone without Max. It's not right. It's not right.
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: Neither is armed robbery. Goodbye, Dorothy. Before the end of March,
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: Max Tyler was delivered to San Quentin State Penitentiary where
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: he started serving his term. His wife, Dorothy Tyler, got
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: a job as a telephone operator. She and her children
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: continued living with their relatives down in Englewood. I helped
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: them out whenever I could. Six months went by. Every
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: two weeks, faithfully, Tyler wrote me a letter from prison.
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: I answered most of them. While Ben and I worked
• 12:54
  Speaker 5: on other jobs, the search for George Preston went on.
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: We failed to uncover a single lead. Ten months passed. Tuesday,
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: January 16th, 1949, 4 p.m. I checked in for work
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: as usual.
• 13:06
  Speaker 11: Hi, Joe.
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: Cold out, huh? Yeah. Did you pick up the mail?
• 13:10
  Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: It's a letter in your box from Sam Quinton. Tyler, huh?
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: How's he doing, anyway? Good. Clean record. Got himself a
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: pretty fair job in the prison library. Yeah. I talked
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: to the warden up there. Says Tyler ought to be
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: eligible for parole in about a year if he keeps
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: his nose clean. You going to bat for Tyler again?
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: I don't know. We'll see what happens. How can you
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: see anything in that guy? He's giving you nothing but trouble.
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: A lot of people are giving him the same. Maybe
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: that explains it. Not for me, it doesn't. I wouldn't
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: trust him with dirty laundry. I get it. Robbery Friday.
• 13:39
  Speaker 8: Joe, this is Dorothy Tyler. I got to talk to you.
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Dorothy. What's the matter?
• 13:43
  Speaker 8: I found Krista.
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: I saw him.
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: What? You sure it was him?
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: I'm positive.
• 13:53
  Speaker 8: He's staying at 134 Jesse Street. It's a rooming house
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: just off Alameda. 134 Jesse.
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: Got it. Thanks, Dorothy. Come on, Ben. Eight minutes later,
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: Ben and I were interviewing a landlord at 134 Jesse Street,
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: a cheap rooming house down on the south end of
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: the city. The landlord's name was Peterson. We showed him
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: Cresta's mugshot, and he told us he was in room 11.
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: We went up a dark, narrow stairway to the second floor.
• 14:21
  Speaker 9: And here we are, number 11. All right, stand clear.
• 14:29
  Speaker 9: I'll try the door.
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: It's open. Yeah. Joe, have a look. He's asleep. He's
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: passed out. Come on, slip the cuffs on him. That
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: was easy. Yeah. He's been drinking, all right. He'll have
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: a big hangover. He'll have a long time to get
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: over it. George Cresta was booked at county jail on
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: suspicion of robbery. Two months and three weeks later in
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: superior court, he was tried and convicted of assault with
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: a deadly weapon and first-degree robbery and sentenced to the
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: state penitentiary. The day after Cresta was sentenced, I was
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: called to the office of Chief of Detectives Thad Brown.
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: Friday, this Max Tyler is coming up for parole in
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: a couple of months. He's a friend of yours, isn't he?
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: That's right, in a way.
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: He's been writing letters to the warden. We've talked to
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: the parole board about him. I understand you're helping on
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: his kids. A few presents. They haven't had much of
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: a break. They're just youngsters.
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: Working hard to get Tyler's parole. Do you think he's
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: worth it? Well, I was off both him and his wife,
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: and then she gave us that tip about Cresta, and
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: Tyler's got such a good record up at Q, I
• 15:36
  Speaker 5: figured they'd earned another chance.
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: You're sticking your chin out, Joe, helping a con to
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: get a parole. I think you'll realize that. Well, I
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: believe he's a good risk now, Chief. He's pretty weak
• 15:44
  Speaker 6: in some things. He needs direction, that's all. His wife's
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: getting better. She might help more than she did.
