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 narcotics detail.
You get a tip that a man is peddling heroin in his place of residence.
He's a known user.
Your job, check it out.
Dragman, 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 to 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, September 6th.
It was hot in Los Angeles.
We were working the night watch out on narcotics detail.
My partner is Frank Smith, the boss is Captain Walter.
My name's Friday.
We're on our way out from the office and it was 9.33 p.m. when we got to the corner of
8th and Temple.
Converted garage.
Is that the right address?
Yeah, I want you to swing around here at the corner.
We can park across the street up there.
Okay.
Yeah, right up here will do.
All right.
Sure isn't much of a house.
Looks more like a store or something.
Yeah.
You sure that's where he's living, Joe?
Yeah, Nicky says the place used to be a garage.
Huh?
A fellow ran it when it broke.
He turned it into living quarters.
I see.
How long has Denton been staying here?
About six months.
How long?
Well, he's got his family with him.
Wife, two or three kids.
All right.
Now what do you think?
Should we tap him now?
Let's give it a couple of minutes.
See if he's drawn any customers.
Okay.
Is this Nicky sure about all this?
Yeah, he says he is.
Says Denton's loaded for action 30 or 40 camps.
Just got him tonight, huh?
Yeah.
Nicky know who he got him from?
He does.
He wouldn't tell me.
Joe.
Hmm?
Front door.
Yeah.
Must be their wife.
Wonder who she's looking for.
I don't see anybody.
Yeah, she doesn't either.
Well, that might make it a little easier for her.
What do you mean?
She left the door open.
Quashmily 45 minutes earlier, we received a telephone call from an informant named Nicky
Corbin.
Corbin reported that Slim Denton, a known narcotics user who lived at the corner of
Temple and 8th, had some 30 or 40 caps of heroin in his possession.
Corbin said Denton was getting ready to push the stuff.
Frank and I waited across the street from the Denton residence for 26 minutes.
During that time, no one came in or out of the house, but the front door remained open.
9.59 p.m., a young man turned to corner and headed into the converted garage.
Five minutes later, he reappeared and started down the street.
Should we talk to him?
Yeah.
Wait a minute, Frank.
Huh?
I guess you forgot something.
Yeah.
Going back inside.
Now, let's give him some company.
The man reentered the Denton residence.
As soon as he disappeared through the front door, I moved in after him.
At the same time, Frank went around to the rear of the building.
The garage had been crudely partitioned into the room, and the front area contained an
overstuffed sofa, a dining room table, and chairs, and a TV set.
In addition to the young man who had gone in ahead of me, there were two other people
in the room.
One was a woman who had previously appeared in the doorway and a shallow-faced middle-aged
man.
Now, hold on, Mr. Where do you think you're going?
Please, doctor, you're under arrest.
Please.
That's right.
Don't move any of you.
It's a fine time for you to be showing up.
You ought to be ashamed.
How's that?
Three hours ago.
That's when you should have been here.
That's when we needed you.
Oh, now take it easy.
I was doing so already.
You're a girl only seven years old running around the city like this.
Lord knows what could have happened to her.
You call her a cop and don't even show up till three hours later.
I told you, hold your mouth.
Who else is my baby?
I was half out of my mind when she didn't come home from school.
No thanks to you that she got home at all.
I don't know what you're talking about, lady.
Elsie, that's what I'm talking about, my baby.
Yeah.
Anybody else around, Frank?
Yeah, a couple of youngsters sleeping in one of the back rooms.
That's it.
All right.
Now move over to that wall.
Go on, move.
I've never heard of such a thing.
A little girl gets lost on her way home from school.
You stand for a policeman that treats you like you're a slave.
You'd better get it straight, lady.
You're under arrest.
All of you.
It hasn't got anything to do with your daughter.
Arrest?
Hey, but you can't arrest me.
I ain't done anything.
Is that so?
You've got to have a reason to pick somebody up.
A good reason.
A violation of the State Narcotics Act.
Is that good enough?
What?
Come on.
Over against the wall.
Come on, move.
I'll check on the girl.
Well, I see you sure are making a mistake.
Yeah, we always do.
There's not any mistake.
You come out of your mind.
That's what you are.
Sure.
It's all because of Elsie.
Mechanics, she got lost.
You're right.
This ain't good.
That's why we wanted you.
You're right.
This ain't good.
That's why we wanted you.
Help us find her.
It didn't have nothing to do with no narcotics.
If your daughter was missing and you reported it, you'd have had plenty of help.
Of course we reported it three hours ago.
