2. Production 2

[00:00] Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet! The documented drama of an actual crime investigated and solved by the men who unrelentingly stand watch on the security of your home, your family, and your life.

[00:34] 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, this is the story of your police force in action. Dragnet! It was Tuesday, March 25th. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of homicide. Detectives in Los Angeles work in pairs. My partner is Ben Romero. He's a sergeant, so am I. My name's Friday.

[01:17] The boss is Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. I was on the way back from the record bureau, and it was 13 minutes past 11 when I got to room 42. Homicide. That's a hot shot. Somebody grab it. I got it, Ed. At 1245 East Ohini Street, two officers shot. At 1245 East Ohini Street, two officers shot. What have you got, Friday? Read it.

[01:48] Two officers shot. Where's Romero? Right here, skipper. Okay, you've got one to roll on. Get going. Both Ben and I knew where we were heading. We'd recognized the address. It was the Trap Door Cafe, a joint in the south end of town that did business with a pretty rough crowd. 13 minutes later, we pulled up in front. Two patrolmen had the crowd pretty well pushed back. There was a cruiser car in front of the cafe. The car door was open and an officer was sprawled across the seat.

[02:22] He was conscious but weak, and one of his pant legs was pretty red. Hello, Sarge. Hi. How you doing? I've done better. Yeah, well, what happened? Williams and I were cruising. We've been keeping an eye on this cafe lately. Tonight we decided to take a look. And just as we went in, two guys left in a hurry. The back door. We followed them out into the alley. It was dark out there and I called them. I said, hey, fellas, just a minute. I want to talk to you. They stopped? I'll say. One of them whirled. He had a gun in his left hand. He shot both of us.

[02:54] Left hand, huh? Williams went down and out. I went down, but I took a shot at them. No effect. And I started crawling out here to the car so I could crawl in. You started crawling? Yeah. Wait a minute, Emerson, weren't there any people around by that time? Oh, yeah. Quite a few ran out after the shots. You mean nobody would help you to the car? That's right. Did you get a good look at either of the gunmen? Well, one of them was tall. I think he was a redhead. There was something funny about his nose. That's all I saw. It's too dark out there. Williams was closer. I think he got a good look.

[03:29] Joe, the other officer, Williams, he's in pretty bad shape. Is he breathing? He's still alive, Emerson. I don't know how much time he's got. Ambulance? On the way. Okay, let's round up all the men who were in the cafe. We're taking them in. We took all the men back to the city hall. There were 23 in the trapdoor cafe at the time of the shooting. We questioned all of them. One of them said there had been a redhead in the place, but he couldn't describe him. Ben and I left the interrogation room and we went back to the squad room.

[04:02] Friday, Romero. Got a minute? Yeah, Ed. Come on, Ben. Sit down. Okay. Did you get anything from those people you questioned? Nothing we could use. How's Williams? He's pretty bad. When do they operate? Soon as he comes out of shock. Probably in the morning. You boys will be there? Yeah, we will. When the surgeon digs that slug out, get it and mark it for evidence. Yeah. Scare for them two men shot without asking any questions. They must be hot. Yeah. Same thing occurred to me.

[04:32] When we get that slug, the ballistics can tell us whether that gun's been used on other jobs. We got enough of their modus operandi to have the statistician give us a run through on the IBM now. One of them is left-handed and he shoots quick. Okay. Be in surgery tomorrow morning at nine. Neither Ben nor I said much on the way home, but we were both thinking the same thing. I knew the chief was thinking it too. Here were two men who'd shot a couple of police officers without asking any questions.

[05:04] I suppose you've heard a lot of stories about what the force thinks of cop killers. Sure. We don't like to lose our friends and partners any better than anybody else would. Why not figure it this way? If these two guys would gun a couple of armed police officers, do you think they'd hesitate to shoot you, the unarmed citizen? The next morning at nine o'clock, Ben and I had scrubbed up and we were in surgery. Williams was on the table. The surgeon started in.

