Sound off for Chesterfield.
Chesterfield is best for you.
First cigarette with premium quality in both regular and king size.
Chesterfield brings you Dragnet.
Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail.
You get a call from the San Diego Police Department that three hold up men are thought to be heading for your city.
You know they're armed. You know they're dangerous. Your job? Get them.
Years ahead of them all.
Chesterfield is years ahead of them all.
The quality contrast between Chesterfield and other leading brands is a revealing story.
Recent chemical analysis has given index of good quality for the country's six leading cigarette brands.
The index of good quality table, which is a ratio of high sugar to low nicotine, shows Chesterfield quality highest.
Chesterfield quality highest.
Fifteen percent higher than its nearest competitor.
Chesterfield quality highest.
Thirty-one percent higher than the average of the five other leading brands.
Yes, Chesterfield is first with premium quality in both regular and king size.
Don't you want to try a cigarette with a record like this? Chesterfield.
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 Monday, October 5th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of robbery detail.
My partner is Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Diddy and my name is Friday.
I was on my way into the office and it was 4.58 p.m. when I got to room 27A. Robbery.
Hi, I'm Earth. Seen Frank?
Yeah, he was here a couple of minutes ago. I think he went down the hall. Said he'd be right back.
Thanks. How are the kids?
We're in the cycle again.
What do you mean?
The cold cycle.
Oh, yeah.
Oldest boy brings one home with him, gives it to his sister. Then it goes to the baby, then to the wife, then to me.
By the time I got it, the oldest boy is ready to catch it again from me. Doesn't seem to be any end to it.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
Readin' the other day where if you take care of a cold, you know, take a lot of pills, stay in bed, you can shake it in a week.
All right.
Don't do anything special for it and it'll take seven days to get rid of it.
Joe?
Hi.
Got an APB here from San Diego. The boys down there really drew themselves a gem.
Can I take a look?
Yeah, here it is.
I can hear them moan all the way from here.
What is it?
Well, I had a jewelry robbery at a hotel on the coast. Three men.
Took 135,000 in jewels and at least 15,000 in cash.
150,000, huh? Any leads on them?
No, APB gives a description, a list of the stolen jewelry. That's about all.
When did it happen?
It says 1.30 this morning.
Yeah, it's gonna keep him busy for a while.
Let Mort screamin' like an eagle, Joe.
Why?
Well, I talked to him last week, said he was going down to Mexico to do some fishin'.
Been savin' days off for the last three months. Won't get to go now.
I get it.
Robbery Friday.
Yeah, go ahead. San Diego.
Yeah, hi, Mort.
Yeah, we got the APB. How's it goin'?
Yeah.
When do you figure they left?
Yeah.
Okay, Mort. Yeah.
All right, we'll keep an eye open.
Right. Bye.
What's he got?
Old Davis walkin', he want her comin' up.
They're drivin'?
Yeah, they figure the holdup men are headin' this way.
The early editions of the afternoon papers came out and they carried the complete story.
Three men had entered the Carlton Surf Hotel at 1.30 a.m.
All three were armed and they forced the manager to open the safe.
Inside the vault were the jewels and the other valuables that had been deposited with the management for safekeeping by the guests.
After looting the safe, the three men had robbed five of the guests who had entered the lobby during the time that they'd been going through the safe.
After taking all the money and valuables they could find, the three men forced the manager and the guests into a back store room of the hotel and they locked them in.
None of the victims could tell the San Diego officers what kind of a car had been used, but all of them were able to give good descriptions of the three men.
The San Diego Police Department had been called and the men from the Detective Bureau had begun an immediate investigation.
From the phone conversation I'd had with Lieutenant Mort Gere, they had evidence to believe that the three men were heading up for Los Angeles.
While the three detectives from the San Diego Department came to L.A., Lieutenant Gere, Sergeant Tony McGuire would continue the investigation down in their city.
11, 12 p.m. Sergeants Carl Davis, Jerry Walk, and Pappy Hewan arrived at the city hall. They filled us in on what had happened.
