 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail. A wholesale drug company has been held up. $4,000 in narcotics has been taken. Your job? Find it. 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, July 10th. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss's chief of detectives, Thad Brown. My name's Friday. We're on our way out from the office, and it was 10.51 p.m. when we got to Highland Park Division. The coffee room. Joe, Frank, over here. Hi, Luke. Hi, Roxie. Want a cup of coffee? Yeah, sounds good, Joe. Okay. How's it going, Luke? Pretty good. Kind of hot. Makes me wish I'd booked that patio out of that place. You got a diamond change, Joe? Yeah, wait a minute. Here you go. Thanks. That was a half, you know. Bring me some change. Don't worry. Wait a minute. You want to take one of these cups, Joe? Yeah, I got it. How about you? You want some more, Luke? No, thanks. Well, what do you got for us, Luke? I gave you the call as soon as we got it. The way it bills is that a patrolman picked him up over on Monte Vista. Spotted him in a parked car, checked on it, and found the guy was pretty sick. First he thought it might be a 502, but after he got a good look, figured it was a heart attack. The fellow was out cold, couldn't tell anything. They called an ambulance and took the guy over to the Lincoln Heights receiving, gave him treatment there. Checking it out, they found several puncture marks on his arm. Thought he might be a diabetic. His appearance was shock. Checked on his personal effects and came up with this. Drug vial. Let me see you, Joe. The label's all cut up, but there's enough left to tell the serial numbers. One of the vials is taken from Arnold's. Morphean. That's right. What's his name? Norman Currie. What you got on him? Not much. According to our and I, he's been picked up a couple of times for marks. He said anything to you? Not much. He's feeling pretty rocky. Still coming out of it. I haven't been able to get anything out of him. What'd you say about the vial? Nothing. Acts like a war prisoner. All he says is his name, gives us a dress. A couple of guys over there now. Figured you'd want a piece of it. Might be able to get something out of him. No reason for us to make it if you guys didn't. Maybe. Might give it a try. Okay. Finished? Yeah. Here, I'll take the cups. I'll have the change from that half. Wait a minute, buddy. I'll give it to you on the way back. All right. Let's go. Okay. You want to check your gun? Yeah. You want to give us a check for these, please? Oh, yeah. Has anybody talked to Currie? Not that I know of. He hadn't made any calls. No one's been here to see him. The morphine vial? The only thing he had on him? Yeah. Turned his pockets, but it's all we could find. Fellas might do better in his room. Your real break of it ends right here, won't it? That's for sure. Here you go. Number six is a belly gun. All right. Thank you. No, that's mine. Here's yours, Frank. Okay. Here's your change. All right. Thank you. Anything on the car he was in? No. The officer that picked him up went over it, but they didn't turn on anything. Is he the registered owner? Yeah. That's right. How long is he going to be here? We'll take him downtown in the morning. Right. I'll be out front when you're ready to leave. Okay. You back again? That's right. Want to ask you some questions, fella? My name's Norman Currie. I live at 9672 Farnham Street. Yeah, I've heard. Then you've had it for me. I'm not giving you the time till I talk to a lawyer. Where'd you get the morphine vial? My name's Norman Currie. We've been through all that. Look, you're in for a lot more than a narco charge. From where you sit? No matter how you see it. You've got trouble, Currie. Go ahead, cop. I like stories. You're not doing yourself any good with this routine. You're not doing me any harm? I don't have to talk to you. Nothing in the book says I've got to give you fresh air. Now, all of you, get off my back. Come in here and try to nail anything more than narcotics on me. The guys in the coffee room will laugh you right out of the station. Once around, I'll give it to you again. My name's Norman Currie, and I live at 9672 Farnham Street, and that's it. You're giving us no more. You've had it. All right, let's go. How long are you going to hold me here? You'll be moving the morning. When do I call a lawyer? I'll leave word out front. Thanks. Jim, won't I like it? You guys understand, huh? What? Hope you ain't sorry about what I said, just that there isn't anything I can give you. Yeah, sure. Just that nobody likes to be shoved around. Just the point where everybody's on your back, a guy don't like it. Yeah. Might not look like it, fella, but I ain't trying to be a big man. Well, I wouldn't worry about it. Huh? You're not. The following morning, the suspect was removed to the main jail and booked in on suspicion of violation of the State Narcotics Act, a felony. It was photographed and fingerprinted. The combined efforts of the Narcotics Division and robbery detail had been devoted to the apprehension of the thieves who'd stolen the drugs. The arrest of Currie had been the first lead we'd gotten to the disposition of the stolen merchandise, but without his cooperation, there was little chance that we could get to the ringleaders. The next day, Frank and I checked