The Detective Sergeant is assigned the burglary detail.
In a year's time, a burglar has taken approximately $80,000 in money and jewelry.
None of his victims can describe him. Your job? Get him.
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 transcribed 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, July 10th. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working with Daywatch out of burglary detail. My partner is Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Wisdom. My name is Friday.
It was 8.02 a.m. when I got to room 45.
This is burglary.
That you, Joe?
Yeah.
How about that fight last night?
Won't you see it on Channel 4?
No, I started to watch it. The set went off.
Picture tube?
No, Joe. Picture got all fuzzy and started a while. But you know, like when an airplane goes over between the set and the tram.
Oh, yeah, I know.
The set's been acting up lately. I thought there might be something wrong with the aerial, so I figured I'd take a look at it.
Mm-hmm.
Got the ladder out, got up on the roof.
Sure enough, one of the wires on the thing was off.
Just hanging by a little bit of the rubber coating.
Mm-hmm.
Trying back down to get the wire cutters to fix it. Couldn't find them.
How do you use scissors to strip the insulation off the wire?
Got the wire all fixed to flip back on, then I couldn't find the pliers to get the nut off the aerial.
Looked all through the house, no silk.
What'd you do?
Nothing I could do. Tried to get the nut off with the scissors, broke them. Finally went back into the house to listen to the radio.
Fight was over.
Yeah, I only went four rounds.
Yeah, I found that out. Got the radio on just when the announcer was giving the last commercial.
And Fe and me had a talk.
Oh, not again.
Yeah. I told her I was gonna buy a whole new set of tools. The first time I saw the kids with one of them, I was gonna raise the roof.
That must have never happened.
Yeah, it did. Made some remarks about them only being kids.
Said if I wanted to keep the tools out of their hands, I should put them in a place where they can't reach them.
There's only one trouble, Joe.
What's that?
With Mike and Stacey, there isn't such a place.
Oh, yeah, I know what you mean.
It's a really good pipe, though. It's too bad you missed it.
Yeah.
Right in, Smith?
Yeah, Skipper.
Come in here with me.
Right.
Skipper, what's up?
Sit down.
Just got a call from the wheelchair division. That string of burglaries they had out there, they can't spray the man to give this thing a time.
It looks like it's gonna take the turn at all. So I'm putting you two on it.
Here's all the crime reports on.
Looks like they've been busy. A lot of reports here. What's he pickin'?
My name's Jory.
Mm-hmm.
He uses cellulite strips to get into the houses. Not much unusual about that.
No.
According to the reports, he's been hitting around 3.30 to 6 in the afternoon.
Yeah, he evidently rings the bell first to see if there's anybody in the house, and then if there isn't, he uses cellulite to open the door.
Goes through the house, then leaves by the back door.
What's this bit here about the glass of milk?
Well, that's the one part of his amulet of snow. It seems every place he goes into, he has a glass of milk before he leaves.
A little pulse on the glass?
Haven't found any yet. Seems to wipe the glass clean before he leaves.
The stats office come up with anything on the ammo?
Nothing hasn't been checked out. The leads they gave us didn't go anyplace.
How about the victim? Anyone ever see the guy?
Not good. A couple of them caught glimpses of him leaving the house. Didn't realize at the time that he'd just come from their place.
How about a description?
Everybody that's seen him tells a different story. Some have him tall and thin, others have him short and husky, some have him dark, others light. Anybody's guess.
Oh, that makes it easier. You been working any worn areas, Skipper?
Yeah, according to those reports, he works around in here.
And here. From Wilshire to Pico in the south, from LeBread to Robertson in the west.
A lot of areas, Skipper.
Yeah. How about health?
Much as you need. Metro will give you as many men as they can spare. I said you could probably count on ten teams.
Well, we should be able to patrol the area pretty well with him.
He hit more than one place a day?
Yeah. Sometimes they're forward, depends on how much time it takes him to go through a place.
When will the other works later in the six o'clock?
Oh, I thought we know. He's pretty smart. More people on the streets that time of day, less likely to be noticing him.