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: I hope both of them are worth it. If anything happens,
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: I know I'm going to get it from all sides.
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: You really think some men deserve another chance, don't you? Yes, sir,
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: I do. I wouldn't want you working for me if
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: you didn't. Two more weeks went by, Tuesday, April the 19th.
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: Ben came down with a bad cold and had to
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: lay off work. At the same time, a new gang
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: started a hold-up campaign among the liquor stores out in
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: the Wilshire district. A new rash of armed robberies broke
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: out in the central area. It was an attempted bank robbery.
• 16:17
  Speaker 5: It was a bad week. Ben got back to work
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: on Saturday. Rough time, huh, Joe? Busy, yeah.
• 16:23
  Speaker 9: Did you beat that cold all right? Sure, I feel
• 16:25
  Speaker 9: much better. Doctor gave me some new medicine.
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: Works good. That's fine. Maybe I'll knock off early tonight
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: if nothing's doing. That's a good idea. Shouldn't be too
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: much tonight. Joe, teletype for you. Just came in. Oh, thanks, Larry. Sure.
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: What's the matter, Joe? What is it? Max Tyler? He
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: broke out of prison this morning.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: You are listening to Dragnet. Authentic stories of your police
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: force in action. And now, here's an authentic report from
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: Fatima Cigarettes.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: In 1949, Fatima doubled, tripled, and quadrupled its smokers.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: In 1950, enjoy Fatima yourself.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: You'll find Fatima extraordinary.
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: Because Fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: Turkish and domestic tobacco superbly blended to make Fatima extra mild.
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: Fatima's superb blend gives you a much different, much better
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. Fatima has
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: always stood for the best in cigarette quality. For a
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: new year of great smoking enjoyment, buy Fatima in the
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: appealing golden yellow package. You'll agree, Fatima is the best
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: of all long cigarettes.
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: In the course of his career, the police officer has
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: afforded two diverse views of the criminal. At first, the
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: rookie cop is taught to distrust the criminal at every
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: turn without exception. He's schooled in the thousand and one
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: ways in which the criminal operates, his psychology, his mode
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: of operation. Then, when he's thoroughly acquainted with the methods
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: of the criminal and how best to detect them, the
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: police officer starts to learn the most difficult lesson of all,
• 18:21
  Speaker 5: how to distinguish between the confirmed criminal and the lawbreaker,
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: in whom there is hope of rehabilitation. After nine and
• 18:29
  Speaker 5: a half years of police work, my first experiment in
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: this field was with Max Tyler. I'd given him two
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: chances to prove himself, and he'd lost on both of them.
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: So did I. Two months before his parole hearing, which
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: might have given him his freedom, Max Tyler had suddenly
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: decided to escape. How he figured it, I didn't know,
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: but it was my job to find him. At 5
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: o'clock that afternoon, Ben and I met in the chief
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: of detective's office. Two officers, Holland and Grayson, from the
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: state adult authority, escaped detail over there. How did Tyler
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: manage his escape, Grayson?
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: Same old story. They figured they could trust him up there.
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: He had a good job on the prison farm. They
• 19:01
  Speaker 6: trusted him.
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: When did they find out he was gone?
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: On the early morning count. Have you checked his relatives
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: out in Inglewood yet?
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we have. We've got the home staked out. We're
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: covering all the places we figure he might go. How
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: about Mrs. Tyler? You get in touch with her Friday?
• 19:12
  Speaker 5: Her relatives told us that she's on a weekend vacation
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: with the two kids. Staying with friends down at Laguna Beach.
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: We got a call in to them. Should be hearing
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: from them soon. I understand Tyler's a friend of yours Friday.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: He was ready for parole. Yeah. I was trying to
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: help him along. I thought the guy deserved a break.
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: He didn't need you, Joe. He made his own.
• 19:29
  Speaker 12: Well, he was feeling bad. You weren't the only one
• 19:31
  Speaker 12: fooled Friday. He had the prison officials buffaloed, too.
