 Sound off for 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 robbery detail. For the past three weeks, a lone thief has been victimizing stores and check cashing agencies. You've got a description of the man, and so far you've failed to identify him. 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, they're low in nicotine. Highest in quality. Best for you. 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 Friday, June 10th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Frank Smith, the boss' chief of detectives, Stad Brown. My name's Friday. We'd gotten a call at, there'd been a hold-up, and it was 10.36 a.m. when we got to the corner of Alvarado and Catalina Streets, the Harrison check cashing agency. I'm sorry, you'd like to come back. We've had some trouble and we're not open for business. Come back in the barn now. Police officer, sir. Oh, well, where have you been? I was held up, you know. Held right up. Yes, sir. Fellas and the police car was here. They told me that you'd come out. Well, where have you been? It's taken you long enough. Didn't you use the siren? Yes, sir. We came out just as soon as we got the call. It seems us taxpayers would get better service than that. Well, sir, the call just came in four minutes ago. Oh. Well, all right then. Well, let me tell you all about it. Yes, sir, if you would, please. Oh, you just bet I would. Well, now, first off, I had trouble sleeping last night. I knew right off was going to be a bad day. I can always tell you, you know, when I've had a bad night, the next day is always a doozy. Did you give the officers and the radio car description to the man who tells you that? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I sure did. I gave it to him right off. Now, are you going to let me tell you all about the hold-up? Yes, sir. If you go ahead, please. Well, I had a bad night. Real bad. I knew, oh, oh, say, say, my name's Harrison. Avel Harrison. I don't think I've got you a fella's name. Oh, this is my partner Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Oh, how do you do? I'm glad to know, yeah. Don Fool next door kept pounding the type back all night. He never let up. Sir? The man next door, that's why I didn't get any sleep. Some crack about trying to be a writer. Oh, it's an awful thing all night long. D-d-d-ding, d-d-d-ding, all night. Not a wink of sleep. Yes, sir. If you just tell us about the robbery, please. He ain't interested, huh? Well, no, sir, it isn't that. It's just that the more time we lose here, the harder it's going to be to apprehend the suspect. You can understand that. Oh, well, yeah. Now, maybe if you just answer some questions for us, it might be easier and possibly a little faster. Okay. Far away. What time did the man come in? About 10-12. Was he alone? Yeah. Did it look like there might have been anybody else with him? Nope. Do you know if he drove an automobile? Couldn't tell. I see. Well, would you tell us exactly what he said and what he did from the time that you first saw him? Came in, 10-12, had a gun, walked over to me, point the gun, told me to stick up. That the way your fellas wanted? Oh, you just relax, Harrison. What do you tell us during your own words? I'm trying to do just that. Yes, sir. Maybe if I went slower, it'll be easy for you boys. All right, sir, you go right ahead. Well, he came in, stood around for a minute and come over to the counter. I asked him if I could help him. Uh-huh. We cashed checks, you know, payroll checks. First off, I thought that's what he wanted to cash a check. It wasn't though. I asked him what he wanted and he pulled out the gun, told me to keep quiet and hand him the money. Pointed the gun right at my heart, right here, my heart. Are you with me so far, boys? Yes, sir, go ahead. So, I gave him the money. All there was in the drawer. I see, sir, but how much was taken, Mr. Harrison? About $1,500. He just took the paper money. He didn't want the silver, had two paper bags. Looked like he carried his lunch in them. All kind of wrinkled, you know. Yes, sir. Had me put the money in them. Then he told me to lay down on the floor, lay there and count the hundreds, buy ones. Told me not to move until I'd finished. He said if I did, he'd come back and kill me. The way he told me, you knew he meant it. After that, he left. All right, sir. What if he can give us a description of the man? Sure, but already gave one to the other cops. Ain't that enough? We'd like to have you tell us if you would, Mr. Harrison. Oh, their motherfellows don't work with you, huh? Well, yes, sir, they do. We'd just like you to describe the man to us. Well, what's the matter? Would they tell you? Yes, Mr. Harrison. They'll tell us, but the questions they ask you are forgetting out of broadcast. We have to fill out a report and try to get the man who did this. Oh. Seems like a pretty funny way to operate. Don't tell the other cops what's going on. How tall was the man, Harrison? Well, let's see. I'd say about, oh, five feet, maybe eight to 10 inches. Mm-hmm. How much did he weigh? Would you know? I'm just guessing, you know. See, I'm not sure. Yes, sir. We understand. Well, I'd say he weighed maybe, oh, 150, right around in there. How old was he? Would you