WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:12.580 The story you're about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the 00:12.580 --> 00:19.060 innocent. Fatima cigarettes. Best of all, long cigarettes brings you dragnet. 00:19.060 --> 00:32.860 You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. You've been tracking a hold 00:32.860 --> 00:37.960 of men for months. You finally get a line on where he's hiding. You know he's dangerous, 00:37.960 --> 00:48.080 well armed. Your job, get him. You'll be amazed when you compare Fatima with other 00:48.080 --> 00:55.100 long cigarettes. You'll find they now cost the same, but in Fatima the difference is quality. 00:55.100 --> 01:01.000 You see Fatima is the quality king-size cigarette because it contains the finest 01:01.000 --> 01:08.360 Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended and Fatima is extra mild with a much different, 01:08.360 --> 01:14.920 much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. So try comparing Fatima yourself. 01:14.920 --> 01:21.340 Fatima's now cost the same as other long cigarettes, but your first puff will tell you. 01:21.340 --> 01:32.080 Ah, that's different. Yes, in Fatima the difference is quality. Ask your dealer for Fatima, 01:32.080 --> 01:45.560 the quality king-size cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes. Start enjoying Fatima tomorrow. 01:45.560 --> 01:51.640 Dragnet, the documentary drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes in cooperation 01:51.640 --> 01:56.880 with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step-by-step on the side of the law through 01:56.880 --> 02:02.640 an actual case transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to 02:02.640 --> 02:11.240 punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Wednesday, March 18th. 02:11.240 --> 02:16.160 It was cold in Los Angeles. We're working the night watch out of robbery detail. My partner's 02:16.160 --> 02:22.320 Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Ed Walker. My name is Friday. It was 9 48 p.m. when I got to room 27A, 02:22.320 --> 02:30.480 robbery detail. Hi, you ready to go? Yeah, we're gonna hustle. Here's your top coat, Joe. Thank 02:30.480 --> 02:37.120 you, Ben. Where's Tom? We can pick him up down the hall. He's checking out some tear gas shelves. 02:37.120 --> 02:41.360 Might need him. How about the address? You confirm it? 2100 Buchanan Avenue. It's a corner house. 02:41.360 --> 02:46.760 Skipper? You know what to expect when you get out there. Don't take any chances. He's alone in the 02:46.760 --> 02:50.680 house, all right? Supposed to be. Yeah, that won't give you much of a break. How do you mean? He's 02:50.680 --> 02:55.640 heavy on guns, two revolvers and a hunting rifle. He's not shy about using them. Don't forget it. 02:55.640 --> 03:05.680 Right, Ed. Slacks, Ben? Let's go. Okay. It's been a long haul. Yeah, hopeless washes it up. 03:05.680 --> 03:11.160 Hunting rifle, couple of revolvers. What do you think, Joe? 18 robberies in three months. You 03:11.160 --> 03:20.480 know the guy as well as I do. Yeah. What's your guess? His name was Hoffman, George R. 03:20.480 --> 03:26.160 In our files, his criminal record dated back to high school days. Petty theft, grand theft, auto, 03:26.160 --> 03:31.200 burglary, armed robbery. His record included two terms at Preston Reformatory and one at San 03:31.200 --> 03:37.200 Quentin. Hoffman's latest campaign was a three-month run of armed robberies. We tried everything we knew 03:37.200 --> 03:41.520 to stop him, but it wasn't enough. We'd failed to get a line on him until one of Captain Walker's 03:41.520 --> 03:46.080 informants came up with a tip that Hoffman had been hiding out for the past month in a small bungalow 03:46.080 --> 03:50.960 on the corner of Buchanan Avenue and Selma Street. According to the information, the suspect had a 03:50.960 --> 03:58.160 good supply of food, ammunition, and three guns. 10, 15 p.m. Together with Sergeants Tom Gaffney and 03:58.160 --> 04:03.920 Slats Henry, Ben and I parked our car down the street and started toward the house. It was foggy. 