 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet, you're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a juvenile detail. A series of housebreakings has taken place in your city. The articles taken and the method of operation indicate a juvenile thief. Your job, find him. It was Tuesday, July 6th. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out at juvenile details. My partner is Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Powers. My name's Friday. We're on our way out from the office and it was 10.36 a.m. when we got to the old Central Jail building. Crime lab. Lady. Probably will, too. Any water around? A bottle over there in the corner. Help yourself. Thanks. How about you, Joe? No, no, thanks. You got anything for us, Ray? Not the same as usual. Take a look. Same entrance. Cut the screen on one of the back windows, broke the glass and climbed in. Any friends? None of them could find. Here's a picture of the edge of the screen. Here. You can see the cut edges. You got anything from it? Not much. The figure was done with a knife. If you come up with that, we might be able to tell you you got the right one. What about the physical evidence in the house, Ray? Not much. We've got a couple of partials. Lifted them from the glass top on the dresser. Here. You can see here, not much is going. Match up with the prints from the other jobs? Couple of points, but not enough to go the case on. The only thing you got that definitely ties this one in with the other is the footprint. Another one? Mm-hmm. Found it in the soft earth underneath the window. Hey, man, Frank, what do you think? Oh, yeah. Here you go. Here. You can see it clearly, the heel mark. Same as in the other. Did you get a cast of it? Mm-hmm. You want to see it? No, no reason if you've looked it over. You got the same thing on the picture. Anything else? You had it. You got a cigarette, ran out and had a chance to get some more. Here. Thanks. Thanks, Joe. Yeah. You've been able to taste down the rubber heel for us? No, no luck. We contacted half a dozen firms. They all tell us the same things, made special. Probably some small factory specialized in custom-made shoes. Might be some sort of correcting shoe. You know, I think... Oh, yeah. You've had it for a couple of weeks now. What do you sit on it? I don't know where we found it. We talked about every repairman in town. None of them have seen this kind of a heel before. None of them can tell us where it was made. Mm-hmm. Check with the doctors in the area. None of them know the brand. I figured it might be one of them who sent for it. That's none of them. No. It's a new one to them, too. Yeah. Which is more, I could give you some. Well, that's all right, man. It seems no matter which way we turn, there's another wall waiting for us. How about Berger? Anything coming from them? Well, they're checking it all down. They got the same thing we came up with. Anything turn up on the stolen merchandise? No. Berger, he's made all the checks. Pawn shops have been alerted. Stuff's all cheap costume jewelry. No reason to try and hawk it. They wouldn't get anything for it. Mm-hmm. Brings it back to a motive. Why is he pulling the jabs in the first place? All right. We'll file that with where the heels are made. The only thing we can figure is that some kid out for kicks gets his laugh from breaking into houses. There's no other reason. Stuff he's stolen, you can buy it by the carload in any dime store. A couple of times, he's left money alone at some plain site to steal some cheap pin. Looks like you've got yourself a wild one. Yeah. Well, what can you tell us about the foot gun, sonny? Not much. Found under the window. Kid wasn't moving when they were made. Can't figure a stride. Mm-hmm. What about weight? Only a guess, Joe. Yeah. I'd say it came in about 140. Could be 15 pounds one way or the other. What about the size? Seven. Looks like seven C. Mm-hmm. You sure about that? Well, pretty sure. Not much, is it? Best we can do. Okay. Last place, a woman with real sore. Don't blame her. Not about the costume jewelry. She didn't much care about that. Surprise gladiola she was raising. Get tramped all over him. Real sore that he stepped on. Don't blame her. Says when she catches inches, she's gonna give him a good talking to. Tramping up all her plants. Well, we'll see you, Ray. Yeah. Sure haven't got much to go on, have ya? You called it. Frank and I went back to the office and we pulled all of the reports that we had on the thefts. We spent the rest of the morning going over them. The method of operation was apparent. Each Friday night, for the past two months, between the hours of 8.30 and 11 p.m., a single thief had entered a home in a wealthy section of town and stolen as much worthless costume jewelry as he could carry out. On each occasion, the entry was made through a rear window. In those cases where the window was locked, the thief broke the glass and undid the latch. On each occasion, he'd left at least one footprint in the dirt around the house. The heel impression was of a type that we hadn't been