 Sound off for Chesterfield, Chesterfield, low in nicotine, highest in quality, best for you. Chesterfield brings you dragnet. Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a burglary detail. In the past five weeks, seventeen homes in your city have been stripped of all valuables. There's no lead to the thief. No description. Your job, get him. Before you buy your next pack of cigarettes, think this over. A doctor has been examining a group of Chesterfield smokers with special attention to the nose, throat and sinuses. His latest report, after a full year and a half, says no adverse effects from smoking Chesterfield. Don't you want to try a cigarette with a record like this? Chesterfield, regular or king size, their low in nicotine, highest in quality, best for you. Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the next thirty 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 Wednesday, June 3rd. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out a burglary detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Wisdom. My name's Friday. We'd just been relieved from stakeout and we were on our way to get something to eat. It was twelve twenty seven a.m. when we got to the corner of Fedora and Ardmore Streets. The cakes and griddle cafe. Here's a couple back here, Joe. Yeah, that's fine. What'll it be, fellas? You got a menu? Up there on the board, huh? Oh, yeah. How's the hash? Doing pretty good. We're out of it. I didn't think a restaurant was ever out of hash. We are. You want to give me a stack of wheat cakes and bacon and a cup of coffee, please? Hey, that sounds good. I'll have the same. But make mine plain hotcakes and sausage on the side, will you? Yeah. Well, you want the coffee now? Yeah, that'll be fine. Yeah, that'll be fine. Coming up. Say, put an egg on my hotcakes, huh? Yeah. Over light? Over light. Yeah. Well, I'm hungry, Joe. Well, I figured that. Is that the morning paper you got there? Yeah, this here. Hand it over, Lee. Here you are. Thanks. What's on the front page? I'm looking at the sports, Joe. A lot of news there. Do you want to know what's going on in the world? Joe, I like the sports. I get the news all the time. My boy is the Hollywood stars one again. Put some nine up. Looks like they might win the pennant. Good. Just stay along, sure you're knocking them in. Who? Stay along. Joe, you're not much of a baseball fan, are you? Yeah, I like to watch the series on TV. It's going to be pretty good. Looks like the Yanks and the Dodgers. Here's your coffee. Oh, thank you. The rest of it will be right here. Good. You fellas knew in the neighborhood, aren't you? What's that? You knew around here, aren't you? Yeah. Stephen's got three heads. Most of our trade is neighborhood people. Come in for coffee and cakes on the way home from the show. I could tell you fellas are new here. Haven't seen you before. Yeah. I'll get the rest of the order. Fine. We got one RBI. What? Stephen's got one RBI. You got a what? RBI, Joe. Run, battered. Oh, yeah. RBI. I know what you mean. I didn't understand what you said. You got to know all that stuff to really watch a game. Yeah, I know that. Here you go, fellas. Wheat cakes and bacon, hot cakes and sauces. Wait a minute. Where's the egg? Inside. Where? Inside. Look at you underneath there, see? Yeah. Egg underneath. Here's the syrup. Thank you. Sure had some excitement around here. That right. Yeah. Don't you guys read the papers? He does. Yeah. Sports page. No, no. I mean the front page. What's been going on? He won't tell me. Oh, and the burglaries. Been 17 of them in the last five weeks. It's running the cops silly. Is that so? Sure. They don't know where they're going. They're running them silly. Say, you like a little more coffee? Yeah, I wouldn't mind, please. Very good coffee, too. You make it yourself here? Yeah, thanks a lot. Put a head on this, too. Fine. I've been at least five detectives in here in the last couple of weeks asking questions. Trying to come up with a lead. You're running them ragged. You guys haven't read about it, huh? Yeah, I think I've seen something about it somewhere. It's pretty funny. Just get this picture. Now, get it. A guy. They figured it's one fellow. He walks up to the back of a house. First off, he's sure there's nobody home. Then he walks up to one of the windows and punches a hole in the screen. Jimmy's the window, walks right in and lifts the jewelry in the house and takes off. Just as cool as can be. They figure he's hitting the places between 6 and 9. You get that? Between 6 and 9 p.m. They must have half the cops in the forest looking for the guy. They're running rings around him. How's the case? Fine. Good. We got kind of secret recipe here. Wife made it up. Anyway, I was talking to one of the people who had it. You know, you know, one of the victims, guy over on Hobart. He said the cops came in and went all over his house, took fingerprints, pictures, all that. Worked in his house for about five hours. Went all over the backyard looking for footprints. And you know what they came up with? No. