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Transcript

Dragnet: The Big Tomato (EP4664) · The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the great Detectives of Old time Radio. In
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: of Dragnant. Before we get started, I want to encourage you,
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• 2:13
  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty. Here is the baked Tomato.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true, only
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: a detective sergeant. You're assigned to narcotics detail. A band
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: of dope peddler's launch is a full scale operation in
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: your city. Their merchandise marijuana. They're victims, high school students.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: Your job get them.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime. Well the
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: next thirty minutes. In cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files,
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: from beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: the story of your police force in action.
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: It was Thursday, April eleventh. It was warm in Los Angeles.
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: We were working the day watch out in Narcotics Detail.
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Kearney. My
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: name is Friday. I was on the way back from
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: R and I and it was ten twenty five am
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: when I got the Central.
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: Station Narcotics Detail. Yo, Hi, le'd you find out? Talk
• 3:43
  Speaker 6: to the corner he finished posting the broading. Cause of
• 3:46
  Speaker 6: death multiple fractures of the skull, internal injury.
• 3:49
  Speaker 7: The boy was seventeen years old.
• 3:51
  Speaker 8: To check the car, well, the kid must have been
• 3:53
  Speaker 8: doing at least seventy when he hit that streetlight.
• 3:54
  Speaker 6: It's a real mess. Car was really wound around that pole.
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: We're going to have to dig up a fast dan
• 4:00
  Speaker 6: you somewhere I was racking.
• 4:02
  Speaker 8: There was only one way to burn it out, To
• 4:04
  Speaker 8: find the big man and throw the book at him,
• 4:05
  Speaker 8: make him an example. I'll never forget.
• 4:07
  Speaker 7: If you check with juven bureau.
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the evidence has been booked with the property clerk.
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: How about the boy's parents? Missus Moore wasn't feeling too early,
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: drove her home. Father still down in the hall Inspector
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: Walker's over.
• 4:17
  Speaker 6: Can we talk to him now? Yeah, he should be
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: free by now. Let me check the book. Already dead,
• 4:21
  Speaker 6: there's no calls.
• 4:22
  Speaker 7: Oh, okay, let's go.
• 4:26
  Speaker 8: Well, there's only one thing fortunate about this whole thing.
• 4:29
  Speaker 7: What do you mean a.
• 4:30
  Speaker 8: Kid being alone when he cracked up would have been
• 4:33
  Speaker 8: a slaughter if he had a car full of his
• 4:34
  Speaker 8: friends with him.
• 4:35
  Speaker 9: It's still pretty grim.
• 4:37
  Speaker 8: How's the boy's father taking it?
• 4:39
  Speaker 7: Usually pretty Rauh. He should be able to help some.
• 4:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah, mister Morrow, Yes, Sergeant Inspector asked me to wait.
• 4:49
  Speaker 8: Here for him.
• 4:50
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir, this is my partner, Sergeant Friday.
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: Mister Tomorrows, I just don't understand it's, Sergeant, I don't
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: understand any of it.
• 4:58
  Speaker 7: My boy can wasn't a type to go racing around
• 5:00
  Speaker 7: like that in the car. He never took the car
• 5:02
  Speaker 7: without permission. I just don't know what got anyway.
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: Had you noticed it all, whether your boy was acting
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: a little strange.
• 5:08
  Speaker 7: Last few weeks or so?
• 5:09
  Speaker 10: No, of course I only saw ken in the morning,
• 5:11
  Speaker 10: a few hours in the evening.
• 5:12
  Speaker 7: I'm at the office all day. Why'd he last well?
• 5:15
  Speaker 8: Was he going out very often on school nights? Uh?
• 5:17
  Speaker 8: Keeping odd or unusual hours.
• 5:19
  Speaker 10: You used to go to the library three or four
• 5:21
  Speaker 10: nights a week to do a school work. Got home
• 5:23
  Speaker 10: about midnight a few times, and I warned him about, Uh,
• 5:26
  Speaker 10: did you.
• 5:27
  Speaker 8: Have any way of knowing if he was really spending
• 5:28
  Speaker 8: his nights at the library?
• 5:30
  Speaker 7: No, what, I took his word for it. Ken didn't
• 5:32
  Speaker 7: lie to me. What's this have to do with the
• 5:34
  Speaker 7: auto accident? Size? And I don't think I understand.
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: The officer's investigating the accidents there they checked over the
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: car after where was it?
• 5:41
  Speaker 7: Where the break's bad? What they find?
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: Yeh, yeah, when you see this small metal case, we
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: found it in the front seat, on the floor of
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: the car.
• 5:53
  Speaker 7: What's that stuff inside of this belonged to Ken?
• 5:55
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir, we think he was usually one four, but
• 5:58
  Speaker 8: I don't know. It's marijuana.