able to identify. We'd gotten pictures of it out to all major shoe manufacturers, but they were unable to tell us where the shoes had been made. We'd canvassed the area where the thefts were taking place without results. Rolling stake-outs were set up on Friday nights and they'd netted us nothing. The thief approached the home, broke into him, stole what he wanted, and then he left without being apprehended or seen. Throughout the investigation, Frank and I had been working closely with burglary division, but their men hadn't been able to come up with any more than we had. At 1.15 p.m., Frank and I left the office. We got something to eat and then we started to check the playgrounds again. At each one, we'd contact the member of the park department and asked them if they'd seen anyone wearing a pair of shoes similar to the pictures that we had. Every place we got the same answer, none of them had. We stopped groups of boys on the street and asked to see their shoes. We checked mall shops, drugstores, pool halls, and bowling alleys without any result. The same operation had been going on for the past two weeks without bettering our chances of apprehending the suspect. 5.30 p.m. Frank and I left one of the larger bowling alleys in town and headed back to the office. Boy, I'll sure be glad to get home tonight. Yeah. Hot. Sure was. Yeah, I must have gone over 90. Yeah. Must have. Paper said 90, but it was hotter, I can always tell. How can you always tell? My feet, Joe. Always tell them feet. Cold day, I can walk for a couple of miles and not have any trouble. Come the hot weather and if I step off a curb, I got misery. Yeah. I think I'll get me another pair of shoes, kind with the holes in them. What? Kind with the holes in them. You know what I mean? You see them all the time in the men's magazine kind of cloth on the top. You know, real thin leather on the sole and cloth over the top, a lot of little holes in it. They're cool. Cool. See them all the time in the magazine, don't you? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I see them all the time. You know, I just got a picture of a guy wearing him with a tan suit on. Always got on the same suit and he's got a straw hat with one of those bands made out of feathers, you know, like a kind of snake kind of... Mm-hmm. Guy's always in a tan suit and a hat. Maybe you gotta have one of those before you can buy the shoes, you figure? One of those suits? Yeah. I don't know. You're not talking much today. I haven't got nothing to get in. You're doing it all. You know? Oh, hard. That's pretty funny. It's hot. Must have been overnighting. I was just about to say it. Slun on it. Slun on it. Huh? Take it easy. You see a kid up there? No. Up there. Just coming out of the drugstore in the corner, waiting for the light there. Oh, yeah. And that's player, huh? At least wearing a pair of canvas shoes looks like from here. Want to check them? You might as well. That's good here. All right. You want to wait? No, I'll come with you. Hey, fella. Hold it up. What? Wait a minute. You mean me? Yeah. Yeah, what do you want? Police officers. No, we didn't say you did. We just want to ask a couple questions. Oh, I sat there for a minute. You were after me. My partner, Frank Smith, my name is Friday. Hi. Oh, I'm Alec McCarran. What do you want to ask? You been playing tennis? No, just practicing. I go down to the handball court at school and practice. I couldn't get a game this afternoon. Why? Let's take a look at your shoes, will you? What? Your shoes there that you're wearing. We want to see them. What is it? It's a joke? No. Well, it sure sounds like a rib. You guys sure you're really cop? Well, here's the ID again. You want to look? Okay, no reason not to, there. The souls, we want to see. You sure this isn't some kind of joke? Looks like no joke. Come on, Alec. Let's see the souls. Sure, there. Well, are you satisfied now? Yeah. Okay for me to go now? Afraid not. Well, I say, what is this anyway? Oh, it's stopping me in the shoe thing. You looking for something special? Not anymore. We just found it. Frank and I took the boy back to Georgia Street and checked his name through R&I. We found that there was no previous arrest record for him. It was at 7.15 p.m. We took him into one of the interrogation rooms. Your full name's Alec McCarran, is that right? Yeah. How old are you? 16. Where do you live? 4782 Fargo Street. Where's that son? Up above Silver Lake. You live with your family? Yeah. Mother and father, both living? Yeah. When are you going to tell me what this is all about? You got a job, son? Not now. I got one coming up. Doing what? Box boy in a market. Supposed to be to work next week. Kid they got now is going to the Army. They promised me his job. You go to school? Yeah, I'm a senior in high school. Look, it's getting late. My dad's going to start to worry. Is it okay if I call him? We'll call him for you in a minute. Thanks. What do I tell him when he wants to know what's happening? We'll talk to him. Okay. What do you usually do nights? I don't know what you mean. Well, evening hours. What