Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been
changed to protect the innocent. Fatima cigarettes, best of long cigarettes, brings you Dragnet.
You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. Eight thousand dollars
worth of Chinese jade has been stolen. The criminal is vicious. His weapon, a handful
of buckshot in a handkerchief. Your job, get him. If you want a long cigarette, smoke the
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best of all long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. 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 from official police
files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police
force in action. It was Monday, December 1st. It was foggy in Los Angeles. We were working
the day watch out of robbery detail. My partner is Ben Romero. The boss is Ed Backstrand,
chief of detectives. My name's Friday. It was 7.15 p.m. when we got to the police academy.
We were in the banquet room. Where do we sit, Joe? Lee Jones is holding a couple of seats
for us someplace. You see him? Oh, yeah, yeah. There he is up there. Look at him. But he's
here. Yeah, ought to be. Hi, fellas. A couple of ringside seats. Thanks, Lee. Did you get
it? Yeah. Right here. Mind if I take a look at it? No, go ahead. How come it didn't get
wrapped as a gift? No time. Gift box would have been nice. No cotton even? Beautiful
watch. Radium dial? Yeah. Universal Geneva. Fine movement. He like it. Look on the back.
Let's see. For chief Ed Backstrand, a good cop, detective bureau. Not very good engraving.
No time. I didn't think the old man really meant it. 26 years. You get tired after 26
years. You've been at it 25, Lee. Don't look at me like that. I got a book to finish. 23
chapters. How many chapters you got, Fanny? Two. How long you been writing it? Two years.
Well, at that rate, we'll be stuck with you for another 21 years. If you're lucky. Excuse
me, fellas. Got to make a speech. Aye, Lee. Gentlemen. I have a question for you. Your
opinion? Get the proceedings underway here before we introduce the man of the hour. I'd
like to pass along a little story you might get a kick out of. I was driving down from
Utah last year, stopped off at a hotel in Elko, Nevada. When I went up to register for
my room, there was an Indian ahead of me. The clerk asked his Indian fella to sign his
name and the clerk handed him the pen. The Indian made a next on the book. The clerk
looked at him from him and said, Say, aren't you, Chief Dearskin, have I seen you in the
movies? The Indian nodded his head and looked a little upset. Oh, he said. Oh, he make
a lot of movies in Hollywood. The clerk smiled and said, Well, people in Elko here like
to get your autograph, Chief. And the Indian grabbed the pen up again and he said, Me no
like a photograph, others. Me no wanna be bothered. Then he drew a circle around the
ax he made. The clerk said, Why you do that, Chief? The Indian said, Me no use the right
name. Oh, hey, there's Rodgers over there. He's motioning to where? Oh, yeah. Excuse
me about that. Chief was retiring tonight. He's been using his right name for 26 years
and he's proud of it. And we're proud to have been associated. You want me, Rodgers? I've
phone for you, Joe. You can take it on the extension outside. Thanks, Pete. He's retiring
from the Los Angeles police department. We're gonna miss him. Gentlemen, our fine officer,
Chief Hedgeback Smith. Where's the phone? Right over here. Thanks. Friday. Joe, this
is Gonzalez. Yeah, Jeff. Sorry to bother you, but power's set as you'd call you. Yeah? I
need some liquid. Something big? Pretty big, yeah. Too many loose ends. Penny and I can't
pull them all in. When do you want us? As soon as you can get out here. That important,
huh? A man may die, Joe. Hi, Jess. Got here as soon as we could. Sorry to pull you away.
Hello, Romero. Gonzalez, what's up? Come on in here. Here's a report, not complete yet.
A Chinese fella. Name's George Kwan. He's a jeweler, gem cutter. Yeah. Jade expert. Knows
as much about jade as anybody on the coast. Says it happened at 5.30 today on El Verado
near the park. They weren't kidding, were they? They almost killed him. Yeah. Any idea
what the weapon was, Jeff? Not sure. Looks like some sort of blackjack, something homemade.