04:03.920 --> 04:07.840 The street was poorly lighted. As we approached the house, we could see a light burning in one of 04:07.840 --> 04:16.480 the rooms at the rear of the bungalow. The light in the back room, George, just went out. Yeah. 04:17.040 --> 04:21.280 Slats, you and Tom want to cover the back? Right. Let's go, Tom. Be careful. Yeah. 04:24.800 --> 04:26.240 All right, Ben. Easy, huh? 04:29.200 --> 04:32.800 Wait a minute, Joe. Curtain's in that corner room. I thought I saw a move. 04:32.800 --> 04:37.840 Come on, Ben. The front door. Come on. Hit it. Yeah. 04:41.840 --> 04:44.560 Come on. Hit it again. Yeah. All right. Come on. 04:46.640 --> 04:49.120 They got it blocked or something. Something piled against it. Come on. Once more. 04:52.480 --> 04:55.520 Watch the furniture, Joe. Yeah. That front room's clear. 04:55.520 --> 05:00.080 Joe, in the back. Come on. 05:03.360 --> 05:07.520 Went outside window. Where'd he go? Across the street. Got him pinned down behind that car there. 05:10.240 --> 05:12.240 He's in the car. All right, let's go for the tires. 05:14.880 --> 05:20.960 All right, Hoffman, give it up. Cover this end, Slats. Right. Ben, that hedge across the street, 05:20.960 --> 05:29.360 you see it? Yeah. OK. Let's run for it. Come on. You OK, Joe? Yeah. Hoffman, 05:29.360 --> 05:38.800 you haven't got a chance. Throw out your guns. OK, Ben, give it back. All right. All right. I'm coming out. 05:38.800 --> 05:42.480 Throw out your guns. Throw them in the street. Here they are. 05:42.480 --> 05:50.240 All right, get out of the car. Hands behind your head. Come on. 05:56.080 --> 06:02.640 All right. All right. Hands behind your back now. Slats. Yeah. You want to get our car? Right, Joe. 06:02.640 --> 06:08.960 Who told you? Who gave you the tip? Does it matter? I made it easy enough for you. Lousy car wouldn't 06:08.960 --> 06:13.600 start. It'd be three miles away if it would have started. Better call a tow truck, huh, Joe? Let me 06:13.600 --> 06:32.480 give it a look, huh? Lousy luck, that's all it is. What was wrong with it, Joe? I tried it. It 06:32.480 --> 06:40.640 wouldn't start for me. It should have turned on the ignition. George Hoffman was taken downtown 06:40.640 --> 06:45.120 and booked on suspicion of robbery. At a special show up, he was identified by more than a dozen 06:45.120 --> 06:49.760 of his robbery victims. Between his arraignments and his preliminary hearings, we worked together 06:49.760 --> 06:53.440 with the district attorney's office in lining up witnesses and preparing the evidence against the 06:53.440 --> 07:05.600 suspect. We figured we had an airtight case. Hoffman's trial in Superior Court was set for May 14th. 07:05.600 --> 07:11.440 Hi, Joe. Hi, Slats. What's doing? Is it still raining, Hoffman? Yeah. This trial's coming up. 07:11.440 --> 07:30.320 Hey, what happened to your eye? Yeah, how about that? I'll never live with that down. Yeah, come here. Let's see. 07:30.320 --> 07:36.400 This real black eye I ever had had a bruise plenty. They hurt, you know. Yeah, how'd that happen? 07:36.400 --> 07:40.560 Well, every week, Gaffney and I go up to the neighborhood boys club after work to help 07:40.560 --> 07:48.960 coach the kids in sports, you know. Well, last week we had boxing lessons. Yeah. I was coaching this 07:48.960 --> 07:54.320 one youngster. He turned out to be a lot quicker than I thought. You're really connected. I guess 07:54.320 --> 07:59.600 everybody in the building's heard the story, huh? Yeah, just about. Gaffney took care of that. Captain 07:59.600 --> 08:04.880 called me in this morning, asked me if I wanted to file assault charges against the kid. Some joke. 08:04.880 --> 08:11.440 Never fails. You still coaching the kids up there? Not this week. Kids are supposed to get lessons in 08:11.440 --> 08:16.480 wrestling. I'm not taking any chances. Yeah? They've been watching television for months. 08:16.480 --> 08:22.640 I'll see you later, man. Yeah. Oh, nice, Lance. Hi, Ben. How are you? Pretty good. Put your coat on, Joe. 08:22.640 --> 08:26.640 Yeah? What's the matter? George Hoffman. Yeah? Just broke a jail. 08:30.080 --> 08:34.000 The morning of his escape, Hoffman was scheduled to appear in Superior Court for arraignment. 