WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.000 The star you are about to hear is true. 00:07.000 --> 00:10.000 The names have been changed to protect the innocent. 00:10.000 --> 00:21.000 You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to burglary detail. 00:21.000 --> 00:26.000 A dozen churches in your city are victimized by a team of experienced safe burglars. 00:26.000 --> 00:31.000 You track the suspects for weeks. You finally apprehend three men. 00:31.000 --> 00:39.000 Your job? Convict them. 00:39.000 --> 00:42.000 Dragnet. The documented drama of an actual crime. 00:42.000 --> 00:46.000 For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, 00:46.000 --> 00:53.000 you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files. 00:53.000 --> 00:56.000 It's beginning to end. From crime to punishment. 00:56.000 --> 01:04.000 Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. 01:04.000 --> 01:07.000 This Sunday, March 5th, it was cloudy in Los Angeles. 01:07.000 --> 01:09.000 We were working the day watch out of burglary detail. 01:09.000 --> 01:13.000 My partner is Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Wisdom. My name is Friday. 01:13.000 --> 01:20.000 I was on the way back from the record bureau and it was 11.30 p.m. when I got to room 25A, the interrogation room. 01:20.000 --> 01:21.000 Excuse me, Ben? 01:21.000 --> 01:22.000 Yeah, Joe? 01:22.000 --> 01:23.000 Got a minute? 01:23.000 --> 01:25.000 Yeah, sure. Wait here, Bryson. Back in a minute. 01:25.000 --> 01:26.000 All right. 01:26.000 --> 01:27.000 Yeah? 01:27.000 --> 01:28.000 Let's go out in the hall. 01:28.000 --> 01:33.000 Uh-huh. 01:33.000 --> 01:35.000 How are you doing with Bryson? Did he tell you anything? 01:35.000 --> 01:37.000 No, he wasn't medicine. How about the other two men? 01:37.000 --> 01:40.000 No, nothing. They're sitting tight, waiting for their lawyer to show up. 01:40.000 --> 01:44.000 Had all three of them checked through R&I. Bryson's a two-time loser, third degree, GTA. 01:44.000 --> 01:46.000 His two partners serve time for robbery. 01:46.000 --> 01:50.000 We shouldn't have too much trouble putting them away. We've got a good enough collection of physical evidence. 01:50.000 --> 01:51.000 Well, maybe. 01:51.000 --> 01:52.000 You heard from the crime lab yet? 01:52.000 --> 01:55.000 No, not yet. I'd feel a lot better about it if we'd get by to the cop house. 01:55.000 --> 01:56.000 Let's call him again, then. 01:56.000 --> 02:00.000 Yeah, why don't I go in the room? Go ahead. 02:00.000 --> 02:03.000 Keep your seat, Bryson. We've got a few more questions for you. 02:03.000 --> 02:08.000 Oh, excuse me. I thought you had it all squared away by now. I thought you were going to sack and leave by now. 02:08.000 --> 02:10.000 We're afraid not, Bryson. You haven't even given us a story yet. 02:10.000 --> 02:15.000 Well, I told you I didn't have anything to do with it. It seems pretty obvious I didn't. I thought you'd take my word for it. 02:15.000 --> 02:18.000 Didn't you think of any reason why we shared? You lied to us once already, didn't you? 02:18.000 --> 02:22.000 I didn't lie to you. I told you the truth. I didn't break into that church. I didn't have anything to do with it. 02:22.000 --> 02:26.000 On the way in here, we asked you if you'd ever been arrested before and you told us no. 02:26.000 --> 02:28.000 Our record bureau says you're a two-time loser. 02:28.000 --> 02:33.000 Oh, well, I'm sorry about that, Sergeant. I really am. When you picked me up, I guess I got a little nervous. 02:33.000 --> 02:36.000 I didn't mean to lie to you. I was just a little mixed up, I guess. 02:36.000 --> 02:41.000 You've got a little time to settle down. You ought to be able to tell us your story now. Just relax and take your time, huh? 02:41.000 --> 02:42.000 Why? 02:42.000 --> 02:44.000 Well, what did the other two fellows tell you? Miller and Henry? 02:44.000 --> 02:45.000 Well, what difference did that make to you? 02:45.000 --> 02:47.000 Well, it might make a lot of difference, Sergeant. 02:47.000 --> 02:49.000 Well, you just tell us your story. That's all we ask. 02:49.000 --> 02:52.000 What were you doing at the scene of the burglary? What business did you have there? 02:52.000 --> 02:54.000 You weren't mixed up and you've got nothing to hide. 02:54.000 --> 02:57.000 I haven't got nothing to hide. I just don't want to involve a lot of innocent people, that's all. 02:57.000 --> 03:00.000 Anything you tell us is going to help you, you know that, huh? 03:00.000 --> 03:03.000 All right, Sergeant. It's strictly confidential, huh? 03:03.000 --> 03:07.000 Well, one of those other fellows you picked up tonight, the dark-head fellow, his name is Tony Miller. 03:07.000 --> 03:09.000 He's engaged to marry my sister. 03:09.000 --> 03:10.000 Yeah, well, I think that is a little... 03:10.000 --> 03:11.000 Well, please, give me a chance. 03:11.000 --> 03:12.000 All right. 03:12.000 --> 03:13.000 I'd like to lay it all out for you. 03:13.000 --> 03:14.000 Go ahead. 