know? Maybe 25, 26. How about his coloring? Was he dark or light-complexed? No, dark. He had black hair, brown eyes, mean-looking eyes, like steel balls. Kind of pick up a vacuum cleaner. Steel, hard. Yes, sir. How was he dressed? A pair of Levi's on. Levi's in a blue shirt. He had a brown leather jacket on, too. One with a fur collar. Was he clean-shaven? Oh, yes. His face looked like he just had a shave. And a talcum powder on it. Mm-hmm. Do you wear glasses, sir? Yeah. What kind were they? I couldn't tell you. Just glasses. Well, do they have metal or plastic frames? Or plastic, yes. Like, you know, kind of tan plastic. Heavy. You know, the kind that don't have the little curvy things around the ears. Just big pieces that went over the top. Mm-hmm. Did the man touch anything with his hands? No, no, he didn't. The other officers asked me that, too. He didn't touch a thing. Was anybody else present at the time? No, no one else. I was the only one here. Well, did the man have any marks or scars that you noticed? No, at least not that I saw. Was there anything unusual about him? Anything that might help us identify him? Well, that moustache should help. Sir? He's moustache. I think it was funny on the $3 bill. Looked like it to me. Well, I thought you said the man was clean-shaven. I did. All around the moustache. I didn't think he met like that. He's probably clean-shaven under that, too. Sure looked funny to me. Why do you say that? It was red. He was dark. Had black hair, black eyebrows. Won't seem likely to come up with a red moustache. Seemed likely to you. Sorry to say, sir. Won't seem likely to me. Not at all. I'll tell you something else. What's that, sir? One of them glasses was fake, too. Glassing them was funny, you know, like it hadn't been ground, kind of flat. I think they was phony, just like the duster. Duster? Moustache. Red moustache with black hair, phony. All right, sir. Thank you very much. And we'd like you to come down to the office and look at some other pictures if you would, see if you can identify the man. Be glad to? I'll not do it today, though. Why is that, sir? Well, I already told you you had a picture of him down there. I'd probably miss him. It's been a real bad day for me. Well, tomorrow will be better, though. Why is that, sir? Gonna get some sleep tonight. That's all? Biped the landlady. Yeah. She left me in his room. I took it. What's that, sir? Ain't gonna do much typing without his ribbon, is he? For the past three weeks, we'd heard the same story. A man had entered a check cashing agency or a small neighborhood store and, at gunpoint, taken all the currency. Each time, he'd hit just after the owner or the manager had come back from the bank. The descriptions we'd gotten in each theft was the same. Each of the victims looked over the mugbooks, but they were unable to identify the suspect. The stats office had made an MO run going back 10 years. The leads they turned up were run down, but they let us know where. Communications to George Brereton, up at CII in Sacramento, had turned up no new information. We were right where we were after the first robbery. We had a suspect we couldn't identify, a suspect that we couldn't find. 10.45 a.m. The latest victim closed up his place of business and started to accompany us downtown. As we walked out of the store, a police car pulled up to the curb, and the back seat was a man of about 25 years of age. The officer told us that they'd caught the man running down an alley three blocks away. The man who matched the description of the thief identified himself as Rudy Martin. While the radio car officer stood by, we took the suspect over to our car to see Averill Harrison, the victim. Caught him already, huh? Is this the man who held you up, sir? Let me get out and take a good look. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Tell him to turn sideways, north and south. All right, sir. No, no, I'll turn sideways. That's him. Are you sure? That's the man, even without his mustache and glasses. I can tell. He's lying. He don't know what he's saying. Don't you talk that way to me, young fella, and where's my money, huh? What'd you do with my money? I haven't got it. I never took any money from you or anybody else. You're crazy. I'll teach you to talk to me like that. Never mind. Now, if we need anything more, we'll be back to talk to you. Take me downtown now that you caught the fella? No, sir. We'll get in touch with you later. You make him tell you where he hid the money. $1,500 all in paper. You make him tell you. All right, sir. We'll do that. Thank you very much. Yeah. Well, I'll be right here. Anything you want me to do, just give a holla. I want to see this fella get what's coming to him. Yes, sir. Here's our card. You call us if you need to. Yeah, you do that. Make him tell you what he done with the money. Do you want to get back, Martin? I'll check with the radio card. Joe, you want him to follow us to the office? Tell him we'll take Martin here to the robbery division. We'll check him later. Right. All right, Martin, put your hands up as high as you can. With handcuffs on? With him on. You ain't going to find anything. All right, get him up. See, I told you. This is a bad thing that man