Yeah. When they picked up Kwan, they found several buckshot pellets lying around in a
man's handkerchief. Ray Pinker has the stuff over at the crime lab now. Where's Kwan? Have
you talked to him? Got in a couple questions down at Georgia Street while the doc was giving
him sedatives. Little guy's a mess, Joe. Gonna be all right? 50-50 chance when I called you
out of the academy. Why did they beat him, dear, is that it? I don't have it all yet,
but from what he said, he was jumped from behind, didn't have a chance to fight. Whoever
it was kept beating him long after he was unconscious. What'd they take him for? A couple
pieces of jade, large ones. Very rare. You got anything else? Yeah, we got a star witness,
just one. Did you talk to him yet? Just did for an hour and a half. You want to crack
at him? Are you having trouble with him? Yeah, a little. All right, Pena, send him in again.
Yes, sir, you want to talk some more? Six years old, Joe. His name was Norman Eugene
Fisher and he was six years of age last April. By all young boys his age, his imagination
ran away with him. What would be only a minor detail to an adult witness assumed tremendous
proportions in Norman's young mind. He told us his story three times, each time he elaborated
a little more until what he claimed was the truth could only have been figments of a small
child's imagination. Ben and I, together with Gonzales and Pena, talked with the boy for
another hour. We were getting tired, but Norman enjoyed his position as star witness. Once
more, Norman, please try to remember it as it really happened. It was just like I said.
Let me try, Jeff. Go ahead, Ramon. You did see it happen this afternoon, didn't you,
Norman? Yes, sir, I did. Good. Now, you were on your way home from a store. Oh, no, sir,
I was running away from a man. He was chasing me. But you just told us, Norman, that you
were on your way home from a store. Oh, no, sir, that was yesterday. But you told us.
Oh, no, sir, I didn't, Ben. Norman, how old are you? Next year I'm going to be 21. No,
that's not right, 21. That's older than I am. Well, when I am 21, I'm going to get a hot
ride. Fastest car in the world, 10,000 miles an hour. Sure you will. But how old are you
now? Six, but I'm one. But I'm going to be 21 soon. I remember when I was six years old,
Norman, a lot of things I wanted, electric train. I got one. Well, it must be something
you'd like to have. One thing that maybe now that you don't have. Will you give it to me?
Well, if I can. What do you want? I'd like your gun. Well, what do you want a gun for?
I want to put people in jail like you guys do. Sometimes it takes more than a gun, Norman.
What do you mean? Just because you've got a gun doesn't mean you're a cop. Well, what
does? Just a minute, son. Here you go, Norman. A good cop uses this more than a gun. Gee.
It's a real police badge. It's mine. Official? Official. Can I hold it? Go ahead. It's yours.
When I wear this, I'm a real detective. Well, that's part of it. The other part is to tell
us what you really saw today. Now, how about it? There were four men, like I said, and
they all had machine guns. No, no, wait a minute, Norman. I thought you said you were
a detective now. I am. Well, a good detective has to remember exactly what he sees, not
something he makes up. It's not very scary that way. No, it's no use, Joe. He can't get
his story straight. Oh, yes, I can. I'm a detective now and I know what happened. All
right, Norman, you tell us, huh? I was on my way home from the store. I saw this truck
stop down the street. What did the truck look like? I don't know. It was a funny kind of
truck. Had a wood back. You mean like a dump truck? Kind of, but it was a small truck.
Owned kind of car, like he took out the back part and put wood boards like a truck. You
mean whoever owned the truck cut the back end out and made it look like a truck, huh?