03:14.000 --> 03:17.000 Well, ever since my sister got engaged to her, I've been worried about it. 03:17.000 --> 03:19.000 I never liked him to begin with. 03:19.000 --> 03:22.000 Lately, I've been keeping an eye on Miller, him and that friend of his, Henderson. 03:22.000 --> 03:26.000 I knew they were up to something, and then I read in the paper about that string of church burglaries, 03:26.000 --> 03:28.000 the guys breaking into churches, nothing else to say. 03:28.000 --> 03:29.000 Yeah. 03:29.000 --> 03:30.000 Well, I had an idea as to Miller and his friend. 03:30.000 --> 03:32.000 How do you mean, boy? What made you think it was him? 03:32.000 --> 03:35.000 I had an idea, that's all. I couldn't prove anything. It was just a hunch. 03:35.000 --> 03:37.000 You must have had some reason to expect him. 03:37.000 --> 03:42.000 Nothing definite, no. I just knew something was wrong, that they were up to something. 03:42.000 --> 03:44.000 Well, then, early tonight, I saw a friend of Tony Miller. 03:44.000 --> 03:46.000 He was the one that buys my neighborhood. 03:46.000 --> 03:49.000 I talked to him a while, and finally he told me that Miller and Henderson were out working a deal. 03:49.000 --> 03:52.000 He said they were going to break into a church over on 8th Street and knock over the city. 03:52.000 --> 03:54.000 Well, how come this friend of Miller is like you were on it? 03:54.000 --> 03:57.000 Well, I guess he thought I was a pretty close friend of Tony's. 03:57.000 --> 03:59.000 He knew Tony was going to marry my sister. 03:59.000 --> 04:02.000 Anyway, when I found out about it, I got over to that church as fast as I could. 04:02.000 --> 04:05.000 I wanted to find Miller and Henderson and try and talk them out of it. 04:05.000 --> 04:08.000 I didn't want any guy who was going to marry my sister getting into trouble like that. 04:08.000 --> 04:10.000 You know, maybe going to jail for burglary. 04:10.000 --> 04:12.000 I know Miller's been in jail before. I suppose you knew that. 04:12.000 --> 04:14.000 Yeah, I knew it, but that was before he was engaged to my sister. 04:14.000 --> 04:17.000 You met Miller and Henderson at that church, didn't you? 04:17.000 --> 04:19.000 No, I was too late. They had already broken into the place. 04:19.000 --> 04:24.000 I went around the back of the church, and I saw one of the stained glass windows was broken where they'd gotten in. 04:24.000 --> 04:27.000 I climbed up on the sill, and I could see them working inside. 04:27.000 --> 04:31.000 It was some kind of a small back room. They were working on the safe, both of them, Miller and Henderson. 04:31.000 --> 04:33.000 I see. What did you do there? 04:33.000 --> 04:35.000 Well, I tried to talk them out of it, man. They wouldn't listen. 04:35.000 --> 04:37.000 I suppose you can prove your strength. 04:37.000 --> 04:42.000 I mean, that friend you met in the bar, the one who tipped you off about the burger, and you think you're willing to back up this story? 04:42.000 --> 04:45.000 Well, I'm not sure, Sergeant. He might lie. He might not want to get involved. 04:45.000 --> 04:47.000 How about Miller and Henderson? They're backing up, won't they? 04:47.000 --> 04:50.000 If you weren't involved in the deal, there wouldn't be any reason for them to implicate you with... 04:50.000 --> 04:53.000 Well, Tony Miller thinks it's my fault he's in jail. He hates me. 04:53.000 --> 04:57.000 You can't take his word for anything. Probably the first thing he'd do is lie about it, and Henderson too. 04:57.000 --> 04:59.000 Well, who are you going to corroborate your story? 04:59.000 --> 05:02.000 Well, maybe nobody, but it's the truth. I swear to you, it's the truth. 05:02.000 --> 05:05.000 I'll tell the same thing in court if I have to. They've got to believe. 05:05.000 --> 05:07.000 You're asking a lot, aren't you? 05:07.000 --> 05:09.000 That's the way it happens, so help me. 05:09.000 --> 05:10.000 Yeah. 05:10.000 --> 05:12.000 Now tell me the truth, Sergeant. You know I didn't have a hand in it. 05:12.000 --> 05:15.000 If it goes to court, they couldn't convict me, could they? 05:15.000 --> 05:16.000 Come on, what do you think? 05:16.000 --> 05:17.000 I think you're a liar. 05:17.000 --> 05:24.000 To the working detective, the one logical way to appraise a known criminal is by his record. 05:24.000 --> 05:31.000 You estimate him the same way you check a particular make-up automobile, a racehorse, or a radio set by past performance. 05:31.000 --> 05:36.000 By refusing to buy his trumped-up story, we didn't figure that we were doing this suspect Charles Bryson an injustice. 05:36.000 --> 05:43.000 Bryson was 37 years old. He'd spent 13 of those 37 years in prison, either the county jail or the state penitentiary. 05:43.000 --> 05:46.000 His criminal record dated back to the time he was 20 years old. 05:46.000 --> 05:54.000 Besides serving numerous shorter terms for lesser offenses in the county jail, Bryson had spent two terms in the state penitentiary for burglary. 05:54.000 --> 06:02.000 Despite the efforts of the probation officers, the adult authority, and the rehabilitation officials to help him, he seemed content to go along in his criminal career. 