do you do? I stay home mostly. I got to get my grades up for college. I usually study. During summer vacation? My dad helps me. I got to make up a couple of credits. I thought you had to go to summer school for that. I guess I'll get out of just about, yeah. But not everyone, though. No, I go out sometimes. When? Mostly the weekends, Friday. What do you do when you go out? Where do you go? Show sometimes. Anywhere else? Bowling. Sometimes just down at a library to get a book. Mostly to the show. Do you go with anybody? No. Where'd you get those tennis shoes? My dad got them for me. Where? Place back east. I had them a long time. You know the name of the place? Not right off. Some place in Maine, I think. You know anybody else who's got a pair like them? I've never seen any others. I told you my father got them for me. He used to wear them when he was a kid, sent back to Maine for them. Mm-hmm. You guys won't tell me what this is all about, huh? Yeah, we will. There've been a string of burglaries in town, housebreaking. A person that's been pulling them wears a pair of shoes just like yours. Like mine? That's right. You think I'm the one? Well, it looks like it, doesn't it? I'd better call my father. All right, we'll call him for you. He's the only pair of shoes in the world, you know. Only ones we've been able to find, son. There must be a lot more. We're willing to see him. I bet he lost answers to the police department. Who am I speaking to, please? Yes, sir. Your son's here. A suspicion of burglaries. That's right. Well, that may be so, Mr. McCarran, but that's the charge. Yes, sir? No, no. We'll bring him to his home. Sure, you can. Just a minute. I want to talk to your son. Hello, Dad? Yeah. Uh-huh. At the police station. No, it's no joke. What? Well, I'll tell you when I see you. Yeah, bye. All right, I'll get you some later. You taking me home now? That's right. Because Dad said you're straight, huh? Told you it was all a mistake? No, I'm afraid he didn't. What do you mean? Didn't he tell you this whole thing is wrong? Well, he tried to, yeah. That's right. Well, then you're going to have to let me go. No, I'm afraid not. But you have to if it's a mistake. Yeah, if it's a mistake. Frank and I left the office with the boy and we drove out to his home. It was a large two-story colonial house overlooking Silver Lake. We were admitted to the place by a man we were shown into the living room. The boy's father, Henry McCarron, was waiting for us. You're the officer? Yes, that's right. My partner, Frank Smith, my name's Friday. Oh, yeah, yeah. You want to tell me what this is all about now? Well, it looks like your son's mixed up in some burglaries, Mr. McCarron. You're aware that's a pretty serious charge. Yes, that's right. I suppose you have some kind of proof to make that statement? We think so. Am I telling you what it is? Well, while we were talking, would it be all right to look at the boy's room? Do you think that's quite fair? Necessary, Mr. McCarron. What if I say you can't? Well, then we'll have to come back with a warrant. All right, this way. What have you got to say about this, Henry? I didn't do it, Dad. That's the truth? Yes, sir. It's good enough for me. Through here. Now, I suppose you tell me what this is all about. The shoes that your boy is wearing here. You got them for him? That's right. I had them made of water. Where? Place back east and main. You know of anyone else's a pair of them? No, as far as I know, that's the only pair on the coast. Good tennis shoes. I used to wear them when I played. Uh-huh. What do they have to do with this? Well, on each one of the steps, we found a print from a shoe like that outside the window. That doesn't mean that Alec was in them at the time. How about it, Alec? Do you let anybody else use the shoes? No. Well, there's your answer. Still doesn't come down to proof. What night did your boy spend out of the house, Mr. McCarron? I don't know. I guess he's gone on Friday most of the time. You know where he goes? The show, library. I don't keep a chain on him, Sergeant. I have complete trust in Alec. Burgers have been taking place on Friday nights? Still entirely circumstances. Yes, sir, but it fits, doesn't it? What's he supposed to have stolen? Costume jewelry. You mean five and dime stuff? Yes, sir. All right, there you are. You tell me why, sir? Why did Alec steal that? Now, look around, Sergeant. I just spent $1,500 on this room. Had it all redone. Alec's got just about everything he wants. He gets a good allowance. If he needs any more money, he only has to come to me. There's no reason for him to steal. I see this is a nice room and all. What you say may be true, but the fact stays, the thefts are taking place. All right, then I'll put it on the line. I've got faith in my son. He's had all the things a boy could want, a good family, good home, all the things that count. Maybe there is a thief, but it isn't my son. I know that. You got an explanation for the shoes for the Friday nights? No, I'll find one. Maybe we can try it for this, too, Mr. Karen, what? Found these