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 all long cigarettes, brings you Dragnet.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned to robbery detail.
Two armed bandits have robbed a large jewelry store in your city.
One of the suspects escapes.
One is apprehended.
He's identified as a friend of yours.
Your job, send him to prison.
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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 Tuesday, February 8th.
It was cold in Los Angeles.
We were working a night watch out of robbery detail.
My partner is Ben Romero.
The boss is Thad Brown, chief of detectives.
My name is Friday.
I was on the way over from the city hall and it was 8.35 p.m. when I got to the second
floor of the Georgia Street Receiving Hospital treatment room.
Joe, hi.
Hi, Doc.
Ben, how's it going?
Okay.
It hurt for a while.
Doc gave me an injection.
Six of a grain of morphine, novocaine injection.
Bullet still on your shoulder?
Doc's about ready to take it out.
As soon as I get the wound cleaned, here's a soap and water nurse, alcohol sponge leak.
How's it look, doctor?
There's the x-ray, shallow penetrating wound in the deltoid area, sludge, larger than the
soft tissue right here.
No bone involvement.
Okay, the bullet was spent.
That's good.
Feel okay?
Feel her.
Nurse, with my late applicators, please.
Thanks.
Let's see now.
Where'd you leave Tad, I don't know.
Interrogation room.
Reynolds and Thompson are with him.
Let me have the probe, nurse.
Yeah.
Feel anything, Romero?
No.
That's it.
You hear that?
Hear what?
Located the slug with a probe.
Oh.
Nurse, faucet.
Thanks.
Here we go.
Hello, this is Teddy.
You call your wife?
No, she don't have worry.
Here it is, boys.
On the market for evidence?
Yeah, give it to me, will you?
I will.
Nurse, sterile saline solution, irrigate the wound.
No sign of Tyler's partner, huh, Joe?
Guy got me?
No, not yet, no.
Sterile dressings, please.
How long did you know this Tyler?
Before he went wrong on me.
I met him in the army, helped him line up a job when he got out of the stew brand.
Sure is funny.
Leading a friend of yours pulled an armed robbery.
I'm not sure I've ever seen him.
I don't know.
Leading a friend of yours pulled an armed robbery.
Must have surprised you, huh?
Yeah, kind of.
You want me to drive you home when the doc's finished?
Let's go back to the office and talk to Tyler first.
Okay.
Is that all right, Doc?
No.
You're staying right here, Romero, until tomorrow morning.
If you haven't got a temperature by then, I might release you.
Well, it's only a flesh wound, Doc.
I feel all right.
I'm not taking any chances with gunshot wounds.
Infection set in and you were laid up, I'd have the pension committee to answer to.
You're staying here.
Sounds like an order.
It is.
I'll pick him up and pay an F-word in my morning.
Okay.
You gonna need anything, Ben?
Yeah.
I've phoned to tell my wife I won't be home for dinner.
His name was Max Tyler.
White, male American, age 32.
Dark hair, brown eyes, medium build, married, father of twin boys.
He was a friend of mine.
We served together in the Army overseas and when the war finished, I came back to my job
on the force and Max went back to his old job.
It didn't fit him anymore.
He stopped working and started drinking.
His wife didn't help much.
Max started with small trouble, but it grew fast.
On the afternoon of February the 8th, Tuesday, Ben and I surprised two men holding up a Main
Street jewelry shop.
Shots were exchanged and Ben received a flesh wound in the shoulder.
One of the holdup men escaped.
The other one was apprehended.
His name was Max Tyler.
Hi, Larry.
Hi, Joe.
Glad you got here.
I'm glad you won't talk to anybody but you.
Okay, boy.
Thanks for standing by.
Sure.
I'll be outside if you need anything.
Max.
Joe.
You're in deep this time.
You shot a cop.
I didn't.
There's a guy that was with me.
I didn't fire once.
You were in on the job.
Yeah.
Then don't expect presents.
I don't expect anything, Joe.
Glad you came back.
I don't want to talk to those other cops.