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: Men and women who traffic in narcotics all the way
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: from the small time peddler to the big wholesaler. Rated
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: among the lowest kind of criminal. One step lower you
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: find an even more vicious kind, those who lure youngsters
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: into the deadly trap of narcotics, who feed on the
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: nickels and dimes by supplying their young victims with dope.
• 6:21
  Speaker 8: The death of.
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: Seventeen year old Kenneth Morrow was the second of its
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: kind within eight months. It seemed to stem from unidentified
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  Speaker 5: suspects who were making it their business to build a
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: thriving marijuana trade among.
• 6:32
  Speaker 8: High school students.
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: Thursday, eleven am, we continued to question the dead boy's father,
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: Thomas Morrow.
• 6:38
  Speaker 8: What he couldn't tell is anything further that might help.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: Friday, April twelfth, we checked with the principle of the
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: high school which Tomorrow boy attended. We talked to the
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: boys teachers and checked the school record. His marks had
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: been above average till about three months before, when they
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: began to fall off for no apparent reason. We got
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: a list of most of the boy's friends from his
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: teachers and we started checking them out. One was a
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: sixteen years old blonde girl, Peggy Keane, supposed Lukenneth Marles's girlfriend.
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: We found her waiting outside the music room.
• 7:10
  Speaker 11: Yes, Ken and I went around together for a while.
• 7:12
  Speaker 11: He was a real nice boy.
• 7:13
  Speaker 7: Did you see each other quite a bit, BigGAN for
• 7:15
  Speaker 7: about five.
• 7:16
  Speaker 11: Or six months. Yes, we got along fine. Just after
• 7:19
  Speaker 11: Christmas was the last time I went out with him,
• 7:21
  Speaker 11: and we double dated.
• 7:22
  Speaker 8: Did he seem all right to you then, I mean
• 7:24
  Speaker 8: did he act different at all?
• 7:25
  Speaker 11: Well, a little different, yes, not silly, you know, he
• 7:28
  Speaker 11: just wasn't like he used to be. You mean, well,
• 7:30
  Speaker 11: he didn't talk the same. Ken was a real nice
• 7:33
  Speaker 11: boy most of the time. Because he started getting in
• 7:35
  Speaker 11: with their own crowd, he began to swear, you know,
• 7:38
  Speaker 11: bad talk things like that.
• 7:39
  Speaker 7: When did all this start? Peggy, do you remember just
• 7:42
  Speaker 7: before Christmas?
• 7:43
  Speaker 11: I think I'm not sure, poor Kim.
• 7:46
  Speaker 7: Is there anything else you might have known it?
• 7:48
  Speaker 11: I don't know. Ken used to be pretty good about
• 7:50
  Speaker 11: his studies, and all of a sudden it seemed he
• 7:52
  Speaker 11: just didn't care. Sometimes he'd come into the library. We
• 7:56
  Speaker 11: used to study there, and he'd make a lot of noise.
• 7:58
  Speaker 11: He just changed, that's all. For a while, we didn't
• 8:01
  Speaker 11: see each other there anymore.
• 8:03
  Speaker 8: Well, why was that paid?
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  Speaker 11: We just didn't come down. I called his house a
• 8:07
  Speaker 11: couple of times. His folks said he was at the library.
• 8:09
  Speaker 11: I didn't say anything to him.
• 8:11
  Speaker 8: Well, Ken have many friends here at school? Do you
• 8:13
  Speaker 8: know that?
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  Speaker 11: Not many?
• 8:15
  Speaker 8: No, I see all those he did have. Who would
• 8:18
  Speaker 8: you say was closer to him?
• 8:20
  Speaker 11: Gee, I don't know, sergeant or half a dozen of them.
• 8:23
  Speaker 11: Ken used to be with all of them.
• 8:25
  Speaker 7: No one boy in particular, well, Bob Leavelle.
• 8:28
  Speaker 11: Maybe I saw Ken and Bob's car a few times.
• 8:31
  Speaker 7: Does Leavelle go to school here, Yes.
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  Speaker 11: He's a senior. Ken used to work with Bob down
• 8:35
  Speaker 11: the cafeteria after school, but he got in the mix up.
• 8:37
  Speaker 11: He was fired, Bob was fired. No, Ken, he was
• 8:41
  Speaker 11: really doing the ladies down there. Does the cooking Bob
• 8:43
  Speaker 11: still works there?
• 8:44
  Speaker 7: Would he be at the cafeteria now?
• 8:46
  Speaker 9: Do you know?
• 8:46
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 8:47
  Speaker 11: I think so. The fountain's open until about three to thirty.
• 8:49
  Speaker 8: And you think that this Bob Leavell was about the
• 8:51
  Speaker 8: closest friend that Ken had, Huh?
• 8:52
  Speaker 11: I think so? The only one I know. Anyway. Have
• 8:56
  Speaker 11: you talked to Ken's folks?
• 8:57
  Speaker 8: Yeah?