with informants who might be able to supply us with any information. All of Currie's known associates were interrogating. None of them helped us. We got word that Currie had been released on bail at noon. Narcotics Division had assigned officers to follow him, and all of his actions were being observed. Everyone he met was being checked on. 5, 10 p.m., Wednesday afternoon, we got back to the city hall from a meeting with Captain Carl Schuy of Narcotics. I'll get the log we can check out. Yeah, it's been a long day, Anna. Man, you can say that again. A lot of walking. You want to check the book? Yeah. Anything? Wait a minute. Yeah, Skipper wants to see us. He's in Thad Brown's office. Yeah? Friday? Currie? What do you want? I got something for you. All right. All right, if I sit down? Sure, go ahead. It's a lousy deal, Friday. Lousy. It is, huh? Worst. Sitting in the can trying to figure out some way to keep him clean. They pull a stunt like this on me. What are you talking about? He went away from me last night. I had to make another connection this morning. As soon as I got out, I went over to see him. He treated me like I just got into town. Lousy. It's worth it. If he's going to act like that, it's going to cost him. That's all? You better call that Lucarelli. Is that his name? That's right. Yeah, get him over here. He's going to want to hear it too. There what? I'm going to give you a chapter and verse on the whole deal. Frank put in a call to Narcotics Division and asked Sergeant Roxy Lucarelli to come over to the office. It took him less than five minutes to get there. In the meantime, we briefly questioned Currie and found that he wanted to cooperate fully in the apprehension of the gang. When Roxy got there, we started to get the full story. All right. What can you tell us about the robbery? Nothing. I didn't have any part of it. Where'd you get the M? Picked it up in the bar. You got the address? Yeah, placed down on 5th. Who's your connection? Guy named Corbett. Got a first name for him? Olin. How's that go? O-L-A-N? Yeah, yeah, I guess so. When'd you make the buy? Yesterday afternoon. The whole vial? Yeah. Did you scratch out the label? No, no. It was that way when I got it. Did you know the stuff it's stolen? Put it down that I didn't ask for an original bill of sale. What about this Corbett? What do you know about him? Been hanging around the place a long time. I see him there all the time. Ever been in trouble? You mean with the cops? Yeah. I don't know. I guess he'd been picked up a couple of times for possession. Have you ever done any time? A couple of months in the county jail. Probation? I think so. I never gotten a big conversation with him about it. You know where he got the stuff? I can't pin it down for you. Got an idea? It must be the bar. A lot of places there, you can get connection. You know who it could have been? No. Anybody around there got a lot of money that they can't explain? Most of the customers will fit that. You want to give us a description of this Corbett? What's that for? I'd like to check his record. Oh. Well, let's see. I think he's about 45, maybe 46, around in this someplace. Yeah. I guess he's about 160 pounds, 5 feet 9, I think. Go ahead. Well, he's got kind of dark hair, gray, you know, in here. You know, around the temples. Yeah. Like that. Anything else about him? Well, he's got a kind of limp, one leg is shorter than the other. You know which leg it is? No. No, I never paid any attention to it. Bring any bells for you, Rox? They might be. I think I know what he's talking about. I'll check R and I, Joe. All right. How about it, Kiri? You know if any more of this stuff has been passed? Well, I can't say for sure. This is the first bunch of it I bought. I guess there's some more of it that's been pushed. Well, it sure joled me. I'm not used to that drugstore stuff. You know anybody that's bought? No. How come the stuff you got wasn't cut? I don't know. I guess somebody goofed. Sure made me sick. What happened when you went back there today? Well, I walked into the place. I figured I'd get something up. You'd have thought I was a cop. All right. Now, wasn't anybody in the place that had anything to do with me? There's Corbett there. You mean this morning? Yeah. No. At least I didn't see him. Hold on a minute. Robert, it's Friday. In just a minute. Murph! Murphy! No, he's not here. Can I take a message? All right. I have it. I'll have him call as soon as he gets in. You bet. Did you hear anything about the robbery? No, I didn't. A couple of small-type rumbles are out, but nothing you can pin down. What'd they say? Just that there was a heist. No names used. Anything on who's responsible? I told you it was just a small rumble. What do you figure about it? Huh? You got any ideas who might have done it? Nothing you can take to court. I'd give you pretty short odds on Corbett, though. You got any close friends around the place? Oh, he knows everybody there. You spend more time with anybody special? No, he usually just comes in and sits around. You got a job? Not so it shows. Where does he live? He never told me. Why'd you come in here, Carrie? Huh? What are you trying to build with us? Nothing. I just got real hacked this morning with the way those guys shoved me around. I want to see them get what they got coming. You don't want