Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Drag men.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned to the business office.
And past records show that you can expect 170 crimes to occur in the city during the
next 24 hours.
You don't know where.
You don't know when.
Your job.
Handle them.
Drag men.
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 Saturday, July 10th.
It was hot in Los Angeles.
We'd been assigned to the business office morning watch.
My partner's Frank Smith.
The boss is Captain Gilbert.
My name's Friday.
As I'm on my way back to the coffee room, and it was 12, 10 a.m. when I got back to
room 21, I was told that I was going to be late for the morning watch.
I was told that I was going to be late for the morning watch.
Who are you talking to, buddy?
Oh, hi, Joe.
Hey, try to stay around, will you?
I've been here 20 minutes.
I've had 29 phone calls and written three reports.
Okay, I brought you some coffee, man.
Oh, thanks.
Hey, how you feeling?
Better?
Oh, a little bit.
I don't know what it is.
I ache all over.
I think I'm coming down with a cold.
That's too bad.
A lot of that going around.
Yeah.
Where's Skipper?
He ran over to the crime lab.
Wanted to talk to Pinker.
How about the pool cards?
You check them?
Yeah, the books are in some place.
There it is, right on that paper there.
No, over there.
There.
Oh.
Yeah, file them out.
Check for the books.
Mm-hmm.
Yes, ma'am.
Something we can do for you?
You a detective?
Yes, ma'am.
That's right.
All right.
Young man, my car's been stolen.
All right.
I told one of the officers on the corner about it, but he said it might work faster if I
came up here.
Yes, ma'am.
That's right.
The car's stolen.
All you've got to do is go out and find it.
Just find my car.
What kind of a car is it?
Well, it was a brand new Chevrolet.
That's 1954.
That's right.
Bel Air with the windows that fold down.
All right.
Now, we'll need to know some more things here before we can start looking for it.
Yes, what's that?
Your name?
Avis Bowen.
That's A-V-I-S.
Well, that's right.
There's no other way to spell it.
Avis Bowen.
Yes, ma'am.
Do you have a middle initial?
R. Hope you're not going to ask me what it stands for.
No, that won't be necessary.
There isn't anybody that knows what my middle name is.
Yes, ma'am.
All we want is the initial.
Well, that's all you're going to get.
All right, Mrs. Bowen.
It's miss.
All right.
What's the license number?
Oh.
Well, now, I think it's 1U44441.
All right.
Wait just a moment, please.
All right.
I'll go get it.
All right.
I'll go get it.
All right.
I'll go get it.
All right.
Just a moment, please.
Who are you calling now?
DMV.
Who's that?
Department of Motor Vehicles.
Oh, my.
All this going on.
It's a wonder you ever catch anybody.
Hi, Harry.
This is Friday over at the business office.
California license, 1 Union, 44441.
That's right.
I'm telling you, it's a Bel Air with the windows that fold down by themselves.
Yes, ma'am.
I'll do it.
Doesn't it?
Well, hold on here.
Are you sure about that license number?
What do you mean?
Well, it kind of looks like you made a little mistake, Mrs. Bowen.
I did not.
The car is stolen.
Yes, we understand that, but you gave us the wrong license number.
1U44441.
I remember it because of all the fours.
Harry, I'll call you back.
Mrs. Bowen, that number is registered to a 1940 Studebaker.
My license number?
Well, I don't know, but the license number is registered to a 1940 Studebaker.
Oh, I see.
Well, I don't know, but the license number is registered to a 1940 Studebaker.
Oh, I see.
Well, I don't know, but the license number is registered to a 1940 Studebaker.
Yes, ma'am.
11954 Chevrolet Bel Air.
Windows that fold down by themselves.
Yes, ma'am.
I understand.
There must be several hundred cars that look like that.
You've seen them before.
Well, you act like you've never seen a car like that.
There are lots of them around.
Mine's light blue with a gold on top.
We still need the license number.