That's when you called them, Slim.
Huh?
When you went down to the drug store, you said you were going to use their phone.
Oh.
Well, you called them, didn't you?
I guess maybe I forgot.
Forgot?
Your own place and blood, your own baby?
What's the difference?
She's home, ain't you?
A lot of difference.
You give me a word to call.
Now look.
I'm not going to call you a little girl.
You got something else to worry about now.
I sure don't know what you're aiming at, Mr.
You don't, huh?
Neither do I.
You're accusing me of having something to do with narcotics, and I ain't never been
mixed up with dope.
I never even touched the stuff.
Not once.
Well, then we'll start with you.
Well, go right ahead.
I ain't got nothing to hide.
What's your name?
Boston, Jerry Boston.
How old are you?
Twenty-three.
You live around here?
Down the street, four houses east.
What do you do for a living, Jerry?
I work in a settlement station over on Peacock.
You married?
Yeah.
You got any kids?
No, not yet.
We're expecting one next month.
Where do you think you're going?
I just wanted to see the youngsters, it feels good.
Stay right here.
They'll be all right.
Well, you only got me, Jerry.
I don't know why.
We'll get around to you soon enough.
Now why don't you sit down and take it easy, lady?
Better do like I said, huh?
Bullying a person in their own home.
Why'd you come over here tonight, Jerry?
I heard about elsewhere.
Excuse me, miss, and I wanted to find out if they found us.
You came in, you went out, and then you came back in again.
Is that it?
Yeah, that's right.
Well?
Well, Kitty wanted me to ask Mrs. Danton here something.
What?
Well, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Kitty wanted me to ask Mrs. Danton here something.
Kitty's my wife.
Yeah.
I forgot when I was here first, so I had to come back.
What was it your wife wanted to find out?
Come on in, Jerry.
Wasn't nothing important, just something about me having a baby?
Uh-huh.
You want to step over here now, Jerry?
Huh?
Over here, please.
Five to ten.
Sure.
All right, empty your pockets, will you?
Yeah.
Take everything out.
All right.
That's it.
All right, and I'll turn the pockets inside out.
Okay.
How much money you got there, Jerry?
Twenty, twenty-five bucks.
You always pay that much gas, too.
Oh, I got paid today.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, son, roll up your sleeves.
Do what?
Your sleeves.
Come on, roll them up.
All right.
It's a little high.
Come on.
Okay.
Okay, roll them back down.
You and the dancers are pretty good friends, right?
Oh, we're neighbors.
How long have you known each other?
Four or five months, I guess.
However long they've been living here.
Hey, what the heck you doing with that lamp?
Why, is it a light body?
It's kind of bright when you're looking right into it.
Okay, Jerry, put the stuff back in your pocket.
I'm going to take it to you someplace.
Wait a minute.
I'll go get it.
That's all I can do to get it to work.
Oh, you mean we should go somewhere?
Yeah.
Where, to someplace.
Wait a minute.
You mean I've got to stay here?
For the time being, yeah.
Well, look, you don't have to be worried.
All I thought I was going to be gone a couple minutes.
Maybe you're putting a nice young fella like Jerry through a whole list of foolishness.
Well...
Let's see how well you do it now, Vincent.
Huh?
Come on, over here.
You've already been wrong a once, Dad.
Maybe.
No sense of scaring on them like this.
There's no sense at all.
Now why don't you fellas just admit you made a mistake and go on your way?
Over here.
Come on, quit stalling, will ya? Move.
Now go ahead, you went to your apartment.
Is that all of it?
You got every little doodad.
Turn him inside out.
Whatever you say.
What do you do for a living?
Well at the moment I'm sorta lookin' around, you might say.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
You got a family, Denson. How you feelin'?
Oh, we manage. We manage pretty good.
How?
Don't you worry none about my children. They ain't goin' hungry as long as I can work.
You live off your wife, do ya?
Now ain't no way to put it at all.
She's just helpin' out while I'm havin' a rough spell.
All right, Denson, roll up your sleeves, will ya?
Come on, get him up, will ya?
Frank, look at this. He's got more tracks in the southern Pacific.
Yeah.
Well, look here. I must've scratched myself the other day.
You know, I was doin' some cartwheeler work.
How long have you been a high fella?
I'm afraid I don't know what you mean.
Quit wastin' our time, Denson. Now how long?
Well, I reckon ain't no point in lyin' to you, gentlemen.
Fact of the matter is, I did do a little chippin' once in a while when I was young.
Of course, that was some years ago.
Well, I'm glad you're still here.