Yeah, yeah, that's the way it looked. Anyway, this truck stopped by this Chinese man and
the man got out and the man started to hit this man and the man followed him a sidewalk
and the man kept hitting him and hitting him as hard as anything. Well, what was he hitting
him with? With his handkerchief. There he goes again. No, I don't know. How about that
chest? Good tie in. Go on, Norman. Well, that's all I saw. No, no, I mean after the man hit
him, what did he do? Oh, well, he grabbed a bunch of stuff from this man's pocket and
he went into the truck and he speeded away. Norman, you're a good detective. I want you
to think real hard now. Do you know what a license number is? Yeah. Good. Do you think
you could remember the numbers on that truck? If I knew what they were, I could. In school,
we're just having numbers now. I only know up to seven, but there were two sevens in it.
You're getting all this jazz? Yeah, keep going. Norman, you've helped us a lot. Can you remember
what the man on the truck looked like? He had a big head and he looked mean. All right,
just one more thing now. Can you remember the color of that truck? It looked black,
but the back part had black and white stripes. I don't know how you did it, Joe. What do
you think? How about it? Me too. All right, Norman, your mother's waiting outside for
you. You can go home now. You're a real detective. Can I wear my badge now? You bet you can.
Okay. Say. Yes, sir? As soon as I arrest somebody, will you put them in jail? With the help of
an outdated police badge no longer official, we had the statement of a six-year-old boy
with a healthy imagination. We had an idea he was telling us the truth, but we had no
way of being certain. Since he was the only witness, we had to accept his word and hope
that he was putting us on the right track. The quickest way to make sure was to see if
some of the details in little Norman Fisher's story would check out. Jess Gonzalez and Manuel
Pena took the job of trying to locate a homemade pickup truck with two sevens in the license
number. They started by checking all the late 3.8 forms of vehicle theft and impound reports.
The next morning, Ben and I called the General Hospital and talked with Dr. Sebastian. He
told us that the victim, George Kwan, had improved sufficiently to allow a brief interview.
It was 10, 14 a.m. when we got to Ward C, General Hospital. Doctor tells us you're a
little better this morning, Mr. Kwan. Yes, sir. I shall be all right, although it is
quite painful at times. We're sorry to bother you, Mr. Kwan, but we've got to have a little
more information on the robbery. Oh, I will tell you all I can, sir. I should like to
recover the missing jade pieces. It is a great loss to me. Did you get any kind of a look
at the man who hit you? Oh, he attacked me from behind, knocked me to the pavement. I
made an attempt to get to my feet, but he struck me again and again here at the base
of my neck. You didn't see him at all then? No, sir, I did not. Do you have any idea who
could have done this? Unfortunately, no. I cannot think of anyone. What was stolen from
you? We know it was jade, but can you give us a more detailed description? Well, sir,
I lost two thumb rings, very rare, collector's items. Thumb rings, sir, how much were they
worth, would you say? Well, I paid 8,000 for the two rings. I wonder if you could describe
them to us. Well, both rings were relics of the time when the Chinese archer drew his
hunting bow with a special thumb ring. Any particular identifying marks on them? They
both have linings of fine gold to fit them to the fingers of the new owners. Who were
the new owners? I had just purchased them yesterday before I was robbed. I was on my
way to San Francisco to show them to prospective buyers. Who did you buy the rings from, Mr.
Quine? Mrs. Inez Curtis, a very reputable dealer. We have done business for many years.
I wonder if we could have her business address, huh? She has her office at her home. It is
1957 Harper Annex off Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. How many people knew that you
had the jade on you at that particular time yesterday? Oh, let me see. There were only
two other buyers present beside Mrs. Curtis. Do not recall their names. They were new to
me. Mrs. Curtis would know. Mr. Quine, we know that you're tired. We have just one more
customer. Certainly. I wonder if I might trouble you to hand me that tumbler of water with
a glass straw. Surely. Here you are. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Now those thumb
rings, Mr. Quine, would there be any practical disposition of them other than selling them
as they are? Well, hardly, Sergeant. To anyone who really knows the value of jade, it would
be unheard of to change them in any way. I see. Well, thank you, Mr. Quine. We'll do
our best. You know, Sergeant, we Chinese place a great sentimental value on our jade. We'll
do everything we can to recover it. Thank you. May I tell you my favorite quotation on jade?