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. All that time, all those men, and they didn't come up with nothing. He sure got the cops, brother, in circles. You got a check? Check. Oh, yeah, yeah. Here you go. A stack of wheat, bacon, hot sausage and egg, two coffees. I won't charge you for the refills. That's very nice of you. Thank you. This, uh, it comes to $1.25. Tax is $1.29. Okay. You got any pennies, Frank? Yeah. I got two. Here, take a nickel and break it apart. I'll get my wallet, Joe. Maybe I've got a couple in there. Hey. Yeah? Hey, how come you guys are carrying guns? You ain't gonna hold up the place, are you? There isn't any money here. We're police officers. Detectives? Yeah. Oh. Hey, uh, I hope you guys ain't so about what I said about you running in circles. No, forget it. That's all right. Come on, I'll let this one be on the house. Take your money back. Sort of a way to say I'm sorry. Forget it. I'd like to pop for the cakes. No thanks. Thanks just the same. Well, hope you come back again. Sure. Say, just a minute. Yeah. I'd like to ask you a question. About this fella who's been pulling the jobs. Yeah. When do you figure you're gonna get him? When he runs out of circles. The papers had carried the story since the fifth burglary. As the thefts continued, the stories grew in importance. The thief had been operating in the same general area. On each report, the crime lab had been sent out. Pictures were taken, fingerprints were lifted. When the sum total of evidence was weighed and sifted, we were able to establish the fact that we were looking for the same man or men. He was in possession of a one-quarter inch punch, which he used on the screens, and a half inch jimmy, which he used to pry open the windows. From traces of fabric that he left on the fourth job, we knew that he wore cotton gloves. We had no physical description of him to work with, nothing but the M.O. that he used. The stats office had made run after run looking for a lead. The possibles that they'd turned up were checked out, but they netted us nothing. Communications had been gotten off to the rest of the nation asking for information on known criminals who used the same M.O., but the replies were of no help. All recently released convicts from the state penitentiaries and work farms were checked. We found nothing. The pawn shops in the Southland were alerted to be on the lookout for the stolen goods. Again, nothing. Informants and other sources of information were questioned and re-questioned, and at the end of five weeks, we were right back where we started. The newspapers took up the stories in full force. They ran cartoons of the thief picturing him as an invisible phantom who could almost announce the time of the next house breaking to the police and then proceed according to plan without interference. Every known method of apprehending the burglar was tried. None of them worked. Captain Wisdom assigned four other teams of men to the case. Metro Division sent out another two cars to aid in the rolling stakeout. Apparently, we were stopped cold. Two more days passed, and on Friday, June 5th, we got a report of another burglary. 9.36 a.m., Frank and I left the office to check it out. Yes, something you want? We'd like to see Miss Santos if we could. Who are you? Police officers, ma'am. Is Miss Santos in? Oh, well, I'm her. Come on in. Thank you. Come on, come on. Hurry up. I don't want the flies into the house. Yes, ma'am. I never saw so many flies around as this summer. Sit down. Thank you. Can I get you anything? Cup of coffee? No, no, thank you. You don't mind if I have some? No, you go right ahead. Just having another cup before I get started on the house sort of the lull before the storm. Ma'am. The kids are downstairs playing. They'll be up in a minute. They get to run around. It's impossible to get anything done. Yes, ma'am. All I can do is get a second cup of coffee in the morning. Excuse me, Minda, I'll be right back. Sure. Just make yourself comfortable. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Now then, this is about the burger last night, isn't it? Yes, ma'am. We'd like to go over the list of stolen articles with you. Oh, that's it. Everything they took. I'd like to check it if we can. Wasn't anything else in the house for them to take? Let's see here. According to what we have in the report, you listed $47 in cash, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's from the jar. Ma'am. Well, we got a little candy jar upstairs. Keep loose change in it. Whenever I have anything left over for my household money, I put it in there. Anthony, he's my husband. Yes, ma'am. Well, whenever Anthony's got any loose change in his pocket, he drops it in there. Adds up in time. $47. Yes, ma'am. You're pretty sure about the amount now. Yeah, you see, we keep a little piece of paper in the jar. Got the amount written on it, so as we can tell how much we've added to it. Mm-hmm. Whoever stole the money didn't take the paper. Just the money. Had exactly $47. Yes, ma'am. Now, you listed Ruby and Diamond Woman's wristwatch, is that right? Gonna use it for a trip to Las Vegas. A big part? We were gonna use the money in the jar for a trip to Las Vegas. Only needed $150 more. Now, we gotta start all over again. Yes, ma'am. Now, about the watch? Oh, yeah, well, they stole that, too. Had two rubies on one side, three diamonds on the other, little gold band. Took that, too. Anniversary present from Anthony. He's my husband. Uh-huh. Gave it to me on our fifth anniversary. February 2nd. Now, you listed Diamond Ring. I wonder if you can give us a