 to hear is true the names have been changed to protect the innocent you're a detective sergeant you're assigned a robbery detail a pair of bandits are staging a rapid-fire campaign of hold-ups in your city in 21 days 11 food markets have been robbed the hold-ups go on the suspects are still unidentified your job get them 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 drag net is the story of your police force in action was Tuesday September 26 was hot in Los Angeles we're working the day watch out a robbery detail my partner's been Romero the boss is Captain diddy and my name is Friday was 9 18 a.m. when I got to the record Bureau Lieutenant Cunningham's office Joe what's doing grown up too much got a job you can do for us Frank like to have it as soon as you can get it out oh it's about only these market bandits we've already gotten out a dozen teletypes and bulletins on them like to get out some emigraphs too if we can general distribution man what do you want on them well I better lay out the whole thing for you a lot of the copies are going to the retail grosses association all their members no luck with those two thieves so far no I know closer than we were three weeks ago figure this out a plug another loophole how many copies you figure you want on this by a thousand yeah that's fine that ought to do it all right okay now what do you want to go in it Joe and you better lead off with the first job they pull that was on the third of this month makes a little better than three weeks now they hit a supermarket out on Pico ever since they've averaged about three jobs a week we know they're hitting nothing but supermarkets all of them on main thoroughfares no small neighborhood stuff so far they've confined their operations to the 77th Street division in the county territories generally the south end of town there are two men they got a pretty well-established M.O. they're hitting in the morning hours usually from the time the markets open up until around noon time I use a stolen car 95% of the time a car stolen from the industrial area cars they steal for the jobs are always either a Pontiac or an edge we also know they're dropping the stolen cars within a short radius of the holdup scene about a half a dozen blocks or so in some instances they use a second automobile or public transportation some kind of bus or streetcar you know to make their getaway after they drop the stolen I'm sorry a little faster yeah okay okay go ahead now they usually pull up and park directly in front of the market that they're gonna hold up one of the men always remains in the car behind the wheel apparently it's always the same man has a description meager we know he's good size MWA fairly large build here's about the best description we've been able to piece together on the second man picked up a little bit from each victim second man described as MWA also about 5 foot 8 inches medium build 155 to 160 pounds always wears a hat yeah round suit rough material of some kind maybe tweed what a small prank huh small point on when he enters the market for the holdup the second man always holds a white handkerchief holds a white handkerchief to his face as if he's wiping his eyes keeps most of his face covered with it during the robbery he's armed with a nickel plated revolver possibly 38 caliber we know the jobs are well cased because in almost every instance the suspect goes directly to the manager of the market directed manager hands the manager a brown paper sack tells him to put the money in it and then he takes off so far he's never attempted any rough stuff no gunplay on three occasions when the suspects got only small amounts of money at one market they hit again in 15 or 20 minutes at another store in the same general area they never make any attempt to disguise or conceal the license number on the getaway car as I say they always abandon the car a short distance from the holdup scene and see yeah okay I got it well that's about all of it Frank I guess you can boil that down into some kind of shape yeah okay I'll have it tapped up in the form I'll get your copy before we make the rod and see if it's okay with you fine thanks not going so good huh no it isn't Frank pretty slow I've been on top of the thing for a couple of weeks now we're still looking for some kind of a break so I understand Glenn Chandler from your office took off for some fishing down in Mexico yeah not doing bad but I hear I got a card from yesterday he's down by Kino Bay he put the bite on me to send him a dozen mountain plugs yeah fish must be hidden pretty good down that's what he says yeah it's a big brown sea bass especially I wouldn't mind getting in a couple of days down there myself excuse me yeah I give you a cunning am yes a minute you Joe thanks thanks yeah oh yeah man mm-hmm when they're right yeah okay right away yeah fine check that for me the later Frank might be a little change what's matter market bandits they hit again 938 a.m. then and I got on car and drove to the scene of the bandits latest holdup a new supermarket out on Swanson near the intersection of South Broadway after interviewing