 The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Fatima cigarettes. Best of all, long cigarettes brings you dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. Sixteen persons have been robbed and beaten senseless. The victims describe the assailant as a tall, beautiful woman. Your job, stopper. If you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of all long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. Fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make Fatima extra mild. And that's why Fatima has a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. That's why Fatima has more than doubled its smokers coast to coast. So, if you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of all long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. Ladies and gentlemen, next week marks the beginning of National Crime Prevention Week sponsored by your local police department. These seven days are set aside to call your attention to the fact that your police officer to better ensure the safety of your community relies on the cooperation of the individual citizen. We feel that crime prevention should be observed, not seven, but 365 days a year. Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Wednesday, October 3rd. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working a night watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Ben Romero, the boss of Stad Brown Chief of Detectives. My name's Friday. We were on the way over from the city hall, and it was 6.55 p.m. when we got to the county hospital. Ward 9800, room 12. This way, gentlemen. The third, Ben. Thank you. Here we are. Please try not to excite him, Sergeant. He's had a pretty hard time. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Is it as brief as possible? We will. Thank you. Mr. Maloney, how are you feeling? That's so good. You fellas, doctors? No, sir. Police officers. This is Sergeant Romero. My name's Friday, robbery detail. Oh, find out anything yet? Still checking, Mr. Maloney. We'd like to have you tell us exactly what happened that night before that. No, she sure had me fooled. That's all I can say. You're not the first 15 others ahead of you. Would you tell us what happened? Well, I left the shop a little after midnight, and I started to drive home out Central Avenue. You work at Maloney's steakhouse down on South Commercial, isn't that right? Yes, and my uncle owns the place. His name's Jay Brown Maloney. He knows a lot of cops, you know him? We met him this afternoon. Could you tell us what happened after you left work? Well, I started to drive home out Central Avenue. I guess it must have been around 18th Street. Would you push that pillow up a little bit? Yes, sir. I'll get it here. Thanks. I pulled up for the arterial. I saw this gal standing on the corner. She was hitchhiking. Do you remember what she looked like? How she was dressed? You know, kind of flashy, but nice clothes. Good looking, dame. Tall, long blonde hair. Beautiful eyes. You're sure about the color of her hair? Yeah, it was blonde. And you offered her a ride? I didn't think there was anything wrong in it. I'm a married man, you know. I didn't think there was anything wrong. And what happened then? Well, she got in a car and we drove off. We talked a while and then she pulled a gun on me. She told me to drive up an alley. Where was that? Do you remember? Around 32nd Street and 32nd is Central. Then what? She took my wallet, washed car keys, everything I had. And she made me get out of the car, lay down on the street. I felt a shove back gun again. Can you fix that pillow? Yeah, you bet. Just lie still here. There you are. I felt a shove back gun against her and she pulled the trigger, I guess. That's all I remember. You don't recall her slugging you? Must have happened after she shot me. Her face looks pretty bad, huh? You'll be all right, Mr. Maloney. You think you would recognize the girl if you saw her again? I sure would. Nice looking, you know. Tall, blonde, beautiful shape. Doesn't figure, does it? What's that? She's made more money on the stage than she would roll in guys like me. Must be crazy. Maybe. Would you look at these mug shots, Mr. Maloney, and see if any of these look like her? Let's see. Here you are. No. This one? No. What about this one here? No, let's see. No. All right. How about this one? She was better looking. Here's the last one. I don't know. This might be her. Her hair was fixed right. Maybe a little more makeup. I'm not sure. All right, Mr. Maloney. Thank you. We'll be back to seeing the deer, sir, when you're feeling better. Okay. Say, my name won't be in the papers, will it? No, sir, not unless you give it to him. I was just wondering if a wife might not understand giving a girl a ride, you know. Yes, sir, we know. Thank you, Mr. Maloney. We'll be checking back with you later on. Okay, officer, I hope you get a line on that dame. We're going to try. Goodbye. I messed up, didn't I? Yeah. That dame's got some other motive besides money. Psycho. Some kind of a sadist man, yeah. Find out what you wanted, Sergeant. Yes, we did. Thanks, nurse. What did the doctor say about Maloney? Is