I work in the same department they do, same job.
It's easier to talk to you.
What's your story?
I was crazy to try it.
No alibis, Joe, but I didn't know what I was doing.
Believe me, I just didn't realize.
I won't buy it, Max.
You told me the same thing 14 months ago when they picked you up for those bum checks you
were passing.
Sure, I hung some paper, but I'm no hood.
Joe, you know that.
I was drinking.
I needed dough for Dorothy and the kids.
You gotta believe me.
I need a break.
You said that before, too.
I went to bat for you, got off with six months and three years probation.
Now you turn up with another caper.
I'm not, Joe.
I'm not.
I'm sorry.
You're sorry once, Max, and it works, but one free ride's enough for anybody.
Now that's it.
Did I say I wanted that kind of a break?
I'll serve my time, Joe.
I'll serve every day I own.
And then what can you tell me you couldn't have told the other cops?
I want to ask you a favor.
Yeah?
I know you're going to hook me on this.
So while I'm doing my time, Dorothy and the kids are staying with relatives out in Inglewood.
Sure.
Just keep an eye on them, you know, Joe.
I don't mean dough.
Dorothy can work with them.
Kind of watch out for them, huh?
Give them a break.
George's not there for them.
Will you do it, Joe?
Yeah.
Sure, I'll take care of it.
Now you do something for me.
Anything you want, guy.
Let's have the straight story.
Who was the guy with you on that holdup this afternoon?
Cresta, George Cresta.
You know him.
Out of Folsom, short guy, black hair?
Yeah.
Yeah, he's got a room above the Red Owl bar down on East Third near Broadway.
He's got a room above the Red Owl bar down on East Third near Broadway.
That's where he hangs out.
Where can we find Cresta now?
Well, maybe there, I don't know.
I'll give you a list of the places he goes.
Some of his friends I've met.
He sure roped me in.
He said there wasn't going to be any rough stuff.
You were carrying an SNW-38?
Sure, sure.
When they got outside the jewelry shop, Cresta jammed a gun in my hand.
I had to put it away, get it out of sight.
Believe me, Joe, he roped me into this.
It sounds like an alibi, I know, but I just...
This is your second time around, Mac.
I'm not going to let you get away with this.
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In the course of his career, the police officer has afforded two diverse views of the criminal.
At first, the rookie cop is taught to distrust the criminal at every turn without exception.
He's schooled in the thousand and one ways in which the criminal operates.
His psychology, his mode of operation.
Then, when he's thoroughly acquainted with the methods of the criminal and how best to detect them,
the police officer starts to learn the most difficult lesson of all.
How to distinguish between the confirmed criminal and the law breaker in whom there is hope
of rehabilitation.
After nine and a half years of police work, my first experiment in this field was with
Max Tyler.
I'd given him two chances to prove himself and he'd lost on both of them.
So did I.
Two months before his parole hearing, which might have given him his freedom, Max Tyler
had suddenly decided to escape.
How he figured it, I didn't know, but it was my job to find him.
At five o'clock that afternoon, Ben and I met in the chief of detective's office.
Two officers, Holland and Grayson from the state adult authority escape detail were there.
How did Tyler manage his escape, Grayson?
Same old story.
They figured they could trust him up there.
He had a good job on the prison farm.
They trusted him.
When did they find out he was gone?
On the early morning count.
Have you checked his relatives out in Inglewood yet?
Yeah, we have.
We've got the home staked out, recovering all the places we figure he might go.
How about Mrs. Tyler?
You getting in touch with her, Friday?
Her relatives told us that she's on a weekend vacation with the two kids, staying with friends
down at Laguna Beach.
We got a call in to them.
Should be hearing from them soon.
I understand Tyler's a friend of yours, Friday.
He was ready for parole.
Yeah.
I was trying to help him along.
I thought the guy deserved a break.
He didn't need you, Joe.
He made his own.
Well, he was feeling bad.
You weren't the only one fooled, Friday.
He had the prison officials buffaloed, too.
Yeah, I know.
I helped convince them.