That's probably the way he figures it.
I still don't think I get this milk from him.
Yeah, that's a worried one.
Do you have it every place he goes?
Seems to. The owner comes home and finds all the money and jewelry in the place gone and an empty glass on the table in the living room.
Living room?
Yeah, in the living room. Evidently pours the milk right after he gets in the house and carries it around with him while he works. Finishes it up before he leaves.
Boys from Wilshire have found those rings, you know, when you put a glass down on the table. Found them all over the house.
Old Polly Prince at all?
No, Laken Prince has gone over the places completely. Everything they found has a right to be there, along with the family or friends.
Only thousand dollars. How about the pawn shop detail? They turn up anything?
No, nothing. None of the jewelry's turned up as far as we can tell.
Looks like a gem, huh?
It is. It's all yours.
All right. Let me get started on it right away.
You two stay on this until you clean it up.
Right, Skipper. Any ideas where you're going to start?
Well, only one place, the neighborhood where he works.
Yeah.
We don't know him. Maybe he'll come to us.
Frank and I went over the reports. In general, the operation was the usual type. Use of a celluloid stripped into a house wasn't new.
The suspect operated during those times when detection was least likely. He never operated in the rain.
All in all, with the exception of the milk drinking, the case could have been a hundred others.
Frank and I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the victims who had seen the burglar.
They were all sure that the man they'd seen was the one we wanted, but their description varied from each other.
All the victims had been shown mug books but failed to identify the suspect.
We called Metro Division and asked them to give us as many radio units as possible to cover the area.
We assigned ten cars to the detail.
Frank and I covered the entire area in our car.
Wednesday, September 5th, two months had passed during which time the burglar hit only two houses.
In spite of the heavy patrol action in the area, he got away safely in both instances, 5.45 p.m.
Looks like another day shot, huh?
Yeah, another 15 minutes to go.
One thing, anyways, calm down, Joe. He's going to make a hundred thousand this year.
Right, right.
Yeah?
Over there on the left, White House?
Yeah, I can see him.
Pull over here and we'll walk down.
Right.
Well, you can get on my side.
All right.
Still working.
Yeah, probably a double lock on that door.
I said it like won't work there.
Have a little trouble, mister?
Huh?
Looks like you have a little trouble getting that door open.
Oh, yeah, I lost the key.
You police officers?
Yeah, that's right.
I'm happy to know you're on the job, protecting my house and all.
Sure appreciate it.
What if we could see your identification?
I beg your pardon?
Your identification? What if we could see it?
Well, what's the matter?
Don't you believe me that I live in this house?
We'd just like to see your ID.
Nothing wrong with you showing it to us, is there?
Oh, of course not.
Gee, looks like I left my wallet in the house.
What's that gadget you were trying to get into the house with there?
Oh, this?
A piece of cellulite.
I read about it some place.
I happen to have it.
Turn around.
Will you tour the street?
Yeah, sure.
What do you want?
What's the address of the house you live in?
The address?
Yeah, sir.
You guys still don't believe I live here, do you?
The address, what is it?
It's at 1200 Block in Allendale.
What's your name?
Anderson.
Jack Anderson.
Maybe you can explain why the name of the mailbox is Radcliffe, huh?
Well, yeah, sure I can explain.
You see, I'm just visiting here.
Summer vacation, just out here a couple of weeks.
All right, Mr. Standstill.
Hey, wait, what's going on?
You got no right to stand still.
How about this wallet? Is it yours?
Yeah.
Oh, come on, give it back.
Let's take a look here.
You said your name was Anderson, is that right?
Well, yeah, but I can explain that.
I hope so.
I'm going to be a little involved, though.
What's wrong?
Two things, wrong house and wrong identification.
Frank and I took the suspect back to the city hall for interrogation.
Although he gave us the name Jack Anderson,
all his identification bore the name Robert Red Neal.
We ran the name through our eyes.
Neal had several previous arrests on burglary charges.