he going to be all right? Well, he had a severe beating, but he'll get over that all right. It's the bullet wound in the back. You'll recover, won't he? The bullet shattered part of the spinal cord. There was nothing the doctor could do. Yeah? Paraplegio. You'll never walk again. We left the county hospital, went back to the office, and got out a local broadcast for the woman whose mug shot Maloney had partially identified. Her name was Beverly Allen. She had a record of three arrests and one conviction of 240 PC and salt and battery. After we checked in the office, we went across the street to the crime lab. Lee Jones had already examined the bullet taken from Maloney's spine and the cartridge casing found at the scene of the shooting. Both of them bore the same markings as those which had wounded the two previous victims. From the striations, the gun had been previously identified as a 45 Colt. Maloney's car was examined. We found nothing. We went back to the city hall and checked into the stats office. It was 8.35 p.m. Hi, Ethel. Make that run for us here. Just a minute, Sergeant. How you coming, Ethel? Fine. Here. Same old run. About seven years on this one. Yeah, that's right. Did you get any more names? No, thank you. Let me check the list for you. All right. Why, the names and DR numbers on occasion, women. Five feet to five feet eight, 115 to 130 pounds, 20 to 30 years, blonde or blue net, a salt and battery, a mole. Hitchhikes, rides, and robs drivers uses a gun. Yeah, that's it. Here's what the machine turned out, 19 of them. Good. Here are the names. The DR numbers opposite each one. Fine. Very new name. Any more in the last time? Anything else for the night? No, that's it for now. Let's go. Bad start. How's that? 17 of these names we checked and cleared already. And the other two? One's Catherine Collins. The other one's Beverly Allen. She might tie him. We've got nothing else to go on. You want to get to the record bureau and pull the packages on these two names? Yeah, okay. I'll check Robert and see if we have any calls. All right, Joe. Okay. Hi, Kevin. Any calls for us? Just one. Bad Brown wants to see you. Oh, bad mood. Kind of. He wants me too. Let's go. Fella Maloney, tell you anything? Nothing to help much. Same old story. No reports on that broadcast we put out for that Beverly Allen? Not yet. No. Are you banking on it? It's the first lead in 16 nights. Here we are. Walker, Rodney, come in. How are you, boss? Sit down. Take a look. Woman bandit gets 16th victim. Beautiful hold-up queen, Rob's, chutes, restaurant worker. Yeah. And the editorial page, too. Something else. I'll open the chief. Here, letter from the downtown citizens committee. Another one, civic club. They all want answers. Men are doing all they can, chief. We've got two other teams besides Friday and Romero work in the case. Special squad from Metropolitan Division. They're on it, too. I don't care what we've done. We've got to do more. 16 nights, 16 robberies, and three shootings. Three victims still in the hospital. When do we blow the whistle on her? We've checked out every possible lead, chief. We've got to want out on one suspect. We're checking out another one. Talk to that man Maloney when she got last night. What did he tell you? More than the other 15 that she took. Descriptions still don't match in one respect. How do you mean? Well, in 10 of the 16 cases we've had reported, the victims tagged the girl hitchhiker as a blonde, long hair. Four of them say she was a brunette with a short hairdo. Two of them tell us the girl had red hair, long. She's using wigs, that's what we figured. Checked every place in town where she could have rented or bought them, no leads. What about some of the bigger supply houses out of town? We've started in checking them. It'll take a little time. Then you've got practically nothing on the woman. Same gun, 45 Colt. Lee Jones examined the bullet they took out of Maloney's spine. How's he doing? Not good. The bullet smashed his spinal cord. His legs are paralyzed. When do we stop her? Ah? Romero? Hi, chief. Captain. What have you got? Both the packages are on two possibles in this woman holdup thing. It's no good, Joe. Why not? What about that Alan Dean? Jill in Kansas City? I called him. Been in for a month. And the other one? Catherine Collins. I checked Seattle. Been in the hospital up there for the past three months in TB ward. Where does that leave you, Friday? Right back where we started. No leads and no suspects. All right, Walker. Starting tonight, we cover every street and alley in the central area until we get that woman. We'll order up more men and more detectives from the metropolitan vision. Right, chief. Get out more decoy cars. Now, the area covered from sundown till sunrise until further notice. Get that woman. Right. Come on, Joe. Yeah. Hot shot. I get it. Let's go. Name on his driver's license said William Gillespie. We found him 50 feet from the corner of Gatewood Alley and Cameron Street. His face and head bore the marks of a vicious beating. There was a single bullet wound in his left shoulder. It was conscious when we arrived. Chief detectives Brown, Captain Walker, and Ben checked the area for physical evidence. I spoke briefly with the victim before he was placed on a stretcher and carried to the ambulance on the way he lapsed into unconsciousness. I went over to where Ben was standing with Chief Brown and Captain Walker. Take a look, Joe. Captain found over there near the lamppost. Yeah. 45 shell casing, same as the others. How's Gillespie, Friday? Doc says he'll be all right. Badly beaten. 