did. I haven't done anything to him. I didn't take his money. Show him back, Martin. Back in the seat. You ever seen that man before? No. No, I haven't. Is he mad at you for any reason? I told you. I never saw him before. He says he knows you. He says you held him up a little while ago. He's crazy. Why'd he say something like that without a reason? I don't know. Your wallet back here? Yeah. All right, slide up a little. Any money in it? No, I got some change. Maybe 40, 50 cents. Just a few cards there and a couple of phone numbers. That's all. There's no money. Who's this, this Johnny Salvatore? He's a friend of mine. Chris Turan? Another friend. They haven't done nothing. They're both nice guys. And look, you got no right to do this. You got no right to arrest him. I just want to talk to you. If you haven't done anything wrong, then you haven't got anything to worry about, have you? All right, now tell us the real story, huh? Nothing to tell. I was over by Central Avenue when these two cops came by and picked me up. I wasn't doing anything. Officers say you were running down an alley. They say you wouldn't stop when they told you to. I was scared. You can see how that had happened, can't you? What'd you do with the gun? I don't know what you're talking about. You registered for the draft, Martin? Yeah. Where's your draft card? Isn't it in the wallet? No, it isn't. Guess I must have lost it. You ever been arrested? Did you hear me, Martin? Yeah, a couple of times. What for? Bag where? Here, back east. Where back east? K.C. You sure that's all? Yeah. What were you doing in that alley this morning? It was on my way to see a guy. Who? A friend of mine. Okay, Joe. Yeah. I'll call in. We can get started. All right. One K-80 to control one. One K-80 to control one. Prisoner in custody. Show us out to room 27A, City Hall. KMA 367. You all set? Yeah. Let's go. Now, who's this friend you're going to see, Martin? You have to know that? We have to know. Chris Tarran. What are we going to see him about? Job. He said he could line one up for him. Where do you live? Room and house down on Wall. All right. You want to tell us what you did with that money? What money? I don't know how to tell you any better. I didn't have anything to do with that guy. I don't know nothing about any robbery. I was on my way to see a friend about a job. A couple of cops picked me up. That's all there is to it. Nothing more. If you think you can make his thing stick, then you go right ahead. I don't think you can. Well, we got a lot of time, Martin. So have I. I got nothing to do. Night sleep and a couple of meals. That's what I stand to come up with. I got no problems. Go ahead. Lock me up. You're going to have to let me go. I don't care what the old guy says. I didn't hold him up. Not him. There anybody else can say I did. The clothes you got on matched the ones the holdup man wore. So what? A lot of people wear these kind of clothes. The victim identified you. The guy made a mistake. I told you that. All right, Martin. You called it. I hope you know what you're talking about. The victim of the robbery identified you. And there's five more we think we can tie you into. I'm going to make you on the rest of them. You got real trouble here. Now you'll save us and yourself a lot of time. If you'll tell us the truth. You wouldn't know it if you saw it. Well, there's one way to find out, isn't it? Yeah. Try us. 1052 AM. We took the suspect back to the city hall. And we talked to him for over three hours. He refused to admit any knowledge of the holdups. We checked him through R&I. And we came up with the arrest record that he told us about. In checking his record, we found that the suspect was wanted for draft evasion. In the meantime, the other victims of the holdup man had been brought down to the office. The suspect was placed in a show up with several other persons. They all failed to identify Martin as the thief. In checking further with the last victim, Harrison, he stated that he'd probably made a wrong identification. We had a search of Martin's room made, but we were unable to come up with anything. The two friends he'd mentioned were checked out, but there was no record on either one of them. The suspect was turned over to the federal authorities for prosecution on the draft evasion charge. We were right back where we started three weeks before. The next morning, Saturday, June 11th, we started all over again. This time, we went back into the files 15 years. Anybody who even vaguely matched the description was checked out. The MO of the thief was rechecked. The machines came up with an additional 17 possibles. Each of these were checked out. It took us two weeks, and at the end of that time, we were back where we started again. We had nothing but a description that apparently didn't match anybody in our files and an MO that didn't fit any known criminal. During the time that we'd been checking out leads, the bandit was inactive. Additional cars from Metro Division had been assigned to the detail, and rolling stakeouts were maintained around check caching agencies throughout the city. The holdup man had apparently dropped from sight. Saturday, June 25th, I checked into the office. All right, Reese Smith. Yeah, where