 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true. Drag Nets. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to burglary division. You get a call that an important piece of religious art has been stolen from the oldest church in Los Angeles. There's no lead to its whereabouts. Your job? Find it. Committed 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 from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Drag Nets is the story of your police force in action. It was Wednesday, December 24th. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of burglary division. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Bernard. My name's Friday. I'd gone across the street to buy stamps for some Christmas cards I was sending out. It was at 9.15 a.m. when I got back to room 45. Burglary. I sat on a table in the squad room and I started to address the cards when Frank walked in carrying a stack of Christmas boxes. Hi, Joe. Hi. Christmas cards, huh? They're late, aren't you? Well, I wasn't going to send them out Monday, but we had that stake out. You ought to get married, Joe. Yeah. It's the only system. Hey, it does all that stuff for me. Laundry, meals, cards. Only system. Might help. What's in your present? Want to open it now? No, I'll wait. I always opened a couple of days before. Why? Well, I'll put you in the spirit ahead of time. I opened Phil's this morning. Who's he? Ray's brother in Denver. He gave me a magazine. One of those funny ones. What do you mean, a comic book? No, one of those funny ones, you know. No, I don't, Frank. Well, some of the pages have holes in them. You look through when there's a picture on the next page. Oh, yeah, I've seen those on the newsstand. There's a cloth pasted in. Cloth? In the ads. If you want to buy a suit, they have a sample right there. You mean you can feel it? Reach right out and feel it. It was one for $200. A suit? Sure. Cloth comes from Scotland. What's it made out of? Solid gold? No, they've got a special kind of gold over there. It's real smooth. Not a gold, Frank. A sheep. Well, a special kind of sheep, then, because a suit costs $200. You going to get one? I told Faye. She said wear the sample. Anything doing? Nothing prior. We're in on that market holdup. They come up with anything? Pound of air, nothing else. I hope it stays quiet. I've got more shopping to do. I finished. What'd you get, Ann? Stationary set, some paper and envelopes, leather binding. Joe, you'll never learn. Well, what's the matter? No woman wants a stationary set. Get her something personal. What's got her initials on it? No, no. You want something more sentimental, romantic. What'd you get, Faye? It's different in her case. What'd you get, Faye? It's a sewing machine. That's romantic. Well, there's no way. Why don't you buy her a catcher's knit? Burgary Friday. Yes, that's right. You have the right department. All right, Father. We'll be right down. No, you can tell us about it there. Goodbye. The old Mission Church, they've had a theft. Collection money? Statue of the Child, Jesus. Frank and I checked out of the office and rode over to the church in the corner of Sunset Boulevard in Maine. The old Mission Plaza Church founded 1781. The year Los Angeles became a Pueblo. The outside was typical early Spanish design, complete with Mission Arches. It was made of adobe and painted white. They called it the Queen of the Angels. The pod race from down in Mexico building, the devout Mexicans in town still attended services there. 10.05 a.m., Frank and I crossed through the courtyard. It used to be the old stable, but it changed all that when it became a mission. Stone masons paved the stable floor and made it a courtyard. They planted grapevines, trees, and flowers. A young priest crossed the courtyard to meet us. He'd been sitting on a stone bench reading his morning prayers as priests had done here for 172 years. We asked for Father Xavier Rojas who communicated with us. We were told he was inside. We entered a side door. The church seemed to glow with hundreds of votive candles flickering on both sides of the altar and the shrines throughout the church. It was empty except for a few people praying. Surrounding the main altar were several old oil paintings and gold frames. The air was heavy with a set of advent flowers. We found Father Rojas up near the sanctuary looking at the nativity scene. He told us about the crib. It was a $70 duplication of the scene at Bethlehem. The parishioners had taken up a collection fort 31 years ago. It was put up every year on December 22nd and taken down after the holy season. It was beautiful. Except that one of the shepherds had lost an arm. The sheep was old and cracked. And the infant Jesus was missing. Father Rojas led us back into the sacristy. I'm sorry to bother you, man. All right, Father. Especially now, the holiday season. We cash our checks, Father. You want to tell us what happened? What you think happened? I discovered the statue was missing right after the 6 o'clock mass. You saved the six? Yes. I started over to the rectory and stopped by the crib. Was the statue there before mass? No. But it was there last night. How late is the church open? All night. You leave it wide open so any thief can walk in? Particularly Faye of Sargent. You say it was there last night, Father? How late? 10 or 11 o'clock. We had confessions. No one saw it after that? One of the altar boys. He says it may have been there. He thinks it was. Did he see it? He's not sure. What's his name? Pardon me. Here's the schedule. You'll find the names