According to the records, there were no wants on him at the time.
6.20 p.m., Frank and I questioned Neal.
All right, Neal, come on over.
Okay, so you know I don't live in the house.
It looks like one I do live in.
I just made a mistake, that's all.
I build all these houses out here so they look a little...
Well, look, Neal, don't ask us to believe that one.
I'm not asking you to believe anything but the truth,
and I'm telling you that.
Sure, now what about your record?
Well, what about it?
A lot of burglary charges.
All right, I did a little time.
Now what's that prove? I'm going straight now.
You still can't come up with a story to tell why you were trying to get into that house.
I told you, I thought it belonged to a friend of mine.
What's it belong?
I don't remember.
You like milk, Neal?
Huh?
You like milk?
Look, I don't get this, what are you trying to prove?
Just answer the question, do you like milk?
I can take it or leave it alone.
I'm a big boy now.
Sometimes I drink coffee.
How long have you been in town, Neal?
A couple of weeks.
Why?
Where were you before you got here?
Up north.
Where up north?
Down Sacramento.
What did you do up there?
A few odd jobs.
Look, if you guys are going to book me, then do it.
Let's get this yak over with.
A couple of things we want to settle first, Neal.
What?
How long were you up north?
Um, I guess it's been about six, seven months.
Seven months.
You got any way of proving that?
Look, why should I have to prove anything?
You guys figure you got a rap you can stick me with, okay, try it.
Book me in.
Look, don't press me.
Oh, can you prove you're up north for the last seven months?
Yeah, it shouldn't be any trouble at all.
Who do we talk to?
The sheriff up there.
He had me in the can.
After waiting for two months, the one suspect we were able to turn had an alibi that we
couldn't shake.
Frank and I went back to rolling stakeout.
The burglaries continued.
Evidently, the burglar was getting more and more reckless.
The police cars in the area were acting as less of a deterrent to his activities.
In two weeks, he looted 16,000 pounds of cash.
He was a good boy.
about him, how he drinks and causes trouble, spends what little money they have on liquor.
Oh, did this boy tell you his name then?
Not at first. He said he didn't want me to turn him in.
I told him that I wouldn't, and then he said he was Bob, Bob Allison.
Did he tell you where he lived?
Not exactly. He said someplace out on East Los Angeles.
I got the idea that he wasn't too proud of his home.
Can't say they're blaming him.
Uh-huh. How about a description then, what he looked like?
Well, now let me think.
I'd say he was young, about 17, maybe 18. Such a young man to be doing something like this.
How tall would you say he was, ma'am?
Tall? Oh, I guess as tall as you are, maybe just a teeny bit taller.
That'd make him about 60?
Yes, I guess so.
How about his belt, ma'am?
Oh, nice, broad shoulders. You got no idea how I felt when I thought about this boy being a thief. It's terrible.
Would you say he was heavy or slight? About how much would you say weight?
Oh, I'm not... I'm bad at guessing people's weight. It'd be difficult to say.
Well, ma'am, would you say he was as heavy as I am?
Yes, about your weight.
How about the color of his hair?
Light, nice, brown hair. Then a little wave right here in front, blue eyes. Looked like such a little boy when he cried.
Yes, ma'am. Was there any unusual about him that you might have noticed? Scars, moles, anything like that?
No, not a thing.
Well, how about the way he talked, anything unusual there, maybe?
Mm-mm. Sorry.
How about his clothes, Mrs. Brewer? How was he dressed?
A pair of slacks, a white shirt and no tie. A button was missing from his shirt. Poor boy.
Probably hasn't got anyone to take care of his clothes. Had on a school sweater.
You know the kind of the things you get when you're going to graduate? Has the initial of a school on it and no stripes on the sleeve.
Yes, ma'am. What was the initial on the sweater?
There wasn't one. It had been taken off. I could tell that there had been one, though, because a few of the threads were still in the wall.
How about the color of the sweater?
Brown, dark brown to yellow stripes.
Now, Mrs. Brewer. Yes? The glass of milk that the boy drank from the glass. Has it been washed yet?