Yes, sir. It is from the writings of Tong Zhongzou. He wrote, the magic powers of heaven
and earth always combine to form perfect result so the pure essences of hell and water become
solidified in precious jade. Ben and I drove out to 1957 Harper Annex, the residence of
Mrs. Inez Curtis. There was no one at home. We left one of our cars. It was 1222 p.m.
when we got back to Central Division. Here's a phone message for you, Joe. What's it say?
Oh, Jess Gonzalez. He's at the Wilshire Division. Okay, thanks, Ben.
Wilshire Detective's, Dillion. Hi, Harry. Gonzalez around? Just a minute. Take on three,
Jess. Gonzalez. Friday, Jess. We got the truck and we got the driver. We'll be right out.
Nothing else, Joe. Yeah. The kid was right. There were two sevens in the license number.
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long cigarettes. Wilbur Rasmussen, white male American, age 31, 5 feet 10 inches, 190 pounds,
black hair, brown eyes. He was the driver of the truck. Gonzalez and Peña began by
checking through all of the reports of trucks impounded during the past 24 hours. There
were 23. Out of those 23, they narrowed it down to four possibilities. The third vehicle
that they checked fitted the young witnesses description of the holdup truck. We still
could not be absolutely certain that the impounded truck was the one we were looking for. The
same could be said of the driver, Wilbur Rasmussen. The net result of checking impound reports
doesn't always result in the apprehension of a suspect, but in this case we were lucky.
The driver had been picked up for drunk driving. It was 1.30 p.m. when we checked in at the
Wilshire Division. Hi, James. Where is he? You're a little late. What do you mean? He's
gone, released on bail. Who furnished the bail? The woman who works for Mrs. Inez Curtis.
Well, that doesn't figure, Jess, or does it? Why not? How many people knew Kwan had the
jade? That's not my guess. Kwan vouches for her. He's been doing business with her for
a year. What do you think, Joe? It's your show. I'm just tagging along. Well, one thing's
sure of... Just a minute. Wilshire Detectives, Gonzalez. Yeah, Peña. He did? No, meet me
back here. Hmm? Friday and Romero are here. The Fisher kid just identified Rasmussen's
picture. The identification of Wilbur Rasmussen by six-year-old Norman Fisher was far from
sufficient to take the case to court. We had to have evidence, lots of it. Rasmussen had
been given a thorough shakedown in his apartment and the truck. There was no sign of the stolen
jade rings. Gonzalez told us that the truck had come from the U Drive truck rental on
Figueroa Street. We checked with Mr. Crockett at U Drive. Let me have another look at that
picture, boys. Yeah, here you are. What'd you say his name was? Rasmussen. Wilbur Rasmussen.
You want to know if he rented a truck from Miss Wayne? Yesterday. Maybe the day before.
No, not this fella. Never seen him. Before we left U Drive, we checked over the rental
contract on the truck in question. The deposit check for the truck was signed by Mrs. Inez
Curtis. The truck was checked out at 6 a.m. The rental contract, the actual release form
showing to whom the vehicle had been rented, was signed by a Harry Wilson. Rasmussen's
name did not appear on any of the usual rental forms. The manager of U Drive was positive
that he had not rented a truck to Rasmussen. We drove out to 1957 Harper Annex. This time
we found Mrs. Inez Curtis at home. I'm terribly sorry about Mr. Cron. Did he have everything
he needs in the hospital? Yes, ma'am. How long did you say this Harry Wilson had been
working for you? Six or eight weeks. But I'm sure you're wrong about him. We're not accusing
him of anything, Miss Curtis. We just want to talk to him. He certainly came to me well
recommended. He was a nice man. When was the last time you saw him? Day before yesterday.