Do you think you have it in your car?
Yes, ma'am.
I'll get it.
You've got a license number.
Do you think you have it at home?
Yes, I guess so.
All right, fine.
If you'll phone it in to us, we can start looking for it.
Well, how do you expect me to get there?
Ma'am.
Home.
How do you expect me to get there?
We'll have a car drop you off.
Well, it's about time I was getting some kind of service around here.
Yes, ma'am.
I think I'll write a letter to the papers about this.
All right, ma'am.
The whole thing, right down to that TMV or whatever it is, expose the whole mess.
Oh, you're going to be mighty sorry you ever opened this can of beans.
We're doing the best we can, ma'am.
Well, that's not very much standing around here making phone calls isn't finding my car.
Well, you said it yourself, didn't you?
What's that?
There must be several hundred cars like yours here in the city.
Yes.
Well, without the right license number, how are we going to find it?
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Ma'am.
You're nothing but a fake.
I beg your pardon?
You ain't no detective.
The business office, room 21.
It's open 24 hours a day, but it's after the detective division closes that it begins to work.
While patrol units in the city function normally, the men in the business office give advice on booking procedure, policy matters, and other police business.
They issue pool cars and riot guns.
In the event of an emergency, they act as advisors in an overall plan for the dispersal of policemen.
The captain on duty is, in effect, the acting chief of police.
On the average weeknight, the activities are slow and routine.
But over the weekend, the men involved can expect to handle several hundred phone calls from the thousands put through the complaint board.
These calls deal with every crime in the municipal and penal code.
In addition to this, they handle the citizen traffic through the city hall.
Next door is a report room where statements are taken and forwarded to the captains of the detective divisions for appropriate action.
Frank and I checked in at 12 midnight, and for the following half hour we did business as usual.
At 12.41 a.m., we got a hot shot call reporting a sound of shots in the 4200 block on Albany Street.
At 12.43, the call was changed to a shooting and ambulance follow-up.
At 12.45, the hot shot phone rang again.
That's shooting?
Yeah, it's a homicide now.
Gonna call a unit?
Better have them check it, yeah.
Same address as the shots?
Couple of houses down.
This Friday, business office, will you put out a call to 1K5?
Have them cover the shooting and ambulance follow-up at 4289. That's 4289 Albany.
He's got it. Nice. Thank you.
Looks like a good one, huh?
Yeah. Turns out we'll get Geezy out of bed.
That'll make him happy. It'll end up in their laps.
All right, Joe?
Bob, what do you got?
You want to sit down there, Pop?
Let me see.
I don't know. We found him in front of one of the burlesque houses on Main.
The place was closed. He was just standing out there looking at the pictures.
You got a name on him?
Mm-mm. Haven't ever get him to say anything. You want to give it a try?
All right.
You want to tell us who you are, old fella?
Come on, we want to help you, but there's not much we can do if you won't tell us your name.
Doing about as good as we did. That guy looked pretty wobbly when we stopped.
Oh, yeah?
What do you want to do?
I'm going to take him over to Georgia State. Wait a minute.
You got a wallet?
All right, let me look at it, will you?
Maybe there's something in here that'll help us.
Yeah.
Any money?
No. A few cards here.
Nothing with a name on it.
What's that one there? Something written on the back. Looks like a phone number.
Yeah, that's what it is.
You want to call and see if they know who he is?
Yeah, I'll give it a try.
Okay.
He just sits still right there.
Hello, this is Officer Frank Smith, Los Angeles Police Department.
No, there's nothing wrong.
We have a man here in the office who's carrying a card with his phone on it.
I wonder if you can tell us who he is.
Huh.
Yes, man, well, he looks to be in his late 70s.
He's got white hair.
That's right.
Always wearing a brown wool sweater, black pants, and a black felt hat.
That's right.
You want to give me that again?
Mm-hmm.
No, he's all right.
Yeah.
He's in trouble. I haven't brought him home.