[05:35] A lot of minutes later he got the slug. As for Williams, they took out seven feet of his intestine and said he might pull through. Joe, here's a report from Ballistics. The slug they took out of Williams come from a.44 Smith & Wesson. A same gun was used in a liquor store killing about a month ago. You called the statistician? Yeah. She's running all the cards from previous shooting through the IBM machine.

[06:07] She ought to be through about now. Let's take a look. Okay. Come on. Hi, Helen. Just a second. Okay. Well, that's it, boys. These cards will give you all the shootings pulled by two men on foot who shot quick, one of them left-handed. Right. They're all yours. Sure can tell a lot from just a bunch of little holes in these cards, can't you? I can't, but this IBM machine can. You never cease to amaze me.

[06:38] Okay. Shall we check the cards, huh? Yeah, sure, sure. Wait a minute, Ben. Here we are. Huh? Yeah. Here's that liquor store killing Ballistics tied the Smith & Wesson in on. Same gun that Emerson Williams was shot with? Well, it checks out. The liquor store was in the same neighborhood as the Trap Door Cafe. Same gun, huh? Got to be. How long ago? A month ago, yeah. Ben, take the D.R. number off this card and let's pull the crime report on that job. We pulled the crime report out of the files.

[07:12] It said that there was only one witness to that liquor store killing a month ago. That witness was a woman. Miss Forbes, I'm sorry to disturb you like this, but we'd like to ask some questions about that liquor store killing you witness a little over a month ago. Well, I told the police everything I knew about it then. Yeah, we know, but maybe you wouldn't mind telling us again, huh? No, no, I guess not. I've been trying to forget it to tell the truth. It was pretty terrible. I really didn't see so very much because I was awful scared.

[07:42] I understand. But try to describe again just what happened, will you? Well, it was about ten o'clock at night. I was walking down the street toward home when I realized I was all out of cigarettes. Well, I was right in front of the liquor store then, so I went in. The clerk was behind the counter and there were two men standing there arguing. What's the idea of changing your mind? I thought we was going to get bourbon. No, let's get the wine. I want bourbon. Gosh, too much wine's good enough. The rest of them want bourbon, too. We better talk to them. Well, okay. We'll be back when we make up our mind, mister.

[08:14] Two men walked out of the store and the clerk smiled at me and shrugged his shoulders. I bought a pack of cigarettes and turned to leave. But just then the two men came back in again and each of them had a gun in his hand. There's a stick up, mister. The clerk just sort of crumpled to the floor. I couldn't believe my eyes, but that's just how it happened. The men said this is a stick up and then they shot him right away. Get over against the wall, lady, or you'll get the same. One of them punched the no-sale on the cash register. I was shaking so I almost caved in.

[08:44] He scooped the money out of the drawer and stuffed it into his pocket. And then the other one went over to where the liquor clerk was lying face down. He knelt down beside the clerk and he put his gun against the clerk's spine. And they both ran out of the store. It was terrible. That clerk, he was lying there helpless and wounded and they... They delivered him. Yeah, Miss Forbes, I understand. Miss Forbes, you said that both of the men had guns. Yes. One of the guns was black and the other was sort of... sort of fancy looking.

[09:17] What do you mean, Miss Forbes? Well, it was real shiny. Nickel plating? I wouldn't know about that, but it was shiny. There were two guns, huh? Yes. Well, now about the men themselves. I was so scared their faces just didn't register with me. The one who... one who shot the clerk in the back was sort of stocky. That's about the best I can do. You mentioned in the report that one of the men was left-handed. Yes, I do remember that. Uh-huh. Look, Miss Forbes, this is very important to us.

[09:49] One of the men was a redhead. Redhead? Why, no, I didn't see any redhead. The Redhead Scare for me and Joe's run right smack into a stone wall on this thing. What's the complication? Well, there's more than one, Ed. In the first place, we know that the.44 Smith & Wesson was used in both shootings, but the descriptions of the men involved don't check. Police Officer Emerson said he thought the man that...