little better description of the ring. My engagement ring. Solitaire, not very big. Had on my dressing table on one of those little ring gadgets. You know, the little block of wood on the little stick. Yes, ma'am. You put your rings on it when you're doing the dishes. Not very big. Yes, ma'am. Now, was there anything else of value taken? No. A couple of cheap little costume pieces, a bracelet, a couple of pins. Nothing really worth anything. I can have descriptions of the pieces if we could. I can give them to you. All right, fine. You really think you're gonna be able to catch the fella and took the things? Well, we don't know. We're sure gonna try. Have there been any strangers that you've noticed in the neighborhood lately? No, none that I can think of right now. Any strange cars, ma'am? You married officer? Yes, ma'am. Guy and kids? Yes, ma'am, too. Mm-hmm. I don't know what time she's got to take notice of cars driving up and down the street. Noticing whether people are loitering in front of the house or not. You just ask her. She'll tell you. You men, all the time talking about the modern conveniences, help out the housework, just zip in the house and clean with the vacuum, switch the dishes around. They're all clean with the new soaps. Yes, ma'am. Well, maybe it's better than our mothers had it, but they still haven't come up with nothing short of a straight jacket that'll keep you from having to run after the kids all day. Yes. You ask your wife, she'll tell you. Yes, ma'am. You ask yours, too. I'll tell you what she's got in her hand. Well, then you wouldn't know. Well, you can talk to his wife. Those fellas last night, they gained clues. We haven't checked on them yet, ma'am. It seems like they should be able to tell something about who did it. All that power they was putting around, the pictures they was taking, all the excitement, took me two hours after they left before to get the kids to sleep. All that trouble, they should have something that's gonna get the things back. I should know one thing. What's that, ma'am? A man that stole the watch. Wish they'd taken the book. The record book. It was right in the door of the dressing table. Where those people at the store are, if you don't find them, they will. I don't believe I understand this house. The people where we bought the wristwatch, they'll find them sure. They won't let them get away with it. The watch, it isn't paid for. 1042 a.m., we started to canvas the neighborhood. For the next hour, we talked to the people in the houses on both sides of the street. None of them could add anything to the story given us by the latest victim. 12 noon, Frank and I called the office and all elderly men approached us. He identified himself as Ross Dunham. He explained that he lived in the corner house on the same street as Mrs. Santos. Yeah, my wife told me you were by the house this morning. Yes, sir, we were. Got something that maybe you can use. What's that, Mr. Dunham? Well, I noticed it right off. Didn't want to say anything about it to the Mrs. You know, women get upset. Thought it would be better not to mention it. Yes, sir. What is it? Nightfall last Thursday. I saw the car. What car was that, sir? What I wanted to tell you about the car? Well, it was kind of warm night. Mrs. and I were sitting out on the porch and glided, just taking the night air. And then I saw the car go by. Didn't think much about it first. I see. Must have been about 6.30, right after supper. We just sitting there, taking there, having a glass of iced tea. Then I saw the car go by again, slow like he's looking the house is over. Could you describe the car for us, sir? Yeah, got written right down here someplace. The car went by and I think I got it in my wallet. Might have left it in my other pants. I thought you... Oh, no. No, here it is. There it is. Even got the license number. Yes, sir. Is it going to help? We don't know, sir. We'll check it out. Can I have that paper, please? I'll call them, Joe. Have them check DMV. Right. Sure hope it gives you guys some help. The way the burden's been run around here, terrible. The man isn't safe to leave his house. I've been thinking that the officers talked to you last night, sir. You mean when they came out to see Mr. Santos? Yes, sir. No, they didn't. I saw the police car. I thought about going down to talk to them. But the missus would have wanted to know what was going on. Told her about the car and ended up upset her. She's kind of nervous. Bricks hot in a rash whenever anything happens like this. I see. Got just about every kind of ointment in the world. Doctor says it's in her mind, says it's all in her imagination. You believe that? Well, I wouldn't know, sir. You get rashes when I eat fresh peaches. Don't do no more, though. See you in a minute, Joe. Yeah, would you excuse him, Mr. Dunham? Yeah, sure. Mm-hmm. Did you get anything? Yeah. Didn't have any trouble making the car. Got a good suspect. Yeah, who? Guy named Oaks. Oaks? Yeah. Works on a burglary. It's a police car. We thanked Mr. Dunham for his cooperation in the attempt to help us. As a public-minded citizen, he'd done what he thought was right. During the time we'd been working with the police who wanted to cooperate, each of the tips, no matter how remote, we checked out. This meant using additional man-hours and pulling officers off