06:02.000 --> 06:05.000 In this particular case, the series of church burglaries. 06:05.000 --> 06:10.000 We had good reason to believe that Bryson and his two accomplices, Miller and Henderson, were the guilty men. 06:10.000 --> 06:14.000 All three of them were booked at the main jail in suspicion of 459 P.C. 06:14.000 --> 06:17.000 The next morning, Ben and I checked in at the crime lab. 06:17.000 --> 06:19.000 Lee Jones, you around? 06:19.000 --> 06:21.000 Yeah, I'm here. Come on back. 06:21.000 --> 06:23.000 How about that? They gave the place a new coat of paint. 06:23.000 --> 06:25.000 Yeah, sure needed it. 06:25.000 --> 06:26.000 Good morning, fellas. 06:26.000 --> 06:27.000 How you doing, Lee? 06:27.000 --> 06:31.000 That set of burglary tools those thieves were using in that church last night, just finished checking them over. 06:31.000 --> 06:33.000 I might have two or three things for you. 06:33.000 --> 06:34.000 What have you got, Lee? 06:34.000 --> 06:35.000 Have a look over here. 06:35.000 --> 06:38.000 You find a set of tools. I take it the thieves had a lot of practice. 06:38.000 --> 06:41.000 All three of them had records. How about some of the other physical evidence you got there? 06:41.000 --> 06:43.000 One thing at a time, John. 06:43.000 --> 06:48.000 Most of all these tools here, small sledge, you see Jimmy, kinch bar, screwdriver. 06:48.000 --> 06:51.000 I think we can hide them in with at least six of those church burglaries. 06:51.000 --> 06:53.000 I think we can do it for certain. 06:53.000 --> 06:54.000 Couldn't work with Rieken, Vich? 06:54.000 --> 06:55.000 I think so, the jury's listening. 06:55.000 --> 06:57.000 Oh, you got it worked out, Lee? Tool markings? 06:57.000 --> 06:59.000 That's part of it, yeah. 06:59.000 --> 07:01.000 I want you to take a look at this kinch bar here. 07:01.000 --> 07:03.000 They did a lot of their work with this. 07:03.000 --> 07:11.000 I guess I don't have to tell you there aren't two identical kinch bars in the world that could leave the same exact markings on a piece of woodwork or on a face. 07:11.000 --> 07:14.000 There aren't a pair of tools in the world that could leave the same markings on anything. 07:14.000 --> 07:19.000 Yeah, we know the case. You're sure during Poverty that the thieves used this kinch bar here on six of the jobs they pulled? 07:19.000 --> 07:26.000 That's the idea. I compared specimen markings of every one of these tools against the markings made at the point of entry on six of the churches these thieves broke into. 07:26.000 --> 07:29.000 In every case, the markings matched perfectly. 07:29.000 --> 07:32.000 These are the tools that made them, no doubt about it. 07:32.000 --> 07:35.000 The screwdriver, the set of windows, and the kinch bar. 07:35.000 --> 07:36.000 Sure won't hurt our case, honey. 07:36.000 --> 07:37.000 Can you tell me something else, Lee? 07:37.000 --> 07:42.000 I examined the end of the kinch bar with a microscope, checked the screwdrivers in these tools. 07:42.000 --> 07:47.000 The tips of each one of them are contaminated with particles of paint, different kinds of paint. 07:47.000 --> 07:53.000 I've already compared these paint transfers with samples of paint taken from the exterior of those churches that were broken into. 07:53.000 --> 07:55.000 Each one of them, they match all the way. 07:55.000 --> 07:59.000 The color of the paint, the age, degree of oxidation, the lead content compares perfectly. 07:59.000 --> 08:01.000 Now come over here, something else. 08:01.000 --> 08:04.000 What have you got there, Lee? 08:04.000 --> 08:07.000 These are the shoes that two men who found inside the church were wearing. 08:07.000 --> 08:12.000 These are the fun impressions of boys from Litton Prince listed off the floor in front of the faith inside the church. 08:12.000 --> 08:17.000 We know him on that church floor, set up the best impressions, and they feel pretty good. 08:17.000 --> 08:18.000 Did you make the prints? 08:18.000 --> 08:20.000 The boys from Litton Prince did, yeah. 08:20.000 --> 08:22.000 Good impressions, you see here? 08:22.000 --> 08:29.000 General size of the shoe, the main heel impression, the wear pattern on the sole here, the whole general characteristics of both pair of shoes matches up to a team. 08:29.000 --> 08:31.000 How much is that going to mean to a jury, Lee? 08:31.000 --> 08:33.000 It's going to mean a lot, for sure. 08:33.000 --> 08:36.000 The same thing I've been telling you, the same thing. 08:36.000 --> 08:41.000 I'd like to tell every cop in the department, if you can fight for nothing at the scene of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, 08:41.000 --> 08:45.000 then don't go flashing around looking for an object that's an exact duplicate. 08:45.000 --> 08:47.000 Don't play Hoff, sir. 08:47.000 --> 08:52.000 Any microscope will tell you there are no two things in this world exactly identically alike. 08:52.000 --> 08:56.000 I don't care if it's a pair of shoes, a gun, a crowbar, or your two front teeth. 08:56.000 --> 08:58.000 And that's all I have for Lee. 08:58.000 --> 09:00.000 Is he going to have trouble? 