The way the thing looked, it figured that someone who'd either worked for the hotel or was working for it had engineered it.
How'd that check on?
The identification we got?
Yeah.
Virgil Russell worked for the hotel a year ago as a busboy in a dining room. All the victims gave a positive identification on it.
How about the other two, Carl?
Nothing on them yet.
What made you figure they might be coming up here?
Well, Russell's got a record, checked his package and found that he has a sister in San Diego. Checked her and she gave us the lead.
Yeah.
Said her brother and two men came by the house early this morning. Her brother's been staying with them the past few weeks.
Anyway, he came by this morning, packed his clothes, said he had to come up to L.A. on business.
Was she having a dress up here for him, Carl?
Not good. Said he told her he'd get in touch with her. He was staying with a friend and place out on Olympic Boulevard.
Anything on that address?
Yeah, our package gave an address out there. Russell had listed a friend of his when he was arrested.
We figured he might be out there. Got a good description of the car. One thing is gonna help.
Yeah.
Sister told us that she asked her brother about the other two men. Wanted to know if they didn't want to come to the house.
Russell said, no, they were waiting for them. The three of them were in a hurry. She couldn't give us a description of the other two.
What time this happened?
About 5.30 this morning.
Well, they came right up here. They'd get in about 8 then, wouldn't they?
Yeah.
You're pretty sure that these are the right ones now?
Looks like that. Identification of the mugs. Russell's sister told us when he was packing, a brooch fell out of his grip. She picked it up for him.
You have a description of it?
Yeah. Matches one that was taken from the hotel in the theft. Large diamond with four rubies in the setting. Look real good for the job.
Did you get a broadcast out on the car?
Yeah. Russell's sister told us it was a 53 Nash, red and black, continental hookup.
She said Russell just got back from a trip through Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico. Said that he had the rear window covered with those stickers. You know, the ones they get from gas stations.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
The window's supposed to be covered with them. Shouldn't be hard to spot.
Well, maybe he figures that too. Might have them taken off, huh?
Possible. It's the lead, though. Something else to look out for.
Any chance he might have gotten across the border into Mexico?
Yeah, it's possible, but it isn't likely. As soon as we got word on the car, we got out a supplemental APB on it and got in touch with the authorities down the border.
They said they hadn't seen a car that matched the description across the border.
Well, if they'd gotten to the border, the officers down there didn't know about it anyway.
Yeah, I talked to Al Gaitan from our office. He said they'd be on the lookout for him.
Our pawn shop detail got right on it, Carl. We got the description of the jewelry out all over town. We haven't had any reports on it yet, though.
They aren't gonna try to sell it piece by piece. Too many of those pieces are easy to recognize.
They'll probably try to peddle through a fence and have it broken up.
Well, we'll get the word out to our informants. Ask them to watch out for it.
Yeah, heist that big can't be kept quiet for long. Bound to be rumbles on it someplace.
I'd like to check out the place on Olympic. It looks like it's best leave we got.
Okay. We're a walking human, you know.
Went down to Hall with Murphy. Wanted to check some things at R&I.
Well, might as well get on out to Olympic, huh? You got the address?
Yeah, you better check the place first. Could be rough.
What do you mean?
Well, all three of them are armed. Russell served time twice before at the joint.
Yeah.
I don't think he's gonna want to go back.
We checked the name of Russell's friend through our files. We found that he had no record.
We drove out to the address on Olympic and we talked with the neighbors.
From them, we found out that it was not a private residence.
We talked to the woman who lived next door. We asked her about the man listed in the San Diego package as a friend of the suspects.
She told us she hadn't seen him.
Directly in front of the rooming house, we found a car answering the description given us by the sister.
There were no lights on in the rooming house. Walking human covered the rear of the place.
Frank, Carl Davis, and I went up to the front door.
Pretty dark. I can't see anybody in there, can you?
No, I can't.