08:34.000 --> 08:38.160 According to routine, he was taken from his county jail cell on the 12th floor of the 08:38.160 --> 08:42.160 building. He was arrested on the day of the arrest. He was arrested on the day of the 08:42.160 --> 08:46.720 arrest. He was arrested on the day of the arrest. He was arrested on the day of the arrest. He was 08:46.720 --> 08:51.200 taken from his county jail cell on the 12th floor of the Hall of Justice and escorted to the jail 08:51.200 --> 08:56.880 shower room on the 14th floor. There he was to take a bath, changed to his civilian clothes for his 08:56.880 --> 09:01.840 appearance in court. While he was in the shower room, he turned on the hot water faucets, filling 09:01.840 --> 09:06.560 the room with steam to hide his actions from the guard. He succeeded in forcing his way out through 09:06.560 --> 09:11.920 one of the windows, climbed up one story to the roof. Realizing that he couldn't escape down 09:11.920 --> 09:16.720 the edge of the roof and using the narrow crevices between the bricks to hold on, he climbed seven 09:16.720 --> 09:21.760 stories down the outside of the building. At the eighth floor, he found an open window and got 09:21.760 --> 09:26.080 inside. He slugged a bailiff who tried to stop him and then ran down the remaining flights of 09:26.080 --> 09:30.640 stairs into the street and disappeared in the crowd. 20 minutes later, he robbed a dentist 09:30.640 --> 09:35.920 office at 3rd and Los Angeles streets and got away. Police and sheriff's deputies covered the city 09:35.920 --> 09:42.240 room. Ben and I were among them. 11 55 p.m. We checked back in with Captain Ed Walker. 09:48.240 --> 09:50.000 You want to cut that speaker bin? Yeah. 09:53.920 --> 09:58.960 Nothing. Not a trace of him. He must have a good friend someplace in town. Everything's covered. His 09:58.960 --> 10:02.800 friends, relatives, his hideout, everyone he knows, every place he's ever been. We've plugged every 10:02.800 --> 10:07.440 loophole we can think of. The depots, terminals, the airports, still no trace of him. I don't know. 10:07.440 --> 10:11.680 It sure is a strange one. No stranger than climbing down the side of a building. Did you check that 10:11.680 --> 10:16.080 story out, Ed? It's the truth. Apparently Hoffman planned the thing out pretty carefully. How do you 10:16.080 --> 10:20.080 mean? The sheriff's men talked to some of the prisoners in the jail. They said Hoffman was 10:20.080 --> 10:24.400 practicing for it since the day we put him in there. He'd work out five to six hours every night 10:24.400 --> 10:28.240 building up his hands and fingers. How'd he do that? He used the upper bunk in his cell, 10:28.240 --> 10:32.480 hang from the edge of it with the tips of his fingers. He'd do it for hours pulling his body up 10:32.480 --> 10:37.120 and down. Made little grooves in the wall, dug his fingertips into him. Prisoners say he got so he 10:37.120 --> 10:41.600 could hold himself up like that. Ten minutes of the stretch. That's pretty amazing. How about the bail 10:41.600 --> 10:44.720 if he slugged? He'll be all right. A couple of bad bumps on the head, that's all. 10:48.160 --> 10:53.600 Robbery, Walker. Oh yeah, little John. I sent them out about 10 minutes ago to relieve you. 10:53.600 --> 10:58.960 Yeah, they ought to be there pretty soon. Right. How about our schedule, Ed? As far as I know, 10:58.960 --> 11:04.960 we're going all night on this thing. Sheriff's office is the same. You two were relieved at 1130. 11:04.960 --> 11:10.880 Better check back about 5 30 a.m. Okay? Right. It's a hot shot. I got it. 11:12.880 --> 11:17.040 What is it? Drugstore holdup. They think it's Hoffman. 