[10:20] that shot him and Williams outside the trapdoor cafe was a tall left-handed redhead. Said there's something funny about his nose. You think Williams got a better look at him? Probably did, but Williams isn't strong enough to talk yet. The girl that witnessed the liquor store killing a month ago said that one of those men was left-handed, but she said neither of them was a redhead. And on top of all that, now we've got two guns to worry about. The girl mentioned two guns, so we checked the autopsy report on that liquor clerk. And Ed, the bullet that actually killed him came from a.32-20, not a.44 Smith & Wesson.

[10:52] That fact didn't get any publicity at the time, did it? No, it didn't. Okay, we won't give it any publicity now either. With a law down, it's just the.44 Smith & Wesson we're after. Because if whoever owns the.32-20 finds out it's hot, we'll never get it. Anything else? Well, we sent teletypes to all outland stations in neighboring cities, told them if they get any redheaded suspects, no matter what charge they got them on, to hold them for questioning. Yeah. Now, how about this.32-20, the actual murder weapon, and he leads on it? We've got one, Ed. We've been checking the records and we discovered that four hours after the liquor store killing,

[11:27] a taxi driver in the neighborhood was shot and robbed. The slug was pretty well mashed, but there was enough to tell it was from a.32-20. So we're going over to question the taxi driver now. Good. Well, I think you boys are on the right trail. So far what we've got is mostly unrelated facts, but sooner or later those facts have all got to tie in at some point along the line. Find that point. Yeah, find the point. Find the tie-in. Well, Ben and I went over to see the taxi driver, a guy who was living on borrowed time.

[12:00] Yeah, it was about two o'clock in the morning when it happened. I got a call to pick up a fare near 105th and Avalon, you know, yeah. Well, I got there, somebody came over, pulled open my cap door and said, this is a stick-up. Then blowie, let me have it. Just like that, huh? Yeah, just like that. Same deal as others, Joe. Itchy trigger finger. Yeah. Did you get any kind of a look at the fella? No, no, it was too dark. Hey, according to the report, you got shot in the chest. Yeah, that's right. Oh, you're maybe wondering how come I'm still alive.

[12:31] I'll tell you, pal, it's like something you'd see in a bad movie, you know. I'm carrying a few silver dollars with me, nine of them to be exact. So I decided to stick them in my breast pocket. Well, Mr. Thatcher saved my life. The slug hit them silver dollars. It's the one for the book, huh? Yeah, you said it. Well, thanks very much. Say, incidentally, we had a little trouble finding you today. You weren't at the stand you operated out of last month. Oh, look, look, I'm not only not at my usual stand, I'm not driving a hack no more. Oh. Look, after what happened, are you kidding? No, I don't want to push my luck any further than it's been pushed.

[13:03] I figure I had it, you know. And about that time, Ben and I were beginning to figure we'd had it. We were getting nowhere fast. We had a few informants nosing around, but so far they hadn't come up with any leads. Well, Ben and I followed up all the teletypes that poured in. We just got back from Santa Ana where we'd been questioning a redheaded suspect and we'd flopped in the squad room when Chief Backstrand's door opened. Friday, Romero. Got a minute?

[13:34] Yes, Kim. Any luck with the Santa Ana redheads? No, none at all. I guess you haven't heard the latest. We just now got back in town, Kim. Early this morning, another cab driver got shot. What? Yeah. Man came up to his taxi, opened the door, said, this is a stick up, and shot him. Well, it went through one leg and into the other, but the driver managed to start his cab and drove over to a cafe. He called in from there. Oh, the boys recovered the slug? Yeah. It came from the same.44 Smith and Weston that was used in the other two jobs.

[14:07] The cab driver get a look at the gunman? Yeah, briefly. Was it the redhead? No. Well, the stocky guy. He wasn't redheaded, he wasn't stocky. It's all the driver knows. That's great. Skipper, this is beginning to sound like a gun of the month club. You reckon somebody's renting them guns out? Well, they're passing the guns around all right, but I think they're working together. The way they operate indicates that. Yeah, the trigger has the routine. Killing is apparently more than a business to them. It's a pleasure, too. That's why we've got to get to them fast. Come over here. All right. Come on, then.