you at, Ben? Huh? Oh, just a minute. Little John. You see him, Joe? No, I don't think he's here. Little John? No, he's not here. No, Ben, he isn't here. All right, wait a minute. I'll check the book. Yeah, here. No, he left by an hour ago. Yeah, he ought to be back. Want me to call you? OK, wait a minute. Here's a pencil. Uh-huh. 0281. Right, yeah. OK, Ben. I got something here. A teletype from San Diego from Hugh and the Davis. Yeah, what is it? I'll read it to you. RE, your APB, dated June 10th. RE, robbery. Robbery occurred this city last night. MO and description matches your suspect. We have identification as Jerry Lane. San Diego number 146382 Are sending mug shots. Huh, looks like a break. Well, it might have been. You know, let me finish. Yeah? He got away. 1215 p.m. The special delivery letter arrived from San Diego with the mug shots of Jerry Lane. There was also a note from Sergeant Carl Davis. He explained that the suspect had held up a small liquor store in the city and had badly beaten the owner. The witness was shown the mug books and was able to pick out the bandit. He was identified as a Jerry Lane. He had only won a rest record, and that was for a misdemeanor offense in San Diego County. We checked the names through our identification bureau, but there was no record on him in our files. The mug shots for San Diego had been taken over four years previously, but the victims of the robberies in Los Angeles had no trouble identifying it, even without the glasses and the moustache. Additional broadcasts were gotten out, carrying the name, and radiograms were sent to Washington and to Sacramento, requesting any available information. Another week passed while the search went on. During that time, the holdup man hit once more, in the city of San Diego. From the reports we got, the M.O. matched the one previously used. The suspect made good his escape. Tuesday morning, 11.30 a.m., Frank and I had been out running down a lead. We just got back to the office. Well, there's another one that didn't go any place. Yeah. You know, Joe, if somebody could figure out a way to filter out the bad leads, it'd sure save a lot of legwork, wouldn't it? Well, I guess I'll get it. Robert, it's Friday. Yeah, all right. It's human. Yeah. Hi, Papi. How's that? You got anything on him? Mm-hmm. Yeah, well, you're probably right. Well, I guess the only thing we can do is put out another broadcast. Yeah. No, nothing up here. What'd you say? Right, yeah. Well, anything else turns up less, no, will you? Right. Oh, wait, say hello to Carl. All right, Papi. Yeah, we'll be talking to you. Right. Thanks. Bye. What's he got? Well, it's our suspect, Jerry Lane. Yeah. He's gonna have to stand for a while. What do you mean? The latest victim just died. 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 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. From the information we got on the phone, it looked like Jerry Lane would be headed for Los Angeles. One of the witnesses to the latest robbery said that the suspect drove away in either a 1942 Plymouth or a Dodge Coupe. The color of the car was listed as either a dark blue or black. Descriptions of the car and of the suspect were printed up and distributed to all law enforcement agencies between Los Angeles and the Mexican border. Al Gaten from the San Diego department got in touch with the Mexican authorities and a close check was kept on all cars crossing into Mexico. According to our information, Jerry Lane had robbed at least eight places and stolen a little under $9,000 in a period of six weeks. While we continued our investigation, the San Diego authorities followed up the leads they had. In the course of checking out the friends and associates listed on Lane's arrest record, they came up with the information that he had at one time been employed They interviewed the employees of the place, but they were not able to get a definite lead on the suspect. With the mug shot that they'd sent us and knowing that he was a professional musician, we checked with the local office of the musicians union. They told us that he was not in good standing and they were unable to give us the address of the suspect, but they did give us the name and address of a bar where he'd worked several years before. At 8.30 p.m. that night, Frank and I talked to one of the waitresses in the place. No, they cut out the band a year or so ago. Not enough business to keep it going. Did you work here when they did have a band? Sure. I've been here since every model to play. It's been four years anyway. Hey, you fell us like a drink. Be on the house. No, thank you. You know a man named Jerry Lane. What does he do? He's a musician. We understand he plays clarinet. Lane? Yeah, it seems to me I do remember him. Not too tall, kind of nice looking if you went for the tight. Yeah, I remember him. You know where he can get in touch with him? No, I haven't got the slightest idea. I told him lay off the booze, but he didn't pay no attention. Always showing up late. A real lush. Possible the owner might know where he is? It isn't likely. I'm married to the owner. I know most of the stuff that goes on around here. I see. Can you give us any idea where we might be able to get a