for every mass there. Was there a big crowd at the 6 o'clock mass, Father? Not too many. Seven's the big one. People on their way to work. Did anyone stay after mass, did you notice? Not especially. I came back here, took off the vestments. I suppose it was 10 or 15 minutes before I went back in the church. It was empty then? No. People were coming in for the 7 o'clock. Are these the altar boys, James Corneen and Joseph Heffernan? That's right. Joe's the one who mentioned it might have been there. Did you check with the other priest, Father? Before I called you. None of them knows anything about it. Just for a check on the pawn shops, how much the statue worth? In money. Well, that's the point in pawn shops, Father. Only a few dollars. We could get a new one, but it wouldn't be the same. We've had children in the parish, they've grown up and married. It's the only Jesus they know. We understand. And we've had children who died. It was the only Jesus they knew. So many other people have come here as simple people. They wouldn't understand, Sergeant. It would be like changing the evening star. We'll do our best, Father. That's why it would mean so much to have it back for the first mass on Christmas. It's not very long, Father. Less than 24 hours. If anything turns up here, you know where to get in touch with us. Yes. Sad, isn't it? How's that? In so short a time, men learn to steal. Yes, but consider us, Father. Us? If some of them didn't, you and I'd be out of work. 10.50 a.m., we notified pawn shop detail. Frank and I checked out the two aller boys. The first one, James Cornyne, said he knew nothing about the missing statue. The second one, Joseph Heffernan, was not at home. His father said he had a part-time job, but he hadn't gotten in touch with us right after lunch. By 11.30 a.m., we'd run out of book procedure. We had a man to find. Our only clue? He'd been to church, 11.33 a.m. We checked the phone books for the names of religious stores in the area. Two of them were closed. We tried the third. When we got there, the only person in the store was an elderly man sitting by a table. In front of him was a large, beautifully carved chess set. We're police officers. My name's Friday. This is my partner, Frank Smith. Great to see you. Caught me in the middle of a big chess match. Where's your partner? Up in San Jose. We've been playing for years. Same match? No, just two or three months on this one. What I meant was we've been playing different matches for years. I see. You know, we do it through the mail. I send him a move. He sends me one. Must keep you on your toes. Except during the holidays, the mail gets all fiddled up. That's no good. Guess not. Slow things down. That's no good. I like to catch him off guard. You, Mr. Flavin? How'd you know? We never met. Your name's on the window out front. Mr. Flavin, we checked the other two religious stores in this neighborhood. They're closed. That's the best one anyway. 50% European items. We're checking the stores around the Mission Church. For what? Statue of the Child Jesus. Do you have one we could look at? Sure. No, sir. A larger one. You don't want a larger one. Unless it's for a church. That's where you want a larger one. Could we see it, please? It's not my duty to butt in. But unless you live in a big place, this will make your living room all a-killer. Yes, sir. Do most of the people who go to the Mission Church trade here? Good many of them, especially the kids. Why kids? More religious. Well, see if kids aren't more religious than you. Right, be so. That's what's wrong with the world. Oh, I don't mean you're wrong with it, everybody. Yes, sir. What if we could stick to the point, Mr. Flavin? Sure, a lot of people from the Mission Church come in here. Do people ever come in and sell back a religious article? Like a prayer book or rosaries? Yes, sir. Secondhand, you mean? Yes, sir. Now, since I've ever been around, it's silly. Why? People don't have religious articles so they can get rid of them. They happen so they can happen. But if a man had a statue and wanted to sell it, he'd come to a place like this. Sure, but he wouldn't want to sell it. What if it was stolen? No, sir. If a man wants to steal a statue, he'd be crazy or something like that. The only place he'd want to go is where crazy people are. You may be right, Mr. Flavin. I don't know what you fellas are looking for, but if it's somebody who stole a statue, he's crazy and you won't find him. You won't find him as long as you live, or in a million years. That should cover it. We checked religious stores out as far as Van As. We asked the same questions. The owners gave us the same answers, but none of them were as encouraging as Mr. Flavin. Frank and I had lunch and reported back to the office. It was 1.30 p.m. when we started into the squad room. The captain was just coming out. I just checked Frank on lunchroom. We've been out on that theft at the mission. May get some action on the Patterson case. They locate him? I think he's on the bus from Sacramento. Well, that means the Bakersfield police. We'll wait and see. One of you fellas, Sergeant Freddie? He is. I'm Joe Heffner. My father said you wanted to see me. Sit down, son. You didn't have to come in. A phone call would have worked. My father said to get on over. He says that any kid that uses phones is lazy. We want to ask you about this morning. You serve 6 o'clock mass? Yes, sir. I'm senior, boy. So I get to 6. You're senior and you take the early trick? Yes, sir. That way, if you receive communion, you get to have breakfast