• 8:57
  Speaker 7: We have.
• 8:58
  Speaker 11: I feel so sorry for him. Gee, I think I
• 9:02
  Speaker 11: have to go now, Sergeant, I have a chemistry class.
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: Just one more question, Peggy, last time he went out
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: with Ken on this doubles date?
• 9:08
  Speaker 7: Who was the other couple?
• 9:09
  Speaker 8: Do you remember?
• 9:10
  Speaker 11: I don't remember their names. There were some kids I
• 9:12
  Speaker 11: never saw before Kim knew them. It wasn't much of
• 9:15
  Speaker 11: a date.
• 9:16
  Speaker 8: Where did you go?
• 9:17
  Speaker 11: We started for the show, but Ken changed his mind.
• 9:19
  Speaker 11: He wanted to go to the beach, and Park was
• 9:21
  Speaker 11: acting funny, talking all the time, saying silly things. The
• 9:24
  Speaker 11: other boy was the same way.
• 9:25
  Speaker 8: Oh were they drinking?
• 9:26
  Speaker 7: No?
• 9:27
  Speaker 11: I never saw Kim take a drink. I couldn't smell
• 9:29
  Speaker 11: any liquor on his breath.
• 9:30
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 9:31
  Speaker 11: It was such a silly thing.
• 9:32
  Speaker 9: Was that?
• 9:33
  Speaker 11: Well maybe it's just my imagination, but Ken and this
• 9:36
  Speaker 11: other boy had a real terrible musty smell about him.
• 9:39
  Speaker 11: I kidded them about it, and they said they'd been
• 9:42
  Speaker 11: to a tea party. That's where they got it. They
• 9:44
  Speaker 11: kept talking silly like that all evening.
• 9:46
  Speaker 8: Let's see. Was the musty smell all over the car,
• 9:48
  Speaker 8: just on the bat.
• 9:49
  Speaker 11: All over kind of made me sick, but they didn't
• 9:51
  Speaker 11: seem to mind it.
• 9:52
  Speaker 8: Well, look, I'd like you to think real careful, Peggy.
• 9:55
  Speaker 8: Have you ever come across that musty smell in anybody
• 9:57
  Speaker 8: around the school here?
• 9:58
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 9:58
  Speaker 11: I have a couple of times. Makes me sick.
• 10:01
  Speaker 7: What is it?
• 10:02
  Speaker 8: Who did you notice it on? Peggy?
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: Bob Levell, Ben and I went back to the principal's
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: office and checked the record on Robert Leavell, who was
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: eighteen years old, and he was scheduled to graduate in June.
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: The registrar told us that there was a good chance
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: that he wouldn't be graduated because his marks had been
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: poor for the.
• 10:17
  Speaker 8: Better part of the year. They dropped even lower during
• 10:20
  Speaker 8: the present semester. Lavell had played football the year before and.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: Had made third string on the All city team. Who
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: was well liked by his teachers. For the last two years, he'd.
• 10:29
  Speaker 8: Worked part time at the school soda farmer. We went
• 10:31
  Speaker 8: down to interview him.
• 10:34
  Speaker 9: Nice said up, huh yeah, catfeteria soda farm. Wasn't like
• 10:38
  Speaker 9: that in my day.
• 10:39
  Speaker 8: There must be the boy there behind the counter.
• 10:41
  Speaker 9: Oh yeah, let's sit down. How about that, Jill?
• 10:49
  Speaker 8: What's that?
• 10:50
  Speaker 9: That's sign hanging up their idiots?
• 10:52
  Speaker 6: Spatial five scoops of ice cream, marsh mallow, bananas, chocolate,
• 10:57
  Speaker 6: strawberry flavoring, whipped cream topping, maurso, cherry chop, nuts and onion.
• 11:02
  Speaker 8: No, you're reading over. That's on the Hamburger sign there.
• 11:05
  Speaker 8: Oh yeah, you want something chocolate soda?
• 11:09
  Speaker 9: Could you make it with vanilla ice cream? Plea chock
• 11:11
  Speaker 9: soda with vanilla cream?
• 11:12
  Speaker 8: Are you Bob Lavelle?
• 11:14
  Speaker 7: Yeah, that's right.
• 11:14
  Speaker 8: Police officers, Bob, we'd like to talk to you.
• 11:17
  Speaker 12: Oh, I'm pretty busy right now. Got to clean up.
• 11:20
  Speaker 12: Were you closing a few minutes. I'll make you soda
• 11:23
  Speaker 12: right away.
• 11:24
  Speaker 9: You say chocolate.
• 11:25
  Speaker 8: Yeah, that's We'll make it brief. Did you know kenmor oh.
• 11:29
  Speaker 9: Bob, Oh, yeah, he used to work here. You you
• 11:33
  Speaker 9: spend much time with him outside of school? I mean
• 11:36
  Speaker 9: not much. Went a couple of shows together, it's about all.