Right away.
Yes, man, thank you.
Now we got it. His name's McKinley Dunn.
He lives out on Vincent Avenue in Highland Park. Talked to his daughter.
Yeah.
She says they got into an argument after breakfast.
McKinley here just got up and walked out of the house.
She hasn't seen him since. Pretty worried about him.
Figures.
Says he's always kind of independent.
Well, we better run him home.
Hey, you want us to take her out?
No, we can't have you out of service that long.
I'll call Highland Park, have them pick him up.
You want to take him over to York Boulevard and make the transfer there about it?
Yeah.
All right, Mr. Dunn.
Here you are. I'll put this back in your pocket.
Come on, sir. We'll take you home.
Thanks, Joe.
There's no trouble, Bob.
Tell the boys from Highland Park to have his daughter put a card in the wallet with all the information on it.
When you make it easier next time.
Sure.
That card's not going to do any good, Joe.
The card's not going to help.
Daughter says she always puts one in.
As soon as the old man gets out of the house, he tears it up.
I got it.
Bring this over this Friday.
Uh-huh.
Photographer, get there.
How many?
You get the story?
Yeah, we'll bring them in.
Do what you can.
All right, we'll see you then.
That's Sam and 1K5 on the shooting.
They got two suspects in custody. They're bringing them both in.
Third man left the scene.
Sam says the accidental death possibility is out now.
Yeah. It's a clean case of murder.
Ten minutes later, the officers in Unit 1K5 arrived with the two suspects.
They were identified as Fred and Harriet Purcell.
The names were run through R&I, but no record was found on either one of them.
It was obvious that the two people had been drinking heavily.
The husband was taken to the report room while Frank and I questioned the woman.
I don't remember too good.
Everything seemed to happen so fast.
Just all of a sudden there was this kind of noise and Norman was dead.
Norman, is that the victim?
Yeah. Norman Mancreep.
You must know who had the gun.
I've been saying that to myself, but it doesn't do anything.
I guess I had too much to drink.
Who else is in the apartment with you?
You mean besides Fred and me?
That's right.
Just the three of us, that's all.
We got a report there was another man present.
Well, then you know more than me.
All right, you want to give us the whole story?
The beginning when?
From the start.
Okay.
I had a tooth pull this morning.
I guess that's what caused all the trouble.
How's that?
My tooth was impacted and I had it pulled in a dentists game.
You shot an over cane and you pulled it to a can, you see that?
I can't.
I got home and the over cane started to wear off.
The whole side of my face started to hurt, terrible.
Well, I told Fred about it.
It was a terrible thing.
I tried to tell him how much it hurt.
He's a quad.
Told me to have a drink and forget it.
It was long before we were having a beef.
Old Fred, he wasn't very bright at times, you know.
I think I saw him have a little sympathy for his wife at a time like that.
Not old Fred.
He's a quad.
Told me to pour myself a little drink and shut up.
Was man free at the time?
Yeah.
Him and Fred had been playing pinochle when I came home.
I guess they'd been at it all afternoon.
Norman was on my side.
Made Fred mad.
We got to fighting pretty good.
Norman was right with me.
Told him, Fred, you ought to be quiet.
I think Fred was sore about being beat at pinochle.
He thinks he's pretty good at wire.
Not long after that there was this shot and Norman was dead.
Were you in the room at the time?
No.
Where were you?
Out in the kitchen.
I went out to get some more ice.
Who was in the room when you left?
Just Fred Norman.
No one else?
If there was, I'd have told you.
No, no, no.
It was all this Friday.
No, ma'am.
No, ma'am, you'll have to call in tomorrow.
Yes, ma'am.
That's right.
Let's go on here.
You know Mrs. Regman?
No.
This is Leo Regman.
Yeah, what about her?
She told the investigating officers there was another man in the apartment.
Said that he left right after she heard the shots.
He would.
I already got a note where he doesn't belong.