in the boy's closet, hmm? A box of cheap costume jewelry. With the finding of the jewelry in Alec McCarron's room, the circumstantial case against him seems to solidify. Although he denied any knowledge of the pieces, he was taken down to George Street Juvenile and booked on suspicion of violation of section 459 P.C. to Lincoln. His father retained the lawyer immediately. The next day, the jewelry found at his home was shown to the victims, and they gave us a positive identification on each one of the pieces. A petition was filed and the facts were presented to the juvenile court. Detention was requested. On Thursday, July 8th, Frank and I got back from the second floor after talking to the McCarron boy. He still admitted nothing about the burglaries. I don't know, maybe I'm starting to believe the kid. It sure makes you wonder, doesn't it? Sergeant Frydy? Yes, sir. How are you, Mr. McCarron? Fine, thank you. I've got it, Sergeant. I've got it right here. Sir? The way to show you that my son had no part in these burglaries. All right, you go ahead. Now, you say that all the thefts have taken place on Friday night, right? Yes, sir. And your big piece of evidence is the heels on his shoes, right? Well, it's part of it, yes, sir. All right, then. You can just turn them loose. The big part? I remembered it last night. I couldn't get to sleep and got to thinking. I remembered. All right, go ahead. Alec's shoes get a lot of use. He plays a lot of tennis, wears his shoes all the time. Well, sir? The soles and heels wore out. We had to send them back east and have them resold. Sent them back on May 5th. Didn't get them until May 19th. Now, there's two Fridays in there, Sergeant. If the shoes were gone, Alec couldn't have done the burglaries. Right? Yeah. Well, I hope now that you admit that you've made a mistake. Well, if we have, Mr. McCarron, we'll sure tell you. Well, you can take my word for it. Alec had no part in any of this. He's good boys, honest, smart. He was going to steal anything. If it really came to that, he wouldn't risk his neck for a few cheap beads. Doesn't seem so, does it? Here you are, John. All right. Well, what about it? Why don't you find out? Just a minute, sir. Are you going to release my son now? No, sir. Well, the shoes were out of state. Then he couldn't have committed the thefts. Mm-hmm. Month of May? Two Fridays in that month. That's right. No burglaries, only the one of them. We're listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. It seemed like every attempt the father made to prove the innocence of Alec McCarron only turned up another piece of evidence against him. The date for his hearing in juvenile court was set, and Frank and I talked with Mr. Bowman in the probation department on the preparation of the case. From the evidence, it appeared that the boy would be found guilty. We questioned and requested him. We went over every facet of his story, but he still stuck to it. At no time did he change any part of it. Saturday, July 10th. Frank and I checked into the office. Boy, it's gonna be another scorching. Yeah, probably overnighty again. Yeah, overnighty. More than that, Joe. I'm going over the Broadway at noon today to pick up a pair of those shoes I was telling you about. Mm-hmm. With a tan suit. Ones with a hose in it. Not to suit the shoes, you know. Finally decided last night I need them more in the new spin-in reel. I'm gonna get them. Well, that's good. Anything for us? Yeah. Looks like we might be wrong about that McCarron boy. What do you mean? Another house-breaking last night. Footprints all over the place. Yeah. All of them with the same heel print. We left the office. We went over to the crime land. Ray Pinker showed us photographs that had been made at the scene. The marks were identical with those we'd found before. The size of the shoe, the way they were worn, everything matched. The information blew the case against Alec McCarron's sky high and both Frank and I felt a little relieved. The probation department was informed what had happened and the boy was released immediately. Frank and I drove him to his home where he was reunited with his family. We obtained the name and address of the shoe company who had made the tennis shoes and the radiogram was sent to the police department in that city requesting all information on similar shipments to the Los Angeles area. We got the answer the next morning. Only one other pair had been sent to the Southland. Those had been sent to a Mr. Homer Ellsworth, care of general delivery, Ventura, California. We checked the name through records and identification, but we were unable to come up with a record form. The name was sent to George Brick and CII Sacramento. At a quarter past 11, Frank and I drove up to the beach city. We talked to the postmaster and several of the clerks. They told us that several pieces of mail had been delivered to Ellsworth. Although none of the people could tell us where the man lived, they were able to give us a good description of him. They went on to say that they had gathered from conversations that he resided someplace in Los Angeles. We left word with them that the local police department be called and the event the man returned and then Frank and I drove back to the city. We checked the name again this time with a description. No name. One of the outstanding things in the way the man was described was that the little finger from his left hand was missing. This was checked through the oddity file without result. The additional information was forwarded to Brayerton. We checked with burglary detail, but they had nothing on the suspect. 