09:00.000 --> 09:02.000 I don't know, Lee, he shouldn't have. 09:02.000 --> 09:05.000 You got the few of them, I have the few of the crime, that ought to be enough for the court. 09:05.000 --> 09:07.000 Yeah, I hope so. 09:07.000 --> 09:08.000 I don't sound sure. 09:08.000 --> 09:11.000 I believe there's only one time I'm sure about things like Bryson. 09:11.000 --> 09:12.000 Yeah? 09:12.000 --> 09:14.000 When they check him in at San Quentin. 09:14.000 --> 09:20.000 Two days later, Charles Bryson and his two accomplices, Henderson and Miller, were arraigned in municipal court 09:20.000 --> 09:22.000 on a date set for their preliminary hearing. 09:22.000 --> 09:27.000 Four days later, the preliminary hearing was held and the three of them were bound over for arraignment in Superior Court. 09:27.000 --> 09:32.000 In the weeks that followed, before their arraignment and Superior Court trial, 09:32.000 --> 09:36.000 Ben and I worked along with the District Attorney's Office preparing the case against the three men, 09:36.000 --> 09:39.000 making statements, running down additional evidence, checking and rechecking, 09:39.000 --> 09:43.000 piecing together the facts which we hoped would earn a conviction for each of the criminals. 09:43.000 --> 09:45.000 We weren't positive that it happened. 09:45.000 --> 09:50.000 The strongest part of our case was going to come out of the crime lab, the testimony of Lee Jones. 09:50.000 --> 09:56.000 And we knew as well as Lee did that, generally speaking, juries are not too much in sympathy with scientific facts 09:56.000 --> 09:58.000 when it has to do with physical evidence. 09:58.000 --> 10:01.000 Generally, they don't follow technical cases too well. 10:01.000 --> 10:05.000 We also knew that the three defendants had a good lawyer, a clever one. 10:05.000 --> 10:07.000 Getting convictions wasn't going to be easier. 10:07.000 --> 10:12.000 The trial opened in Superior Court June 2nd. Ben and I testified when we were called on. 10:12.000 --> 10:15.000 On the morning of June 9th, the jury retired to deliberate. 10:15.000 --> 10:18.000 Late that afternoon, we got a call from the Hall of Justice. 10:18.000 --> 10:19.000 Yes, Mitty. 10:19.000 --> 10:20.000 Uh-huh, yeah. 10:20.000 --> 10:21.000 Both of them, huh? 10:21.000 --> 10:22.000 I see, uh-huh. 10:22.000 --> 10:24.000 Well, that's a lot of ideas. 10:24.000 --> 10:25.000 That's right. 10:25.000 --> 10:27.000 Juries back there, they came up with a verdict. 10:27.000 --> 10:28.000 What's the story? 10:28.000 --> 10:29.000 Anderson and Miller, they found them both guilty. 10:29.000 --> 10:30.000 The first degree burglary. 10:30.000 --> 10:31.000 Yeah, what about Bryson? 10:31.000 --> 10:36.000 They let him go. 10:36.000 --> 10:38.000 Well, maybe it was no great shock to us, 10:38.000 --> 10:42.000 but after the time and effort we put in on the case, it was a disappointment. 10:42.000 --> 10:45.000 The worst of the three criminals had been set free. 10:45.000 --> 10:50.000 At the trial, Bryson had taken the stand and told the court the same cock and bull story he told Ben and I, 10:50.000 --> 10:52.000 that he'd gone to the church, the scene of the burglary, 10:52.000 --> 10:56.000 to plead with Henderson and Miller not to commit the crime. 10:56.000 --> 10:58.000 Bryson had a good personality and a fast line of talk. 10:58.000 --> 11:03.000 It wasn't hard to see how he could convince a jury that he was only an innocent bystander. 11:03.000 --> 11:07.000 The biggest obstacle that stood in the way of convicting Bryson was that the prosecution, 11:07.000 --> 11:09.000 the district attorney, according to law, 11:09.000 --> 11:13.000 could not call to the attention of the jury Bryson's previous criminal record, 11:13.000 --> 11:15.000 especially his two prior convictions for burglary. 11:15.000 --> 11:18.000 To them, because of the limitations of the law, 11:18.000 --> 11:21.000 he was presented as a private citizen with as much integrity 11:21.000 --> 11:24.000 and as clean of any previous guilt as you and your neighbor. 11:24.000 --> 11:29.000 Henderson and Miller were committed to the state penitentiary to serve sentences as prescribed by law, 11:29.000 --> 11:32.000 and Charles Bryson, shortly after the trial, left the city. 11:32.000 --> 11:37.000 Two months passed. Saturday, August 8, I started on my vacation. 11:37.000 --> 11:41.000 Two weeks later, on August 22, I checked back in for work. 11:41.000 --> 11:42.000 Hi, Joe. Good to see you. 11:42.000 --> 11:44.000 Hi, Jim. What's been doing? 11:44.000 --> 11:46.000 Oh, not too much. How did the vacation go? 11:46.000 --> 11:50.000 Oh, pretty good, thanks. My mother and I went up north to visit some relatives up in Moone County. 11:50.000 --> 11:53.000 It was a nice trip for her. She hadn't been feeling too well, you know. 11:53.000 --> 11:55.000 Oh, that's too bad. Getting any fishing done? 11:55.000 --> 11:57.000 A little, yeah. That's your beautiful country up here. 11:57.000 --> 11:58.000 Is Ben well? 11:58.000 --> 12:02.000 No, he took off today. He's been putting in some full days while you've been gone. 12:02.000 --> 12:04.000 Oh, that's good. Anything special doing? 