11:17.040 --> 11:20.720 The scene of the holdup was the Rex Lake Pharmacy on the corner of Pico Boulevard and Pine Lake 11:20.720 --> 11:24.720 Street. The victim, a Mr. Clarence Gerringer, told us that the holdup man had entered through a rear 11:24.720 --> 11:29.280 door, slugged him and escaped on foot with his overcoat and about 150 dollars in cash. 11:30.080 --> 11:34.960 We showed him a number of mug shots. He identified George Hoffman as the bandit. A special detail of 11:34.960 --> 11:39.280 men were ordered on a thorough search of the general area around the drugstore. No sign of 11:39.280 --> 11:45.600 the suspect. The citywide dragnet caught him. He was a man of the word. He was a man of the word. 11:45.600 --> 11:51.280 The citywide dragnet continued all that night and into the next day. No developments. The search went 11:51.280 --> 11:56.640 on. A week passed. Two weeks. At 10 p.m. on the day Hoffman was scheduled to be tried in Superior 11:56.640 --> 12:00.640 Court, he beat up and robbed a 40-year-old liquor salesman in the Highland Park area. 12:00.640 --> 12:04.800 Again, he made good his escape. Routine investigation failed to turn up a single lead. 12:05.360 --> 12:08.880 June 8th. The suspect was still at large. The legwork continued. 12:08.880 --> 12:13.840 817. Is that the address you got? Yeah, he said it was near the corner. Oh yeah, yeah, there it is. 12:13.840 --> 12:16.560 The town's end hobby shop. Yeah, let's go in. 12:20.160 --> 12:25.200 Joe, look at the electric train. Look at that one. Beautiful layout, huh? I guess that's all they 12:25.200 --> 12:28.800 handle in here, electric trains. There must be money in it. Look at those signals there and 12:28.800 --> 12:32.800 switches. They're all automatic. I wonder if my boy is old enough for a train yet. 12:32.800 --> 12:39.200 There must be the manager over there. Come on. Say, excuse me, sir. Just a moment, please. Be right with you. 12:39.200 --> 12:42.000 You've got to check this transformer. All right. 12:50.080 --> 12:54.000 Uh-huh. Automatic coupling on the tanker car. Looked out of kilter. 12:54.000 --> 13:03.200 Automatic coupling on the tanker car. Looked out of kilter. No mistake. Now, now let's see. 13:11.680 --> 13:17.520 Yeah, she's a dandy, isn't she? All right. I'm sorry, gentlemen. Have to keep up our maintenance on 13:17.520 --> 13:21.920 the rolling stock. What can I do for you? Police officers. We're looking for a Mr. Townsend. Oh yes, 13:21.920 --> 13:25.520 I'm Roy Townsend. Are you the sergeant I talked with on the phone? Yes, sir. That's right. This is 13:25.520 --> 13:30.160 my partner, Sergeant Romero. How can I do that? You mentioned that you might have some information 13:30.160 --> 13:34.720 for us. Yes, as a matter of fact, I may have. About that fellow who climbed out and escaped. 13:35.520 --> 13:38.640 Well, it was in all the papers. George Hoffman. Hoffman, Hoffman, that's it. 13:39.280 --> 13:44.000 I'm a pretty good one for faces. I think I might have seen him last night. Where was that? On my 13:44.000 --> 13:48.720 way home from the meeting. I belong to a model train club. Don't get enough of it here every day. 13:48.720 --> 13:52.880 Yes, sir. We'd like to know about this man that you saw. As I say, I saw him going into the 13:52.880 --> 13:57.440 auto court just down the street from where Mother and I live. It was pretty late after midnight. 13:57.440 --> 14:01.840 Where do you live, Mr. Townsend? All the way by Pasadena, Royal Oaks Avenue. I know Mrs. Cox at 14:01.840 --> 14:06.320 the auto court very well. I see. Well, this man that you saw last night, you're sure it was Hoffman? 14:06.320 --> 14:11.200 I saw his picture in the paper when he climbed down and escaped. I don't say I'm positive it was 14:11.200 --> 14:19.120 him, but I'm good on faces. Well, I wonder if you'd mind checking through these pictures. Not at all. 14:21.680 --> 14:26.880 This one. He's the one I saw. Am I right? That's Hoffman. Do you happen to know if he's staying 14:26.880 --> 14:31.360 there at that auto court? Oh, yes. He's been there for a month. Say, Sergeant, if you find out it 14:31.360 --> 14:35.520 really is this Hoffman, don't tell Mrs. Cox at the auto court or they'll just break her heart. 14:35.520 --> 14:41.440 Oh, is that so? She's sort of an amateur detective. She thinks she knows faces better than I do. 14:44.080 --> 14:47.200 After we left the train shop, we called the office and filled them in. 14:47.200 --> 14:51.600 Captain Walker called Pasadena and notified them. Then we drove out to the auto court where the 14:51.600 --> 15:02.800 suspect was reportedly seen. Yes, you want something? Yeah, are you Mrs. Cox? Yes, I'm the manager here. 15:02.800 --> 15:07.360 If you want lodgings, we're filled up. You might try the Golden Eagle straight down the street there. 