the manager of the store and all available witnesses to the robbery there wasn't much doubt about the identity of the suspects the description and MO fitted perfectly with that of the two men who'd been staging a whirlwind campaign of market robberies throughout the south end of the city for the past three weeks the approach and execution of the holdup was the same in every detail even to the stolen car they'd used which was found abandoned the short distance from the robbery scene there was only one deviation that was the first break we'd had in the case since it started a woman customer at the market a mrs. Thomas Swanson saw the holdup man as he left the store and ran to the getaway car she told us that the car door apparently stuck when he tried to pull it open and that he took away the handkerchief which he'd held to his face in order to pull the door open with both hands during those few seconds she got a good look at him after taking the crime report and making our preliminary investigation we brought mrs. Swanson downtown we had her check through mug books of all recent parolees from the state penitentiary all ex-convicts with robbery records after a couple of hours of checking mug shots she couldn't seem to make positive identification very sorry officer just gets a little confusing after a while looking all these pictures I did get a good look at the man's face I just can't settle on one of these pictures so well from what you did see of mrs. Swanson the lower part of the man's face especially you find a good likeness in any of the well yes I can find good likenesses for some of his features but none of them all together in any one of these pictures here like the mouth and chin on this man here yes ma'am is that pretty close most exactly I'd say and then the nose on this one here it's the very same I just haven't seen any picture that fits them all together you know what I mean don't you that's my my understand now these five pictures here that you've picked out you pretty much say that they incorporate all the features of the man that you saw getting that's right officer this man here and this one too I'd say the lower part of his face was exactly like that the small mouth and the stash just like that and the chin pointed like on this man and the upper part of his face would you say it resembled these others here yes these three here just the upper part you see around the eyes before it I'd say that was very close now just put the two sets of pictures together I think it has a man perfectly sorry I can't be more help to as I say looking at all these books of pictures it gets a little confusing well you've given us quite a bit of help ma'am thank you very much not at all is there anything else no thank you now right now we've got your address and telephone will probably be contacting you in a day or two if you'd like to wait right here we'll make arrangements to have one of the officers drive you back to your home all right thank you very much goodbye ma'am we'll be talking to you what do you think Joe it's more than we had yesterday her description is the best we've got him a guy so far how about getting a composite picture made up from the mug shots you picked that's what I was thinking you want to duck in and get somebody to drive miss Swanson home I want to go in here in the captain's office yeah okay thanks buddy how'd you make that could have been worse Captain woman find anything the mug books no positive identification she picked up five of them she thought were close I think maybe put off over the crime lab ought to be able to make up a pretty good composite from him she fairly positive about the man's description yeah it seems to have a clear idea good composite ought to help us quite a bit you get this new description that memory graph you haven't made up no not yet I'm gonna see Frank about it nice camper and got a hold of just Gonzalez Joey's gonna drive Mrs. Swanson home fine did you ask her if he checked on that last run we made through the stats office yeah he picked it up Ian Frank is strata gonna start checking the names this morning it's not much of a list and pretty well picked over already so you got some witnesses out there this morning description from this Mrs. Swanson yeah it's about it rest of it was their usual ammo Swanson woman was the only one who got a good look at the guy when he took the handkerchief away from his face how about the getaway car they found same as the others late in print checked it over clean two thieves had their share luck when we get eyes how about Metro division captain can we get any help out there what do you got in mind well we know the take that the two thieves got in that job this morning was pretty small for him three hundred and forty dollars yeah from their ammo in the past we know whenever they get a small take on a job they usually hit another place fast they work in a fairly concentrated area down the south end they only go after big markets on the main thoroughfare well I was thinking if we could get some help from Metro put maybe 15 or 20 crews down in the area for the next couple of