12:04.000 --> 12:07.000 Oh, nothing too big. Just doing a chain store burglary out in the town. 12:07.000 --> 12:09.000 I've been working along with Ben. 12:09.000 --> 12:10.000 Yeah? Giving you much trouble? 12:10.000 --> 12:13.000 He's been going a couple of weeks. Not getting any better. 12:13.000 --> 12:15.000 I'm beginning to feel the pressure a little. 12:15.000 --> 12:17.000 How's it stand? Any leads on the suspect? 12:17.000 --> 12:18.000 Just one. Yeah? 12:18.000 --> 12:23.000 That guy by the name of Charles Bryson. 12:23.000 --> 12:28.000 When our suspect Charles Bryson left Los Angeles after his trial some three months before, 12:28.000 --> 12:32.000 we had reports that he was headed east for the city of Memphis, Tennessee. 12:32.000 --> 12:36.000 In subsequent leaks, we had word that he was also seen in St. Louis, Missouri, 12:36.000 --> 12:40.000 where police officers had him under surveillance as a possible suspect in a robbery there. 12:40.000 --> 12:44.000 On or about August 10th, the St. Louis police lost track of Bryson. 12:44.000 --> 12:48.000 A week later, the newest series of burglaries began throughout Los Angeles. 12:48.000 --> 12:52.000 The P.C.M.O. matched that of Bryson down to the last detail. 12:52.000 --> 12:56.000 The places burglarized were chain stores, supermarkets generally. 12:56.000 --> 13:01.000 The method of entry was the same, prying open a back window with a pinch bar, a similar tool. 13:01.000 --> 13:05.000 The manner in which the safes were opened in the various business places that matched, too. 13:05.000 --> 13:09.000 So did five sets of foot impressions found at the scene of five different burglaries, 13:09.000 --> 13:12.000 each of them made by a man wearing tennis shoes. 13:12.000 --> 13:15.000 The operation corresponded exactly to the way Bryson worked. 13:15.000 --> 13:18.000 But there was one big hit in the investigation. 13:18.000 --> 13:20.000 Nobody could be sure Bryson was back in town. 13:20.000 --> 13:23.000 No one had seen him. No one had heard from him. 13:23.000 --> 13:26.000 Monday, August 24th, 8 a.m. 13:26.000 --> 13:29.000 Got us running in circles so far, Joe. I can't figure it. 13:29.000 --> 13:32.000 I bet lunch money is Bryson, but we can't even start to prove it. 13:32.000 --> 13:35.000 How about the people in town Bryson runs with? They all been checked out? 13:35.000 --> 13:38.000 They're the ones we know about, yeah, his friends, relatives, always know him hanging out. 13:38.000 --> 13:40.000 We've been over it every inch of the way. 13:40.000 --> 13:42.000 Everybody knows, they're not saying. There's no trace of him. 13:42.000 --> 13:44.000 Yeah, that's a possibility. Maybe we're wrong. 13:44.000 --> 13:45.000 Go ahead. 13:45.000 --> 13:47.000 What do you mean maybe we're wrong? 13:47.000 --> 13:51.000 Well, the only lead we've got is the M.O. Bryson isn't the only thief who operates that way. 13:51.000 --> 13:53.000 It could be another man using the same system. 13:53.000 --> 13:54.000 Yeah, we've thought about that. 13:54.000 --> 13:55.000 You ran a check through the stats office? 13:55.000 --> 13:56.000 Yeah, uh-huh. 13:56.000 --> 14:01.000 The only known burglars in our records who operate like Bryson are either in jail or out of town or they're dead. 14:01.000 --> 14:04.000 We checked it through a couple of times. It keeps coming out the same way. 14:04.000 --> 14:06.000 Bryson's the only strong lead we've got. 14:06.000 --> 14:08.000 Yeah, but I got it. 14:08.000 --> 14:10.000 Burglary Friday. 14:10.000 --> 14:11.000 Yes, sir. 14:11.000 --> 14:14.000 You know, sir, Sergeant Taber's out right now. Is there any message? 14:14.000 --> 14:16.000 Well, I guess about ten minutes. 14:16.000 --> 14:18.000 Yes, sir, right. I'll tell him. Thank you. 14:18.000 --> 14:21.000 You sure there's no more on all these jobs, not just Bryson, huh? 14:21.000 --> 14:23.000 All the way. That's what's gotten me stumped. 14:23.000 --> 14:26.000 If the guy is pulling these jobs in the Aysen town, somebody should have spotted him. 14:26.000 --> 14:30.000 He's changed stores he's hitting. We've had to take out the home for ten days. 14:30.000 --> 14:33.000 I've got every informant we know watching for Bryson. I'm not a sign. 14:33.000 --> 14:35.000 Hopefully you'll let him go to the gym so they'd call back. 14:35.000 --> 14:37.000 Oh, thanks. 14:37.000 --> 14:40.000 I got this telepathy this morning. I've been in touch with Sergeant Clinton. 14:40.000 --> 14:41.000 Might be a line on Bryson. 14:41.000 --> 14:42.000 I see. 14:42.000 --> 14:44.000 The answer on that mail watch we asked him for. 14:44.000 --> 14:45.000 Uh-huh. 14:45.000 --> 14:47.000 What angles this, Ben? 14:47.000 --> 14:50.000 You remember Church, Burglary's Miller, and Henderson, through the Senate with Sergeant Clinton? 14:50.000 --> 14:53.000 Oh, yeah. You asked Clinton for a mail watch on both of them, did you? 14:53.000 --> 14:55.000 Yeah, I figured there was a chance Bryson might write to him. 14:55.000 --> 14:57.000 Looks like it got us a lead. 14:57.000 --> 14:58.000 What do they got there? 