I'm glad you're still here.
I mean, I'm glad you're still here.
From the looks of them, you're buildin' up to a big batch of infections there.
Must be them scratches I was tellin' ya about.
All right, Denson, where is it?
Oh.
The stuff. Where'd you stack it?
Come on, Denson. We know you got 30 caps.
We're gonna find it anyway, so why hold out?
30 caps?
A guy like me couldn't afford that much stuff.
Now you ought to have more things.
What'd you do, give it to your wife?
You ought to say a thing like that.
Well, even if I did have a little ache, I sure wouldn't want her to get involved.
Last person in the world.
Now you can say whatever you got in mind to, but I'm concerned that you just leave her out of this.
You're pretty anxious to go into the bedroom a little while ago, Mrs. Denson.
I told you to leave her out. Now if you won't do what I tell you...
Take it easy, Denson.
It don't matter what happens to me.
You can lock me up, give me the gas chamber, don't matter.
But my wife, she's a fine woman. I won't have you attackin' her reputation.
You can throw me in jail if you want to, stand me up in front of a firing squad.
Come on, Denson.
But there's no reason to drag her into town.
Sit down.
She ain't done nothin'.
I'll read her drag line.
How about it, Mrs. Denson?
I just don't know what you're lookin' for, Mr. I swear I don't.
Well, either you've still got it on you, or you've got it in the bedroom.
What is it?
Sir.
Well, you're not giving us any choice.
I guess you'd better put in a call to the office, Frank.
Yeah.
Ask them to send a team over to take this joint apart.
Right.
Tell them we're bringing in a couple of suspects.
See if they can get a policewoman to stand by so there'll be somebody to search Mrs. Denson when we get there.
Aye.
Now, you just wait a minute, mister.
Can't arrest us.
Not both Clem and me.
Is that right?
What about my youngsters?
I won't leave them here alone.
Can you get somebody to stay with them?
Well, I guess Josie will be home before too long.
Who's Josie?
Oldest girl.
Where is she now?
Went to the movies with her boyfriend.
She's full-grown, almost 19.
How soon do you expect her back?
I don't know for sure.
Pretty soon.
Now, maybe.
Uh-uh. We can't wait that long.
Looks like we'll have to take the kids in too.
All right, I'll tell them downtown.
You got to ask Clem, you hear what they're saying?
Yeah.
You just going to sit there?
You going to let them drag our youngsters out of bed in the middle of the night?
There ain't nothing I can do, hon.
I tried to tell them.
You heard me try.
I'm not going to have my kids in jail.
Not for you, not for nobody.
It ain't right to get a man through his family, mister.
Yeah.
I told you before, it don't make no difference what becomes of me.
You can send me away.
You can put me in prison the rest of my life.
You can give me the gas chamber.
Oh, good.
You all through now?
Whew.
You see, hon, I tried.
I'm going to go have a look at the call frame.
Yeah.
It'll probably take five or ten minutes to get the kids dressed,
then we'll shove off.
All right.
I ain't going to stand for it, Clem.
I warned you.
Those kids ain't going to jail on account of you.
Alice.
He asked me to hide it when we heard Jerry Boston coming up the block.
Well?
I put it inside my dress.
All right, if I turn around?
Yeah.
I'll get him for you.
I reckon he's just thought you won't.
You know better than this, Mrs. Benson.
Huh?
There's no H in here.
This is just his layout.
H?
It's what he gave me.
You're married to a guy who's been hooked for a long time.
You got a pretty good idea what this stuff looks like?
We're not going to waste any more time here.
If you give it to the captain, go downtown.
All four of you.
I'll get him for you.
You just tell us where they are.
Don't listen to him, Alice, honey.
Don't listen to him.
Bedroom.
Which one?
Where the kids are sleeping.
Go on.
Under the pillar.
Under the upstairs pillar.
That's where he put it.
See the younger?
Yes, sir.
I'd appreciate it if you'd try not to wake her.
There's a lot of women around when she's lost.
She's all tuckered out.
I had to tell him, ma'am.
I had to.
I'm sorry.
It sure was a lousy trick, mister.
What's that?
Holding them youngsters over her head, making them afraid about them just so you could break
her down.
Real lousy.
You ain't got no kids of your own, have you?
No.
Well, that's how I had it figured.
The way you talked, Alice, the way you kept on her.
Parent wouldn't act that way.
Never in a million years.
Not a rule of parents, that is.
Well, there's just one thing that I don't understand here, Denz.
What's that?
How would you know?