I thought you'd ask about that. No, I set the side for you.
You have it now, ma'am? Yes, it's in the kitchen. My husband said you'd want it.
He was hopping mad when he heard about it. Just about raised the roof right off the house.
I wonder if we could see that glass.
Of course. It's right out here in the kitchen.
All right.
There it is on the green board.
Anybody touch it since the boy?
No, I don't think so. My husband might have, but I don't think he did.
He was quite adamant about me not washing it until you came.
Mrs. Blair, this happened last night. How was it you waited until this morning to report it?
Well, at first I believed the boy. Really thought that it was just circumstances that made him steal.
I felt so sorry for him when he broke down and cried.
Right here, leaving. Give him every chance. At that time, I let him go.
I thought that it might do you some good. This was a new beginning.
When I told my husband about it, like I said, he was pretty sore.
Talked about the young thief. We never had any children of our own, and I felt so sorry for the boy.
I guess my husband couldn't understand.
When Bob, that's his name, when Bob said he was sorry, I believed him and let him go.
Just let him walk right out of the house.
My husband got home and I told him. He said to call you.
I tried to talk to Sam. That's my husband.
I didn't make him understand, but he insisted. And then this morning, of course, I agreed with him, and so I called you.
Why was that, then?
Bob stole my watch.
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1145 a.m. Frank and I went back to the office. We ran the name Bob and Robert Allison through R&I.
There was no record on anyone answering his description. We got out a local broadcast and an APB on him.
Mrs. Blair went over the mug books but was unable to identify the boy.
Frank got in touch with the Board of Education and asked for the name of the school using the colors brown and gold.
We told them that it would take a little time to check but that they'd call us back.
We notified the cars from Metro of the new developments and gave them the description of the boy.
A check of the phone books for the name netted us nothing.
Latent prints were sent out to the home of Enid Blair to get the fingerprints of she and her husband.
When checking over the empty glass found in the Blair home, besides the prints of Mr. and Mrs. Blair,
Dean Bergman came up with a partial unidentified print.
It was not enough for classification but he told us that if we turned the burglar, he could tell us if we had the right man or not.
4.30 p.m. Frank and I cruised the area the burglar had been working in.
We were in constant contact with the other ten cars in the field.
Figure he's still working his neighborhood, Joe?
Well, we got no choice till we hear otherwise.
Funny about the Blair woman, isn't it?
What?
You know, turning the kid loose. Sure must have put on a show.
Oh, yeah, sure.
What time you got?
4.38. Got another hour and a half.
Frank?
Yeah, Joe?
Up ahead there in the corner?
Yeah, a brown sweater could be.
All right, let's go.
He sees us making a break through that yard there.
Come on.
All right, hold it up there.
Here's a stopper.
What about that garage?
I'll try and hit him off.
All right, watch it.
Joe, you see him?
No, we missed him someplace.
All right, I'll go back to the car.
All right?
I'll call in here, all right?
Unit 1K80 to Unit 2R1.
Come in, please.
Unit 2R1 to 1K80, come in.
Suspect WMA, 17 to 19 years old,
wearing tan trousers and brown and gold sweater,
fleeing on foot.
Last seen going east on Chalmers Drive
at the corner of Spalding Avenue.
Please block at Chalmers and Hayworth.
Repeat, please block at Chalmers and Hayworth.
Roger, 1K80.
Unit 2R7, come in, please.
Unit 2R7 to 1K80, go ahead.
You get the description all right?
Yeah.
Want to cover Berro's Drive and Hay Street?
Repeat, Berro's Drive and Hay Street.
Over.
Roger, 1K80.
Units 2R2, 2R3, 2R4, 2R5, and 2R6,
converge on area adjacent to Chalmers and Spalding.
Repeat, converge on corner of Chalmers and Spalding.
Unit 2R20 will direct operations.
1K80 off.
Blocked in, let's fight.
We knew the suspect was in the blockaded area
with the units from Metro Division blocking the street.