days might stand a good chance of grabbing when we're talking to Dick Turen and over at the sheriff's office he says he could put some of his men down that area to cover the county on the on the fringes the territory around there what do you think I'm fine I can get Stevens at Metro right now set it up for you about 20 crews that right just about yeah with any kind of luck at all we ought to land them sure worth trying Lieutenant Stevens please yeah Joe this Harry Didion fine fine we've got a little stakeout problem here how about using some of your men about 30 all right I'll settle for 25 okay yeah a south end of town those market bandits fine would you have any report here at Ravi's seven o'clock tomorrow morning all right thanks a lot it's all set you got 25 men seven o'clock tomorrow morning okay skipper we'll give you a dozen teams to start with Gonzalez in the Stroud or one more how many figure working from the sheriff's office all about four or five teams I imagine all right it's your operation you told me in charge on our end you run the show you breathe the men if you need anything call me right how about the overall plan skipper you got any special ideas on it just one yeah get them 118 p.m. we got the revised description of one of the hold-up men until Lieutenant Frank Cunningham at the Record Bureau he told us a thousand copies of the special mimea graph form containing all available information on the two market bandits would be ready for us that night we met with Sergeant Putt off the artist at the crime lab and he went to work making up a composite picture of one of the suspects from the mugshot selected by the robbery witness Mrs. Swanson when the picture was completed we had Mrs. Swanson check it for similarity to the actual hold-up man and then we brought it back to the Record Bureau where a thousand copies were made of it the pictures along with a mimea graph forms were sent immediately to the retail grosses association for distribution to all market operators throughout the city additional copies of the picture and the information sheet were given to each man who was to work the stake out when we met in the squad room at seven o'clock the next morning besides the men from Metropolitan Division and the men from robbery who are going to work with us Lieutenant Dick Tannen and Sergeant Dave Terry from the Sheriff's Office who are also there for the briefing well briefly got some rundown on the two suspects and the M.O. they follow it's the same information and description on them you'll find those Mimeo forms we handed out Joe you want to take over give me a sign yeah well if you just take a look at this pin-up map here for a minute I'll try and brief you on how the stakeout's gonna go the way we got it figured anyway we've worked out a plan we think ought to be the easiest and the best way to work it if any of you have any suggestions as we go along what you're like to have them all right now as you can see from the map here the stakeout areas in the south end it runs from can you all see it from there yeah it runs from Santa Fe Avenue over here on the east the Vermont Avenue on the west running north and south now we'll have to cover from Santa Barbara Avenue on the north down to Manchester that'll be the southern boundary that's the area the thieves have been working and we're gonna have 14 of our own crews covering that area and Dick Tannen and Dave Terry from the Sheriff's Office will have their men covering and joining county territory now we've broken a map down into equal units as you can see here each unit will be covered by one car and each of you will be assigned a unit number Romero and myself will be an 80k we'll have a roving unit we'll cover the entire area you'll have three-way radios in your car so you'll be able to contact us directly if you have to now if you'll check the map again you can see these green pins we've placed here each one of them represents a market robbery now notice that every one of them is on a main thoroughfare they Manchester South Broadway Vernon South Hoover I don't have to tell you that that's where you'll have to keep a sharp watch on the main street each of the individual units here on the map will be covered by one car they said each one's roughly nine blocks square now you'll be responsible for the area assigned to you we haven't got too much time so before we go down the list to assign the areas if you got any questions any questions at all yeah there's supposed there's a 211 calling somebody else's area I mean other than the one you're assigned to do we leave our area and head over there no Jess I meant to bring that out if there's a robbery calling somebody else's area stay put did you get a call on the hand anything else yeah how about the managers of these markets they've been briefed on the stakeout I know we're gonna be covering the area yeah they've all been alerted now in case of a hold up they might try to contact you directly they'll be looking for you you'll be looking for them that it Bob's it's covered for you but yeah I'm just wondering about this number two suspect the one who drives