• 11:40
  Speaker 7: I'm kind of rush now.
• 11:43
  Speaker 8: When was the last time that you saw him? You
• 11:45
  Speaker 8: remember a week ago?
• 11:47
  Speaker 7: I guess too bad about Ken?
• 11:53
  Speaker 8: How about the night he was in the accident. Did
• 11:56
  Speaker 8: you see him live?
• 11:58
  Speaker 9: No?
• 11:58
  Speaker 7: I didn't want too well. Went around with a different crowd.
• 12:03
  Speaker 9: It reached me in the back of those cashiers. Aunt
• 12:05
  Speaker 9: Joe on the card there, yeah, oh you go, oh,
• 12:10
  Speaker 9: I think.
• 12:15
  Speaker 7: One time grasping those things. The nuts are a dime.
• 12:18
  Speaker 9: Officers right down the counter, Bob. Oh, yeah, I.
• 12:23
  Speaker 12: Gotta get go as soon as I close.
• 12:24
  Speaker 7: I have to get on town.
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: We talked to some of Kim Murrill's friends around the school, Bob.
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: They tell us that he used to drive around in
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: your car with you quite a bit.
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: Just a couple of times around school.
• 12:35
  Speaker 9: And you haven't been with him for about a week
• 12:37
  Speaker 9: before they acted me. And that's right, just what I
• 12:39
  Speaker 9: told you.
• 12:44
  Speaker 7: You want a little whooped cream on that?
• 12:46
  Speaker 9: Yeah?
• 12:47
  Speaker 8: Yeah, theyll.
• 12:49
  Speaker 9: How about cherry good?
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: Yeah?
• 12:51
  Speaker 13: Are you.
• 12:54
  Speaker 8: There?
• 12:54
  Speaker 9: You are?
• 12:55
  Speaker 7: Thank you too?
• 12:56
  Speaker 9: Night to fix a hamburger? Yeah?
• 12:58
  Speaker 7: I really got to close up.
• 13:01
  Speaker 8: It's got a little late.
• 13:02
  Speaker 12: Officers, I'm gonna catch close up right now.
• 13:05
  Speaker 8: We'll make it fast.
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: Did you notice anything different about the Morrow boy in
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: the last few weeks?
• 13:10
  Speaker 8: Anything peculiar at all?
• 13:11
  Speaker 9: You know he was saying?
• 13:13
  Speaker 8: Was ever?
• 13:13
  Speaker 7: I didn't notice anything.
• 13:15
  Speaker 8: Right, Look, Bob, we're gonna lay it out to you.
• 13:17
  Speaker 8: Did you know he was using marijuana?
• 13:19
  Speaker 7: No, I didn't know anything about it.
• 13:20
  Speaker 9: You have any idea where he might have gotten it?
• 13:23
  Speaker 9: I wouldn't know that.
• 13:25
  Speaker 12: Look you mind if I lock up the counter and
• 13:26
  Speaker 12: I'll come around.
• 13:27
  Speaker 7: The other side. Go ahead.
• 13:30
  Speaker 12: I didn't know that about can officer. I wouldn't know
• 13:33
  Speaker 12: where he got the stuff.
• 13:35
  Speaker 7: You sure he was using merry?
• 13:36
  Speaker 11: Oh?
• 13:37
  Speaker 8: We found some in his car. We found some more
• 13:38
  Speaker 8: in his locker upstairs.
• 13:40
  Speaker 7: That's tough. Anything more, officer, I got a hurry.
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: It's just routine, Bob. We did the same with the
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: other boys we talked to. We'd like to check your locker.
• 13:48
  Speaker 8: You don't mind, do you.
• 13:49
  Speaker 7: I gotta get out ontown. I'm late now. Your locker
• 13:51
  Speaker 7: just upstairs, isn't It won't take that long. It's important
• 13:54
  Speaker 7: to me. I gotta get ontown.
• 13:55
  Speaker 8: We've got our car outside. We'll drive you down. We'll
• 13:56
  Speaker 8: be down there in no time.
• 13:57
  Speaker 12: No, I'm already gonna ride. Can't you check it tomorrow?
• 14:00
  Speaker 8: Not going to take a minute, Bob, let's go.
• 14:02
  Speaker 7: Huh, All right?
• 14:07
  Speaker 12: Say, I happened to remember I didn't bring my locker
• 14:10
  Speaker 12: key today.
• 14:11
  Speaker 8: That's so.
• 14:12
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 14:14
  Speaker 12: Come to think of it, I don't know where it is.
• 14:15
  Speaker 8: I guess I lost it. Well, we must have a
• 14:17
  Speaker 8: pass key around here, don't they.
• 14:19
  Speaker 7: I don't think so.
• 14:20
  Speaker 8: We'll ask at the officer.
• 14:22
  Speaker 12: You're putting me in a jam, Officer. That's going to
• 14:24
  Speaker 12: take time. I'm due downtown.