Check the window. See if I can spot anything.
Right, Carl.
Well, let's try the door.
Yeah.
Who is it?
Come on, open up.
Beat it. Nobody gets in here.
All right, Frank, let's hit it.
All right, stand right where you are. Hold on.
I'm not doing anything. What are you doing breaking in here like this?
Get your hands out in front of you.
Sure.
I'll shake him, Joe. He's clean.
Everything okay?
Yeah, Carl.
Who else is in the house?
Nobody but the landlady. She's upstairs. Her and her daughter. Nobody else here.
What's your name?
Pete Ellis.
Where's Russell?
I don't know any Russell.
All right, we'll look around. Come on.
What's in there?
Dining room. There ain't nothing in there.
Open it up.
See? Nobody here.
No.
All right, we'll check the other rooms. Where's this door go?
Bedroom? Ain't nobody in there.
Open it up.
Joe, nobody in the kitchen. Check the back porch.
I'm walking Davis for upstairs.
All right, we'll try this one here. Come on, you open it up.
It's locked. It can't get in.
There's a key in the door over here. Let's see if it fits.
Virgil! Virgil! Get out! Virgil, it's the cops! Get out!
All right, get out of the way. You, come on, let's hit it. Get out!
On the bed, Joe.
I see. All right, come on, you out of that bed.
Hey, Joe.
Yeah?
There's a bottle of sleeping pills on the table here.
Yeah, an empty bottle of whiskey. I guess he's dead drunk.
Upstairs is clean, Joe. Russell, huh?
Yeah, he's drunk. I guess we're pretty lucky. Under his pillow there?
Yeah.
Three guns.
With the suspects in custody, we searched the house.
In the back bedroom where we'd found Virgil Russell,
we found a folder with all of the newspaper stories of the hotel robbery.
In each instance, that portion of the story which referred to the thieves themselves
was outlined in pencil, and there were small notations
along the margins of the newspaper.
A complete search of the house netted us nothing.
There was no sign of the loot from the robbery,
although each of the suspects had a large amount of money in their possession.
We talked to the landlady, but she was unable to tell us anything about the suspects.
She said that she had rented a room to Peter Ellis over a year before
and that the suspect had moved out after living in the house for only two months.
She said that she hadn't seen them again since that night
when they arrived at the house and asked for rooms.
We called the office and arranged for a stakeout on the place,
and we took the two suspects back to the office.
We ran Peter Ellis through R&I,
and we found that he had one previous conviction on a robbery charge.
2.15 a.m. We talked to Virgil Russell in the interrogation room.
All right, all right. I ain't trying to con you into anything.
I was in on the heist, I'll admit it, but I ain't gonna be no Fink.
Ain't gonna get any other names out of me.
You got the money we found on you from that hotel robbery, is that right?
I don't know where else it had come from.
I got no reason to con you about the hotel job. I pulled it.
I ain't afraid to admit it. I'm just not turning Fink, that's all.
Maybe we can get it out of Ellis.
He won't tell you anything.
You're pretty sure about that. He admits he was in on the robbery.
So what? We all had a deal.
If any of us got caught, they wouldn't tell about the others.
You think Ellis and that other guy would go that route, standing the arrest alone?
Sure. We had an agreement.
Oh, come on now. Tell us how much you got for the jewels.
You can tell us that and not tell us who the other man is, can't you?
Yeah, yeah, I suppose so.
Isn't there any way you could tell if I told you how much we got?
How much?
Seven thousand.
How much?
Seven thousand.
Who set up the deal to sell the stuff? Your partner?
Yeah, he handled all that.
He fixed it for you to get seven thousand bucks for all the jewelry?
Yeah, that's right.
Well, you made a good deal, all right. Seven thousand for a hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars worth of jewelry.
Wasn't worth a hundred and thirty-five. That's just the papers making it sound big.
Oh, no, Russell, you're wrong. That's what the stuff is worth.
Are you kidding?
You got that report, Frank?