nothing for yourself? Just to see them get paid. You got any ideas how we can do that? Yeah. All right, we're waiting. Let me nail them for you. Spell it out. Look, you can't get within ten feet of them. The whole bar is hinky. Now, let me go in and get them. We can't give you anything for it. I'm not asking for anything. You just let me go along with you guys. Let me go in and blow the whistle on those guys who pull a heist. That'd make a lot of sense, Carrie. Why are you coming in here wanting to help us? There's got to be something behind it. And what's it going to cost you to find out? You're going to have a tail on me from the time I walk out of here. It's not going to do you any harm to let me go. You're laying yourself right in the middle of the tracks, you know? I know that, but it's worth it to see the expression on their faces when you kick the door in. All right, we'll have to check it with a skipper. Well, you go ahead. Guys, play it any way you want. Don't make a pound to me. If you want me on your side, I'm there. What happens if they find out? Send roses. All right, Carrie, we'll buy a piece of it. But I'm going to give you something going in. What's that? It's going to be a lot of men working on this. If one of them gets in trouble over you, you better start running because there isn't going to be a big enough handicap for you. I'm not asking for one, am I? If it works out, you'll get a piece of the credit. It'll go on the books that way, and that's all. Well, it doesn't matter to me at all. All I want to see is for those guys to get theirs. All right. Well, this time I thought they were friends of mine, and they'd turn around and pull a stunt like this. It's pretty lousy. All I want is a connection. They got the stuff. It isn't going to cost them anything. You know, you got it wrong there, fella. Huh? It's going to cost them. We came back from R&I with the information that the suspect, Olin Corbett, had a long record in Los Angeles listing arrests for a narcotics suspicion of burglary, suspicion of robbery, and ADW. While Curie waited in the squad room, Lucarelli, Frank, and I talked with Captain Donahoe. We filled him in on what had happened, and it was decided to accept Curie's offer of help. The next morning, Thursday, July 12th, we started the operation. An effort was made to find Olin Corbett without result. In order to make sure the safety of our informant was arranged for an officer from Narcotics Division to be planted in the bar. One of the younger officers was chosen for the job, and at 10.05 a.m., he took up his position in the place. At 10.34 a.m., Frank and I along with Lucarelli and Curie got there. We parked down the street and let our contact out of the car. We walked down the block and entered the bar. Ten minutes later, he hurried back. Looks like something's wrong. Yeah. You want to open the door, Frank? Yeah. What are you guys trying to pull? What are you talking about? You ain't much better than they are. A lousy thing all the way around. One thing I figured sure was I'd be able to trust you guys. All right, now calm down, Curie, and tell us what's wrong. There's a cop boring there. What? Copping the bar, why is he there? What happened? Everybody knows who he is. There isn't anything going on. What's the matter? Don't you trust me? Is that it? We wanted to make sure you'd be able to walk out of the place. That's all. It didn't work out that way. The guys in there are playing for keeps. The whole place is wide for sound. All right. And we've got to go after them a different way. It's going to have to do without me. After that, I don't dare go into the place. They all figure I brought the fuzz in. You won't have to go back. Well, thanks a lot. I sure goes to show you. What's that? The cop's your bound to get burned. We appreciate what you did. A lot of good that does. The word gets out. I'm in big trouble. As soon as those guys find out I've been going with you, I've had it. Give me one good reason why you had to put the cop in there. What kind of insurance is that? Yours. Huh? We're trying to keep you alive. We went back to the office and talked with Captain Donohoe. We told him what had happened. After conversations with Chief of Detectives, Dad Brown and Captain Carl Shy, it was decided that the bar on Fifth Street was important enough to warrant a 24-hour stakeout. The crime lab was contacted, and we asked their aide in arranging the surveillance. Lieutenant Lee Jones suggested a camera mounted in a delivery truck. We got in touch with one of the larger truck rental services in the city, and we got permission to use their equipment. It was decided that a panel truck parked a short distance from the bar could be used to observe both the front and rear entrances. A small slot was cut in the side of the truck so that a 16-millimeter camera could be used. Frank and I spent an hour with Lieutenant Jones going over the workings of the camera. The following morning, we took up our positions outside the bar. For the next 12 hours, we took pictures of everybody entering and leaving the place. Men from Narcotics Division relieved us during the nighttime hours. For three days, the surveillance continued without result. Hundreds of feet of film were exposed and processed. Still, we were no closer to apprehending the suspects. During this time, we