the getaway car yeah it says here the dope sheet number one suspect carries a nickel plated revolver how about number two he carry a gun well I wish I could answer that we don't know all the information we got on Amazon a sheet right there I see well they never try any rough stuff anyway do they no gunplay they never hurt anyone no not yet don't let them make you the first 7 30 a.m. we finished handing out the assignments and the men left to take up their stakeout positions in the south end of the city two men to a team each team in a three-way radio car each car to patrol a designated nine square block unit there were 20 such units within the frame of the overall stakeout area at the same time cruiser cars from the sheriff's office operating on their own radio setup began patrolling the fringe positions which fell in county territory through control one at our communications division we kept in continual contact with them 8 a.m. all the cars were in position each of them patrolling their individual nine square block unit the first two hours passed no reports no sign of the market bandits between 10 a.m. and noon half a dozen possible suspects were stopped and questioned by different teams and then brought to the 77th Street Division for processing all of them were eliminated the afternoon of the first day went pretty much the same we had shakedowns on four-part cars in the area and more shakedowns on possible suspects nothing materialized the next morning Ben and I along the other 32 men in the stakeout picked up where we left off again no sign of the suspects no reports the morning of the third day the stakeout detail met in the squad room as usual and then left to take up their regular assigned positions 7.35 a.m. how about it Joey ready to go yeah just a minute okay let's go I get it okay robbery Friday yeah where when was that yeah right away oh come on we got a hurry what is it market bandits maybe we got them 7.50 a.m. Ben and I arrived at the intersection of 58th and San Pedro Street two of our stakeout cruiser cars were pulled up at the Southwest corner one of the teams was just Gonzalez and his partner Frank Estrada Gonzalez briefed us on what had happened victims the owner of the supermarket down the block in San Pedro is walking from his house to the store he passed the corner here about 7.35 a.m. at $340 on party yesterday's receipts from the store they got him right at the street they took every dollar of it you sure it was a market been an ammo description they check out all the way we had two teams on as soon as we got the word located the holdup car minute ago where is it down an Avalon Boulevard about the sleeves just car was empty no trace of Saturday 805 a.m. the latest victim of the market bandits the owner of the supermarket on San Pedro Street was taken to the 77th Street division where the crime report was made he told us that one of the men who robbed him bore a very close resemblance to the composite picture which we had drawn up of one of the suspects we figured we missed grabbing the holdup men by a matter of minutes even though some of our units were in the general area at the time of the robbery it did little good the victim had delayed reporting the holdup for a full five minutes because the bandits had threatened to find him and kill him if he did despite the fact that they changed their MO to the extent of robbing the store owner on the street instead of in the market proper we had no doubt that the same two men we were looking for it committed to hold up the abandoned car which they'd used in the robbery was gone over for fingerprints but it was clean mean time the stakeout went on Saturday past Sunday Monday nothing no leads on the suspects not a trace of them Tuesday the same thing all over again the operation settled down to a dull routine Tuesday night we checked the closing of the last market in our stakeout area 1045 p.m. ben and I drove back to 77th Street division every day seems to get a little longer these lousy stakeouts sure don't wear very well on me yeah I don't know what the setups gonna be if we don't get a break pretty soon we can't hang on to the gang from metro division forever join has been a bad month all I need now is a visit from the inlaw and do it up fine you talked to Jess at dinner didn't you know what do you say about those two men they picked up on South Maine this afternoon they brought them in for processing checked them out couldn't find anything wrong both of them came for it how about grabbing some lead after we check on okay we'll stop by Johnny Coke and what about a Frank's dip sandwich how's that sound haven't had one for a long time it suits me oh wait a minute he just came in it's for you Friday turn in from the shirts off oh yeah thanks Bob Friday talking yeah dick just now mm-hmm yeah we'll be over right away I got anything market bandits pulled a hold up a couple of minutes ago and store on Graham Avenue it's out in County territory yeah one of the sheriff's units took the call chased the hold up car two miles they get the things on your half right huh they got one of them 10 52 p.m. Ben