Yeah, here.
Now, wait a minute. That's maybe what they claim the stuff is worth, but you know how people are always jacking things up on the insurance companies?
The stuff was worth maybe fifteen thousand out of a cent more.
Yeah, Joe, here it is.
This is the report you got from the insurance company, Carl.
That's it.
Would you like to read it to yourself, Russell, or do you want me to read it to you?
Well, let me see it.
Mm-hmm.
What a lousy bum.
Oh, no good, good.
He's a thief. That's what he is. A thieving thief.
That's the kind of a guy you say you had a deal with, huh?
Let you think he was doing you a big favor. Some deal. Seven thousand dollars.
If we'd picked him up, he'd have screamed like an eagle.
He's your pal, all right.
No good thief. I can't believe it.
Who'd he sell his stuff to, do you know?
No, no, I don't, and that's the truth. I saw the guy, but I don't know who it was.
How'd the deal work?
Earlier tonight, we got together out in Westwood. He called the fellow who was gonna handle the deal, told him to meet us here.
Who's he?
A fink, a lousy fink.
What's his name?
Payne Al Payne.
How do you spell it? Last name.
P-A-Y-N-E.
You got a record?
No, I don't think so. I never heard him talk about it.
You give us a description?
Yeah.
That stuff was really worth a hundred and thirty-five grand.
He said it was a lot of talk, newspaper talk, he said.
Oh, brother, what a laugh.
What's his payne look like?
Oh, he's about thirty-seven, maybe a hundred and fifty, sixty pounds.
Oh, a little bit of hair on the edge of his head.
I'll check the name through R&I, Joe.
Right. Do you want to bring the mugs back here?
Yeah.
Russell?
Yeah?
That first name, is it Alfred or Albert?
I think it's Albert. He's some kind of a promoter. I don't know what he promotes. I think it's just a dodge, kind of a front.
I'll be right back, sir.
All right.
Let's go ahead with the story about the buy, huh?
All right. Where was I?
He said you went out the west way.
Oh, yeah. Well, we were supposed to meet out in a parking lot by the ice rink. Big place out there.
Well, we met this guy there.
A fellow Payne called it. He looked at the stuff, said it was worth maybe fifteen thousand the way it was.
But he said it had to be broken down before it could be sold.
That it wouldn't bring that much when it was all broken down.
What did Al say to that?
Well, he agreed to it, said it was true. He went right along with it. Lousy deal. He was probably in on the whole thing.
Wouldn't be surprised.
I just can't get over it. We had all that stuff and didn't know what it was worth.
You got any idea who this guy is?
No, I told you. I didn't know.
You said this Payne had an office here in town. You know where it is?
Yeah, I can show you. We were up there this afternoon while I was setting up the deal. It's in a building over on Sixth.
You'd be willing to go over there with us?
So you can nail him?
That's right. We want to get the jewels back.
Sure I'll go. After what that bum did to me, nothing too bad for him.
How are you going to work it, Joe?
Well, Russell here will have to introduce me as somebody who wants to buy this stuff.
He'll have to tell Payne that I'm willing to pay, say, 50,000 for the jewelry.
That way, Payne will have to get in touch with the other man. I don't think he'll pass up a deal like that.
Maybe he figures to make more than that this way.
Yeah, but suppose he thinks that Russell here wants to do business with me. He'll get the stuff back. I don't think he'll want to cross Russell.
Might work.
We haven't got much choice. We've got to get this stuff back before it's broken up.
Hey, Joe, I've got some pictures here. I'm gonna match the description.
What was that?
I'm gonna match the description.
Oh. You want to look at these?
Yeah.
Joe's gonna go see this Payne with Russell and Ellis, try to get lead on where this stuff is.
How are you gonna work it?
Well, I'll tell Payne I'm interested in buying the jewels, offer him maybe 50,000.
Pictures not here. None of these is Payne.
You go along with this plan, Russell?
Sure. I'd like to see you get him and get him good.