15. She really works him over. Wonder what makes a woman do things like this? What makes a man do it? William Gillespie was taken to Georgia Street receiving hospital. The shell casing which we had found at the scene was taken to Lee Jones at the crime lab for examination. It compared with the others. Jones confirmed that the markings on the bullet which had wounded Gillespie matched those on the bullet which had been taken from Maloney's back. Both bullets had been fired from the same gun. The dragnet operation for the woman bandit went on. The men in the special detail covered every street and alley in the central area from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. the following morning. During the next five days, 11 suspects were picked up and brought in for questioning and released after the victims failed to identify any of them. Well, at least we got her stopped temporarily. She hasn't pulled a caper for almost a week. Yeah, it doesn't bring us any closer to her. I don't know about you, but it's got me beat. 17 jobs and she's as free today as she was before she started. Joe, Ben, what'd you find? Nothing. The last four women we questioned were clear. What about the other men on the case, Ed? Did they get anything? Thanks to an old sinner down at the record bureau, being in a minute. They've been out talking to some of the victims again. Tough one. What are you thinking? How about a composite picture? Are we gonna have to work with? Artists in the crime lab is working up a couple of sketches now. A lot of guesswork. What about the descriptions of the clothes a girl wears? Anything there we could start on? No, other than the fact that she wears flashy clothes. Hi, Olson. Hi. Any luck? Not much. One of the victims had a very good idea what the game looked like. It's all good looking. Nice figure, that's all. Nothing out of the ordinary, huh? I'll tell them the same kind of unusual voice. Soft, low. That's about all they can remember, girls. Not much here. She's been describing three different outfits, is that right? Yeah, green dress with a pink coat, white dress, dark blue jacket, bright red sweater and a brown skirt. These carries a dark brown alligator handbag. Shoes to match. No hand. Not much of a wardrobe, is it? Maybe that's why she took up robbery. Now look, let's get on this thing. We've been chasing this woman for almost a month now and she's still got the run of the town. How long is it gonna take us? If we only had a lead that was worse on... Find it, it's there someplace. I've never reached a thief yet without digging for him. I'll get it. Robbery Olson. Yeah, right, Indy. I'll tell him. Anderson and Burglar, Joe, wants to see you in bed. Thanks. Captain. That's all. Come on, Ben. Yeah. I'd like a day off, wouldn't you? We'll get one when we get this day. Right, Ed. This thing isn't doing much for the skipper. It's not doing much for our time off either, is it? That fire department's got the racket. 24 hours on, 24 on. Sometimes I get three days off in a row. That's what you keep telling me. Here we are. Joe, Ben. Andy, what do you got? Checking back on a job out in Hollywood. I heard you were having troubles, came across this thing, thought it might help you out. What's that, Ann? One of the picture studios had a burglary about a month ago. The thief got in the wardrobe department, then next door in a makeup. Mm-hmm. Yeah, let's see. Here's some of the stuff taken. Dress, coat. Oh, here you can read it. Okay. Thanks. Mm-hmm. Red sweater, brown skirt. I look down here, Joe. Right. Right here. Took two makeup kits and four wigs. Two blondes, one redhead, one brunette. That's it. Any leads on this job? Not so far, no. We got one thing to go on a single footprint size nine. Hmm. Pretty large size for a woman. I didn't say it was a woman. Print was made by a man's shoe. You are listening to drag nets. Authentic stories of your police force in action. It's wise to smoke extra mild Fatima. Fatima. Those words are echoing across the country. Yes, Fatima has more than doubled its sales because Fatima smokers are telling their friends it's wise to smoke extra mild Fatima. And why? Because Fatima contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make Fatima extra mild. So for a much different, much better flavor and aroma, smoke Fatima. One of the most popular misconceptions of the working detective is offered by the fiction writers is the picture of a man with amazing talents for detecting evidence, analyzing human behavior and motives and then almost as if by magic fitting all the pieces together to form the solution to the crime. The real life picture is a little different. The working detective has a job. In a sense, it's a practical