Well, she was pretty certain about what she saw.
Then ask her if she saw the man.
Let her tell you who he was.
Well, it may be better if you did.
Then it ain't going to be good because I don't know.
Did you hear anybody come into the place when you were in the kitchen?
Nope.
You're pretty sure of that, huh?
Now look, I got enough trouble.
Me and my old man's in jail.
My face feels like it's coming off.
I want to get home and get some sleep.
If I knew anything I'd have told you a long time ago.
Now leave me alone.
What did you do after you heard the shot?
Went in to see what it was.
That's all.
Just opened the door and looked.
Norman was lying there on the floor.
Where's your husband?
Just standing there looking at Norman.
What was the gun?
Fat hat.
Whose gun is it?
I don't know.
You never saw it before?
I don't like guns.
I don't like to have them around.
I don't look at them when they are.
I never saw it before.
You talk to Fred yet?
No, not yet.
Well, he looks at it the same story, the same way I told him.
You say.
There's no need to even talk to him.
Is that right?
Sure.
You already got it the way I told you.
What more do you want?
There's just one thing I can think of.
Yeah?
The truth.
You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action.
Frank and I attempted to talk to the husband, Fred Purcell.
He was too drunk to be coherent.
We made arrangements for some hot coffee to be brought in.
His wife was taken to the interrogation room to wait until we could fill out the reports.
At 4.20 a.m., we got another hotshot call regarding a cutting on South Fifth Street.
The investigating officers found the knifing had resulted from a quarrel between a man and his common-law wife.
The woman was in critical condition.
She was removed to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, and the husband was booked in at the main jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
We notified Chief of Detective Thad Brown and Captain Lorman of the shooting and the cutting.
During the next hour, there were two armed robbery reports, several burglaries, and numerous fights.
5.31 a.m., Frank went down the hall and brought back two beef and cheese sandwiches and some coffee.
At 5.46, we got a call from the men in Unit 1K-5 telling us that they were on the way into the office with a gun that had been used in the killing of Norman Mancreaf.
Ten minutes later, two uniformed officers brought in a pair of possible car thieves.
One of them was held in the hall while Frank and I talked to the driver of the car, Amelville Hulbert, age 19.
Where'd you get the car?
I bought it.
Where?
Well, from a lady.
She put it in the paper.
Said she had this year a sharp.52 Ford for sale.
Remember what paper?
Oh, no, sir. I think it was one of their morning ones.
When'd you buy the car?
I don't know.
Well, you must have some idea.
I reckon maybe it was in January. Yeah, around there in January.
Let me take a look at your driver's license, will you?
Yes, sir.
Here you are.
Take it out of the wallet, will you?
Oh, yes, sir. Here it is.
Is this your present address?
Sir?
You still live here on Echo Park Boulevard?
No, sir, I moved. I got me placed over on Olympic.
How long you lived there?
You mean on Olympic, sir?
That's right.
I don't know. I reckon maybe a couple months.
Don't you know for sure?
Well, see, I got this year a bad memory.
I think it's been a couple months.
You live with your family?
No, sir. They down south.
Where's that?
New Orleans.
Do they know you're out here?
Yes, sir.
When did you come to California?
August.
Last year?
Uh-huh, yeah, last year.
You got a job?
Aircraft factory out in the valley.
That's a kind of long drive to work for you, isn't it?
Yes, sir, but I got a good deal on the place I live at, see.
How come you haven't reported a change of address
to the Department of Motor Vehicles?
I reckon I just forgot.
I got this year a bad memory, you know.
When you bought the car, did you finance it?
Sir?
You buy it on time, you pay cash for it.
The cash?
You got the pink slip down, haven't you?
The lady sold it to me, signed it.
Where is it?
I don't know, sir.
Didn't she give it to you?
No, sir, she just told me she wants to go
and send it to Sacramento someplace.
Did you get any kind of a receipt for your money?
Yes, sir.