It's pretty risky. It doesn't look like there's any other way.
I suppose not.
Russell?
Yeah?
We know Payne carries a gun. I'm gonna tell you something. I want you to remember it.
All right.
You get any bright ideas about tipping Payne off about Joe, remember we'll have men all through the building.
All right.
We're not gonna start any shooting.
Yeah.
But we'll finish it.
You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action.
Chesterfield is best for you. Just listen to the record.
For a full year and two months, a doctor has been making regular examinations of a group of Chesterfield smokers.
And he reports no adverse effects to the nose, throat, and sinuses from smoking Chesterfields.
Don't you want to try a cigarette with a record like this?
Chesterfield. First with premium quality in both regular and king size.
Chesterfield. First choice with Young America.
And that's from a survey of 274 colleges and universities.
Try Chesterfields today.
Remember, Chesterfield is America's best cigarette buy.
The two suspects, Peter Ellis and Virgil Russell, were taken to the main jail and booked in for violation of Section 211 of the California Penal Code.
After that, the officers from San Diego, Frank and I, discussed the plan for finding the stolen jewels.
It was agreed that I would go into the office building with the suspect Virgil Russell.
To lessen the chances of discovery, I would carry no gun or any police identification.
We were unable to make contact that night, so the following morning we checked over the physical layout of the building.
It was six stories high and had one elevator.
There were two entrances to the building, one in the front and one that opened off an alley in the rear.
Officers were planted at both entrances.
Additional men were stationed on each floor.
Two men were on the roof to cut off any possible escape to one of the adjoining buildings.
1130 a.m. Tuesday, October 6th.
Russell called Payne and said that he wanted to see him.
Payne told him to come right over to the office.
Russell and I got into a car and we drove over.
It had been arranged that from the time we entered the building, no one would be permitted to leave until we returned to the main entrance.
1158 a.m.
We got to the office building, we went up to the fourth floor.
The sign on Payne's door read, Albert Payne, investments.
Russell opened the door and we walked in.
Hi, Verge. What's the bet?
Well, I'd like you to meet Joe Ferguson.
Joe, glad to meet you.
Yeah, same here, Al.
Sit down, boys.
Now, what's this all about?
It's about the stuff, Al. We gotta get it back.
Now, what's the pitch? I don't even know what you're talking about.
Come off it, Payne. Joe here's willing to opt the ante for the jewels.
How much?
It'll go as high as 50,000. I gotta see it first.
For 15,000 worth of jewels?
Papers say it's worth 135.
I explained that to you. They up the value. It's all insured.
People up the price of the insurance companies, papers up the price.
They sell more papers. I told you.
Yeah, and I ain't buying it. I want the stuff back.
I never even got my cut of the 7,000. Alice feels the same way.
I told you the money'd be coming.
Well, it ain't coming anymore. I want the stuff back.
I don't think we can do that. Most of it's already broken up.
Not much of it could be broken up in the time that he's had it.
Guy that bought it isn't gonna like it.
Well, it's tough. You just tell him to stop breaking it up.
Tell him we want it back.
Where do you figure to sell the jewels?
I don't see where that concerns you. I'm offering you 50,000 for them.
That's all you need to know.
Come on, Al. Quit playing games. Let's get on it.
You get in touch with the guy you gave them to and get the jewels back.
I got something to say about this.
I was in on the job with you. Don't you forget it.
I'm only gonna say this once more, Payne.
You get on that phone and get in touch with your contact.
Tell him to stop breaking them up. You set up a meet to get the stuff back.
I'll call him. I don't think it's gonna do any good.
He's probably got all the mountains melted down by this time.
Got it all broken up.
You call him. Let's see what happens.
All right.
Now, let me talk to Fred.
Fred and Sal. Yeah.
Listen, something's come up we can't go through with the deal.
What?
Yeah, I know. I told them.
It doesn't make any difference. They want it all back.
Yeah, I told them that, too.
Doesn't make any difference.