15:07.360 --> 15:12.400 Police officers, Mrs. Cox. Do you have Mr. Hoffman staying here? Hoffman? No, I don't. 15:12.400 --> 15:16.800 Got a Hoffmeyer, though. You sure that's not it? No, look, would you look at this picture, ma'am. 15:17.920 --> 15:21.760 Recognize him? Yes, but his name's not Hoffman. It's Kane, 15:21.760 --> 15:33.600 number 23. He's not in, though, left this morning. Oh, is that so? Yes, won't be back for another hour. 15:36.960 --> 15:42.560 You are listening to Dragnet for the solution to an actual case from official police files. 15:44.000 --> 15:49.600 Now here's a real solution to many of your Christmas shopping problems. If your friends 15:49.600 --> 15:56.320 smoke long cigarettes, give the best of long cigarettes. Give king-size Fatima. 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Give Fatima the quality king-size cigarette, 16:50.960 --> 16:53.200 best of all long cigarettes. 17:00.000 --> 17:04.240 Before going on stakeout at the auto court where George Hoffman was registered, Ben put in a call 17:04.240 --> 17:09.280 to the office. The owner of the court, Mrs. Cox, gave us a passkey to cottage number 23 where the 17:09.280 --> 17:14.640 suspect was staying. We advised her to say nothing to Hoffman when he returned. We went to cottage 23 17:14.640 --> 17:21.200 and waited. An hour passed. Hoffman failed to show. Another hour went by. Still no sign of him. 17:24.160 --> 17:30.000 Well, what do you think? You got me, I don't know. One hour overdue. No chance it could have been 17:30.000 --> 17:34.800 tipped. I don't see how. Mrs. Cox is the only one who knows we're here. There's no reason for her to 17:34.800 --> 17:41.920 warn him. I don't know. His things are all here. His clothes. Well, we've had longer waits than this. 17:41.920 --> 17:52.400 Relax, huh? Yeah. Hey, wait a minute. Can you see who it is? Man, coming from next door. 17:54.320 --> 17:58.880 Joe? Okay, I'll cover you. Open it. 17:58.880 --> 18:04.480 Oh, your new telephone directory? Oh, yeah, thanks. Anything wrong? No, there's nothing wrong. Thanks. 18:06.480 --> 18:09.440 New phone book. Yeah. 18:12.000 --> 18:16.640 We waited another hour. George Hoffman still had failed to appear. At four that afternoon, 18:16.640 --> 18:21.840 we checked with the office. No word. At five thirty, we were still waiting. I'm just thinking, Joe. 18:21.840 --> 18:26.320 Yeah. That fella Townsend in the train shop. That sure must be a dandy Hoffman. 18:26.320 --> 18:32.080 Electric train. It runs into money, though, doesn't it? I think I'll talk to the wife about it. 18:32.080 --> 18:37.040 Their education, you know. My boy sure get a kick out of having his own train. He's pretty young, 18:37.040 --> 18:41.120 isn't he? Three years old. I could show him how to work it, put things together for him. 18:41.120 --> 18:51.120 I'll get him. All right. Yeah. Oh, yeah, Leiden. I don't know when. Okay, thanks. What's doing? 18:51.120 --> 18:54.880 Skipper just got a call from Pasadena. Yeah. They picked up Hoffman ten minutes ago. 18:54.880 --> 19:00.080 The suspect George Hoffman was taken back to Los Angeles and lodged in county jail. 19:00.080 --> 19:04.720 This time there was no escape. At his superior court trial on August 16th, he was convicted on 19:04.720 --> 19:09.680 several counts of armed robbery and sentenced to the state penitentiary. From August to January of 19:09.680 --> 19:13.920 the following year, the months went fast. We washed up a string of liquor store holdups just 19:13.920 --> 19:18.800 before Christmas, got two days off. My uncle George and Aunt Allen came down from Renton, 19:18.800 --> 19:23.440 Washington, and they were all in the hospital. We had to get them out of the hospital. 19:23.440 --> 19:26.640 One came down from Renton, Washington to visit with my mother during the holidays. 19:27.440 --> 19:33.200 In January, Ben was off work for a week with a bad dose of flu. Another five months went by. 19:33.200 --> 19:37.840 Toward the end of June, we got word that George Hoffman was no longer at the state penitentiary. 