Well, where is it?
In my wallet.
Let's see it.
Yes, sir.
I got it right here someplace.
Pretty funny about this.
What's that?
I wouldn't steal no car.
It's pretty funny you think I did.
All right, now how about that receipt?
Have you found it yet?
Yes, sir.
Now, here it is.
Who wrote this?
The lady sold me the car.
What's her name here?
Oh, yeah, I guess so.
She wrote it.
When did you say you bought the car?
Well, January, I guess.
This year, huh?
Yes, sir.
Are you sure you couldn't be wrong about the date?
Oh, now I don't know.
Maybe.
Where did you meet the woman who wrote this receipt?
At her place?
Where is that?
Out in Westwood.
I think that's what you call it, the apartment out there.
You remember the address?
No, sir.
You haven't got any idea at all where it is, huh?
Well, it was up on Wiltshire.
I know that.
The apartment on the second floor.
Mm-hmm.
I think it was number B or something like that.
Right.
Yeah, I'll check.
Now, what'd you make all that big deal about when I bought the car?
It was on the bill of sale a year ago.
Well, somebody must have made a mistake.
Now, we knew that when you walked in, we were trying to find out who.
What do you got, anything?
Yeah, it checks out names in the book.
West Department B.
Yeah, now, that could be it.
I know that it was on the second floor.
It looks right out on Wiltshire Boulevard.
All right, Mel.
You go over there and sit down.
We'll be right with you.
Is this going to be okay?
We'll see.
Now, look, I didn't steal that car, mister.
I should have told him about how I moved, but I did not steal the car.
All right, you go ahead and sit down, will you?
Yes, sir.
What do you think?
I don't know, seems to check out.
Date on the bill of sale could be a mistake.
The woman might have just written the wrong year.
Yeah, it's pretty close to the first if it happened.
I'd like to give the kid his first felony booking, don't you?
Yeah, what do you want to do?
Let's hold him over till we can check with the woman, huh?
Yeah.
Officers?
Hmm?
It's going to be all right?
We'll see.
You ain't going to send me to jail.
No, not yet.
You can wait down the hall, will you?
Now, long as you know I did not steal the car.
We'll check with the woman first thing in the morning.
I want to tell you one thing, though.
Yes, sir?
We're going to give you a break by not booking you right now.
Don't make us sorry about it.
Oh, no, sir.
Thank you.
All right, go on.
Get out of here.
Where's Jimmy?
He's down the hall.
The officer there will take you.
Yes, sir.
Officers?
Thank you again, you hear?
Yeah, you take care of that bad memory, will you?
I got it.
Headquarters, Smith.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah?
What's the address?
No.
No, he's not here.
Just a second, I'll check.
The policeman out in Hollywood wants permission to kill a skunk.
What?
Wants to kill a skunk caught in a trap.
I guess it's all right if it's the only way they can get rid of it.
I don't know the way he puts it, it is.
All right.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
What was that?
I don't know, you better check with the watch commander.
Yes.
Okay, good night.
We got an injured animal report.
Turns out the people out there had trouble with skunks,
got a permit for the traps and caught one tonight.
Once they had it, they didn't know how to get rid of it.
I better make a report on it.
Must have been pretty funny.
Who?
Officer said we could use the skunk in the department.
What was that?
Officer said we could use the skunk in the department.
Says he'd qualify on the target range any day.
I don't get it.
Headquarters Friday.
No, no, we got the word.
Where you been?
Check out with the lab?
No, no, we'll wait.
1K5.
Yeah.
They just picked up a third person in the shooting.
Three minutes later, the officers in unit 1K5
brought in a tired-looking man in his late 20s.
His name was Harry Carnell.
He'd been drinking, but he seemed to be in complete control of his faculties.
We ran his name through R&I, but we found no record on him.
The officers also brought in the murder weapon, a.32 caliber automatic.
A check of gun records gave us the name of the store
where it had been bought and the name of the owner.