and I drove to the sheriff's Firestone substation where the market bandit suspect was taken after his apprehension when we got there we talked to deputy sheriff sergeant Eddie Jones and Mel Viny who had made the arrest they said they arrived at the scene of the hold up the market on Graham Avenue a few moments after the bandits pulled away and they're stolen nash sedan Jones and Viny gave chase but when they finally forced the hold up car to a halt the driver was the only one in the car somewhere along the route of the two mile chase the second robbery suspect had succeeded in jumping out along with the loot taken in the robbery and making good his escape a broadcast and the bulletin was gotten out immediately the hold up suspect they'd apprehended had been fingerprinted and they were checking on his identification downtown Ben and I went in to talk to him Jones and Viny stood by while we questioned him I still don't know what it's all about property clerk will give you an itemizer seat for everything you have on take everything out of your wallet now spread it out into him making a pretty big thing out of nothing aren't I haven't done anything you want to check those things from his wallet been the cards it's some of those papers and yeah this your true name on this card here Grant B. Jameson all right that's right this your present address yeah you ever been arrested before why you ask that it's not going to take too much time to find out you might as well tell us we still don't know what this is all about I was speeding a little that's all I'm done anything now you're kidding yourself James only got everything on you that we need what do you think you're going to gain by stalling us must have me mixed up with somebody else I don't know what you're getting at this card here you took out of your wallet you recognize why these names and addresses you've got it down on the back of it mind checking them out for I don't know what you mean take a look these here whose addresses are they who are the people let's see no I don't think I even remember just something I scribble down that's all you don't even remember one of them no I don't think so I ask why don't you come off it mister what are you talking you know what we're talking about you know it as well as you know your own name 14 robberies down here in 28 days you're picked up on the hold up car after the last try tonight your partner gets away now you go right on kidding yourself James and play it real close you see how far it gets you I sure wish I knew what you were talking about I don't know the thing about any robberies all right then you stand by mister you're gonna know a lot more about him you're gonna know a lot in the hurry yeah just as soon as we pick up your partner 12 20 a.m. we continued to question the suspect Grant Jameson but he refused to admit anything even the fact that he'd stolen the car that he'd been apprehended in the only strong lead we could pick up from the articles found on his person was the list of four names and addresses jotted on the back of a card found in his wallet 12 30 a.m. Ben and I left the substation and drove to the address Jameson that told us was his present residence an apartment house on Vernon Avenue the manager told us he'd moved at least a year ago without leaving a forwarding address 1 a.m. we began checking out the list of four names and addresses which we'd found in the suspect's wallet the first was a jack williams his address a spring street rooming house the landlady told us he'd moved to Cleveland Ohio three months before the second was a John Gallagher his address a third-rate hotel in East Hollywood he hadn't been registered there in the past two months the third was a Matthew Sanford his address turned out to be an apartment house in the Crenshaw district want to place the light on the mailboxes over here Joe yeah here you go you see the name there yeah here it is ML Sanford that ought to be an apartment fire let's try it front door open sing for five should be done this way again mm-hmm okay let's give it a try police officers you Matthew Sanford get out of here get out of here you got it Joe all right get your hands on I'll cover him look around huh all right what is this anyway what's the idea you tell us you pulled a gun you got no business in here you got no right all right you just stand still we explain it downtown money sacks Joe found him in the desk same market they hit tonight all right Sanford you got nothing from me I don't know what you're talking about get his coat what you been yeah what are you trying to build anyway you haven't got anything on me 14 robberies mister that's what we got on you you think you got proof we got it yeah 14 victims come on let's go the names were changed to protect the innocent the two market banded suspects Grant Burton Jameson and Matthew Roy Sanford were tried and convicted on 14 counts of first degree robbery and received sentences as prescribed by law first degree robbery is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary from five years to life 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