There was no escape for him.
Frank and I walked down Spalding Avenue.
Down the street we could see Unit 2R20 getting into position.
Sergeant Masters was directing the operations from there.
The search went on.
640 p.m. We still hadn't found him.
At each house we notified the people to be on the lookout for the suspect.
In the event they saw him, they were instructed to call police headquarters.
They in turn would contact Sergeant Masters
and appropriate action could be taken.
7, 10 p.m. We just about covered the entire area.
What do you figure, Joe?
Yeah, I could have gotten there.
It's got to be in here someplace.
Two more blocks to go, not much cover.
I figure he hasn't been sitting still.
He's probably been moving too.
Yeah.
How about that garage back there?
I'll check it.
Big place, Joe. Looks like a workshop.
Yeah.
I wonder who it belongs to.
Imagine that house over there, don't you?
It's where the wires lead.
Wait a minute.
Here, look at this.
Broken padlock.
This must be where he is.
Not easy.
Ah, young fella, come on out.
What do you think?
There's no other door. Come on.
All right, come on, boy. Give it up. We know you're in here.
How about the lights, Joe?
Here, I got them.
Bigger inside than it looks.
Doesn't place it could be hiding.
Yeah. You want to check over there, back of those legs.
I'll take this side.
Right.
What about over here? How about you?
No.
How about that balcony up there?
The wooden paint cans, see up there?
Yeah.
Somebody could hide up there.
All right, I'll take a look.
Take it easy, Joe.
Yeah.
All right, give it up, fella. You got no place to go.
Watch it, Joe. It's a paint can.
Let me go. Let me go.
Frank.
Yeah, Joe, I got it. Go away. Go away.
All right, watch it, Frank.
I see.
Ow.
Come here, you.
I didn't mean to cut him.
I didn't mean to cut him. I told you to leave me alone. I told you.
All right, come on. Get up, you.
How about it, Frank? You all right?
Oh, Joe, just to cut it, isn't it? All right.
Let me go. I didn't mean it. I got scared. I didn't mean it.
I don't know what I'll do if my family finds out.
Yeah, sure. You going to tell us about your sister, the one who was sick, and your drunken father?
Huh?
Well, are we going to get the full treatment here, the same one you gave Miss Blair?
She told you, huh?
Yeah, she told us. What's your name, boy?
Akins.
Robert Akins.
You should have got me tagged for the jobs, huh?
Yeah, we got you tagged.
How's the deal?
I thought for sure I had her figured.
How do you deal all the way around?
I never should have started it.
All I got was a lot of cheap jewelry and a little money.
What do you mean, cheap jewelry? I'll report to show you that little better than 80,000.
80,000? That's a lot.
A lot of costume junk, a little money.
80,000. Somebody's been giving you a snow job.
When I didn't throw away, I still got cheap cut.
You got cheap costume junk, that's all.
All right, Akins, let's go.
Yeah.
I should have known not to trust that Blair woman.
I should have known.
I was caught before, you know, a couple of times.
Yeah, right?
Yeah, a couple of times.
He let me go.
Started to cry.
I'm getting that story about my sister.
He let me go.
I'm the kind that really did it, though.
As soon as I started to boil, they turned me loose.
Good gimmick, huh, kind?
Yeah, sure.
Don't try it on the jury, it won't work.
The story you have just heard was true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
Robert Charles Aiken was filed on and found guilty of 12 counts of second-degree burglary.
He was released to the Youth Authority for parolement and possible rehabilitation.
Ladies and gentlemen, lightning starts a few forest fires every year.
But careless people cause many, many more.
This shameful waste of one of our greatest natural resources weakens America.
This weekend, if you picnic or camp out, please be careful with fire.
Be sure, be very sure your campfire is really out before you leave it.
Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.
You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files.
Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
Technical advisors Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Wien, Sergeant Vance Brasher.
Heard tonight were Herb Ellis, June Whitley, Jack Prusian.
Script by John Robinson, music by Walter Schuman, Hal Gibney speaking.