You want the jewels back that have been broken down, too?
I told you, Al. I want all of it back.
Yeah. Yeah, Freddy says all of it.
Okay. When can you make it?
Yeah. All right.
Yeah, we'll see you then. Right.
Okay. Bye.
They'll have the stuff for you tomorrow night.
Why does he have to wait that long?
How do I know? He just said he couldn't get it to you any sooner.
You should have let me talk to him. I'd have told him.
Yeah, sure. How much of it's been broken up?
Hardly. And he just got started.
Fred says almost all whole.
Who is this Fred?
That's none of your business.
I asked you a question, Al.
You got your answer. Doesn't make any difference who he is.
You and your friends lost up the deal. Be happy. You fixed it fine.
Well, I'll come out better.
Yeah, you better be right. Now, remember, I got a piece of this.
I won't forget.
What time tomorrow are we gonna meet Fred?
He said he'd call. Let me know where and when.
Well, it can't be any later than tomorrow. I gotta be leaving then.
You're gonna have the money with you when you pick up the stuff, Al.
I'll have it.
All of it. I don't want any of this down payment.
I told you I'd have it.
All right, you call me tomorrow about 10, Virg.
I'll let you know the details then.
Okay.
I hope you're right about this, Virg.
What do you mean?
Well, this deal. I don't like it.
I hope nothing happens to louse it up.
Yeah, so do I.
Virgil, Russell, and I left the office and went downstairs.
We checked with Frank, Carl Davis, and the other officers from San Diego.
Al Payne was taken into custody and booked in at the main jail
on suspicion of violation of Section 211 P.C.
Then we returned to the office.
You find out who has the stuff?
Yeah, a fellow named Fred.
You know who he is?
No, not yet, but we will.
How'd you figure that? Payne didn't tell you.
Well, I saw the number he dialed when he called Fred.
It was a Hollywood prefix.
That narrows down the area.
I can try the number and see who answers.
Oh, I'm sorry. I got the wrong number.
Excuse me.
Did you get it?
Yeah.
It's the Kingery Trophy Company.
You want to check the books?
Right.
Okay.
K, K.I., King, and Cade.
Here there's Joe.
Kingery Trophy Company. It's on Las Palmas.
Trophy Company. That'd give them a chance to melt the Mounties down to metal, wouldn't it?
It'd be easier to get rid of it that way.
Makes sense.
What do you figure to move in on?
Right now, we can drive out and check the place now.
Look it over, then we'll go ahead and get them.
What happens with me?
We got to take you back to the main jail.
After the help I gave you?
That's the way it's got to be. You knew that going in.
Yeah, I suppose so.
Well, you tell the D.A.I. help, though, huh?
Yeah, we'll see who knows about it.
Sure a bad deal all the way around.
A real bad deal. I should have known I couldn't win.
Right from the start, I should have known. Nobody can win.
Well, still a lot of people trying.
We returned Virgil Russell to his cell,
and then we drove out to the Kingery Trophy Company.
It was a two-story building on Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood.
They made trophies and fraternity pins.
A large sign on the front of the building advertised that they could duplicate anything in metal.
We checked with the neighborhood merchants and found that there was a permanent staff of four employees.
The company was owned by a Roger Kingery,
and none of the neighborhood people could tell us anything about an employee by the name of Fred.
5 p.m. The employees of the plant left the building. One man remained.
From the description we'd gotten from Russell,
we figured that he was the person Payne had called Fred.
6.03 p.m. The lights in the rear of the factory went on,
and through the windows we could see the suspect working over a small furnace.
On a table off to one side we could see a quantity of jewelry.
Frank, Carl, and I went to the side door of the plant while the other officers covered the remaining doors.
All right, you ready?
Yeah. Let's go.
Carl? Yeah.
I'll hit the door and grab him before he's got the chance to throw the jewelry into the furnace.
Right.
Grab him, Carl. He's making a break for it.
I got it. Hey!