19:37.840 --> 19:41.840 After serving 11 months, the former holdup man had been paroled into the army with a provision 19:41.840 --> 19:48.160 that he serve overseas. Another three weeks passed. July 12th, Tuesday, Ben and I had lunch at 19:48.160 --> 19:55.040 Cokin's Cafe and checked back in at the office. I wish Cokin would change his menus a little often. 19:55.040 --> 19:58.640 Fried beans and pastrami sandwiches. He seems to have the same thing every time. 19:58.640 --> 20:01.360 You sure dug into him. I got the idea that you like him. 20:01.360 --> 20:05.520 Like him all right. I don't just eat too much, that's all. Three sandwiches, two plates of beans. 20:06.480 --> 20:07.760 I wonder I never eat dinner. 20:12.480 --> 20:13.680 Ben, Joe? 20:13.680 --> 20:14.180 Yeah. 20:14.560 --> 20:16.480 You two back from lunch? I want to grab a sandwich. 20:16.480 --> 20:18.240 Yeah, go ahead, slats. We can cover. 20:18.240 --> 20:22.160 Okay, thanks. Chair, there's somebody waiting in the next room for you. I want to see you. 20:22.160 --> 20:23.360 Okay, see you later. 20:23.360 --> 20:23.860 Right. 20:26.880 --> 20:28.800 Want to see who it is, Joe? I'll check the book. 20:28.800 --> 20:29.600 Yeah, all right, fine. 20:33.520 --> 20:35.440 Yes, sir, my name's Friday. You want to see me? 20:35.440 --> 20:38.080 Yeah, that's right, Sergeant. Remember me? George Hoffman? 20:38.800 --> 20:42.800 Oh, yeah, Hoffman. The army uniform there. I didn't recognize you. 20:42.800 --> 20:47.120 Yeah, I thought I might fool you. I guess you heard about me. Good break, huh? 20:47.120 --> 20:50.720 I'm glad you feel that way. How you doing with the army, huh? 20:50.720 --> 20:51.920 Pretty good. I like it. 20:51.920 --> 20:52.720 Well, that's fine. 20:52.720 --> 20:56.480 Just thought I'd drop up and see you fellas. You still that partner you had? What's his name? 20:57.360 --> 20:58.240 Rodriguez? 20:58.240 --> 21:00.400 Romero. Yeah, yeah, we still work together. 21:00.400 --> 21:03.120 Yeah, Romero. I knew it was some kind of name like that. 21:03.120 --> 21:04.400 Yeah, well, come on in, Hoffman. 21:04.400 --> 21:04.900 Oh, thanks. 21:08.080 --> 21:11.360 Hey, Ben, George Hoffman here. He stopped in to see us. 21:11.360 --> 21:12.000 Oh, yeah. 21:12.000 --> 21:14.480 Hi. It's been a long time, Hoffman. How are you? 21:14.480 --> 21:19.040 Pretty good, Sergeant. Thanks. Just thought I'd stop by, you know, show there's no hard feelings. 21:19.040 --> 21:22.160 Oh, sure thing. You got any idea when you're going overseas? 21:22.160 --> 21:26.720 Oh, boys in my outfit figure day after tomorrow. That's kind of one reason why I dropped in to see you. 21:26.720 --> 21:27.360 Well, how's that? 21:28.400 --> 21:34.480 Well, I know it's pretty nervy, but I got lots of that. You see, a bunch of us are on leave till 21:34.480 --> 21:39.280 tomorrow noon. Figured we'd go out tonight and I'm a little short. You know how the army pays. 21:39.280 --> 21:44.000 Okay. Well, how about a couple of bucks, George? Will that do you any good? 21:46.000 --> 21:48.400 Sure, I swear to you, Sergeant. Believe me, I'll see you get it back. 21:48.400 --> 21:50.960 Here's a couple more, Hoffman. Might help out. 21:52.560 --> 21:56.240 Well, it's no use telling you how much I appreciate it. I give you my word I won't forget it. 21:56.240 --> 21:58.000 I'm going to pay this money back to you. 21:58.000 --> 21:59.600 Oh, forget it, George. We're glad to help you out. 21:59.600 --> 22:02.800 Well, thanks again for the touch, huh? Sure and I see you. 22:02.800 --> 22:06.240 Okay. Now drop a card if you get a chance. Like to hear how you're doing over there. 22:06.240 --> 22:08.080 Sure thing. See you later, huh? 22:08.080 --> 22:09.680 Right. Good luck to you, boy. 22:13.680 --> 22:16.000 Well, looks like a turn for the better anyway, huh? 22:16.800 --> 22:19.680 But it was my last two bucks, dog. Gone did it never fail. 22:19.680 --> 22:21.040 Well, we had to give him something. 22:21.040 --> 22:23.120 Yeah, but what do I do for lunch money tomorrow? 