and down-to-earth job as baking bread or practicing law. It's his job to protect citizens and apprehend criminals and that's a job he doesn't do alone. To assist him in collecting and analyzing evidence, he has the aid of the crime laboratory. To help him identify oddities and suspects or possible suspects, he has the record bureau, latent fingerprints, the statistician's office, the ballistics department, a battery of men and machines to aid him in reaching conclusions based on fact. Tuesday, October 9th, 9 p.m. For the past eight hours, Thaxter and Olson from robbery and ben and I had been requesting all of the 16 victims of the woman bandit. We asked them one question. Could their assailant possibly have been a man dressed as a woman? The majority didn't think so. Those that did weren't very sure. We followed the lead through. At 9 p.m. 25 p.m. we checked in and headed down the hall for the stats office. Do you think it was a man dressed as a woman? I don't know. One male footprint, pretty slim odds. Maybe the machines here can tell us. Hello, Sergeant. Back again, Ethel. Can you make a run for us tonight? 9.25. Sure, I can, sir. Here's a dope right here. I'm going to try another angle. Yeah. See, male percussions. About 5 feet 8 or 9, 230, 235 pounds, feminine features, size 9 shoe, impersonating women, robbery, and assault. That's it. Mm-hmm. Arm 45 automatic. M.O. Hikes, rides, and robs drivers. How soon do you think you can have a force? Really? I'm going to make the run on the coal lighter. I have to punch up the master first with all this information and let the machine work the cards. I don't think I'll have it for you much before 11, all right? Fine, yeah. We'll check back a little before 11, then, huh? You'll be ready. Good. Come on, Ben. Did you call your wife after dinner? Yeah. I wish I hadn't. She's mad as a horny. What's the matter? The kid's having a birthday party tomorrow and I forgot to order the cake. What's she going to do for the party, bake one? I have to. And she pulled this gun on me and told me to stop the car. Well, I'm telling you, Captain, I just grabbed that gun and slapped that kid just as hard as I could. Hold it just a minute. Would you please, Collins? This man's name is Amel Collins. Mr. Collins is Sergeant Friday, Sergeant Romero. Oh, yeah. How do you do? Oh, yeah. I was just telling the captain here. I'm down here on a vacation. I'm from Sacramento, South Sacramento. I was driving down your Figueroa Street about half an hour ago and picked up this girl hitching a ride and she tried to rob me. Collins took the gun away from her. The immersive dude, the girl, and brought her in. Where is she now? Interrogation room. Thanks to her and Olson are with her. The description, Matt? Not too close. Sounds like you didn't have too much trouble with her, Mr. Collins. Well, now that I come to think of it, maybe I didn't. When she pointed that gun, I just grabbed for it and slapped her as hard as I could. Sure took the starch out of her. Who is the girl? Any identification? None. Thanks to her and Olson haven't been able to get anything out of her. You want to try? Sure. What do you think, Skipper? You tell me. See if you can make her talk. I'm going to ask the photographer to take Mr. Collins' report. Okay. Glad to meet you, Mr. Collins. That's a pleasure. I'm only down here for a vacation, but if you need me, just call. You bet we will. Thanks. How do you figure that one? I don't know. Let's see what the girl has to say. Olson? Joe, I want to talk to you before you go in. Sure. Did you find and get her to talk? Well, thanks to her, Dad. Pretty sure she's not the one we're after. What's her story? Said she read about this woman and banned it in the paper. Decided to try her hand at it. Needed money. Claims her husband left her. She's pregnant. Needs the dope for a hospital. She live here? Up the coast, Monterey. Got in town four days ago, staying at the YWCA. We checked there. She's not lying. You called Monterey? Yeah, they confirmed it. She left there last Wednesday night. She's not the one. Where do we go from here? You'll take care of having her booked, Olson. Yeah, as soon as we get a statement. Okay, fine. Friday ban this way. Hustle it. You too, Olson. What do you got, Ed? Orthon Lucas, 211 shooting. Let's go. Any detail? Yeah. A tall blonde with a gun. Come on. The woman bandit's 18th victim was a truck driver. His name, Harry Reese. His story differed a little from that of the first victim. The woman was hitchhiking near Alvarado and 3rd Street. He gave her a ride. She robbed him at gunpoint, slugged him, and then shot him through the left shoulder. He described her as tall, blonde, attractive, and well-dressed. You say she should have known better. Remember reading about the dame and the papers? You're sure that the person who held you up was a woman? Well, I don't get you. What he means is you don't think it could have been a man dressed like a man. Oh, no. I'm sure of that. A little guy ever looked that good to me. All right, Mr. Reese. We'll check with you later at the hospital. OK. What the hell is this? Get through, will you? Oh, I wish I could. We keeping