• 14:25
  Speaker 8: I'm sorry, Bob, we got to check it.
• 14:28
  Speaker 12: I got my locker all jammed up with stuff. It'll
• 14:30
  Speaker 12: take us an hour.
• 14:31
  Speaker 7: Office is down there, Jim.
• 14:32
  Speaker 8: Yeah, all right, let's go.
• 14:34
  Speaker 12: I don't know why you're picking on me. My locker's jammed.
• 14:39
  Speaker 12: They can't get it open.
• 14:41
  Speaker 9: Why are you picking on me?
• 14:44
  Speaker 7: Let's ask him here. Sorry, bou close the door. Yeah,
• 14:51
  Speaker 7: I got my key, I'll show you.
• 14:55
  Speaker 8: Robert Levell took us to his locker and opened it.
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: Getting inside one of his gym shoes, we found four
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: sticks of medium grade marijuana.
• 15:01
  Speaker 8: We took them, put him in an envelope, and sealed
• 15:03
  Speaker 8: it on the way downtown.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: The boy told us that he'd been buying this stuff
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: for about six months and reselling it to some of
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: the students at.
• 15:09
  Speaker 8: The high school.
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: Said that he paid fifty cents a piece for the
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: sticks and sold them for seventy five.
• 15:14
  Speaker 8: He was an occasional user himself. Before we turned him
• 15:17
  Speaker 8: over to the juvenile officers. He told us that a.
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: Man named Ray Jensen supplied him with a marijuana. Jensen's
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: address was a trailer camp in the southwest part of
• 15:25
  Speaker 5: Los Angeles. We drove out and checked with the operator
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: of the camp. He pointed out Jensen's trailer at the
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: rear of the camp.
• 15:32
  Speaker 9: That one's Joe, the blue and gray one.
• 15:34
  Speaker 14: Yeah, this is good right here. Okay, looks like Jensen's
• 15:44
  Speaker 14: doing well.
• 15:45
  Speaker 7: Yeah, nice looking forty.
• 15:52
  Speaker 9: Best of mint.
• 15:55
  Speaker 8: Yeah, police officers, all right, open it out.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Out of here?
• 16:00
  Speaker 9: What's your joke?
• 16:01
  Speaker 8: All right?
• 16:01
  Speaker 9: Hold on, mister, get out, get out, all right, Jensen?
• 16:08
  Speaker 8: That's good bet. I'll get him a right, come on,
• 16:10
  Speaker 8: get out. What's the pitch?
• 16:15
  Speaker 7: Where's your warrant?
• 16:16
  Speaker 9: It's all over the floor of Jensen marijuana?
• 16:18
  Speaker 7: Who tipped one of those lousy kids? Which one?
• 16:21
  Speaker 8: I guess you know enough of them?
• 16:22
  Speaker 7: You can't tab me for all that. I'm not the
• 16:24
  Speaker 7: big guy? All right?
• 16:24
  Speaker 8: Then?
• 16:25
  Speaker 7: Who is? I don't know. I'm only one of the mules.
• 16:27
  Speaker 9: Where do you get your the big guy? The big
• 16:29
  Speaker 9: Tomato that's what they call him, Yeah, big man.
• 16:31
  Speaker 7: Nobody sees him. I don't even know what he looks like,
• 16:34
  Speaker 7: neither you. You let us worry about that.
• 16:36
  Speaker 8: Come on, big Tomato, that's what they call him.
• 16:38
  Speaker 7: You won't get him. He's smart.
• 16:39
  Speaker 15: You won't get him in eighty nine years maybe not,
• 16:41
  Speaker 15: but we'll get him.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: You are listening to drag met authentic stories of your
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: police force in action.
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: Friday, April twelfth, seven pm, we searched the trailer and
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: a stakeout was placed on it, and then we took
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: Ray Jensen downtown to the main jail where he was
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: booked for suspicion of narcotics of felony.
• 17:13
  Speaker 8: The next day, Ben and I went back and questioned him.
• 17:15
  Speaker 8: We got nowhere. The only thing he tell us was
• 17:17
  Speaker 8: that the leader of the marijuana ring was unknown to him,
• 17:21
  Speaker 8: the big Tomato. That's all he could tell us.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: We went back and started rechecking leads furnished just by
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: some of the high school boys who had purchased narcotics
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: from Robert Level.
• 17:30
  Speaker 8: They all ended nowhere.
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: Meantime, the flow of marijuana into the schools and into
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: the hands of the teenage students continued. We'd no sooner
• 17:37
  Speaker 5: choke off one source of supply when two more would
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: turn up. We knew that there was only one real solution,
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: find the gang leader and wipe out the entire supply
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: and distribution set up.
• 17:47
  Speaker 8: We stayed on it.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: Monday, April twenty second, Ben got a call from one
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: of his informants that he had a lead on the
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: source of marijuana on the east side of town. The
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: informant's name was Willie Brick, a groundskeeper at a golf
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: course near.