22:28.640 --> 22:32.160 2 p.m. We drove out to the Wilshire district to interview a robbery victim. 22:32.160 --> 22:34.480 We brought him back downtown and took his statement. 22:34.480 --> 22:36.960 4.30 p.m. We checked back in with Captain Walker. 22:36.960 --> 22:40.960 Hi, skipper. Henry says that ex-con George Hoffman was in today. 22:40.960 --> 22:42.960 Yeah. Yeah, that's right, Ed. Why? 22:43.520 --> 22:44.960 Have a look. Thanks. 22:45.600 --> 22:47.520 The MP's left about 20 minutes ago. 22:48.240 --> 22:51.360 Well, your two bucks went for nothing, Ben. Hoffman's wanted. 22:51.360 --> 22:51.920 Huh? 22:51.920 --> 22:54.240 He broke out of Army prison 10 o'clock this morning. 22:58.960 --> 23:03.520 Together with the Army authorities, local officers joined in the citywide search for George Hoffman. 23:03.520 --> 23:08.320 At 10 o'clock that night, a food market on Santa Fe and Riala was robbed and the proprietor beaten. 23:08.320 --> 23:12.080 From our mug shots, the victim identified Hoffman as the holdup man. 23:12.800 --> 23:16.000 Shortly after midnight, a drugstore on Crenshaw was held up. 23:16.000 --> 23:18.240 Hoffman was again tabbed as the suspect. 23:18.240 --> 23:21.440 The next two days, the search was intensified. No leads. 23:21.440 --> 23:22.960 Two more days went by. 23:22.960 --> 23:27.200 Late Saturday morning, we got a hurry-up call from the detail on duty at the Union station. 23:27.200 --> 23:29.200 Hoffman had been reported in the vicinity. 23:29.200 --> 23:33.760 Ben and I drove down to the depot to check with the officer in charge, Slats Henry. 23:35.760 --> 23:36.480 Spot him, Joe? 23:37.360 --> 23:39.520 No. Let's have a look back at the ticket counters, huh? 23:43.600 --> 23:45.440 Yeah, there he is over by the phone booth. Come on. 23:48.320 --> 23:49.200 Hi, Slats. 23:49.200 --> 23:50.480 Hi. Looks pretty good. 23:50.480 --> 23:51.520 What's the story? 23:51.520 --> 23:53.680 One of the newsboys up the street gave us a tip. 23:53.680 --> 23:56.560 About an hour ago, a guy gave him a dollar to come down here and buy a ticket for him. 23:56.560 --> 23:57.280 Ticket to Phoenix. 23:57.280 --> 23:57.680 Yeah? 23:57.680 --> 24:00.480 Kid came in, bought the ticket, went back up the street and gave it to the man. 24:01.040 --> 24:03.840 We showed the kid a bunch of mug shots. He picked out Hoffman's. 24:03.840 --> 24:05.840 Yeah. He's not wearing his army uniform, huh? 24:05.840 --> 24:09.600 No. Brown suit, dark blue overcoat, no hat. That's what the kid told us. 24:09.600 --> 24:11.520 Any idea which train he was taking for Phoenix? 24:11.520 --> 24:14.240 Not exactly. He asked when the first train for Phoenix was. 24:14.240 --> 24:15.840 Newsboy told him 3.35. 24:15.840 --> 24:17.920 Mm-hmm. Ten minutes to 12 now. 24:17.920 --> 24:19.440 You got enough men to handle it, Slats? 24:19.440 --> 24:21.520 Everything's covered. Only one thing lacking. 24:21.520 --> 24:21.920 Yeah? 24:21.920 --> 24:22.400 Hoffman. 24:22.400 --> 24:26.560 Well, the stakeout continued on the Union Station. Ben and I, together with Gaffney and Henry from 24:26.560 --> 24:31.040 robbery, covered the bars, restaurants and hotels in the immediate area for a sign of the suspect. 24:31.520 --> 24:32.480 2.30 p.m. 24:35.120 --> 24:35.920 What do you think? 24:35.920 --> 24:38.720 We better head back down for the station and see what's going on. 24:38.720 --> 24:39.520 You're okay. 24:41.520 --> 24:44.560 I'd like to have a dime for every mile we have logged on this case. 24:44.560 --> 24:45.120 Yeah. 24:45.120 --> 24:47.120 Joe, have a look. 24:47.120 --> 24:47.920 Where? 24:47.920 --> 24:50.720 Across the street, dark blue overcoat. Same build as Hoffman. 24:50.720 --> 24:52.320 I'll bet on him. Come on. 24:55.920 --> 24:57.120 He spotted us. 24:57.520 --> 24:59.120 Yeah, that's Hoffman. Come on. 24:59.120 --> 25:00.320 We'll pick it up. 25:03.520 --> 25:05.120 I lost him, Joe. Where'd he go? 25:05.120 --> 25:06.320 Turned down first, Joe. 25:06.320 --> 25:07.520 He's got a gun. 25:07.520 --> 25:08.720 He's got a gun. 25:08.720 --> 25:09.920 He's got a gun. 25:09.920 --> 25:11.120 He's got a gun. 25:11.120 --> 25:12.320 He's got a gun. 25:12.320 --> 25:13.520 He's got a gun. 25:13.520 --> 25:15.920 Joe, where'd he go? Turned down first street. Come on, hurry. 