[14:39] Here. Take a look at this map. Uh-huh. Here's the trapdoor cafe, and over here's the liquor store. Down here is where the first cab driver got shot. My dear, is where the second one got it. All of the shootings have taken place within an area of ten square blocks. Okay. Tonight we're going to throw a blockade around that whole area. Good. It'll go into effect at 10 p.m. At 9.45 p.m., cars and officers started drifting into the area by twos and threes.

[15:13] And at 10, when backstrand Ben and I arrived, the whole area was sewed up tighter than a tick. Davis, we've got you. All set? All set. We've got a primary line and a secondary line. Everyone tries to make a break, we'll pick them up in the secondary. Okay. Friday and Romero here will cruise around the area with me. Go to work, men. Every car in the area was shaken down. The same process was also followed on all persons on foot.

[15:43] The blockade went on all night. By the end of that time, we'd brought in 217 suspects. Twenty-six of them were redheads. What's your name? Henry Wagner. Where do you work? Lombardy. Which one? Four Star. What times did you get to work last night? About six, I guess. What did you do then? Had some dinner. Where? Harry's Grill. Then what? Shot a little pool. Look, I tell you, I ain't done nothing. Now, let's go back to the day before yesterday. And that's the way it went all day long.

[16:15] We shot question after question at them, working them gradually back to the days on which the shootings had taken place. When it was all over, we got six men wanted in other cities on various charges. We got quite an assortment of guns and knives. But as far as the shootings were concerned, we got nothing. Well, I guess that's the last of them. I was running out of questions there at the end. You two boys better go on home and get some sleep. Well, I was kind of figuring on checking back over the reports to see if we might have overlooked something.

[16:45] I said go on home. You two boys have been at it for 32 hours straight. Look at you. You're both so groggy you can hardly stand up. You need sleep. It's 4 p.m. now. Don't come back until 10 p.m. When I walked into the squad room at 10, Ben was already there. An informant had just phoned in a new lead. He told Ben he'd heard about a gang that had been hanging out down around the Devere bungalow court in the south end of town.

[17:18] We knew that the Devere was close to the trapdoor cafe, so we went over to talk to the manager. Joe, I've been meaning to ask you. You checked on how Williams is getting along? Yeah, I did. I called the hospital this afternoon. It's going to be all right. Oh, that's fine. Here we are. Yeah, manager's office. Still got a lot on. Yeah? I'm Sergeant Friday, police. This is Sergeant Romero.

[17:48] Yeah? We'd like a little information. Sure, come in. Thank you. What can I do for you? Well, did you hear anything about a gang that hangs out down around here anywhere? Gang? Why, no. How about your tenants here? Any of them ever been in trouble to your knowledge? No. This ain't exactly the best neighborhood in town. We try to keep things under control. Once in a while, one of them will get out of line, but when that happens, we heave them out of here. You heaved anybody out lately? Yeah, I did. I had found his wife a few weeks ago. They had a fight in one of the bungalows.

[18:21] She took a shot at him, but she missed. Parted by the name of Stuba, Carl Stuba. What did this Stuba look like? Oh, sort of tall, skinny. Was he a redhead? No. Now, we'd like to take a look at that bungalow that he lived in. Sure, sure. Help yourselves. Down the end there, number five, still vacant. Well, I guess that does it.

[18:52] Stuba didn't leave a thing behind. Matter of fact, we don't have anything to prove that this Stuba's tied in at all. We're only working on our hands. Hey, Joe, look. Where? Up on the wall there, just by the window. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that plaster there, it's newer than the rest. You got a knife? Sure have, boy, and I'm carving. That manager'd be awful unhappy with me if he was here. Yeah, he would. Yeah, it must. Hey, Joe, here it is. A slug. They plastered right over it. Okay, dig it out and let's hope it matches.