8.40 p.m. We drove out to the McCarran house and talked again to his family. I knew it all the time. Got a boy like Alec after 16 years, you know, pretty much what he will, what he won't do. Couple things we'd like to go over with you. Sure, anything you want. Just let me know. Caught the person who was really responsible for this? That's what we want to talk to you about. Now, the description we've got of the man is that he's about 50, around 5 foot 8, 150 pounds, dark hair, gray at the temples, wears glasses, has a mustache. Got a finger missing from the left hand. What's his name? Well, we don't know, sir. That's why we're asking you. No name at all. Well, he's used Homer Ellsworth. We don't think that's his true name. It isn't, sir. Name's not Ellsworth, it's Fallon. Homer Fallon. You know him? Sure, he worked for me for 10 years. Sort of a handyman does our jobs around the house. You know where we can reach him? Not sure about that. What do you mean? He quit yesterday morning. We got Fallon's address. We left for the place right away. It was a small house in the south Hollywood area. The front yard was overgrown and several of the pickets from the fence were missing. It was a 1938 Chevrolet truck parked in the driveway. Frank and I left our unit and walked up to the front door. Watch your steps, Joe. Front warden lives there. Yeah, I see. All right, everyone. I got it. Don't hear anything. We must be here. I've been taking the truck with me. Yeah. Who are you? Police officers who want to talk to you. Come on in. Sit down. Just fixing a little dinner. Yes, sir, go right ahead. Spaghetti. Want some? No, sir. Pretty good. That kind of it's all cooked. Just drop it in the water and heat up the sauce. Pretty good. Sure you'd want some? No, thank you. How about you? No, sir. Well, wait a minute. I'll turn down the fire and we can talk. All right, sir. You've got to watch it pretty close. It's too cooked and you've got to eat it with a spoon. Not good that way. No, sir. You've had it, have you? You want to come in here, sir? Yeah, I'll be right with you. Open up the sauce and I'll be right there. Maybe you better come in now. What? Come on in. Sit down. You haven't got no right to tell me what to do in my own house. No right at all. Here, you've got no right to go through my things. We'll come back with a warrant if that'd be easier for you. And you go ahead and do it. You've got no right. Is there something you know on me to find? No. I've got nothing to hide. Then you won't mind. I will, too. You guys come in here while I'm having dinner and causing a lot of trouble. You've got no right to do this. I'm an old man. I can't take a lot of excitement. And why don't you save us all a lot of time? You know why we're here. You know what we want. I do? Sure you do. Tell us. Big thing over nothing. That's all it is. Then you tell us about it, will you? All this stuff put together wasn't worth a dollar and a half. None of it. Not even a dollar and a half. Then why'd you do it? I wanted to get the kid in trouble. All his life, he's had what he wanted. All his life, different from me. I never had nothing. You put the things we found in his room, did you? Yeah. I knew he'd get to it and wanted to sew it up, make it look good. I put him there. Why'd you do the burglary last night? Well, I got the feeling sorry for the kid sitting in jail. You ever been arrested, fella? Well, a long time ago. Where? Back east. Bag charge. I was just a kid working my way out here. Took me off a freight. I sat in the can overnight and then they let me go. Give me a floater out of town. I got sorry for the kid. I figured if there was another stealing while he was in jail you'd let him go. All right. Get your coat, will you? Yeah. Where's it? Closet there. The only one in there. I got it. You know, I was sorry right after. I didn't want to hurt the kid. He's really not too bad. Didn't want to cause him no trouble. You did pretty good, didn't you? I suppose so. Want to go? Yeah. Spaghetti. Got to turn it off. All right. I guess it doesn't make any difference anyway. What was that, sir? Don't make any difference about you taking me to jail. Is that right? Yeah. And I cooked the spaghetti too long. Merlin's e-pallin was tried and convicted of burglary in the first degree, six counts, and received punishment as prescribed by law. Burglary in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment for a period of less than five years in the state penitentiary. Dragnet is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces radio service.