You got any leads on Tyler at all, Grayson?
I mean, from the time he broke prison?
Pretty strange.
I think they chased him as far as Stockton, and then they lost the trail completely.
The Stockton police in on the search?
Yeah, sure.
Funny.
The guy has no money, no car, we know of, no change of clothes.
You figure he's getting help from somebody?
Could be.
Excuse me a minute.
Brown speaking.
Just a moment.
You, Friday.
Well, thank you.
Friday.
Yeah.
When?
Where?
Just a minute.
Will you hold on, please?
It's the Tyler's friends down at Laguna Beach.
Mrs. Tyler there?
No, she called them last night, about 7 o'clock.
Told them she changed her plan, she wasn't coming.
She told them where she was going?
She wanted to know which highway would take her to Stockton.
We told the Tyler's friends in Laguna Beach to contact us immediately if they heard from
either Mr. or Mrs. Tyler.
We got on an APB on Dorothy Tyler, and then we drove out to interview her relatives in
Inglewood.
They told us that Mrs. Tyler had the two children with her.
She had left their house at 6 p.m. the night before by taxi.
As far as they knew, she didn't own a car.
We talked with some of her friends in the neighborhood.
The only thing they could tell us was that she had not borrowed a car from any of them.
We drove down to the telephone exchange where she was employed as an operator, and we spoke
with a manager, a Mr. Ralph Cartwright.
I'm sorry, gentlemen, this is Mrs. Tyler's night off.
Is there something I can help you with?
When is Miss Tyler due back at work, Mr. Cartwright?
She's working the 10 to 7 starting tomorrow, due in at 10 a.m.
We understand that she's on a weekend vacation, huh?
Yes, you see, today was payday, so she asked me if she could have her check ahead of time.
Said she had to have the money for the weekend.
Did you give her the check?
Oh, my, no, I couldn't give her the check ahead of time.
But I did do her a favor, just to help her over the weekend.
What was that?
I loaned her my car.
We got a complete description of the car together with a license number and called the office.
The information was broadcast to all units throughout the city and teletyped to all points
in the state.
Chief of Detective Thad Brown ordered an immediate stakeout on the telephone exchange where Mrs.
Tyler was employed.
The stakeout at the home of Inglewood continued.
Another day passed.
We checked with the bank where Mrs. Tyler maintained her account.
It was 10.25 a.m. when we got back to robbery detail.
Gentlemen, what did you find out?
Miss Tyler closed her account three days ago, withdrew all her savings, $46.55.
They're not gonna go far on that.
Any word about that car she borrowed?
Teletype came in about an hour ago.
They found it just outside Santa Barbara abandoned.
Anyone see the Tylers?
No reports.
What are those poor kids making out?
He must be crazy and his wife too.
She was gonna help him pull an escape.
Why'd she have to drag the kids along?
It's the way some parents figure, Friday.
They owe their children nothing.
The children owe them everything.
Call for you, Friday.
Take it on two.
Oh, thanks, Larry.
Friday.
This is Hopkins, Friday.
On stakeout at the phone exchange.
Yeah, Bert.
Tyler Woman came for a check.
We got her.
Dorothy Tyler was brought into the city hall where there was one of her children.
He was delivered to the juvenile authorities for the time being.
Mrs. Tyler was brought to the interrogation room.
She refused to admit anything to the officers from the adult authority.
She said she wanted to talk to me.
I went in.
She threw her arms around me and started crying.
Joe!
Joe, you won't let him get back.
You won't let him.
I'm after him as much as they are, maybe more.
Where is he?
I can't tell you.
Why'd you do it, Dorothy?
Why?
Oh, you know why, Joe.
You know why.
I had to see him.
I had to be with Max.
It's a bum deal.
You traded days for years.
They can't get him.
If I don't tell them where he is, they won't find him.
They'll find him.
He's got to eat.
So do you and the kids.
He has to go to work and working with a gun is all he knows.
He'll leave a trail.
We'll find him.
Joe, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
They're going to find him.