other assignments to investigate the possible leads. But in every event, we appreciated the tips. Three more days passed. The thief hit once more. In spite of the close surveillance we were keeping on the area, he somehow managed to get into the vicinity, commit the crime, and leave without being observed. The pressure from local citizens clubs and insurance companies got a little heavier. The chief of detectives thad Brown's office. The detail and results of our investigation were gone over again. Additional bulletins were gotten out requesting information on the MO. The area of the rolling stakeout was increased to 96 square blocks, that's 2 square miles. A new plan for surveillance was worked out. Under the new conditions, we were able to keep the entire neighborhood under almost constant watch. Additional teams of men were assigned for Metro Division. To date, the thief had stolen $1,000. The check on the pawn shops was tightened, but none of the merchandise turned up in the normal outlets. Every night between the hours of 5.30 and midnight, the dragnet of the area was put into effect. During the next week, the theft stopped completely. Apparently, we'd stopped the burglar, but we still hadn't caught him. Wednesday, June 17th, I checked in for work. Joe? Yeah? I think we've got something. What's that? I was just down the hall with Bates. Yeah. I checked out the guy named Boyd Hall. He was stopped four times in the last week in different locations in the same general area until the officers, he was on his way home. How do you spell that name? B-O-Y-D Boyd Hall. You got his address? Yeah. Better check it out. I ran the name through R&I and came up with eight. Three of them back in the joint, one dead, other four have to be checked out. Descriptions don't fit too well. Let me see there. Yeah, here you are. You better get right out there. Now, let's go. Might be something, huh? I don't know. We turned off Vermont Avenue onto Venice Boulevard, four blocks to the left, and we turned on to Dewey Street, another block and a half, and we pulled up in front of the address. Well, this is 1800. ought to be right. Here. Well, we're still back in a thousand. 1804 Dewey. Yeah. Vacant lot. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. It's so satisfying to know that my Chesterfield is low in nicotine, highest in quality. Chesterfield, low in nicotine, highest in quality. A fact proved by chemical analyses of the country's six leading cigarette brands. And it's so satisfying to know that a doctor who has been making thorough examinations, especially of the nose, throat, and sinuses, reports no adverse effects from smoking Chesterfields. His report is a part of a program supervised by a responsible independent research laboratory and is based on thorough bimonthly examinations of a group of Chesterfield smokers over a period of a year and a half. That's 18 full months now. Don't you want to smoke a cigarette with a record like this? Regular or king size? Chesterfield is low in nicotine, highest in quality. Best for me, best for you. Wednesday, June 17th, 848 a.m. We canvassed the neighborhood around the vacant lot. None of the people had ever heard of Boyd Hall. We asked about anyone answering the description listed on the F.I. cards. The neighbors couldn't help us there, either. 11.17 a.m. We returned to the office and we started to check out the remaining four possibles. All of them were able to establish alibis for the time of the burglaries, and they were eliminated as suspects. We got in touch with the officers who'd filed the F.I. cards. They remembered the man. Each of the teams of men who'd stopped him had asked for identification. He'd produced a driver's license, personal cards, and several letters to himself bearing the dewy street address. He told the officers that he'd lived in the neighborhood and that he was returning to his home from a grocery store. The officers had checked the bag of groceries he was carrying and found nothing suspicious and let him proceed in his way. We got in touch with Sergeant Zook at the warrant office and asked him to check and see if there were any outstanding traffic warrants on Boyd Hall. He called back to tell us there were none. APBs and local broadcasts were sent out to the police. We got in touch with the department of motor vehicles and asked them to give us all the information they could on the suspect carrying California operator's license number Z941-511, issued 12552. They checked their files and told us that there was no record of a Boyd Hall being issued that particular license number. They also stated that no number had been given out on the Z series. This left little doubt that the license was a forgery that was passed while we followed down leads. Saturday, June 20th, Frank and I were in position for the night surveillance. 