• 17:59
  Speaker 8: One of the city high schools. We go out to
• 18:01
  Speaker 8: talk to him. Were located back by the clubhouse near the.
• 18:04
  Speaker 7: First t on the tea now arc you remember my partner,
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: don't you?
• 18:10
  Speaker 9: Will it? Joe Friday?
• 18:11
  Speaker 7: Oh yeah, and I'm busy today big tenement.
• 18:15
  Speaker 8: Yeah, quite a crowd you got here. It's a nice turnout.
• 18:18
  Speaker 7: You've been having trouble huh at a marrying town.
• 18:21
  Speaker 9: Yeah?
• 18:21
  Speaker 7: You think you can help us? An, yeah you can.
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: Dirty business. I'm working high school kids with that stuff.
• 18:27
  Speaker 8: It's real dirty.
• 18:28
  Speaker 9: Any ideas really don't know how much it's true. It's
• 18:31
  Speaker 9: off a grape line down town. The boss is somebody
• 18:35
  Speaker 9: they call a big tomato. It's funny man that any
• 18:38
  Speaker 9: idea who we are couldn't say. It's getting lots of
• 18:41
  Speaker 9: stuff in though usual feed line over from Mexico. What
• 18:45
  Speaker 9: else will we here? There's more on the way. Don't
• 18:48
  Speaker 9: know when though off for high school trick. I guess
• 18:50
  Speaker 9: they figure they got a good business.
• 18:52
  Speaker 7: How beg getting to jump over?
• 18:53
  Speaker 8: You know?
• 18:54
  Speaker 9: But it's getting here most any kid can get them
• 18:57
  Speaker 9: over on this sid of town. Imagine that kids and
• 18:59
  Speaker 9: their team we did. How about this big tomato? Willie?
• 19:03
  Speaker 7: No word it though?
• 19:04
  Speaker 9: Just one pretty thin Yeah, there's a connection lives over
• 19:09
  Speaker 9: on Houser Boulevard.
• 19:11
  Speaker 8: That is number.
• 19:11
  Speaker 9: There's someone's supposed to be the main connection for this
• 19:16
  Speaker 9: tomato guy. Oh yeah, there's his address. A third number there,
• 19:22
  Speaker 9: it's just six. Guy's name is Tony Childs. Is she
• 19:26
  Speaker 9: supposed to handle all the stuff.
• 19:27
  Speaker 7: Most of what I hear gets it off from the
• 19:29
  Speaker 7: big tomato.
• 19:30
  Speaker 9: You got about it? It's it, Tony Childs, You've got
• 19:33
  Speaker 9: the address? How many thanks? Willing a thing comes up
• 19:35
  Speaker 9: your call? I'm sure think how's the job out here
• 19:38
  Speaker 9: better than yours? I sure wouldn't want it working every
• 19:41
  Speaker 9: day around joy poppers, mules, main liners and somebody's got
• 19:44
  Speaker 9: to do it Willie, Yeah, but.
• 19:46
  Speaker 7: Not for me, Sergeant.
• 19:47
  Speaker 9: Those dokes as are all nce selling jumped the kids.
• 19:51
  Speaker 9: I guess you met the lowest time that chat.
• 19:53
  Speaker 8: We're looking for him.
• 19:59
  Speaker 5: We went back to the office and checked the name
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: and address of Tony Childs through R and I no
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: previous record. A stakeout was placed on his home and
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: at his place of business. Childs himself was placed under twenty.
• 20:10
  Speaker 8: Four hour surveillance.
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: A week passed, nothing happened, Another week still nothing. There
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: was no let up in the supply of marijuana finding
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: its way into the city and then into the schools.
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: We couldn't see the beginnings of the recket, but we
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: saw the end result. The percentage of juvenile users was
• 20:26
  Speaker 5: still in the upswing. Wednesday May eight, we heard rumbles
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: of another big marijuana buy in the offing. Either it
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: failed to materialize or we missed it. Friday May tenth,
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: then and I took our turn shadowing the suspect, Tony Childs.
• 20:42
  Speaker 7: Can you see him from here, Joe?
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we're still in the barbershop. There's two guys with him.
• 20:47
  Speaker 6: Yea and past forward. We better check in huh yeah,
• 20:51
  Speaker 6: call in her drug store. There must have a phone.
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: Yeah, all right, I'll be right back.
• 21:14
  Speaker 13: Narcotics please, thank you. Yeah, Johnny, it's Joe Friday. M Yeah, yeah,
• 21:23
  Speaker 13: we got him paid, okay right away?
• 21:25
  Speaker 8: By what have you got, Tony Chiles that want him
• 21:34
  Speaker 8: picked up right away?
• 21:35
  Speaker 7: How?
• 21:35
  Speaker 9: God?