hadn't seen Olin Corbett, the man who'd sold the morphine to Cary. Thursday morning, July 17th, Frank and I took up our positions in the truck. You checked the camera this morning? No. Luke said we'd probably have to put in a new film magazine, didn't he? Yeah, better take care of it. You know how to do this? Well, you were there when Lee explained it, weren't you? Yeah, but I kind of forgot. Well, that's good, and I better know how, huh? Yeah. Here's a film. Let me take a look. Nothing to it, you just follow these lines here. Oh, yeah, that's right. You want to throw that little catch there? No, no, no, this one. This one. Oh, yeah. Okay. You go under that thing? You undo it? No, go ahead, Joe. I think you're supposed to turn that little gizmo there, that one, to make sure you're threaded up all right. No, you're wrong. The little knob right over there. I'm just going to turn it. I'm going to turn it as soon as I get this threaded up. If you turn it, now you chair the film. Yeah, but you're supposed to turn it over. We turn it after we thread it up. Oh, all right. Well, I remember that you turned it. You know you're a big help to me, Frank. Yeah. Oh, there's going to be another hot one. It's hot in this truck, too. Yeah. Had Faye pack a different lunch today. Chopped egg sandwiches and potato salad. Want one? A little early, don't you think? Oh, it might be. I figured you might be a little hungry, though. No, not right now. Frank. Want to switch on the camera? Huh? Got something? Come here, take a look. No, up this way. See him coming up the street? No, where? Right there, see? Huh? Just passing the bakery. Oh, yeah. That looks like Corbett to me. Yeah. All right. He's going into the bar. Yeah, the first time we've seen him. Alone. You better call Luke. Have him put a tail on the guy when he leaves. Yeah. Wait a minute. Huh? Corbett's coming out the side door. Yeah, he's going back to the Cadillac. Uh-huh. You see that carpool in the alley? No, it must have been while we were loading the camera. No. Wait a minute. There's a woman behind the wheel. She's getting out. You getting everything there? Yeah, I think so. Well, you're not now. Why'd you stop? Well, I just took my thumb off for a minute. I'll start again. Looks like she's giving Corbett something. Yeah, a small package. We better have him picked up and see what it is. As soon as he leaves, I'll get in touch with Luke. Okay, cut the camera. That's enough. You better get on it. He's shoving off. The car's leaving, too. You want to get the license number? Yeah. It's 2 Victor, 22876. Might be a break. Yeah. At least we know one thing. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. We got in touch with the narcotics office and made arrangements for Corbett to be taken into custody. The arrest itself was made in such a way as to appear routine. A check of DMV gave us the name of the owner of the black Cadillac that we'd seen behind the bar. The car was registered to a Mrs. Bula Pringle, 5742 Los Feliz Boulevard, legal the same. We ran the name through R&I, but we found no criminal record for. The pictures we'd taken were processed and shown to the witnesses of the warehouse robbery. Two of them positively identified Corbett as the lookout man on the job. Frank and I, along with Roxy Luccarelli, talked to him at the main jail, but he refused to give us any information regarding the holdup. He was booked on charges of robbery. For the next week, a constant surveillance was kept on the Pringle woman. All of the people she came into contact with were checked on. We made several attempts to search her home, but there was always somebody there. On Tuesday, July 24th, a week after we'd first observed her, she was seen at the bar again. This time, she passed a small package to one of the regulars of the place. He was taken into custody and found to have had a large quantity of pure morphine in his possession, but he refused to say where he'd gotten it. Without finding the cash of narcotics, there was little reason to take the woman into custody. On Wednesday, July 25th, we got word that she left her home. Frank and I drove out there and succeeded in making a complete search of the place, but we found nothing. A check of her car turned up none of the stolen narcotics. The surveillance continued, another week passed. Wednesday, August 1st, she again made a meet and turned over a package of narcotics which we believed to have been taken in the robbery. After talking to the man we'd picked up, Frank and I met in the squad room. He isn't going to give us anything. No. Well, we'll talk to DA's office in the morning, see what we can do. You've got to be something about the Pringle woman that'll tell us where the narcotics are. Well, you've been over all the information. Have you spotted anything? No, but she's got to pick it up someplace. Where? I don't know. You've got the list of places she goes to? Yeah, in my locker. If you want to get them, I'll check the book. Yeah. Where are they, Joe? Top shelf there. It should be on the left side. Huh? Top shelf on the left side, right in front of you. Oh, yeah. Here I got. Anything on the book for us? Okay, let's go over these again. All right. Here's the report from Roxy. Mm-hmm. This woman's got regular appointments at the beauty shop. She has her hair fixed on Thursdays. It's a car