14:58.000 --> 15:00.000 It's from the Warden's office. 15:00.000 --> 15:05.000 So it says, uh, regarding your request on information concerning Charles Bryson, 15:05.000 --> 15:13.000 on August 22nd, Anthony Miller, our number 172156J, received a letter from a person signing himself George Cameron. 15:13.000 --> 15:15.000 Contents of letter suspicious. 15:15.000 --> 15:17.000 Cameron, does that mean anything to you? 15:17.000 --> 15:20.000 I just checked Bryson's package again down there on the R&I. 15:20.000 --> 15:22.000 Cameron was his mother's maiden name. 15:22.000 --> 15:25.000 Bryson's used it as an alias before, quite a few times. 15:25.000 --> 15:26.000 Uh-huh. 15:26.000 --> 15:28.000 How about the return address on the letter, Ben? Los Angeles? 15:28.000 --> 15:30.000 Morning Post Office, General DeLevot. 15:30.000 --> 15:40.000 Monday, 10 a.m., we alerted the Post Office detail and arranged for a mail watch on all incoming letters through General Delivery 15:40.000 --> 15:45.000 addressed to Charles Bryson, George Cameron, or to another of the suspects known aliases. 15:45.000 --> 15:50.000 A week passed. No sign of Bryson, no trace of any of his correspondence through General Delivery. 15:50.000 --> 15:52.000 Another week went by. 15:52.000 --> 15:54.000 Two more chains for our burglaries. 15:54.000 --> 15:59.000 The MO in each case was the same, but matched closely to Bryson's known working habits. 15:59.000 --> 16:04.000 But despite our precautions and the close check we maintained on his friends and his known hangouts, 16:04.000 --> 16:07.000 the suspects still remained unseen and unheard from. 16:07.000 --> 16:13.000 On September 9th, an informant of Ben's called us at the office and told us he thought he'd seen Bryson the night before. 16:13.000 --> 16:15.000 Yeah, Matty, where was that? 16:15.000 --> 16:17.000 Uh-huh, yeah, right, we'll check it, thank you. 16:17.000 --> 16:18.000 Bye. 16:18.000 --> 16:22.000 Bryson's supposed to have been seen near Vermont and Beverly Boulevard last night, drinking in a bar out there. 16:22.000 --> 16:23.000 You're pretty sure it was Bryson? 16:23.000 --> 16:24.000 He thinks so, yeah. 16:24.000 --> 16:25.000 Got the name of the place here. 16:25.000 --> 16:28.000 We can check for the bar tender, see if he can identify Bryson's mug here. 16:28.000 --> 16:30.000 Right, I'll get my top coat on. 16:30.000 --> 16:33.000 I'll get it. 16:33.000 --> 16:35.000 Where's the refraggy? 16:35.000 --> 16:37.000 Yes, sir. 16:37.000 --> 16:38.000 When was that? 16:38.000 --> 16:40.000 Yeah, go ahead. 16:40.000 --> 16:42.000 Uh-huh, I got it. 16:42.000 --> 16:44.000 Yes, sir, right away. 16:44.000 --> 16:48.000 Post office detail, Bryson called for a meal at the General Delivery half an hour ago. 16:48.000 --> 16:50.000 Who is he? Did they follow him? 16:50.000 --> 17:03.000 280 Glenmore, Apartment 6, he's there now. 17:03.000 --> 17:15.000 You are listening to Dragnet, authentic stories of your police force in action. 17:15.000 --> 17:27.000 September 9th, Tuesday, 1130 a.m., the burglary suspect Charles Bryson was placed under surveillance at the apartment where he'd gone immediately after calling for his mail at the General Delivery window in the main post office. 17:27.000 --> 17:33.000 Three teams of men were assigned the job of following Bryson alternately, 24 hours a day. 17:33.000 --> 17:38.000 We waited for a chance to get into his apartment and search it while it was empty, but it never occurred. 17:38.000 --> 17:44.000 Somebody was always there, either Bryson or a tall, dark-haired woman, his common-law wife. 17:44.000 --> 17:49.000 During the week that followed, the suspect was watched everywhere he went. He attempted no burglaries. 17:49.000 --> 17:54.000 On the eighth day, the stakeout was removed. Three nights later, two burglaries were committed. 17:54.000 --> 17:59.000 Both jobs bore the marks of the suspect's M.O., but we couldn't prove a thing against him. 17:59.000 --> 18:08.000 We knew the setup we had was going nowhere. If we wanted to get Bryson red-handed, if we wanted a case against him that would stand up in any court, we had to find a new approach. 18:08.000 --> 18:10.000 Lee Jones came up with an idea. 18:10.000 --> 18:14.000 It's a technical name for its ampersand. I guess you heard of it? 18:14.000 --> 18:16.000 I think I heard you making a name, Lantzberg. 18:16.000 --> 18:18.000 That kind of luminous powder isn't it? It glows in the dark? 18:18.000 --> 18:24.000 No, not exactly. Here, take a look at some. There you see. Colorless, odorless, no smell at all to it. 18:24.000 --> 18:27.000 It's a coal-tile product. We call it crystal and hydrocarbon. 18:27.000 --> 18:34.000 Now here's the point of the thing. When you take this ampersand powder and rub it into the surface of an object, it's completely invisible, its naked eye. 18:34.000 --> 18:36.000 Never know it's there. Here, let me show you. 18:36.000 --> 18:37.000 How about my coat sleeve there? 