• 21:36
  Speaker 8: Well, I just rated this place. I found thirty two
• 21:37
  Speaker 8: ounces a week, and I'm supposed to have more on him.
• 21:40
  Speaker 6: Let's go, Come on, what do you think trouble. Don't
• 21:45
  Speaker 6: be surprised. Childs like to talk to you.
• 21:56
  Speaker 7: That's uh.
• 21:57
  Speaker 8: Police officers like to talk to you and your two
• 21:59
  Speaker 8: friends here down.
• 22:00
  Speaker 9: Can't make a copper mine in Vegas tonight. We want
• 22:03
  Speaker 9: to see you downtown. First, luck, don't push me. Huh,
• 22:05
  Speaker 9: nobody's pushing your child. We want to see you downtown.
• 22:08
  Speaker 9: Come on, let's go.
• 22:09
  Speaker 8: Look out, Joe repend seven. Watch that's it. Three of them?
• 22:31
  Speaker 7: Okay, I get him, Come.
• 22:37
  Speaker 9: On you and I'm glad this doesn't come up. Where's
• 22:42
  Speaker 9: the barber who ran outside?
• 22:45
  Speaker 8: Rough?
• 22:45
  Speaker 9: Yeah?
• 22:47
  Speaker 7: What's your hunch, Joe?
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: I think one of these three is the Big Tomato.
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: I don't know, let's ask him.
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: In search of the barber shop failed to reveal the
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: presence of any narcotics. Tony Childs and his two companions
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: were found to have a dozen sticks of marijuana in
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: their possession. They were treated for cuts and bruises at
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: Georgia Street and then booked for suspicion of.
• 23:07
  Speaker 8: Narcotics, a felony at the main jail. Three other men
• 23:11
  Speaker 8: found a child's apartment at the time of the raid
• 23:12
  Speaker 8: were also booked.
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: We got nowhere questioning any of them. As usual, we
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: had the small fry, but the ring leader, the Big Tomato,
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: is still in the clear, still free to hire somebody
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: else to run the marijuana supply line into the high schools.
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: Three weeks passed.
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: Together with Captain Kearney and Sergeant Bob, Ben and I
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: re checked our earlier leads. We ran down anything that
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: even looked like it might be promising.
• 23:34
  Speaker 8: Nothing panned out. Wednesday June five point thirty pm we
• 23:38
  Speaker 8: got a call from the main jail. Tony Childs wanted
• 23:40
  Speaker 8: to talk to us. Ben and I went over to
• 23:42
  Speaker 8: see him.
• 23:45
  Speaker 6: Charles, I got something for you. Been playing the stoage
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: long enough. If I'm good enough for jail, so's he
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: all right?
• 23:50
  Speaker 8: What do you got?
• 23:51
  Speaker 7: It's a big by coming off when you get him.
• 23:52
  Speaker 7: Tell him how long I've been in here?
• 23:54
  Speaker 8: What kind of a buy?
• 23:55
  Speaker 7: Mary?
• 23:55
  Speaker 6: One of the biggest. It was set up before I
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: got in here. Where's the mate going to be? Bruno
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: Street with the train yards. I'll draw you a map.
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: Set ups the same car pulls up and hanks a
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: couple of times in an alley down there? Who was
• 24:05
  Speaker 6: handling a bi A big man. Don't waste any time?
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: When is it tonight?
• 24:13
  Speaker 5: We went back to the office and met with Sergeants
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: bar and Jacobson eight pm. Ben and I took up
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: our positions on the stake out, along with the rest
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: of the men we had a clear view of the
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: exact location where the buy was to be made.
• 24:23
  Speaker 8: We waited ten pm, eleven pm, no one showed. Midnight
• 24:31
  Speaker 8: came and went. One thirty am, still no sign.
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: At eighteen minutes or two we spotted the man carrying
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: a shopping bag emerged from behind a row of freight
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: cars near the end of the rail yard. He made
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: his way across the street to the alley. He stood
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: back in the shadows.
• 24:50
  Speaker 7: As soon as the car gets in the alley, we
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: pull up and block it. Huh, yeah, that's right.
• 24:54
  Speaker 8: Becky'll do the same thing down at the other end.
• 25:09
  Speaker 7: Head light's coming in the alley. Women. Yeah, now they're
• 25:17
  Speaker 7: going on through. What's the time now? Thuman is to two.
• 25:23
  Speaker 8: We waited eighteen minutes past, still no sign of the
• 25:26
  Speaker 8: car that, according to Childs, was supposed to be there
• 25:28
  Speaker 8: for the big buy. We could still see the figure
• 25:31
  Speaker 8: of a man with a shopping bag huddled in the alley.
• 25:35
  Speaker 8: Three am z Yeah, car down there in the alley. Yeah,
• 25:43
  Speaker 8: that's it.