According to the registration, it belonged to Fred Purcell.
The crime lab reported there were no fingerprints on the weapon.
We tried once more to talk to Purcell, but again, we were unable to.
We asked Harry Carnell, the latest suspect, to tell us the story of the shooting.
I went up to the place to collect some money Mancreaf owed me.
What happened when you got to the apartment?
Knocked on the door and Purcell let me in.
Who was in the room?
Just him and Mancreaf.
That's all?
Yeah.
All right, go ahead.
I came in and said I had to have the loot, and Mancreaf told me he was stoning.
He said to check him tomorrow.
Purcell got on his back, said he was always welching, and the beef started.
You mean between them?
Yeah, they were both pretty gassed when I got there.
You have any drink with them?
No, no, I had a date, sir.
That's what I needed the money for.
I got a girl with a pretty big appetite.
I was broke, and I figured I'd tap Mancreaf for what he owed me.
For what?
Anyway, these two got in a big beef.
Purcell told Mancreaf to get out.
He wouldn't go, so Purcell ran over to a desk there in the room and hauled out this big gun,
started to blaze away.
How many shots did he fire?
Well, one's all I remember.
Might have been more, but I didn't spend a lot of time counting.
Just one, huh?
Yeah.
Well, a guy sets a clay pigeon on your head.
You ain't gonna stand there.
What happened then?
Purcell pointed the gun at me.
He said I should get out, too.
I didn't feel like telling him he was wrong.
During the time you were there, did you see anybody else at all?
No.
Fred's wife was around someplace, I guess.
Why do you say that?
Well, they started yelling at each other.
I heard Mancreaf say they bothered Harriet.
That's Fred's wife, Harriet.
Uh-huh.
I took off like a big bird.
Where'd you go?
My place.
I had a couple of belts, and then walked by the apartment to see what was going on.
An old broad there started yelling about how I was the guy who ran out of the place after the shooting.
Next thing I know, I got the collar on, and here I am.
Uh-huh.
What was Purcell doing when you last saw him?
I was standing over Mancreaf holding the gun, looking like a cover on a pulp magazine.
You willing to sign a statement on what you just told us?
Well, sure.
I got no part in this action.
Just went to collect a bet at the wrong time, that's all.
Uh-huh.
Pretty lousy night.
Missed my date, didn't collect the money, and up in the can.
It's pretty lousy.
But I'm not the only one, though.
Old Purcell always thought he was such a great card player.
He's a real fish.
You lost six bucks tonight.
Well, you're part right.
Huh?
You lost more than that, didn't you?
Harry Carnell was taken to the report room where he made a full statement.
At 7.03 a.m., Lieutenant Ray Geesey from Homicide Division came in and took over the investigation.
Fred Purcell was questioned, and he made a voluntary statement that he'd shot and killed Norman Mancreaf.
He couldn't remember why he'd done it.
He was removed to the main jail and booked in on a charge of violation of Section 192 P.C. manslaughter.
His wife and Carnell were released from custody.
They made out reports to all divisions for the follow-ups on crimes committed during the night.
At 8.02 a.m., the men on the day watch came in and relieved us.
It's gonna be a nice day.
Yeah.
A few clouds up there.
Might keep the heat down.
Yeah, let's go.
You want to stop for breakfast?
Well, I guess we might as well, yeah.
What do you think, Joe?
Hmm?
You'd like to draw the business office for permanent duty?
No, sir, not me.
I guess okay once in a while.
I don't think I'd like it steady, though.
Huh?
Not busy enough.
The story you have just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On November 18th, trial was held in Department 98, Superior Court of the State of California,
in and for the County of Los Angeles.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
Further investigation proved that the purchase of the automobile by Melville Hulbert was legal
and no further charges were made.
Frederick Neal Purcell was tried and found guilty of manslaughter
and received punishment as prescribed by law.
Manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary
for a period not to exceed ten years.
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.