18:37.000 --> 18:44.000 There you go. That's the powder all over it. Some in your hand too. Rub it in like so. 18:44.000 --> 18:48.000 Now can you see or feel any of the powder while I put it on? 18:48.000 --> 18:50.000 No, nothing there. 18:50.000 --> 18:59.000 Now let me switch on this lamp here. This is a multivitual light. Now watch when I turn it on your arm, what we rubbed on the powder. 18:59.000 --> 19:02.000 Look at your hand, Joe, like it's lighting up. 19:02.000 --> 19:05.000 Yeah, my coat sleeve too. It's glowing. 19:05.000 --> 19:08.000 How about it? Will it step rub off, Lee? 19:08.000 --> 19:09.000 Try it. 19:09.000 --> 19:13.000 You're spreading it all over yourself, everything you test. Anything harmful in it, Lee? 19:13.000 --> 19:22.000 No. Now watch when I turn the lamp off. You see? Gone. Never even know you had it on. Only time it shows up is under ultraviolet light. 19:22.000 --> 19:24.000 Well does it stay on you indefinitely, Lee? 19:24.000 --> 19:27.000 No, the maximum is generally about, oh, say, 24 hours. 19:27.000 --> 19:28.000 You guarantee it'll work, huh? 19:28.000 --> 19:31.000 Well, all physics, Joe, under the proper conditions it's got to. 19:31.000 --> 19:35.000 Just when I tell my classes up at the Academy, crooks and co-skills have one thing in common. 19:35.000 --> 19:36.000 Yeah? 19:36.000 --> 19:39.000 They show up better when you put them on in the right kind of light. 19:39.000 --> 19:47.000 When we left Lee Jones at the crime lab, we figured we had the potential solution in our hands, 19:47.000 --> 19:53.000 but there was still a lot to be done before we could go into any court of law with a case that we were positive was strong enough to convict Charles Bryson. 19:53.000 --> 20:03.000 Number one, we had to get into his apartment when it was unoccupied, find the set of burglary tools he was using, and douse them thoroughly with anthracene, the same for the clothes he worked in. 20:03.000 --> 20:10.000 Number two, we had to get Bryson into custody within 24 hours after he moved on the burglary job or the anthracene wouldn't work. 20:10.000 --> 20:18.000 Number three, we had to find the loot taken in the burglary in his possession. Ten days passed before we got a chance to make good on the first step. 20:18.000 --> 20:19.000 I get it, Joe. 20:19.000 --> 20:23.000 Right. Burglary and Merrill. Yeah, Jim. 20:23.000 --> 20:26.000 Mm-hmm, good. Fine, we'll be right out. 20:26.000 --> 20:28.000 Good break, Joe. I'm Bryson. 20:28.000 --> 20:29.000 What's that? 20:29.000 --> 20:34.000 They hauled him in on a traffic warrant, speed him, put him into the main jail right now. Good chance to go through his apartment. 20:34.000 --> 20:35.000 What about his wife? She's still up there. 20:35.000 --> 20:37.000 She's on her way to put up bail for him. 20:37.000 --> 20:38.000 Yeah. 20:38.000 --> 20:39.000 Apartment's empty. 20:39.000 --> 20:48.000 By the time Bryson was bailed out, Ben and I, along with Jim Tabor and Lee Jones, had combed through Bryson's apartment and finally uncovered a set of burglary tools and work clothes, 20:48.000 --> 20:53.000 carefully hidden beneath the floorboards under a kitchen cabinet directly below the sink. 20:53.000 --> 20:59.000 Lee Jones contaminated each of the tools with the invisible anthracene powder and also the work clothes. 20:59.000 --> 21:03.000 We checked the apartment for any possible loot taken in the burglaries, but we found nothing. 21:03.000 --> 21:08.000 We put everything back exactly the way we found it, and then we left and went back to the office. 21:08.000 --> 21:13.000 We stood by until 4 a.m. waiting for a call that had indicated that Bryson might be out on another burglary job. 21:13.000 --> 21:15.000 Nothing happened. 21:15.000 --> 21:18.000 The next night, up until 10 o'clock, it was the same routine. 21:18.000 --> 21:23.000 At a few minutes past 10, we got a 459 call on a chain drugstore out on Alvarado Street. 21:23.000 --> 21:26.000 Lee Jones had his portable ultraviolet light all ready to go. 21:26.000 --> 21:31.000 Ben and I picked him up at the crime lab, and the three of us drove to the scene of the burglary. 21:31.000 --> 21:33.000 It's great back here, Lee. Can I help you with the light? 21:33.000 --> 21:35.000 I can handle it, thanks. 21:35.000 --> 21:37.000 I had some wonder they figured you got in. 21:37.000 --> 21:38.000 Safe stand at the corner. 21:38.000 --> 21:40.000 Yeah, there's not too much of it left. You all set, Lee? 21:40.000 --> 21:42.000 You got the extension cord for the light, with that on? 21:42.000 --> 21:44.000 Yeah, right here. I'm just plugging it in. 21:44.000 --> 21:45.000 Yeah, okay. 21:45.000 --> 21:46.000 Okay. 21:46.000 --> 21:48.000 All right, switch it on, will you? 21:48.000 --> 21:50.000 Right. 21:50.000 --> 21:51.000 Well? 21:51.000 --> 21:52.000 Yeah. 21:52.000 --> 21:53.000 Seems like it. 21:53.000 --> 21:55.000 What have you got in the window there, Joe? Look at that. 21:55.000 --> 22:00.000 Anthracene tracks all over, foot impressions there, tool marks on the safe, 22:00.000 --> 22:02.000 blood prints on the floor, on the wall. 22:02.000 --> 22:04.000 No question, they left plenty of trail. 