[19:22] It matched. The slug from the wall came from the same.44 Smith & Wesson that had been used in the other shootings. So now we had a name to work on, Carl Stuba. But he'd done a good job of dropping out of sight. Well, the next day, Ben thought he had another lead. I've just been talking to another informant, Joe. He says he heard that there's a fellow down in that neighborhood been trying to sell a gun lately. What kind of a gun? Nickel plated with steer horn handles.

[19:52] Nickel plated? Well, maybe that's our.44 Smith & Wesson. Maybe. Did the informant know who this man was? He said the fellow's name was Alonzo. Yeah. Alonzo who? Just Alonzo. That's all he knew. So now we had two names, Stuba and Alonzo, but no men to go with them. So we went back to making the rounds of the substations, interviewing redheaded suspects.

[20:22] We took a few of them to Williams, who was home from the hospital by now, but he couldn't identify any of them as the man who shot him. Still, we kept checking. Finally, we got around to the 77th Street Station. We questioned the suspects they were holding there, and we just started to leave when one of the officers called us. Hey, sir, we're holding somebody else you might want to look at. Redhead? No. What's the choice? Suspicion of burglary. Small job. Oh, I don't know. What do you think, Ben? What's special about him? He lives in the same neighborhood where those shootings took place.

[20:55] All right. Where you got him? Down here. You admit anything? No. He's pretty surly. Here we are. Thanks. Hi. What do you want? I'm Sergeant Friday. This is Sergeant Romero. We'd like to ask you a few questions. Look, I already told the other cops all I know. I didn't steal my radio from that jerk. What's your name? We've been through all that once.

[21:26] Come on. What's your name? Jackson. Alonzo Jackson. Alonzo. I looked at Ben, and Ben looked at me. This could be the Alonzo who'd been trying to peddle at Smith and Wesson. Ben and I both knew there was one suspect we'd have to be real careful with. Alonzo, according to the records, this burglary you're suspected of took place on the night of the 27th. Look, how many times do I have to tell you guys he didn't have anything to do with it? You got an alibi for that night? Sure, I got an alibi. I was out with a couple of friends, I can tell you.

[21:56] What's your friend's name, Alonzo? One of them's Crannery, the other's Stuber. Stuber, the guy who used to live in the bungalow court. Well, we told Alonzo he'd have to produce his two friends to give him an alibi for the burglary charge any bit. He went with us and he pointed out where Stuber was living now. No wonder we hadn't been able to find him. There was a little shack at the back of a lot behind two houses. We thought it was a chicken coop at first. We took Alonzo back to the station, then we picked up Stuber. He was surprised to see us and not very happy.

[22:26] We took him in. Next, Alonzo gave us Crandall's address. Yeah? Mr. Crandall in? No. Will he be back soon? I don't know. Who are you? Sergeant Friday, Sergeant Romero, police. What do you want with him? Oh, nothing important, lady. We just wanted him as a witness. Oh. Well, I don't know just when he'll be back. Probably an hour or two. Okay, thanks.

[22:56] We went down the street away and we staked out in the car. We sat there for about five hours and then Ben nudged me in the ribs. Hey, Joe. Huh? Joe, take a look. Coming along the sidewalk. Yeah, and he's got red hair. Come on. Crandall. Huh? Your name, Crandall? For you. Friday Romero, police. Police? What do you want with me? I haven't done nothing.

[23:28] Well, then you got nothing in the world to worry about. Come on. We questioned Crandall for an hour, but he wouldn't give an inch. Denied everything. Then we put him in a car and we drove over to Officer Williams' house. I left Ben in the living room with Crandall while I went in Williams' bedroom. Hello, Sarge. Hi, Williams. How are you doing? A little better, I think. That's fine. Look, we've got another redhead outside.

[23:59] Bring him in. Okay. All right, Crandall, come on in here. Who's in there? Why'd you bring me over here? Come on in here. How about it, Williams? That's the guy. No, I'm not. That's the guy that shot me. Well, Crandall? No. Yeah. It was an accident. I didn't mean to shoot him. It was an accident.