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I know. I helped convince them. You got any
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: leads on Tyler at all, Grayson? I mean, from the
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: time he broke prison? Pretty strange. They traced him as
• 19:42
  Speaker 5: far as Stockton, and then they lost the trail completely.
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: The Stockton police in on the search? Yeah, sure funny.
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: The guy has no money, no car we know of, no...
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: change of clothes. You figure he's getting help from somebody?
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: Could be. Excuse me a minute. Brown speaking. Just a moment.
• 19:57
  Speaker 5: You go Friday. Well, thank you. Friday. Yeah. When? Where?
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: Just a minute. Will you hold on, please? It's the
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: Tyler's friends down at Laguna Beach. Mrs. Tyler there? No,
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: she called him last night about 7 o'clock. Told him
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: she'd changed her plans. She wasn't coming. She told him
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: where she was going? She wanted to know which highway
• 20:15
  Speaker 5: would take her to Stockton. We told the Tyler's friends
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: in Laguna Beach to contact us immediately if they heard
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: from either Mr. or Mrs. Tyler. We got out an
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: APB on Dorothy Tyler and then we drove out to
• 20:27
  Speaker 5: interview her relatives in Englewood. They told us that Mrs.
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: Tyler had the two children with her. She had left
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: their house at 6 p.m. the night before by taxi.
• 20:35
  Speaker 5: As far as they knew, she didn't own a car.
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: We talked with some of her friends in the neighborhood.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: The only thing they could tell us was that she
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: had not borrowed a car from any of them. We
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: drove down to the telephone exchange where she was employed
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: as an operator, and we spoke with a manager, a Mr.
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: Ralph Cartwright. I'm sorry, gentlemen. This is Mrs. Tyler's night off.
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: Is there something I can help you with? When is
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: Miss Tyler due back to work, Mr. Cartwright?
• 20:58
  Speaker 13: She's working the 10 to 7 starting tomorrow, due in
• 21:02
  Speaker 13: at 10 a.m.
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: We understand that she's on a weekend vacation.
• 21:06
  Speaker 13: Yes, you see, today was payday, so she asked me
• 21:09
  Speaker 13: if she could have her check ahead of time.
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: Said she had to have the money for the weekend.
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: Did you give her the check?
• 21:14
  Speaker 13: Oh, my, no, I couldn't give her the check ahead
• 21:16
  Speaker 13: of time. But I did do her a favor just
• 21:19
  Speaker 13: to help her over the weekend.
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: What was that? I loaned her my car. We got
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: a complete description of the car together with a license
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: number and called the office. The information was broadcast to
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: all units throughout the city and teletyped to all points
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: in the state. Chief of Detectives Thad Brown ordered an
• 21:35
  Speaker 5: immediate stakeout on the telephone exchange where Mrs. Tyler was employed.
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: The stakeout at the home of Inglewood continued. Another day passed.
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: We checked with the bank where Mrs. Tyler maintained her account.
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: It was 10.25 a.m. when we got back to robbery details. Gentlemen,
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: what'd you find out?
• 21:52
  Speaker 9: Miss Tyler closed her account three days ago, withdrew all
• 21:55
  Speaker 9: her savings.
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: $ 46. 55. I'm not going to go far on that. Any
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: word about that car she borrowed?
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: Teletype came in about an hour ago. They found it
• 22:02
  Speaker 6: just outside Santa Barbara, abandoned.
• 22:04
  Speaker 5: Anyone see the Tylers? No reports.
• 22:06
  Speaker 9: I wonder how those poor kids are making out. He
• 22:09
  Speaker 9: must be crazy, and his wife, too. If she was
• 22:10
  Speaker 9: going to help him pull an escape, why'd she have
• 22:12
  Speaker 9: to drag the kids along?
• 22:13
  Speaker 6: It's the way some parents figure, Friday. They owe their
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: children nothing. The children owe them everything.