One of the pillows in the children's bedroom, Frank found an envelope which contained 32
caps of heroin.
Danson admitted that the H belonged to him, but he refused to tell us where he'd acquired
it.
Jerry Boston denied any knowledge of the drug.
We made arrangements for the two Danson children to be placed under protective custody of the
juvenile division.
Ten forty-two p.m., we took the Dansons and Jerry Boston down to the Narcotics Bureau
for further questioning.
Our investigation revealed that Boston was not implicated in the case and he was released.
Eleven seventeen p.m., while Frank interrogated the Danson woman, I talked to her husband
in the adjoining room.
Oh, I never saw the like.
You sure are hard to satisfy, mister.
I told you this stuff was mine, now I'm already one.
It just doesn't add up, Danson.
Well, see why not.
Well, you called it back, it's your place.
Well, it's me.
Well, where would a hype like you get enough money to buy 32 caps?
Well, I had me elect to put away.
Frank was right, so I made a buy.
Oh, no, don't give me that.
You're scratching just to keep even with your habits.
I'll bet you look.
Now, we've seen the marks on your arm.
You want me to guess?
Three caps a day.
That about it?
All right, Danson, who's the stuff belong to?
Look, fella, you're dead.
We can make you on possession, maybe even on sale.
Sale?
You must be off your rocket.
You know I never sold none on.
Well, I'm sorry we got you.
I already start pushing.
Well, we know you started.
Anybody told you that?
He's a liar.
I ain't no pusher, never have been.
Then what are you doing with 32 caps?
I keep telling you, Mr., they were cheap.
How cheap?
Five bucks a cap.
That's not reasonable for them these days.
165 bucks isn't reasonable.
You never saw that much money.
All right, who'd you buy them from?
Oh, wouldn't be nobody you know.
Why don't you try me?
I don't know myself.
Ain't from LA.
Yeah.
I was in the middle last week, took a trip down south across the border.
Oh, sure you did.
That's how come I made me such a good buy?
You bet.
Now, you listen, Benson, we didn't drop in on you tonight just because we were in the
neighborhood.
That's true.
We wouldn't have been there if we didn't have information.
You know that as well as I do.
Well?
Our info is that you just got those caps tonight.
Well, I tell you, somebody sure has been spreading a lot of wild stories about me.
They've been on the nose so far.
Why are you spending your time these days?
I reckon we covered that before.
Well, I reckon we'll try it again.
I stayed at home mostly.
Were you home yesterday?
Sure was.
Day before?
Yeah, as far as I can remember.
A real homebody, aren't you?
I figure I ought to stick pretty close to seeing how the wife's working.
Well, I sure consider of you.
When was the last time you were downtown?
Whereabouts down there?
Maine, Alameda, anywhere in there.
I'm afraid I just don't recall.
Last week maybe?
Oh, no, it wouldn't have been last week.
I wasn't feeling rightly.
Didn't go no place last week.
Then how'd you get to Mexico?
Guess my memory ain't as good as it used to be.
Becken, I'm kind of mixed up.
You sure are.
Right in there, Frank.
Sit right over there.
Now, now, honey, you take it easy.
They can't do nothing to you.
She knew where the stuff was.
That ties her right into possession.
Told you where to find it.
Or they'll still want it.
Who do the caps belong to, Mrs. Benson?
The scams.
They belong to whom?
Where'd he get them?
I don't know.
Honest, I don't.
Did you have any visitors tonight besides Jerry Boston?
Well, come on.
I couldn't think of nobody.
Slim, you've got to do something.
You've got to get me out of here.
Any single solitary thing I can do, I'll do.
I want to know what's happened to my kids.
Aw, take it easy, lady.
They're in good hands.
I want to know.
They ain't never been away from me, not since they were born.
They'll be all upset if I'm not there.
Can't you understand how I feel?
Yes, we can.
My fault, anyway.
It's all my fault.
Now, now, honey, you oughtn't to talk about it.
I don't know.
I should have left you, Slim.
I should have left you ten years ago when your things started digging dope.
We wouldn't have had the other two kids.
It'd just be Joseph.
Dad knows what's happened to her.
Now, you start worrying about Joseph.
It's not time somebody worried about her, ain't it?
Going out with a married man.
It wasn't for you and your dirty, fiddly-dope kid.
Never met him.
Alice, I'm telling you, shut up.
That's enough out of you, then.
Oh, sure.
He can't do no wrong, as far as you're concerned.
God give you a free bangle.
That makes him a fine fella, don't it?
Fix company for your daughter.