25:15.920 --> 25:16.720 Yeah. 25:17.520 --> 25:19.120 Across the street, Ben. Watch the traffic. 25:21.120 --> 25:21.920 Where'd he go? 25:21.920 --> 25:22.920 I've seen him. 25:22.920 --> 25:24.920 That antique store on the corner. He ran in there. 25:24.920 --> 25:25.720 Come on. Yeah. 25:28.720 --> 25:30.120 There he is. All right, Hoffman. 25:30.120 --> 25:31.320 Out of the way, mister. 25:32.920 --> 25:34.320 All right, hold it right there, Hoffman. 25:34.320 --> 25:35.720 I'm coming out. Move. 25:35.720 --> 25:36.520 Watch it, Joe. 25:37.920 --> 25:39.720 I said I'm coming on. You hear me? 25:39.720 --> 25:41.920 You're going the hard way, George. 25:41.920 --> 26:09.920 Come on, drop it. Drop it. 26:09.920 --> 26:10.920 All right, Hoffman. 26:10.920 --> 26:12.920 All right, Hoffman. All right. On your feet. 26:12.920 --> 26:13.920 Come on, get up. 26:16.320 --> 26:17.720 Now, get your hands behind you. 26:18.920 --> 26:19.920 Sure. 26:20.320 --> 26:21.720 What goods are going to do you? 26:22.120 --> 26:23.320 All right, mister. Let's go. 26:23.320 --> 26:25.120 What goods are going to do? I already proved it. 26:25.120 --> 26:27.520 I can break jail any time. I proved it twice. 26:27.520 --> 26:29.320 You're going right back in again. 26:29.320 --> 26:30.520 What's that prove? 26:37.720 --> 26:40.120 The story you have just heard was true. 26:40.120 --> 26:43.120 Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. 26:43.120 --> 26:45.920 On October 8th, trial was held in Superior Court, 26:45.920 --> 26:49.320 Department 89, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. 26:49.320 --> 26:51.120 In a moment, the results of that trial. 26:51.120 --> 26:53.920 Now, here is our star, Jack Webb. 26:53.920 --> 26:54.920 Thank you. 26:54.920 --> 26:57.720 To get year-round thanks for the gift you give this Christmas, 26:57.720 --> 27:00.920 give Fatimas to every long cigarette smoker on your list. 27:00.920 --> 27:03.520 Their first pack of extra mild Fatimas 27:03.520 --> 27:05.520 will have them convinced like I am, 27:05.520 --> 27:07.920 that in Fatima, the difference is quality. 27:07.920 --> 27:10.320 In Christmas, Fatimas come in a distinctive 27:10.320 --> 27:14.320 royal blue slip-over jacket that makes a perfect gift just as is. 27:14.320 --> 27:17.920 Remember, Fatimas now cost the same as other long cigarettes, 27:17.920 --> 27:20.520 but in Fatima, the difference is quality. 27:20.520 --> 27:23.520 Give Fatimas the quality king-size cigarette 27:23.520 --> 27:25.520 to every long cigarette smoker. 27:34.120 --> 27:36.320 George R. Hoffman was tried and convicted 27:36.320 --> 27:38.720 on several counts of robbery and received a life sentence 27:38.720 --> 27:40.120 as a hardened criminal. 27:40.120 --> 27:41.920 After serving 10 months of his sentence, 27:41.920 --> 27:44.120 Hoffman attempted an escape and failed. 27:44.120 --> 27:47.920 A few weeks later, he took his own life in his prison cell by hanging. 27:47.920 --> 27:50.920 Ladies and gentlemen, next week, in answer to your requests, 27:50.920 --> 27:53.920 Dragnet will repeat A Gun for Christmas, 27:53.920 --> 27:58.320 the actual case history broadcast last year during the Yuletide season. 27:58.320 --> 28:10.320 That's next Thursday, December 21st. 28:10.320 --> 28:11.920 You have just heard Dragnet, 28:11.920 --> 28:14.920 a series of authentic cases from official files. 28:14.920 --> 28:18.320 Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the Office of Chief of Police, 28:18.320 --> 28:27.120 W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department. 28:27.120 --> 28:29.520 This is Bob Hope. Can we steal a second? 28:41.920 --> 28:44.120 Don't forget to give Crosby for Christmas. 28:44.120 --> 28:47.920 I mean the Chesterfield Christmas Carton with Bing as Papa Santa Claus. 28:47.920 --> 28:57.320 See you Tuesday. 28:57.320 --> 29:00.720 Fatima cigarettes, the best of all long cigarettes, 29:00.720 --> 29:10.320 has brought you Dragnet, portions transcribed from Los Angeles. 29:10.320 --> 29:19.320 We the People is next with more good times on NBC.