• 22:18
  Speaker 11: Call for you, Friday. Take it on two.
• 22:19
  Speaker 5: Oh, thanks, Larry. Friday. This is Hopkins Friday on Stegard,
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: the phone exchange. Yeah, Bert.
• 22:29
  Speaker 11: Tyler woman came for a check.
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: We got her. Dorothy Tyler was brought into the city
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: hall where there was one of her children. He was
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: delivered to the juvenile authorities for the time being.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: Mrs.
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: Tyler was brought to the interrogation room. She refused to
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: admit anything to the officers from the adult authority. She
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: said she wanted to talk to me. I went in.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: She threw her arms around me and started crying. Joe!
• 22:54
  Speaker 8: Joe, you won't let him get Max, will you? You
• 22:57
  Speaker 8: won't let him.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: I'm after him as much as they are, maybe more.
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: Where is he?
• 23:02
  Speaker 8: I can't tell you.
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: Why'd you do it, Dorothy? Why?
• 23:06
  Speaker 8: Oh, you know why, Joe.
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: You know why.
• 23:09
  Speaker 8: I had to see him. I had to be with Max.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: It's a bum deal. They traded days for years. They
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: can't get him.
• 23:16
  Speaker 8: If I don't tell them where he is, they won't
• 23:17
  Speaker 8: find him.
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: They'll find him. He's got to eat. So do you
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: and the kids. He has to go to work, and
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: working with a gun is all he knows. He'll leave
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: a trail. We'll find him. Children.
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: What have they done to the children? Where's Jimmy?
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: They're taking care of him. That's more than you did.
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: Where's your other boy, Vance?
• 23:33
  Speaker 8: Max? Max has him.
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: That's fine. You and Max ought to be real proud
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: of yourselves.
• 23:40
  Speaker 8: I had to see him You know that I had
• 23:42
  Speaker 8: to see.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: Max Has he got a gun? Has he? Has he
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: used it?
• 23:49
  Speaker 8: No He just thought he might need it He hasn't
• 23:53
  Speaker 8: hurt anyone I swear it.
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: You helped him escape, is that right? You helped him He.
• 23:58
  Speaker 8: Needed help I met him at San Rafael We drove
• 24:02
  Speaker 8: all night He didn't hurt anyone, Joe He hasn't hurt anyone.
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: Where is he now? Where is he? All right, Dorothy,
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: we'll find him.
• 24:14
  Speaker 8: Joe, if I tell you, if I tell you, will
• 24:21
  Speaker 8: you go alone? I can show you the way. Will
• 24:26
  Speaker 8: you go alone?
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 24:31
  Speaker 8: I'll take you to him, Joe. I trust you.
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I trusted him once, too. 5 p.m. Monday, April 25th.
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: Dorothy Tyler, Ben, and I got in the car and
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: headed north for the coast town of Santa Maria. Acting
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: under orders of Chief of Detectives Thad Brown, Larry Thompson
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: from Robbery Detail followed in another car. Holland and Grayson
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: from the State Adult Authority were with him. It was
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: ten minutes past eight when we drove through the town
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: of Santa Maria. Just outside the city, Dorothy Tyler directed
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: us to turn off onto a dirt road. We drove
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: about two miles. She told us to pull up.
• 25:09
  Speaker 8: Cross that field. Shacked by those trees.
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: It's lonely out here.
• 25:15
  Speaker 8: I'll go with you, Joe. Maybe Max won't understand.
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: No, you stay here.
• 25:19
  Speaker 8: Joe, that car.
• 25:20
  Speaker 5: The car stopped here. It's cops, Dorothy. It had to be.
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: They won't shoot unless Max does.
• 25:25
  Speaker 8: But you promised. You said you'd go alone.
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: I'll go alone. Righty. Hello, Grayson.
• 25:35
  Speaker 9: Where is he, should I tell you? That shack over
• 25:37
  Speaker 9: there across the field with that clump of trees. He's
• 25:39
  Speaker 9: got one of the kids with him, that right?