He asked for his check, said he was quitting. Told him I was sorry to see him go. I'm anxious
to get that guest house finished. How about Rasmussen, Miss Curtis? How long has he been
with you? Wilbur's been with me for about seven months. Good worker, but he drinks too
much. I feel sorry for him. You've rented trucks from the U Drive company right along?
Oh yes, from Mr. Crockett. We had to have a truck to haul our building supplies. I'm
saving an awful lot of money contracting this myself. It's a great saving. Yes, ma'am. The
deposit on his last rental. Did you give that check to Wilson or to Rasmussen? I sent both
of them down to pick it up. Like I say, Wilbur's been drinking rather heavily lately and I
think Harry's the better driver of the two. Do you know which one of those men was driving
the truck about 5.30 in the afternoon day before yesterday? How would I know that, Sergeant?
All I know is that I sent both of them down. I told Harry to drive. Yeah, I see. Miss Curtis,
were either of those men present the day you sold the jade rings to Mr. Kwan? No. They
have nothing to do with my gym business, whatever. Did either of these men know about Mr. Kwan's
purchase? Well, that's possible. They knew he was here. I'm sure they saw him come in.
It's entirely possible that they might have overheard something. When did Mr. Kwan leave
your house? About five o'clock. What time did the two men go after the truck? Oh, they
picked that up early in the morning. Mr. Crockett down at U Drive says that only Harry Wilson
checked out the truck. Says he's never seen Rasmussen before. That's entirely possible.
Like I say, they might well have made other arrangements. Were there any other people
present when Mr. Kwan bought that jade? Yes, there were. Two other buyers. They were bidding
for the thumb rings, too. Mr. Kwan had the high bid, so I sold them to him. What if we
could have their names? Certainly, I'll write them down for you. Miss Curtis, do you have
any idea where we might locate Harry Wilson? Well, he told me he was going to Mexico. Said
he had friends down there. Well, thank you, Miss Curtis. You've been very helpful. Are
you sure there isn't anything Mr. Kwan needs? Yes, ma'am. Two jade rings. Mrs. Inez Curtis
gave us a detailed description of Harry Wilson. She also gave us the names and addresses of
the two other buyers who were present when Mr. George Kwan made his purchase. We checked
them out and found them to be equally as reputable as Mrs. Curtis. They could tell us nothing
of the robbery. We went back to the office and got out an APB and a radiogram on Harry
Wilson from the description given us by Mrs. Curtis. Stakeouts were maintained at Wilbur
Rasmussen's apartment and at the home of Mrs. Inez Curtis. It was 4.30 p.m. when we got
to the second floor of the Old City Jail Building, the crime lab. Lee Jones had the evidence
laid out for us. How do you think about the handkerchief, boys? What's that, Lee? The
blood stains. Old ones along with the new ones. How does that feel? We know how the
new ones were made when the handkerchief was filled with buckshot and used on Kwan. The
old ones, hard to tell. How old did you say they were? The handkerchief has been through
the laundry a few times. Stains didn't come out. Laundry marks right here. I don't see
them. Man used peerless laundry. Infrared marking system. Let me show you. Infrared
lampley? Yeah. There's your marking. Pen you trace it down. Who's it belong to? Man used
the name of Harry Wilson. There was nothing to do now but wait for some word on Harry
Wilson. The stakeout's been here. We requested Wilbur Rasmussen and we talked again with
Mrs. Curtis and George Kwan. It was Tuesday, December the 8th. We checked in for work at
8 a.m. Morning, Jess. Hi, Joe. Where's Ben? We're in a case and getting a mail. Any word
on the new chief of detectives? No, nothing. What's your guess? Oh, I think Thad Brown.
Good man. Maybe. Sloan's a good man, too. When you come in here? Not yet. Why? Maybe
he'd like to take a little airplane trip. What do you got? Cheyenne, Wyoming. They picked
up Harry Wilson. Two days later, Thursday, December the 10th, Harry Wilson was returned
to the Los Angeles County Jail and booked on suspicion of robbery. We checked with Lieutenant
Frank Cunningham and the record bureau. From Wilson's fingerprints, he ran a make on him.