What are you guys doing breaking in here like this?
Look at that, Joe. Jewelry matches the description of the stolen stuff.
Yeah, it looks like it.
All right, mister, stand still.
I'll shank him.
He's clean.
I don't know what you guys are doing. I don't know what this is all about.
All right, save it. What's this jewelry doing here?
That isn't mine.
I didn't ask you who it was. I asked you what it was doing here.
The fellas say give me $2,500 if I break it down for them.
What's the fella's name?
A guy named Payne said he'd pay me to melt it down for him.
You know this stuff was stolen?
No, no, I didn't. He just made the deal to melt it down.
Didn't he call you this afternoon and tell you to stop breaking it up?
Yeah, and then he called back and told me not to pay attention to what he said.
Go ahead with the job. I did like he said.
Who else is in this with you?
What do you mean?
Who else here at the factory?
Nobody. I'm the only one. I only did it because I needed the money.
I don't know where the jewels came from. I didn't care.
It didn't make no difference to me. As long as I got mine, I was happy.
I didn't know what it was all about.
Looks like most of it's here, Joe.
How many pieces did you break down?
Took a couple of the pins apart.
Didn't have the time to melt any of the mounting down. It's all there.
All that Payne gave me.
What's your name?
Fred Michelson.
All right, let's go.
I didn't know they were stolen. I didn't know anything about it.
I just did a job. That's all. Just a job.
Yeah.
I didn't even get paid for it.
Don't worry about it. You will.
The story you have just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On February 18th, trial was held in Department 89,
Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of San Diego.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
And now here is our star, Jack Webb.
Thank you, George Fenomen.
I want to thank all of you for your interest in drag.
Thanks very much for your letters. We really appreciate them.
And we'll try to keep around on giving you the kind of a show that you like.
I want to thank all of you, too, who have switched to Chesterfield.
I know you're going to like them.
And I know you'll find their best for you.
Now, you folks who haven't tried Chesterfield,
I'd like you to pick up a carton tomorrow.
Chesterfield. It's a great smoke.
Virgil Nathan Russell, Peter Howard Ellis, and Albert Franklin Payne
were tried and convicted of robbery in the first degree.
They received sentence as prescribed by law.
Fred George Michelson was tried and found guilty of receiving stolen property.
He received sentence as prescribed by law.
Receiving stolen property is punishable by imprisonment
in the state penitentiary for a period of not more than 10 years.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Lieutenant Jack Allen, Los Angeles Police Department.
Thank you.
On behalf of the Detroit Police Officers Association,
I'd like to present this award to Dragnet.
I wonder if you'd read it, Mr. Fenomen.
Yes, sir.
Whereas the radio and television show Dragnet
and its writers, producers, and actors
most accurately portray the American police officers and their work,
and whereas the result of this portrayal has been to give the people of this country
a new insight into their police departments,
bringing with it understanding, sympathy, and an aroused public opinion,
and whereas Dragnet brings credit to the men and women of the police forces throughout America,
therefore we, the Detroit Police Officers Association,
representing the patrolmen, detectives, and policewomen of Detroit,
hereby cite and commend the show Dragnet
and its star Jack Webb, who plays the part of Detective Sergeant Friday,
as the finest and most accurate police program both on television and radio.
Signed this date, March 31, 1953,
in behalf of the association by Thomas Duffy, President,
Bruce Finney, Vice President,
Francis Klein, Secretary-Treasurer.
All of us on Dragnet want to thank the Detroit Police Officers Association
and our thanks to you, Lieutenant Allen.
Music
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 Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brasher.
Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Eddie Firestone, Art Gilmore.
Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schuman. Hal Gibney speaking.
For a million laughs, tune in Chesterfield's Martin & Lewis show Tuesday on the same NBC station.
And sound off for Chesterfields.
Either regular or king size, you'll find premium quality Chesterfields much milder.
Chesterfield is best for you.
Chesterfield has brought you Dragnet Transcribed from Los Angeles.