 We are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to auto theft details. A gang of criminals masquerading as legitimate auto dealers start to work in your city. Innocent people are cheated out of thousands of dollars. The thieves are clever. They work a foolproof formula. Your job? Stop them. 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 transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Tuesday, February 19th. It was chilly in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of auto theft. My partner's been Romero. The boss is Captain Nelson. My name's Friday. We were on the way out from the office and it was 10.25 a.m. when we got to the corner of 38th Street in Maxbury Avenue. The Greenleaf Day Nursery School. Maybe it's Palmer, is that right? I think it's going to be a minute. I've got it written down. Yeah. Excuse me, ma'am. Police, ma'am, I'm Romero. It's Friday. Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm going to get all about it. Is that it? Ma'am, we've been handling similar complaints for last month or so. We'd like to have you tell us everything that happened in your case, if you would please. One of the most underhanded things I've ever heard of, Sergeant. It would have been the same thing if you'd held me up with a gun, just out and out, Robert. Could you give us some of the details, ma'am, how you were first approached on the deal? Excuse me a minute, please. Children, time to go inside now. We're going to color pictures with the crayons this morning. Johnson has them all ready for you inside. Please, Michael, Sandra, go along now. Inside, everyone. Certainly wish the warm weathered hurry up and come. Children always raise such an uproar when we have to keep them indoors. It's the worst part of running a day nursery to win a month. Yes, ma'am, I suppose so. How about your automobile, Mrs. Palmer? We understand you had it up for sale. You advertised one of the local newspapers, haven't you? Yes, that's right. I ran one of those three-day wand ads over the weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I thought I'd get more for my car if I told it myself. I mean, instead of selling it to a used car lot. Yes, ma'am. How many answers did you get on your wand ad? Well, just the one where it turned out, this man came out and looked at my car first thing in the morning. He offered to pay me exactly what I was asking for it, so I sold it to him. That's just the way it went. Who was this man, Mrs. Palmer? Was he representing some auto company? Yes, he said he was anyway. He gave his name at Joseph Newhall. I've got his card inside. He was a buyer for Dan Barton's used car lot on South Cap Street. Nice address, man. He made it all seem so honest. How was the deal arranged? Could you tell us, I mean, transfer of the car payment and so forth? Well, he gave me a check for $50, sort of a down payment to hold the car for me. It was a certified company check. Let's see. He told me he'd get back that afternoon with a certified check for the full amount of the car. $800. Did he take your car with him then? No, he didn't. That's why I had no reason to be suspicious. He left me the check for $50 and said he'd either with the money. In the meantime, one of the employees in the used car lot might be along to pick up the car to save me the trouble of driving it downtown myself. Uh-huh. Same ammo, Joe, all the way. Yeah, it looks like it. Well, how did it go after that, Mrs. Palmer? This worker from the used car lot came to the house to pick up the car about one o'clock that afternoon. Gave me a check for the full amount of the car. I gave him the pink slip. Had a pair of white cover all found, lettering on the back of him. Dan Barton's used cars. It looked like a typical mechanic or something. I wasn't at least that suspicious. How about the buyer of this Joseph Newhall? Did he show up later in the day? No, he never came back. I've never seen him since. I haven't seen my car either. I called that Dan Barton's used car lot the next morning and they told me they never heard of Joseph Newhall. Just made me sick, officer. I can't afford to lose the money I had in that car. Yes, ma'am. We understand the same things happen to a dozen people like you on the city. Do you remember what this man Newhall looked like, Mrs. Palmer, his physical description, maybe the clothes he was wearing? Yes, I've got it all written down, Sergeant, in my diary. Would you like to step inside, please? I've got my little office at the back of the school here. Well, thank you very much. I always make a record of everything in my diary. I've kept going ever since I was a girl in college, every day. I suppose you've got all the information on your car that make, license numbers, things like that? Oh, yes, indeed. I've got everything together I thought might help you. Right up these stairs, please. Thank you. Go ahead. How about the description of the man and overalls, the one who came to pick up your car? Would you remember him, ma'am? Yes, I've got that for you, too. Everything I thought would help. Just have a seat there, officers. I've got the things in my desk here. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. I wouldn't mind the whole thing so much, but as I say, I can't afford to lose the cash I had tied up in my car. It seems to be the way the thieves operate, ma'am. They've been cheating the people who've released the 40. Terrible thing, just out not robbery. There you are, Sergeant. Thank you, ma'am. Here's the description of my car, license number, all the rest. Yes, I see. And here's the description of the two men. That's just all a cover-all to pick up my car. Have you got that deposit check, ma'am, who all gave him his palm in the check for $50? Right here, Sergeant. I saw that company about it. Dan brought and used car lot. Forgery. Not worth the paper. It's printed on. Uh-huh. I love you. Yeah, that's right. One thing I don't understand, how those crooks get these checks to begin with, do they steal them? No, ma'am. We figured they had them printed out. We're still trying to find out where. Well, you know what the men look like. You'll be able to find them now, won't you? Only wish it worked that way, ma'am. We've had good descriptions on both men for a month now. Hasn't helped too much. I don't understand it at all. As I say, they're only common crooks. They can't be that smart, can they? Well, there's only one way we can judge. We've been hunting every day for a month now. Yeah? They're stolen. In the space of 33 days, the auto theft gang and victimize a dozen private citizens throughout the city. In each instance, the approach and the method of operation had been the same. The front man for the gang would personally answer a want ad inserted in the local newspaper by a private citizen advertising a sale of his automobile. The front man would represent himself falsely as a buyer for Dan Barton's used car lot, a well-known and legitimate used car dealer. He'd offer to pay exactly the sale price which the private party was asking. As a deposit, the so-called buyer would leave a counterfeit company check for $50 or $100 with a promise that he would return later in the day with a certified check for the full amount. After a few hours, another man posing as an employee of Dan Barton's used the call for the car and drive it away. Neither the car nor the so-called buyer were ever seen again. All efforts to trace them went for nothing. 11.40 a.m. Ben and I went back to the office and got out a broadcast and a supplementary APB on Mrs. Palmer's car and also on the phony car buyer who called himself Joseph Newhall. After lunch, we met with Sergeant Constance B, one of the other four men out of auto theft detail who were working in case with us. How'd you make out this morning? I mean, that ain't going anywhere at all? It wasn't bad as far as it went. We found a place where they had the printing done. Oh, it was there. Smoke up in the valley. Printed up the phony checks without heading on it. Dan Barton's used car lot. I got lots of business cards for him, too. What was the name you found out? That same one, Joseph Newhall. He ordered the checks and the business cards. Printed and described them for us, same guy. Where'd it go from there? No place. Printed told us Newhall had a car. He couldn't give us a license number. Couldn't even remember the maker, the body style. Thought it was a late-model car, it's but all. Well, that's not much help. No address on him either. It was a will-call order paid for in cash. Mr. Newhall comes back again. Ah, yeah, it's covered. I don't figure there's much chance Newhall's going to do that. You ordered enough checks printed up the first time last year. Well, I guess that's one late we can forget. How about that special run the stats office made for us yesterday? Did you come out of that? No, nothing. All the possibles on the list were checked out on the clear. Nothing from Barton's used car lot either. Everybody on their staff's been checked out. All their ex-employees, too. No signing one of them might have had a hand in it. Yeah. Oh, have you seen the captain since this morning? No, why? Well, that idea we were talking over at the last meeting, he figures we'll go ahead with it this weekend. How do you figure I'm working, you know? I'm in personal content? Yeah, that's right. Most of the private parties who want to sell their cars and sell use that want ad dealer over the weekend. They get a special ready Saturday and Sunday. Oh, I know. Thursday nights are deadline for having the ad dinner. They're going to run the full weekend. And that's what we start working on. We get in touch with every private party who file a want ad for the weekend advertising a sale of their car. Yeah, we'll contact them by phone every one of them. We advise them that if anybody representing themselves as a buyer for Dan Barton, use car lot answers, their want ad, there to get in touch with us right away. If they can't stall the man long enough, we tell them to accept the information on the man the car is driving. You know, to work out if we can get any kind of cooperation, it's going to be a big job. We'll have to cover all the want ads and all the papers. We've got a good description of that phony buyer, Joseph Newhall. If they planted a want ad from one of the papers, maybe he's the one in the gang who brought the ad in. It's possible one of the ad takers might remember and might be worth checking anyway. Well, could be. They might have phoned in the ad too. That wouldn't help much. There's well snuff foolproof, but it's a different approach to plan anyway. We tried everything else. We can think of to reach the fees. I get it. Auto theft, fighting time. Yes, sir. Mm-hmm. When was that? 90. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yes, as soon as we can. Thank you, sir. Well, maybe we won't have to wait for the weekend. What do you mean? Man out in Echo Park. He runs the candy store out there. He advertised his car for sale in this morning's paper. He said the first one to answer it was a buyer from Dan Barton's used car lot. Gave his name as Joseph Newhall. Looks like the same M.O. Mm-hmm. That make a deal? Well, a candy store owner wouldn't go for the deposit check. He wanted the full amount. Said the deal didn't sound right to him. How does it stand now? Well, Newhall said he'd come back with a check for the full sale price. What? 8 o'clock tonight. 2.20 p.m. We drove out and questioned the candy store owner further. His description of Newhall tallied with the others, but again, the potential victim had failed to get any kind of a description of the car. Newhall was driving out of a license number. Ben and I staked out at the house. 8 p.m. came and went. The suspect failed to show. By midnight, there was still no sign of him. Well, the way it shaped up, Newhall apparently had a policy of making a deal at first contact or forgetting about it. He probably figured that if a person was at all suspicious, the interval would give him time to check, and Newhall wasn't giving away any odds. All day Wednesday, the stakeout went on. No sign of the suspect. On Thursday night, the local newspapers gave us lists of names and phone numbers of all private parties who had ordered want ads for the coming weekend to advertise the sale of an automobile. We divided up the names to six of us took turns on the phones and started calling each party. We warned them about the car theft ring and advised them of what steps to take in the event Joseph Newhall or one of the other gang members approached them with a proposition to buy their car. One of the private parties we contacted was a Mr. Roy Harmon. Then got on one of the things we prepared. Sergeant Ormsby used the other extension and called another party running an ad. Sergeant Ormsby locked down the sweet department auto. How's that, sir? Yes, and one of the gang members that goes under the name of Joseph Newhall contacted it all. Oh, yeah. He was down. All right, thank you, man. What was that all about? A man by the name of Harmon, once a cocktail lounge out on South Coal, he took in a check over the boilers and that company check from Dan Borton's used car lot, says it was signed Joseph Newhall. Well, he ought to remember who passed it. He does. I got it right here. A man by the name of Frank Curtis was a regular customer at the bar. Harmon says his Curtis came in the place last night with a man in a dark suit and the man seemed to be a friend of Curtis's. Well, I asked him what the friend looked like and he described him. It was Newhall. What about that check, though? Harmon says he was standing by at the time, told me that Frank Curtis and Newhall had quite a few drinks together and he ran out of money. Newhall wanted to cash a check, but he didn't know. He didn't know him. Well, this Frank Curtis is a regular customer at the bar and he offered to endorse the check for Newhall. So Harmon said, OK, any cash? Well, how well does Harmon know this customer is, this Curtis? Pretty well. He lives across the street from him. We checked Frank Curtis through R&I, but he had no previous criminal record. We left the rest of the list for the other men and Ben and I drove out and talked to Roy Harmon, the owner of the cocktail lounge, where the suspect Joseph Newhall had his friend Frank Curtis. Harmon told the same story he'd given Ben over the phone. Curtis was a long-time neighbor of his and a steady customer at his cocktail lounge. As for Newhall, he'd never set eyes on him until the night before. Harmon gave us the home address of Frank Curtis and we checked it out. Mrs. Curtis entered the door and told us that her husband Frank was working in newly inaugurated night shift at an aircraft plant in the south end of the city. Then an eye drove down to the plant and after checking with the personnel office, we finally located Curtis at his work. He was an assistant foreman in one of the aircraft assembly shops. The truth, Sergeant Romero, the last time I saw Newhall before the years ago, we used to work at a work plant together. Commander, anyway, have you done something? We understand you endorse a check of Newhall for $50. You know him that well? I mean that you'd endorse checks for him? Well, maybe I shouldn't have. Wives always tell me I'll be more careful to whom I'm signing checks for. Well, I wouldn't have to. This Newhall? Well, I don't know. During the war, he and his wife lived in this housing project off North Main. I know they moved from that place, though. Yeah. A matter of fact, old Joe didn't tell me where he was living. I gave him my address. Told him to drop over for a beer sometimes. Don't remember getting his address, though. Didn't tell me what this is about, huh? Just a routine check. We'd like to locate Newhall, that's all. Got a few questions we'd like to ask him. Sir, excuse me. We're going to watch it here, Sergeant. I'm coming through with that jig, then. Okay, fellas. Straight on through. All clear. Let's go finish them. They got us free. They're getting busy again, all right. Seems like the old swing ship stays all over again. War years. Yeah. You mentioned a minute ago that Newhall is married, Mr. Curry. Yeah, that's right. What about his wife? Can you tell us anything at all about her? Betty? No, no, I don't think so. Her and Joe seem to get along all right. They're along pretty well, a