8.30 p.m. Joe. Up at the corner are you getting off the streetcar? No. Maybe. Description fits. I'm carrying a shopping bag. No, let's take a look. All right. Pull up here. It's good. All right. Excuse me, fella. We're going to have to go through this again. Make a pardon? You're police officers, aren't you? Yes, sir, we are. You want to see my identification? Yes, sir. That's right. All right. I'd be glad when you fell as fine whatever it is you're looking for. You know, this is the fifth time I've been stopped. Is that right? Yeah. Here, will you hold this shopping bag for me? Sure. Hey, what you got in here? Loaf of bread groceries. I got my driver's license in my wallet. Here. Would you take it out of your wallet, please? Sure. There. See? Mm-hmm. Boyd Hall. Well, we're sorry we bothered you, Mr. Hall. Perfectly all right. I know you're only doing what we pay you for. I'll tell you what, to make up for causing any inconvenience, let us drive you home, could we? Oh, that's not necessary. It's just a couple of blocks. I don't mind a walk. Don't like to put your fellas out. Don't worry about it. Get in the back seat, huh? Really, I appreciate the thought, but it's not necessary. Want to get in the back there? All right. Want to take the shopping bag in front, Frank? Yeah. Go ahead, Hall. Where you guys acted, you think it was something wrong? Nothing is, is it? No, I was just saying the way you guys are. Never mind. How long you lived in this neighborhood, Hall? A little while. We just bought the house. About how long would you say? Not long. How long? A couple of months. I think it's right at the next block, Frank. Yeah. Say, I sure appreciate this, but you guys don't have to go out of your way. Just drop me off the corner. I can walk. It's just a little ways down. No, it's no trouble at all. Here we are. Well, I sure want to thank you, officers. It's a real pleasure to know that our taxes are paying for the kind of service you've just got to do. We'll get a little better. Mm-hmm. Never mind. I want to get out of the car and we'll walk up with you. Yeah. That's okay. I'll carry the bag for you. Well, it might be better if I check it. No, no trouble. Now, which is your house, Hall? This one, right here. That's 1802. Then that one's 1806. Let's walk down a little further, shall we? Mm-hmm. That's fine. Now, if we figure correctly, 1804 would be right here, wouldn't it? Don't suppose you're doing it good for us. No, I don't suppose it would. You want to tell us about it? Yeah, I might as well. Now, let's get back in the car. Well, what do you got in this shopping bag? Sure is heavy. Let's see. A box of breakfast cereal and a loaf of French bread. You ought to take this bread back, Hall. Look here. Somebody cut it right in half. See here, Joe? Yeah. All hollered out, punching a Jimmy inside, burglary tools. You want to tell us where you got them? I'll call. All right, let's go, Frank. Yeah. I suppose you guys think you're pretty smart, don't you? No, not particularly. It took us eight weeks to catch it. I should have let it go. I should have gotten out while I was getting this good. Yeah, you should have. How are you going to know? I figured ten weeks and then quit another two weeks. That's all I needed. Where's the stuff you took? Hotel room. You shoved any of it yet? No, that's all there. Every bit of it but the money. I lived on that. Figured when I got enough, I'd hit for the border, sell it in Mexico. I'll stop on the way and pick it up, huh? Okay. This isn't another vacant lot, is it? No, no, this is a McCoy. You know, I had it all figured all the way down the line, every angle. Hey, how about it? Answer a question for me? All right. Is there any way to beat it, any way to come out on top? Well, you know the answer to that one better than we do. Hmm? You tried. What do you think? The story you've just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On October 15th, trial was held in Department 96, Superior Court State of California in and for the County of Los Angeles. In a moment, the results of that trial. Now, here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you, George Veneman. Friends, as you heard George tell you earlier, we've received the full year-and-one-half report. It comes from the doctor who's been examining Chesterfield smokers with special attention to the nose, throat, and sinuses. Now, the report shows again no adverse effects from smoking Chesterfields. I think that's very important to you as a smoker, and I hope you'll keep it in mind next time you buy cigarettes and get Chesterfields. Regular or king size, Chesterfields are low in nicotine, highest in quality. Best for you. Lawrence Philip Harris, alias Boyd Hall, was tried and convicted on six counts of burglary in the first degree and received sentence as prescribed by law. Burglary in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not less than five years. Dragnet wishes to thank the editors of McCall's magazine for their interesting personal story about Jack Webb. Nobody's Man Friday in the current September issue of McCall's. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Technical advisors, Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Winn, Sergeant Van Spracher. Heard tonight where Ben Alexander, Peter Leeds, Joyce McCluskey, Harry Bartel. Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schumann. Hell, give me speaking. Watch an entirely new Dragnet Case History each week on your local NBC television station. Please check your newspaper for day and time. Chesterfield has brought you Dragnet, transcribed from Los Angeles. Have you tried new cork-tipped Fatima? It's the smooth smoke. Here's why. New Fatima tips of perfect cork. King size for longer filtering and Fatima quality for a much better flavor and aroma. 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