sooner. Father Rojas says you think the statue was there before mass. I didn't look, but I have a feeling it was there. A feeling? You know, how you have a feeling about something, but you're not sure. Did you stay around long after mass? I put out the candles and hung up my surplus. How long would that take? About five minutes, maybe. Did any of the people at mass stay on? Some always do, especially ladies. Oh. Maybe they don't finish in time. Where else they start new prayers? I don't know. So when you left, there were still some women there? No, sir. That was at first. After I went back to the sacristy, there was only this one man. What man? He comes at 6 o'clock all the time. Do you know his name? No, sir. But he works down in Olive. You know, paint shop, where the paint signs. Could you describe him? Sort of medium, wearing a suit that didn't match. Didn't match? You know, different pants than coat. How about his age? Always pretty old. Take a guess. About 40, maybe. There's nothing particular about him. Then why'd you notice him? I've seen him before. And the bundle, I guess. The bundle? Out in front. I saw him when he was coming out. He had this bundle, and he almost dropped it. How large a bundle? Hard to say. Come on, son. Was it large or small, the size of the statue? About that big. Yes, sir. We located the sign shop. The suspect didn't work there anymore, but we discovered his name was Claude Stroke. We found out where he lived. 225 p.m., we arrived there. It was a hotel for men, mostly old men, mostly down and outers. It was called a golden dream. Police officers, we're looking for Claude Stroke. Hope Claude didn't get in any trouble. So do we, is he in? No. He's got room 307, you can check if you like. He'll take your word. Were you on this morning? Hm? Yeah, the early shift. Well, we don't have shifts. My uncle owns the place. On the shift? Did Stroke spend last night here? Came in about 11. When'd he leave this morning? Around six, maybe before. He'd come back after? Made a clock or so. Then left, supposed to be back at 10. And pulls this trick. What trick? Our program. He knows the other fellas need him. Program? They're here at the hotel. Every Christmas, we have a program. Put up a tree and sing. They're mostly old fellas. Singing like that makes them remember back when they were kids. And Jimmy Finn comes on. Jimmy Finn? He shares number 409. His family wants to have a lot of money, so he tells the fellas about it. Stories about Christmas. How they had this big log, and his grandfather used to start it up. After dinner, everybody turned over his plate, and there underneath was a $20 gold piece. A brand new one. When Stroke came in this morning, did he have a bundle? I didn't see him come in. You said you saw him. I saw him go out after, but not come in. When was that? Eight. If you want to look for a bundle, I could give you his key. We don't have a warrant. It's all right. I know about police. It's all right with me. It's not with us. I didn't mean that. I just meant it was all right with me. Good King Wesson's lost look down On the feast of Stephen When three old men We couldn't tell how much better they would have been with Stroke singing the fourth part, but somehow you didn't care. It was Christmas at the Golden Dream, and it sounded fine. That night, though the cross was cruel When the poor men came in sight Gathering winter fuel This is the last rehearsal. I got most of the songs down pat. Sounds pretty good. That's why it's a shame Claude isn't here. He's tenor, and they need him to make it sound just right. Does Stroke have a job? No, sir. He used to have jobs. Not much lately, though. Where's Bourne? No, he should have. The fellas need him. But he comes every day. Call us. Sure, and not say anything to him. That's right. I hope it's nothing serious for Claude. The fellas' trouble ought to be over. Troubles? Way back wouldn't count. Tell us anyway. Well, I don't know much about it. As much as you know. Now, come on. Well, something back where he used to live Robbed somebody or something. What else? That's all. It was a long time ago. Way far back. But he forgot it all, the robber and everything. No, not quite. He remembered it this morning. We went back to the office and ran Stroke's name through R&I. If he'd been booked anywhere, we had no record of it. At least not under that name. 4.15 p.m. Pawn Shop detail reported back. No object resembling the statue of the child Jesus had been turned in. 4.18 p.m. I hung up the phone. Patterson's on that Sacramento bus. I thought Baker still had it. They were supposed to confirm. They did. Off work station. What about Panning and Pryor? They're still out. Well, he'll be back soon. When's the bus arrive? Six o'clock. There's plenty of time for him to make it. There's more time for you. We're still in that theft. Can't it wait? No. What is it? 10, $15 statue. When's the price determine a case? I realize it's a church statue, but that doesn't give a priority. It's important to them, Captain. Jill and I promise to get it back. What do you got on him? Nothing much. And why are you so big-hearted? Burgary Friday. When? No. Don't say anything. No. Right. Claude Stroke, he just walked into the hotel. He's our suspect. Nobody's leaked to him? No. You'll keep. You can run him down tomorrow. It'll be too late then. I need it for the first mass in the morning, Skipper. It's kind of a big thing for them. I'm sorry. I can't juggle details around so you can get a statue back. If this time later on, we'll do our best. Yes, sir. You better get over to the station. Yes, sir. Will you call Father Rojas over at the mission? Why? Tell him we're too busy to work on that statue. Well, we'll do it later. Tomorrow? Or when we get the chance? Why can't you call him? Well, we better get over to the station. If Patterson's on that bus, we don't want to miss him. All right. I'll call him. Ready? Yeah. I can send Fanning in prior or he might as well stay on that other thing. Whenever you say, Captain. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. It's 4-3 p.m. We arrived at the Golden Dream Hotel. The desk clerk was right. Claude Stroop looked like a man who did his troubles at bargain rates. Your name, Claude Stroop? Yes, sir. Police officers. We'd like to talk to you. I didn't do anything against the law. Honest, I didn't do anything against it. You haven't been accused. I want to take you downtown. We'd like to talk to you. No, sir. I'm not going. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to talk to anybody. You're half wrong already. 5-15 p.m. We returned Stroop for interrogation. He kept his word. He refused to talk. 6-05 p.m. Frank called Fay. Told her he'd be a little late. Stroop didn't move for a whole hour. He sat and stared, but he didn't talk. 6-40 p.m. We got a final report from pawn shop detail. The shops were closed. There was no statute. Stroop still hadn't talked. Don't you ever want to go home, Stroop? If I was to talk, he wouldn't let me go. Depends on what you'd say. I'd say it wrong and I wouldn't get home. You won't this way either. I'd like to go. You can bet on that. This is the seventh year we had the program and I never missed a one. And a single one. Why don't you tell us what happened, Stroop? How would I know you'd let me go? You wouldn't. I might as well anyway. All right, what happened from Mass on? Well, there was Mass. I came out and started down toward the hotel. Back up. I left my stuff at the hotel and then I picked up George's car. I didn't steal it. He said I could have it anytime I wanted. Only this time I didn't ask him. I took it and started off. Well, I should have asked, but I just didn't. I went over to Grand Avenue for the Christmas bulbs for this fellow sells in secondhand. It was coming out of the lot that I did. Yeah. The bumper must have caught the other car. It didn't leave too big a dent, but there was this long scratch. I got out and tried to wipe it off with my handkerchief. You know, spit on it like. Well, I didn't do no good. I didn't think anybody saw. I don't know how you fellas found out about it. I'll check out our records. Right. Strick, we didn't bring you down here to talk about that. You didn't? No. There's a statue missing from the church, a statue of the child Jesus. You mean I took it? You took a bundle out of church. Yes, sir. That was my other pants for the program tonight. I had a place sewed up and there was a button on it. You can check. But I wouldn't take the statue. I don't think you would either. He's clear at auto records. One hope. For the program? You mean it's all right? Good night, Strick. I don't know. We could stay and work on it tonight. Wouldn't do any good. We won't find it. I don't think so. Tell your kid and the priest. Build his hopes up. As we'll go tell him now. 7 27 p.m. We found Father Rohas. Frank told him how it was that we couldn't get the statue back by morning, but that we'd keep trying during the week. He said he understood. We told him we had to get on. As Frank and I started to leave, the doors at the main entrance to the church opened. It was a good 200 feet away. It was hard to be sure, but it looked like a small boy drawing a bright red wagon behind him. When he got closer, you could see he was no bigger than a pint of milk. He was a luminous-eyed little Mexican boy with a face as young as yesterday. The priest seemed to know him. Paquito? In the back of the wagon was the missing statue of the child Jesus. He picked it up gently and walked up to the priest. Father Rohas? He just stood there looking up at Father Rohas. It's Paco Mendoza, the boy from the parish. Ask him where he found it. ¿Dónde lo encontraste? No le encontré. Le cogí esta mañana. He didn't find it. He took it. Why? Every year, Paco prayed for a red truck. This year, Paco prayed to Jesus. I promised to Jesus the first trip in my little truck. He says all through the years, he's prayed for a red wagon. This year, he prayed to the child Jesus. He promised that if he got the wagon, the child Jesus would have the first ride in it. He wants not the devil to come and take him to hell. That's your department, Father? We crossed over to the sanctuary with the help of Father Rohas, the young boy replaced the infant Jesus in a triteful place, the crib and the nativity scene. Frank and I could have been wrong, but a small plaster statue seemed to approve. Mary, Joseph, the wise man, Gaspar, Melchior, Balthazar, the old shepherd, the young shepherd, the peasant, they all seemed to approve. Vuelve a tu casa paquito. The priest told the boy to go home. He took hold of his wagon, started the long walk out of the church. There wasn't much we could say. There wasn't much to say. We just stood there and watched him go. Halfway up, he turned to look back. And he went on out. I don't understand how we got that wagon today. Don't kids wait for Santa Claus anymore? It isn't from Santa Claus. The fireman picks old toys and give them to new children. Paquito's family, they're poor. Who just heard is true. The names and locations were changed. 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.