22:04.000 --> 22:05.000 All right, let's get them. 22:05.000 --> 22:08.000 The next morning. 22:08.000 --> 22:13.000 Lee Jones put in a call to the crime lab and ordered a photographer out to take pictures at the scene of the burglary. 22:13.000 --> 22:16.000 Lee and the photographer had stayed at the scene to gather physical evidence 22:16.000 --> 22:22.000 and take pictures of the anthracene prints and markings for presentation in court, 10.52 p.m. 22:22.000 --> 22:26.000 Jones packed up the ultraviolet lamp and Ben and I took it along with us. 22:26.000 --> 22:28.000 We drove directly to Bryson's apartment. 22:28.000 --> 22:29.000 Nobody was there. 22:29.000 --> 22:32.000 No, nobody in the bedroom either. How about that? 22:32.000 --> 22:36.000 I don't know, I don't get it. Bryson's had plenty of time to get back here, over an hour. 22:36.000 --> 22:41.000 What about his wife? The only time we know she left was when she had to go bathe him out in that traffic one. 22:41.000 --> 22:43.000 Doesn't look like they pulled out, does it? 22:43.000 --> 22:46.000 Is the closet full of clothes in there, a lot of their personal things around? 22:46.000 --> 22:47.000 Yeah. 22:47.000 --> 22:50.000 Sure looks like they were expecting to come back. 22:50.000 --> 22:52.000 We might check with the apartment house manager. 22:52.000 --> 22:54.000 He could tell us if they gave notice to move. 22:54.000 --> 22:55.000 If... 22:55.000 --> 22:58.000 Oh, let's see here. 22:58.000 --> 22:59.000 What do you got? 22:59.000 --> 23:01.000 A note here on the desk. 23:01.000 --> 23:06.000 See, he says, um, Charlie, I'm sorry, but I told you it just doesn't work out with us. 23:06.000 --> 23:09.000 When you read this, I'll be on my way east. 23:09.000 --> 23:14.000 I don't want to be mean with you, I just think it'll work better if we forget each other, that's all. 23:14.000 --> 23:17.000 Thanks for everything so long. Signed, Ruth. 23:17.000 --> 23:19.000 Well, if she doesn't like him much either. 23:19.000 --> 23:24.000 No, wait a minute. 23:24.000 --> 23:26.000 What have you done? 23:26.000 --> 23:29.000 Please stop this, Bryson. I'd like to talk to you for a minute. 23:29.000 --> 23:32.000 Oh, I know who you are. I remember, what do you want? 23:32.000 --> 23:33.000 Ben, do you want to tug him in, like? 23:33.000 --> 23:35.000 Yeah, right over here. 23:35.000 --> 23:36.000 Where is all this? 23:36.000 --> 23:38.000 You said you wanted to talk to me, what's all about? 23:38.000 --> 23:39.000 You all set, Ben? 23:39.000 --> 23:40.000 Just a minute. 23:40.000 --> 23:42.000 All right, okay, turn it on. 23:42.000 --> 23:43.000 What are you doing? 23:43.000 --> 23:45.000 What are you trying to do to me? 23:45.000 --> 23:46.000 You've done it all to yourself, mister. 23:46.000 --> 23:49.000 Lit up like a Christmas tree, Joe, it's all over in here. 23:49.000 --> 23:51.000 There you go. 23:51.000 --> 23:53.000 They're closing their hands. 23:53.000 --> 23:55.000 What is it? There's light going all over them. What are you doing? 23:55.000 --> 23:59.000 It's a chemical, Bryson. Harmless. Same stuff you left all over the drugstore tonight. 23:59.000 --> 24:02.000 Pack up, Ben. Come on, let's go, Bryson. 24:02.000 --> 24:04.000 I don't understand. What's this whole thing all about? 24:04.000 --> 24:06.000 You'll understand it. 24:06.000 --> 24:08.000 Here, I wrote for you. 24:08.000 --> 24:10.000 Come on. 24:17.000 --> 24:19.000 How's that, Joe? 24:19.000 --> 24:20.000 Let's go, Bryson. 24:20.000 --> 24:22.000 I guess I didn't know her. 24:22.000 --> 24:24.000 Mr. Tramp, I guess I should have been smart about it. 24:24.000 --> 24:25.000 Yeah, I guess so. Come on. 24:25.000 --> 24:29.000 How could I know? She said she was in love with me. I believed it. 24:29.000 --> 24:32.000 What am I going to say when they ask me? All our friends are all going to ask me. 24:32.000 --> 24:33.000 They'll say, what happened to Ruth? 24:33.000 --> 24:36.000 Oh, I'll tell you what happened this time. 24:36.000 --> 24:38.000 What am I going to say happened this time? 24:38.000 --> 24:40.000 What are you going to say to the jury this time? 24:40.000 --> 24:50.000 The story you have just heard was true. 24:50.000 --> 24:53.000 The names were changed to protect the innocent. 24:53.000 --> 24:59.000 On December 10th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 86, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. 24:59.000 --> 25:02.000 In a moment, the results of that trial. 25:02.000 --> 25:17.000 Charles Lang Bryson was tried and convicted on three counts of first-degree burglary. 25:17.000 --> 25:22.000 This is punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for not less than five years. 25:22.000 --> 25:28.000 However, due to his previous convictions on this and other felony counts, Bryson was judged and habitual criminal. 25:28.000 --> 25:41.000 He was sentenced to spend the rest of his natural life in the State Penitentiary. 25:41.000 --> 25:46.000 You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official clients. 25:46.000 --> 25:59.000 The technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.