Harry Wilson was an alias. We found out that he had lengthy records of arrests and jail
terms for robbery, burglary, and grand larceny. Mr. Crockett at U Drive identified Wilson's
picture. He was a two-time loser. It's up to you, Wilson. It can go hard for you or easy.
I'm in the spot, huh? You're in the spot. Lay it out for him, Jess. It's all stacked
against you, Wilson. We know you rented the truck. You knew Quann was at Mrs. Curtis'
house. Your handkerchief was found at the scene of the crime. You wouldn't believe me
if I said I didn't do it. With that kind of evidence, how can we? I didn't. I don't know
if I can prove it, but I didn't. If you didn't, we'll help you prove it. First, you gotta
believe me. You know why. Yeah. I've had it twice. Once more and I'm in for life. All
right, you got it figured. Now what do you got to say? Rasmussen did it. He knocked
Quann over. Where were you? Buying my ticket for Cheyenne. I didn't want any part of it.
How'd you come for that handkerchief? It was mine, but Rasmussen had it. He got his finger
one day on the job. I loaned it to him. That checks. Old blood stains, new ones. All right,
let's pick up Rasmussen. Oh, you're at it. Pick up the Curtis stain. She planned it.
Wilbur Rasmussen was picked up and brought in. After intense cross-questioning, we confronted
him with Harry Wilson's statement. In the face of this testimony, he broke completely.
He gave us a full confession implicating Mrs. Inez Curtis. He admitted beating George Quann
and taking the jade thumb rings. He said he received $200 for Mrs. Curtis for the job.
He requested that he be allowed to turn state's evidence. Mrs. Inez Curtis was brought to
the interrogation room. Gosh, you gentlemen have proof to substantiate all these accusations.
Yes, ma'am, we have. It better be good. I have a fine lawyer. We've got signed and recorded
confessions of Wilson and Rasmussen, the two men who worked for you. Can we play the recording
for you? That won't be necessary. Miss Curtis, you got $8,000 for those rings. Wasn't that
enough? Not when I could make $16,000. No. Where are the rings now? I'm not going to
get life for this, you know. No. Jade doesn't spoil. It'll still be good when I get out.
Yeah, but you'll be told to appreciate it, Miss Curtis. Okay, fine.
Well, that was a funny one. Sure was. How about it? Did you figure this way, Joe? You
don't expect me to answer that, do you? The story you have just heard was true. Only the
names were changed to protect the innocent. On March 2nd, 1949, trial was held in Superior
Court, Department 82, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment,
the results of that trial. Now, here are authentic reports from all over the country that tell
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yellow carton. Everyone who smokes Fatima says that this great new long cigarette is
the best of all long cigarettes. Mrs. Inez Curtis was tried and convicted of robbery
and conspiracy. She received the maximum sentence as prescribed by law. In consideration for
turning state's evidence, Wilbur Rasmussen received a minimum term. You have just heard
Dragnet, a new series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet
comes from the Office of Acting Chief of Police, W.A. Wharton, Los Angeles Police Department.
Dragnet honors the city of Knoxville, State of Tennessee, and the men who make up the
Knoxville Police Department, another of America's great law enforcement agencies. One of these
men, Sergeant Joe H. Roberts, Director of the Knoxville City School Safety Patrols,
who dedicates his life to making yours more secure. Fatima cigarettes, the best of long
cigarettes, has brought you Dragnet, portion transcribed from Los Angeles. Let that merry
tune remind you to get him the big Christmas humidor of smooth, sure fresh, velvet pipe
and cigarette tobacco. It's a double pleasure to any smoker when you give this generous
humidor of velvet. It smokes cool and sweet in both pipe and cigarette. In every way,
the gift for him is a Christmas humidor of velvet, America's smoothest smoke. Be sure
to listen to Dragnet next week. You're tuned for the harvest on NBC.