service to the corner of Salmon, Harvard. Name of the market where she gets her groceries, her bank, a kid who delivers the morning paper. They've opened CheckTown. What about a boyfriend? Checked him way back. There's nothing there. You know anything about her kids? Two boys buy a former marriage. Uh-huh. One's 10, the other's 12. They stay at the school in the valley. Addresses on the report there. Oh, yeah, here. She's the kid about every week. Mm-hmm. I didn't say she's an attentive mother. Maybe she's got another reason. What do you mean? A couple of days after she sees the kid, she makes a drop. Yeah. That's the way it looks done in here. Yeah. Maybe she's got something besides kids over at that school. Frank and I made arrangements to search the room occupied by the Pringle youngsters. We drove out to the valley and talked with the head of the school. Without telling him what we were looking for, Frank and I got into the room and began to go over it. Anything in the closet? No, wait a minute. A couple of suitcases here. It looks like they're full of clothes. Nothing in these drawers. Hold it a minute, Joe. Hm? The suitcase here looks like a makeup kit. What's in it? I can't tell. It's locked. I'll see it. Look, take a look. Uh-huh. You got anything I can use to open the case? I'll try this. Okay. Well, that does it. Yeah. Huh. Take a look. Mm-hmm. You want to take it back to town? Better than to have the serial numbers checked. Not much doubt, huh? No. Just about wraps it up, doesn't it? Let's bring a Pringle woman in and talk to her. See what she can come up with on this. The way Roxy puts it, she's a pretty good talker. It's going to have to be, isn't she? Frank and I left the school and drove back to the Los Feliz address. The black Cadillac was parked in the driveway. We told the maid who answered the door who we were and what we wanted. She showed us into the library of the house and asked us to wait while she went to get Mrs. Pringle. It's quite a pad, huh, Joe? Yeah, it's pretty big. Hm. The play's been after me to get one of these. What's that? See? One of these three-dimensional viewers. You know, got little pictures in them. The play says they're great for the kids. Yeah. Got all kind of pictures. Yosemite, Yellowstone. Pretty interesting. All in 3D, too. Gentlemen, something you want to see me about? We're police officers, Mrs. Pringle. It's Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Yes, I know. What was it you wanted to see me about? You know a man named Olin Corbett? Corbett? No, I don't think so. How about Peter Ulrich? Nothing there, either. Your mind telling me what this is all about? Well, I think you know as well as we do, don't you? This is some kind of a joke. I'm afraid I can't go along with it. No, ma'am. It's no joke. You're trying to say something. Why not stop going in circles and come out to the point? All right. You're under arrest, Mrs. Pringle. For what? Robbery and narcotics. Would you like to sit down? No, thank you. Nothing. Anything I can get for you? A drink, maybe? No. You must have some kind of evidence to make a charge like this. We have. You mind telling me what it is? We've got motion pictures of you meeting the men that I mentioned. Pictures of you passing the narcotics to them. We checked your children's school. We found that makeup kit. Not much doubt there, is there? No, ma'am. Nothing I can do? No. Get your coat. I guess so. Mrs. Pringle. What? This house and the car. You mind telling me why you went into a thing like this? I guess it sounds pretty silly to you. Right now, it's pretty wild to me. We'll listen if you want to tell us. I divorced my husband several years ago, Mr. Smith. I got a good settlement. A lot of alimony. Gave me just about everything I wanted. Maybe it gave me too much. I didn't have anything to look forward to. Nothing to act as a sort of challenge. You understand? I guess so. I met a man. Nice enough guy. One thing led to another and he suggested the robbery. Sounded like something to do. Something so I wouldn't be bored anymore. That's why we did it. It wasn't the money with me. I guess it was with him. You want to give us the name? Yeah. Might as well. It's all finished now anyway. All right. You want to get that coat now? Yeah. How long will they send me to prison for? Well, we wouldn't know. That's up to the judge. I hear the place is a lot better than I used to be. Lots of things to do. Jobs so you can keep your mind occupied. That's right. And you can be sure of one thing. What's that? You won't be bored. The story you've just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On December 18th, trial was held in Department 97, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles. In a moment, the results of that trial. Norman Gerald Keary was tried and convicted of violation of the State Narcotics Act of felony one count. Olin Lambert Corbett, Bula Valerie Pringle, and Peter Larson Ulrich were tried and found guilty of robbery in the first degree and violation of the State Narcotics Act of felony. Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a period of not less than five years. Violation of the State Narcotics Act of felony is punishable by imprisonment for a period of from five years to life in the State Penitentiary. 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.