that truck cleared? Yeah. Olson's got a couple of men watching it. He's going over it. Same old story. Just another version. Don't you think she's spreading it pretty thin? Her luck can't last forever. It's got me beat. How she always manages to disappear without a trace. Now, Ben, this way, over here. Yeah, OK. What do you got? Better hustling. Four blocks down on Colfax, a shooting. Just came in on the car radio. Let's go. Slide over, Jim. Yeah. Get the sign, Ben. The crowd watching. All right, Skipper. Is that all that came over, Ben? A shooting? All they said. See the cab driver. I haven't been shooting. She's working real fast. What's the address for now? Third and East Flower Hotel. Hold on. This is it coming up. It should be to the right here. Yeah, take it right. That must be it up ahead. I can't see. What's that sign say? Hedge Mar Hotel for young women. Here's the cab driver. Love it. It's right over here. All right. Looks like blood stains to me here all over the sidewalk. Yeah, I guess it couldn't have happened any more than five or ten minutes ago. I had this fancy. He picked her up at Fort and Bixel and I drove over here. She paid the fare and got out. Yeah, go on. I was about halfway down the block when I heard a shot. At least it sounded like one. When I looked back, this thing was down on one knee near the door to the hotel. And by the time I backed up there, she was gone. And you noticed the blood, huh? That's right. Yeah, I figured I'd better call somebody. Can you tell us what the girl looked like? Not bad at all. Blonde, tall, pretty girl, nervous. But you didn't see where she went? No, but I didn't. I'll get the driver's name and address. Joe, you and Ben, see if you can follow that trail. Stuff's all over the place. Right. Over this way, Ben. Yeah. It's not hard to follow. Down this alley between the buildings. How does this figure? I don't know. Let's find out. Here we go. All the way back here. You got your flashlight? Yeah. Here it is. Yeah. Yeah, this way. Come on. This must be the rear of the hotel. Look, the stains lead over this way to the back door here. Let me try. All right. Okay, inside. You still follow it? Yeah. Be careful. Up these stairs. Yeah. Second floor. What's the matter? Did you lose them? No. This minute. See anything? Yeah. Stains lead on up the stairs here. Let's go. I just happened to think this is a woman's hotel. And they ought to keep the back door closed. Come on. Third floor. Let's hold it. What is it? I thought I saw a door open down the hall. See anybody? It's an easy trail to follow. Now this is it. They stop here at this door. That doesn't sound like a woman. Yeah. You ready? Try the door first. Easy. It's locked. All right. Come on together now. Let's hit it. Watch it, Joe. All right, you. I got the gun. Yeah. Oh, we found what we came for. Look. Still got the clothes on. Come on, wig, make up everything. Please, help me. My leg. You can call an ambulance. It's on the way. Take it easy. Have a look, Joe. The wig's full make up kit, clothes. Living in a woman's hotel. The works. It was an accident. You never would have got me. I dropped the gun. It went off. You never would have got me. Yeah, that's right, mister. It was an accident. You better get the boss in here. I'll stay with Glamour Boy. Yeah, OK. And Ben. Yeah? Leave the door open, will you? House rules. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On January 14th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 79, city and county of Los Angeles, state of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. It's amazing how many long cigarette smokers are changing to Fatima. Here is the actual report. From the smokers. Yes, more and more smokers every day are discovering that Fatima is the best of all long cigarettes. Smokers find Fatima has a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. They find that Fatima is extra mild because it's the long cigarette which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make it extra mild. Enjoy extra mild Fatima yourself. Best of all, long cigarettes. The welfare and security of your home and your family is the subject of national importance next week, National Crime Prevention Week. The efficiency of your local police department is dependent upon your attitude toward your police officer. Not just one week out of the year, but every day in the year. He wants your cooperation. He needs your cooperation for the enforcement of your laws. Help your officer to help you to live in a peaceful, orderly community. National Crime Prevention Week costs you nothing. Just your cooperation. James Harrell Sutter, alias the Bandit Queen, was tried and convicted on several counts of assault with attempt to commit murder and robbery of the first degree. He was sentenced to the term prescribed by law. While serving his time in the state penitentiary, he was stabbed to death by another inmate. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the office of Chief of Police W.A. Wharton, Los Angeles Police Department. Fatima cigarettes, the best of all long cigarettes, has brought you Dragnet from Los Angeles. Hear Morton Downey tonight on NBC.