[24:31] Once Crandall got started, he talked his head off. He also admitted being in on the liquor store killing, but insisted he was only the lookout. We took him back to the station and got his whole story down on a tape recorder. Yeah, he was left-handed. Then we went back to Alonzo, who didn't know we had Crandall's confession. We met the chief in the hall outside the room where they were holding Alonzo. About ready to tie the knot? Oh, I hope so, Chief, but Alonzo hasn't given any yet, and we still haven't found those guns. We've got one of them. Which one?

[25:01] The Smith and Wesson. Stubba popped about that one ten minutes ago, so he left it with his girl. A couple of the boys are on their way over to get it now. That's good, Ed. That leaves just the 3220. You have mentioned the 3220 to Alonzo, have you? No. He still thinks we're after that Smith and Wesson, and that's the way we're going to play it right now. Go ahead. Look, how much longer are you guys going to hold me here? Didn't you check with those friends of mine? Alonzo, we've got a tip that you've been trying to sell a gun lately. A gun? Yeah, 44 Smith and Wesson. Oh, now it's not true.

[25:33] That Smith and Wesson's been using a couple of robbery jobs this month, and we think it's your gun. That's a lie. Any proof of that? Well, yeah, sure I got proof of that. I used to have a gun, but it wasn't a Smith and Wesson. Look, if I tell you where it is, that ought to convince you, shouldn't it? It'll help things. Okay. I sold it to a neighbor of mine. He gave me seven bucks. I'll give you his address. You sure it's not a Smith and Wesson? Sure I'm sure. It's a 3220. Yeah, it worked. We went to the neighbor's address, and he admitted having bought the 3220, but said he'd lent it to a friend who'd never returned it.

[26:09] The friend had hocked the gun to a barber. The barber gave him 15 bucks and a haircut for it. We finally got it from the barber, and we came back to the station. I'm all set, Joe. I'll be in the next room. Just give me the knife. Okay. Hello, Alonzo. Hey, you got the gun. Yeah, we got the gun. Well, now maybe you'll believe I'm on the level. Okay, if I go now? I guess we won't be able to hold you here much longer. You can say that again, brother. You could have saved a lot of time if you had listened to what I've been trying to tell you all along.

[26:44] I guess you're right, Alonzo. Sure I'm right. You know, you guys would be a lot better off, you believe, guys like me, the first time we tell you something. But on the liquor store job, I was only a lookout. I was outside. It was the other two who pulled that one. Stubborn Alonzo. Alonzo killed a clerk. Hold it, Alonzo. All right, Alonzo, that's enough. Now, come on, how about it? How? What's the use? All right. That's like he said.

[27:17] Okay, Ben, bring the recorder in here. Alonzo's ready to make a record now. By playing back Crandall's statement that we'd recorded earlier, we got a full confession from Alonzo. We took the three of them out and had them reenact the four shootings, and we photographed it on sound film. Crandall the redhead was the one who'd shot the two police officers, but he was only the lookout for the liquor store killing, which explains why the girl witness didn't see him in the store. Stubborn Alonzo were the ones who pulled that job, and Alonzo, the worst of the bunch, was the one who put the.3220 against the spine of the wounded clerk.

[27:55] The three of them took turns at shooting the cab drivers and robbing them. That accounted for the mixed up descriptions, including all that left-handed business. Two of the three suspects happened to be left-handed. Well, that was the crop. Crandall, Alonzo, Stuba. Four shootings, three robberies, four attempted murders, one murder. The three men were tried and convicted. They're all in the state penitentiary. Crandall's there for life. Alonzo and Stuba, they'll be executed next week. File it, will you, Ben?

[28:32] Case closed. Dragnet. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. You have just heard the second in a new series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the office of C.B. Horrell, Chief of Police, Los Angeles Police Department.

[29:07] Tonight's program is dedicated to Radio Officer Delmer E. Cook of the Los Angeles Police Department, who on the afternoon of December 6, 1948, gave his life so that yours might be more secure. Dragnet came to you from Los Angeles. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.