matter of fact. Nice girl, Betty. I'm going to remind her much. Does Newhall have any children? You know that? No, no, kids. Well, it doesn't work. Her and Joe. Uh-huh. Would you know if Newhall's wife is still working? I don't know. Probably is. But yeah, yeah, matter of fact, she is. Joe happened to mention it the other night when we were talking. Just happened to think of it. Let's go ahead. I remember I asked about Betty and he said she was still working. Same old place, same old job, that's all. She still works, you know? Yeah, City Hall. We continued questioning Frank Curtis and he told us that to the best of his knowledge the suspect's wife, Betty Newhall, had a civil service rating and that she'd worked as a file clerk in the record room of one of the bureaus in the municipal. The next morning, Ben and I got in touch with the civil service officials at the City Hall and they got out a tracer on the wife of the suspect. 11.20 a.m. I got it. Auto theft Friday. Yes, sir. How's that? Huh, I didn't hear it. When? The ice rate. Yes, sir. Right, we'll check with you in about an hour. Bye. I don't know why we always have to do it the hard way. Why, what was it? The callback on Newhall's wife, most of it checks out just the way Curtis told us. What's her up? Betty Newhall quit her job a month ago. Hasn't been around, hasn't been seen since. Civil service can't even contact her. What's the deal? She moved. No forwarding address, not a trace of her. 11.20 a.m. I did ball road off the 57 freeway. 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Then got all the available information on her from the civil service office and we got out a broadcast and the supplementary all points bulletin. We found out she had a 10 year old son so we checked with the Board of Education to see if the boy was registered in one of the city schools. He wasn't listed. Still no response. We stayed on it. In the meantime the weekend was wearing a white suit. The other two teams of men working the case were standing by but apparently none of the private parties who were running want ads over the weekend advertising the sale of an automobile had been approached yet by either Joseph Newhall or some other member of the gang. If they did make a contact it hadn't been reported to us. Saturday night still no response 8.50 p.m. Ben and I had some supper at Johnny Coken's place and then we went back to the office. Another bad meal at all, huh? Good soup. Yeah, there's nothing like that corn chowder Johnny puts out. It's the best. I'm sure we should do something about that coffee like taking a shot of adrenaline, isn't it? It's pretty strong and... excuse me. Maybe that's what giving me this heart there. Where's Armsby? I thought he was covering. Oh, God, he was here when I left. Joe, Ben. Hi, Army. Thought we lost you. I'm taking a call from Hollywood Division. Good piece of news. What's that? Newhall's wife, they found her. At approximately 25 minutes past 8 that night, a dark-haired woman in her late 30s had brought a young boy into a pharmacy in the Hollywood area. Apparently, the woman had been drinking, but she was not intoxicated. The young boy with her, whom she identified as her 10-year-old son, was badly cut and bruised about the face and head. The woman insisted that the pharmacist on duty treat the boy and attend to his injuries. After arguing with the woman, the pharmacist called the Hollywood receiving hospital. The ambulance was dispatched and the boy in his mercenary treatment. At Hollywood receiving, the woman gave her name as Betty Harrison, and her son's name was George Harrison. But a routine identification checked by officers next door at the Hollywood Division station disclosed her true name as Mrs. Betty Newhall. The desk sergeant ordered her health for interrogation and notified our office immediately. 9.30 p.m. Ben and I arrived at the Hollywood Division. The boy, George, Mrs. Newhall, told me about hitting little George. I told him if he did it again, I'd walk out. Well, I did walk out. I don't care what happens to him. You mean the boy's father did that to him? Beat him up like any... He's not George's father. Second marriage. My name needs to be done. I have two kids. One died. When the boy came through, I got custody of George and I married Joe Newhall. You know why we're looking for your husband, Mrs. Newhall? Yeah, I think so. Why do you think so? It's a car business. Anyway, it was George. Do you have any idea at all where we can find your husband? Not sure. He might be a lot of places. Just can't get over what he did to George. No reason at all. Kid came home and asked if he could go to the show. His husband got up and slapped him. Been drinking quite a bit. He hit the kid with his clothes. He just kept hitting. A cool man slugging a 10-year-old kid like that. I don't care about any man or George's concern. Nobody's going to treat a kid of mine like that. You said you knew about your husband's dating in a car business, Mrs. Newhall. How much do you know about it? That much. It was his idea from the beginning when my husband got them in together to work directly. He made all the plans and gave all your orders. How is it that you quit your job at the city hall in such a hurry? My husband's idea, I guess. He thought if anything happened to you, you'd want to be traced very easy. Then he had to go and get drunk that night. He always did stupid things like that. How about the gang your husband had working