• 25:44
  Speaker 16: You want to start up, yep, just enough to block
• 25:48
  Speaker 16: the alley. That's good, all right, come on, let's go,
• 25:57
  Speaker 16: Come on, all right, kill your engine and get out.
• 26:02
  Speaker 15: Of the car.
• 26:03
  Speaker 9: Joe, look out, they can't look fun. All right, let's
• 26:13
  Speaker 9: get him out of there. Yeah, there's three. Here's the
• 26:17
  Speaker 9: guy with the shopping bag, right, I got him cry
• 26:19
  Speaker 9: snapped him cold. Yeah, that's one easy there.
• 26:22
  Speaker 8: Yeah, well right over there.
• 26:24
  Speaker 11: Well yeah, that's get his cold over there.
• 26:26
  Speaker 8: I got it.
• 26:27
  Speaker 9: That's three.
• 26:30
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 26:32
  Speaker 9: Hey, hey, look at this Joe. Fun one of him in.
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: This guy's hand can pull on marijuana. You look at
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: the labels on those cans. Yeah, fancy solid packed tomato.
• 26:46
  Speaker 8: There he is a big tomato.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true, only the
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: names were changed to protect the inner.
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: And on October third trial was held in Superior Court,
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: Department eighty nine, City and County of Los Angeles, State
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: of California. In a moment the results of that trial,
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: John A. Stanton, alias the Big Tomato, along with his
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: associates in the Narcotic Gang, was tried and convicted for
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: violating the State Narcotic Act. He received sentences as prescribed
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: by law and are now serving their terms in the
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: state penitentiary.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: The radio editors of the United States and Canada the
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: name Dragnet the best radio program of its type for
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: nineteen fifty and Dragnet's Jack Webb the most Promising Star
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: of Tomorrow.
• 27:38
  Speaker 5: In behalf of Dragnet, I'd like to thank the radio
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: editors of the United States and Canada and the editors
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: of Motion Picture Daily who conducted the voting in the
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: fifteenth annual poll for Fame Magazine.
• 27:55
  Speaker 7: You have just heard Dragnet.
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: A series of authentic cases from official files. A technic
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police wh Parker,
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: Los Angeles Police Department.
• 28:08
  Speaker 8: Later, here's Spellbound with Joseph Cotton on screen directors on NBC.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. This is a memorable episode because all of
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: these titles have the Big This and the Big That
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: in the tititle, but there's not actually a reference to
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: the Big Family. But here we get the Big Tomato,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and I love that we got an explanation for why
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: this guy was called the Big Tomato. Also, it's one
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: of those rare dragnettes where we get multiple bits of
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: action and even rarer Ben Romero actually got to eat something.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: So it was a fun time, all right. Well, now
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: and I want to go ahead and thank Rosa Rosa
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: has been one of our Patreon supporters since January twenty twenty,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: currently supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant level of
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: seven dollars and fourteen cents or more per month. Thank
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: you so much for your support, Rosa, and that will
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: follow us using your favorite podcast software, and please be
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: it from. We'll be back next Saturday with another episode
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: of Dragon. That next Tuesday, of course, we'll be bringing
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: you Charlie Chan, but join us back here on Monday
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: for the adventures of the Falcon Wear nice and quiet.
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: Here, and I got a feeling it won't be for long.
• 29:45
  Speaker 17: I got the same feeling.
• 29:47
  Speaker 8: Wait, do you get that possle?
• 29:49
  Speaker 7: What's it to you?
• 29:49
  Speaker 17: Look, fella, don't get smart. Just lay it down on
• 29:52
  Speaker 17: the floor. I'll back up a couple of steps. Oh
• 29:57
  Speaker 17: that's fine.
• 29:59
  Speaker 9: Tell me something about sure, Julian. What did you call me?
• 30:03
  Speaker 7: Julian?
• 30:04
  Speaker 9: Isn't that your name?
• 30:04
  Speaker 7: How'd you know that?
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: I got a great memory for faces. You were pointed
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: out to me about nine years ago in Detroit, when
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: you were running with.
• 30:11
  Speaker 9: The Purple mob, and what do they call you like wearing?
• 30:14
  Speaker 8: Where do you get that claim? Chick?
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: I found it in the street.
• 30:17
  Speaker 9: I asked you something and I answered it.
• 30:20
  Speaker 17: John Calvin gave it to you, didn't.
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: She look, Julian. I think I've been very patient. I
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: don't know what you want get back. You can't blame
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: a guy for trying.
• 30:30
  Speaker 8: No.
• 30:31
  Speaker 17: In your place, I'd probably do the same, you see,
• 30:34
  Speaker 17: But then I'm not in your place, and right now
• 30:36
  Speaker 17: I wouldn't change for the world.
• 30:39
  Speaker 8: This is one thing I can't stand.
• 30:41
  Speaker 9: It's a wise cut.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot NEP,
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash Great Detectives from
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Boys the Idaho. This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.