Who are you talking about, Miss Benson?
Clark Heldie.
That's who.
He's the one who gives Slim them caps.
He's the one.
Going out with Joseph.
First thing you know, she'll be on the stuff, too.
Just like her father.
Got to know what she's with tonight.
Tonight.
Last night.
Every night.
I talked to her.
I talked to her till I was blue in the face.
Just like her father.
That's what she is, just like him.
You know where they went?
They said to the movies.
No reason to believe them, though.
You could have given us all this, Benson.
Well, they wore them on my caps.
I was just keeping them for perk.
Then he brought Joseph home tonight.
Boy, he finds out what's happening.
He sure going to blow his back.
Yeah.
Guess maybe I got some shooting off my mouth too much.
About having them 32 caps.
Made me feel like a big man.
Never had that much stuff for him my whole life.
Told some other boys it was mine.
Just showed you how you can get in trouble from a little exaggerating.
Only had them caps a couple hours before you fellas showed up.
Couple of hours.
That's all it took.
Look at this here mess on me.
It took you a little longer than that, didn't it?
What do you mean?
Ten years.
From previous investigations, Frank and I knew that Per Kelvey was involved in the narcotics
trade.
He'd been arrested several times for possession, but so far he'd always managed to escape conviction.
At the time of his last arrest some five months ago, he had been in the company of his wife,
Marjorie.
As we were searching, three ounces of heroin were found on her person.
Marjorie Helvey had not been known to us as a pusher or a user.
But when her husband was questioned, he denied any knowledge of the dope.
His wife was sentenced to a term at the Women's State Prison.
12.08 a.m.
Frank and I drove back to the Denson residence.
The place was deserted.
We went inside to wait for Helvey and Josie Denson.
1.16 a.m.
Well, if he wouldn't cop out to save his own wife, he's not going to give us anything.
No.
Well, that's true to some families.
Well, can't help feeling sorry for the kids, though.
Me, too.
Wait a minute.
Helvey's out in front, yeah.
Yeah.
How do you want to work it?
Well, let's split him up.
I'll talk to the girl.
You take him in the other room and see what you can get.
All right.
Want to come in for a sec?
Yeah, that's nothing to remember.
Just sit on bed.
You'd hope your old man didn't shoot too many Mike Camps.
Police officer, you're under arrest.
Don't try anything, Helvey.
Okay.
Hey, what's going on here?
Where's the police?
I don't know.
Don't try anything, Helvey.
Okay.
Hey, what's going on here?
Where is everybody?
The folks are out.
What'd they do?
Get themselves pinned?
Let me see your purse.
Sure.
See what you want.
Help themselves.
Come on, move over here.
Keep your hands out of your pockets and stand still, okay?
It's a good thing I ain't ticklish, huh?
All right.
Come on, Helvey.
Huh?
I want to talk to you out the back.
Yeah, sure.
What'd you guys do?
Draw straws for us?
You know what?
Don't look so sad about it, honey.
You won.
I'm not so sure of it.
I got the smart one, huh?
Your mother and father have been arrested.
Oh?
And it's not going to go easy on them.
Who cares?
The old man's a bum.
Always has been.
When I was a little girl, he was a lush.
Now he's a hype.
I don't notice any change.
What about your mother?
What about her?
She's been trying to hold the family together, hasn't she?
Might be better if it fell apart.
I'm going to give it straight to you, young lady.
Your folks say that the cap was stolen.
What about your mother?
What about her?
She's been trying to hold the family together, hasn't she?
Might be better if it fell apart.
I'm going to give it straight to you, young lady.
Your folks say that the caps we found belong to your friend, Perk Halvey.
Is that true?
I wouldn't know.
You'd know if you wanted to.
It's going to be their word against his unless you step in.
Include me out.
Maybe you got a beef against your father.
Maybe.
Whatever you give me won't help him much.
Might make a difference in your mother's case, though.
Oh, come on.
You don't care any more about my folks than I do.
You're after Perk.
It was his stuff, wasn't it?
I don't know.
You better think it over.
Why should I?
You don't mean anything to him.
I don't know what he tells me.
He's got a wife, hasn't he?
The way I hear it, she's out of town.
You know who sent her there?
Nothing to keep the same thing from happening to you.
It won't.
You ever seen your mother cry, Josie?
Well, I did tonight.
She wasn't crying for herself either.
It was for you and your kid sisters.
You got a choice.
Who's it going to be, your mother or that two-bit pusher in there?
Not a very nice way to talk about a friend of mine, is it?
I don't know.