with at Mrs. Newhall? Can you tell us anything about them? Yes, I can. Please, I was working with them. Maybe there's someone else besides them, but I don't know them. You know where these men live, ma'am? How we can find them? I think I do. Yeah, I got the dresses at home. By this time, they're probably on there. You know the places they were supposed to be staying? Yeah, I got the dresses at home. How about the cars they got on this deal they were working? What are they doing with them? Do you know that? I don't know for sure. They were moving east, I think, selling them back there. Yes, ma'am. I didn't always get to the deep. Married to John Feehan. I'd be ford. No. Even they didn't like kids. They'd have to be that way. Well, I'd like to ask you something. Why'd you marry him? 10.43 p.m. We stopped at the Newhall apartment on the way back to the study hall, called the office, and arranged for a steakhouse. The wife of the suspect, Betty Newhall, gave us the names and addresses of the people she knew to be working with her husband, Joseph Newhall, in the auto theft gang. She had no information to offer on the cars they might be driving. When we got to the office, we took a complete statement of Mrs. Newhall, and then she was booked in at the main jail on suspicion of grand theft auto. 11.09 p.m. Together with Wilton and Ormsby, we started checking out the addresses of the gang members. Our first two stops, we got nothing. On our last two, we did a little better. We picked up a Jack Whitmore, Curly Reese, and a Carl Steadman, three of the names which Mrs. Newhall had mentioned. We took them downtown and booked them in at the main jail. That still left the principal suspect, Joseph Newhall, unaccounted for. At 1.45 a.m. the next morning, we got a tip as to his whereabouts. A small hotel on East First Street. We checked it out. The man answering Newhall's description was registered in room 209 on the second floor. We got a pass key from the room clerk on duty and started up the stairs. 209. Down this way, Joe. Seven. Here we are. See if we can get a ride. Police officers, I'd hold up there. Down then. What's this all about? You generally sleep with your clothes on, Newhall? Look, I don't know what you're talking about. What is this? He's clean, Joe. I'll take his bag. And I'll stay out of those things. You haven't done your right breaking in here like this. This comes with my problem. Let me relax, Newhall. This won't take long. Two full pads of them, Joe. Find them in his suitcase. His company checked. We talked to your friends, Mr. We got one side of the story. You haven't got anything on me. You haven't got enough to hold me an hour. We're going to give it a try. For a full five hours we questioned Newhall, both at the hotel and later downtown in the interrogation room. And after five hours of questioning, he finally broke and admitted being the mastermind behind the auto theft racket. Your true name is Joseph Woodard, Newhall, is that right? Yeah, that's him. You can't blame the whole setup on me though. My wife had a hand in it just as much as I did. Everybody got her statement. You want to give us yours? And she's just as much to blame as I am. We didn't hurt anybody anyway. It's just a con deal, that's all. We didn't hurt anybody. How do you figure that? Well, just a simple con deal. People advertising their cars for sale are trying to cheat out a few bucks on themselves. We just out-figured them, that's all. We ready to dictate a statement for us. You know, we out-figured you too. You'd never have reached this. It wasn't for my wife. We'd reach it. Because I slapped him around a little. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that. Well, you'd better learn a lesson, Mrs. Wife. Next time you fight, don't pick a 10-year-old. The story you had just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On May 29th, a trial was held in Superior Court, Department 87, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California, in a moment the results of that trial. A track of his fingerprints revealed that Joseph Newhall's true name was Joseph Orrin Henderson, and that he had a previous record of forgery and burglary in the State of South Carolina. Henderson, alias Newhall, was tried and convicted along with its associates in the auto theft gang on eight counts of grand theft and forgery of a fictitious check. They received sentences as prescribed by law. Grand theft is punishable by imprisonment for not less than one or more than 10 years. Forgery of a fictitious check is punishable by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than one year or in the State Penitentiary for not more than 14 years. The wife Betty Newhall was convicted as an accomplice and was sentenced to serve one year in the County Jail. Ladies and gentlemen, our security and the peace of the world are in danger while hundreds of millions behind the iron curtain are victims of vicious lies about the United States and other free nations. Join the Crusade for Freedom and the Crusade Committee or by writing to General Clay Empire State Building New York City. Make a contribution to its work. Help truth fight communism. Join the Crusade for Freedom. You have just heard Dragna, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from Chief of Police W. H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Fatima Cigarettes. Best of all, king-sized cigarettes has brought your Dragnet transcribe from Los Angeles.