Children?
What have they done to the children?
Where's Jimmy?
They're taking care of him.
That's more than you did.
Where's your other boy, Vance?
Who's Max?
Max has him.
Oh, that's fine.
You and Max ought to be real proud of yourselves.
I had to see him.
You know that.
I had to see Max.
Has he got a gun?
Has he?
Has he used it?
No.
He just thought he might need it.
He hasn't hurt anyone.
I didn't hurt anyone, I swear it.
You helped him escape, is that right?
You helped him.
He needed help.
I met him at San Rafael.
We drove all night.
He didn't hurt anyone, Joe.
He hasn't hurt anyone.
Where is he now?
Where is he?
All right, Dorothy, we'll find him.
Joe, if I tell you...
If I tell you...
Are you going to go alone?
I can show you the way.
Will you go alone?
Yeah.
All right.
I'll take you to him, Joe.
I trust you.
Yeah, I trusted him once, too.
Five p.m. Monday, April 25th.
Dorothy, Tyler, Ben and I got in the car
and headed north for the coast town of Santa Maria.
Acting under orders of Chief of Detectives Thad Brown,
Henry Thompson from Robbery Detail followed in another car.
Holland and Grayson from the State Adult Authority were with him.
It was ten minutes past eight when we drove through the town of Santa Maria.
Just outside the city, Dorothy Tyler directed us to turn off onto a dirt road.
We drove about two miles.
She told us to pull up.
Across that field, shacked by those trees.
It's lonely out here.
I'll go with you, Joe.
Maybe Max won't understand.
You stay here.
I'll get the car.
The car's stopped here.
It's cops, Dorothy. It had to be.
They won't shoot unless Max does.
But you promised.
You said you'd go alone.
I'll go alone.
Friday?
Hello, Grayson.
Where is he? Should I tell you?
That shack over there across the field with that clump of trees.
He's got one of the kids with him, that right?
Yeah. He won't be any trouble.
He's armed. The con's up at Quentin's.
They say he won't be taking it alive.
They say he'll shoot it out.
They talk a lot.
Better let us take him.
You're not getting paid to do this one.
I'll take him alone. I made a promise.
That guy in the shack's in the habit of breaking promises.
I keep mine.
Keep an eye on Miss Tonner, will you, Ben?
Thompson's watching her. I'm coming with you.
I told her I'd go alone.
There's two doors, front and back. Which one you going in?
Front.
I'll be around back.
Careful, Joe.
Yeah.
I'll be right back, Grayson.
I started across the field.
The shack was about a hundred yards from the road.
The field was uncultivated and I wasn't sure of my footing.
I stumbled over a tree stump.
Halfway across the field, the lights in the shack went out.
Who's there?
Who is it?
It's me, Max. Joe Friday.
Max?
Come on, open up.
All right, Max.
Why the gun, Joe?
I never thought you'd take me with a gun.
I never thought I'd have to kick down a door to get you.
You've changed a lot, Max.
How'd you find me, Dorothy, tell you?
Where is she?
Outside.
Your boy over there, Vance.
He's sleeping. He's okay.
Put out your hands.
I'm sorry, Joe.
Yeah.
You...
You better go to his home and try to explain.
Neither will I, Max. Come on.
The story you have just heard was true.
Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.
On June 2nd, trial was held in Superior Court, City and County of Marin, State of California.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
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Max Tyler pleaded guilty to the charge of escape and was sentenced to the term as prescribed by law.
He was returned to San Quentin and then transferred to Folsom Penitentiary,
where he is now serving his sentence.
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 State of California and the men of the California Highway Patrol,
another of America's outstanding law enforcement agencies.
One of these men, Highway Patrol Commissioner Clifford E. Peterson,
outstanding administrator and educator in the field of law enforcement,
dedicates his life to making yours more secure.
Fatima cigarettes, best of all long cigarettes, has brought you Dragnet from Los Angeles.
Be sure to hear Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Coleman in the halls of Ivy starting tomorrow on NBC.
Ohhh hiring expert to the