lead on him? Some of his friends, maybe another musician? No. Hey, wait a minute. I might know someone. Let me make a phone call. Well, if you give us the phone number, we can put in the call. No, I'd rather not do that. To see this girl used to see a lot of Jerry. Maybe she don't want to get mixed up in a thing like this. If she knows, she'll tell me. If she doesn't, there's no harm done. Okay. Got a dime? Just a minute. Here's two nickels. Thanks. I'd rather you leave the door open, if you will. May I speak to Betty Hodgin, please? Yeah. All right. They're calling her. Nice girl. Never figured out what she saw in Jerry. Mm-hmm. Hello, Betty? Betty, this is Naomi. Um, just fine. You? Oh, really? It's fine. Say, Betty, I hate to bother you, but do you know where I can get in touch with Jerry Lane? Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah, wait a minute. You got a pencil? Yeah. Here you go. Now, what's the address, Betty? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I got it. No, no, it's nothing serious. No. No, business isn't that good. Yeah, we still got the piano. All right. Well, thanks, Betty. You guys are in luck. Yes, ma'am. Here's the address. It's a club down on 6th. Mm-hmm. Betty says he's there almost every night. 9.42 p.m. We called the office and had another team of men sent out. We notified Homicide Detail that we'd picked up another lead and they sent out a team of men to give us any help that we might need in apprehending the suspect. The address we'd been given was the Georgetown Club, a small place on West 6th Street. When we got there, the place was crowded and we were set. We checked with one of the bartenders. Sure. That's Jerry playing clarinet. See, great suit. Yeah, does he work here? No, he shows up almost every night, sits in with the band. Union doesn't like it. They talk to the boss about it. He's trying to get the bomb out of here. It costs a lot of trouble. That right? Sure. Always he comes in drunk, or else he acts like he's high on told. You want me to get him for you? Yeah, tell him there are a couple of friends but you don't want me to say you're cops? No, we don't. I didn't think so. Okay, I get it. Thank you. Some place they got here, huh? Yeah. Sure is crowded, isn't it? Right. Better watching me, he's probably armed. Yeah, let's get him outside Beeser to take there. Too many people here. Yeah, the bartender's got him now. All right. Now let's let him get outside before we move away. Right. He said a couple of friends were out of him. Yeah, a couple of them in it. Here they are. Uh, you? Where'd I know you fellas from? You Jerry Lane? Yeah, what do you want to see me about? I gotta get back in there. If you fellas don't need me no more, I'll get back to work, huh? Yeah, thanks a lot. Go ahead. No problem. I know what's this all about. I don't know you guys. Police officers, you're under arrest. What for? Yeah, stand still. What are you trying to do? You got nothing on me? Leave me alone. All right, hold it up, mister. Now come on, on your feet. Now stand still. Please, clean, Jonah. Put your hands behind you. I didn't do anything. You got no reason to shove me around. Cut my mouth, please. Yeah, well, that makes two of us, mister. What do you have to me for? What have I done? I have too much to drink. Is that it? I wasn't bothering anybody in there. That's a nice try, Lane, but it won't work. We got a half a dozen positive identifications on you for robbery. I didn't hurt anybody. They killed a man. Yeah. The last one. I heard he died. Is it true? Did he die? That's right. I didn't know what I was doing. You know, I wasn't responsible. I just didn't feel so good. It wasn't my fault. He wouldn't give me the money. I didn't know what I was doing. That's going to make a difference, isn't it? I didn't know what I was doing. I wouldn't know about that, Lane. It's going to be up to the jury, but you can bet on one thing. What's that? Don't know what they're doing. That's true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. On December 17, trial was held in Department 92, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the county of Los Angeles. In a moment, the results of that trial. And now, here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you, George Phenomen. Friends, the big Labor Day weekend is coming up, so make sure you have plenty of Chesterfields. Get a couple of cartons when you do your weekend shopping. I can tell you why you should be smoking Chesterfields in just 10 words. Chesterfield, low in nicotine, highest in quality, best for you. Gerald Carlisle Lane was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree and was executed in the lethal gas chamber at the State Penitentiary, San Quentin, California. 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 Wynn, Sergeant Phantz Brasier. Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Vic Rodman, Lillian Bayef, Harry Bartel. Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schumann. Hal Gibney speaking. Watch an entirely new Dragnet Case History each week on your local NBC television station. Please check your newspaper for the 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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