• 25:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah. He won't be any trouble.
• 25:42
  Speaker 8: He's armed.
• 25:43
  Speaker 6: The cons up at Quentin say he won't be taken alive.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: They say he'll shoot it out. They talk a lot.
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: You better let us take him. You're not getting paid
• 25:49
  Speaker 6: to do this one. I'll take him alone. I made
• 25:51
  Speaker 6: a promise.
• 25:52
  Speaker 5: That guy in the shack's in the habit of breaking promises.
• 25:54
  Speaker 5: I keep mine.
• 25:55
  Speaker 9: Keep an eye on Miss Tyler, will you, Ben? Thompson's
• 25:58
  Speaker 9: watching her. I'm coming with you.
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: I told her I'd go alone. There's two doors, front
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: and back. Which one are you going in? Front. I'll
• 26:05
  Speaker 5: be around back. Careful, Jim. Yeah. I'll be right back, Grayson.
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: I started to cross the field. The shack was about
• 26:18
  Speaker 5: 100 yards from the road. The field was uncultivated, and
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: I wasn't sure of my footing. I stumbled over a
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: tree stump. Halfway across the field, the lights in the
• 26:30
  Speaker 5: shack went out. Who's there? Who is it? It's me, Max.
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: Joe Friday.
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: Max.
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: Come on, open up. All right, Max. Why the gun, Joe?
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: I never thought you'd take me with a gun. I
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: never thought I'd have to kick down a door to
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: get you. You've changed a lot, Max. How'd you find me,
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: Dorothy tell you? Where is she? Outside. Your boy over there, Vance.
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: He's sleeping. He's okay. Put out your hands. Put out
• 27:22
  Speaker 5: your hands. I'm sorry, Joe. Yeah. You've been good to us.
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: I won't try to explain. Neither will I, Max. Come on.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true. Only the
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: names were changed to protect the innocent.
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: On June 2nd, trial was held in Superior Court, City
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: and County of Marin, State of California. In a moment,
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: the results of that trial.
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: It's amazing how many long cigarette smokers are changing to Fatima.
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: Here are the actual figures. New York Division.
• 28:05
  Speaker 11: Fatima sales up 132%. Los Angeles Division.
• 28:07
  Speaker 5: Fatima sales up 545%.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: St.
• 28:08
  Speaker 5: Louis Division.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: Fatima sales up 548%.
• 28:17
  Speaker 4: Yes, in 1949, more and more smokers discovered that Fatima
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: is the best of all long cigarettes.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: They found Fatima extra mild.
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: They found Fatima has a much different, much better flavor.
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: They found the name Fatima means the best in cigarette quality.
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: In 1950, enjoy Fatima yourself. Best of all long cigarettes.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: Max Tyler pleaded guilty to the charge of escape and
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: was sentenced to the term as prescribed by law. He
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: was returned to San Quentin and then transferred to Folsom Penitentiary,
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: where he is now serving his sentence. You have just
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: heard Dragnet, a new series of authentic cases from official files.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the Office of Acting
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: Chief of Police, W.A. Wharton, Los Angeles Police Department.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: Dragnet honors the state of California and the men of
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: the California Highway Patrol, another of America's outstanding law enforcement agencies.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: One of these men, Highway Patrol Commissioner Clifford E. Peterson,
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: outstanding administrator and educator in the field of law enforcement...
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: dedicates his life to making yours more special.
• 29:40
  Speaker 5: Secure.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: The team of cigarettes, best of all long cigarettes, has
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: brought you Dragnet from Los Angeles.
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: Be sure to hear Mr. and Mrs.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: Ronald Coleman in the halls of Ivy starting tomorrow on NBC.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: That was Dragnet. Max Tyler, Escaped Convict. Follow the 50
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: greatest old-time radio shows for more classic broadcasts.