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 have fought to be heading for your city.
You know they're armed. You know they're dangerous. Your job, get them.
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 to an actual case transcribed from official police violence.
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 tonight. Watch out for robbery detail.
My partner is Frank Smith, the boss of Captain Diddy and my name is Flanny.
I got my way into the office and it was 4.58 p.m. when I got to room 27A. Robert.
Hi, Mark. You think 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?
They're wearing the cycle again.
Flanny?
They're on 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's ready to catch it again from me. Doesn't seem to be any end to it.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
Read me 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.
So, an APB here from San Diego. Boys down there really zoomed out of the gym.
Can I take a look?
Yeah, here you go.
I can hear them moan all the way from here.
What is it?
Well, I had a jeweler out. We had 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. List of the stolen jewelry.
Oh. When did that happen?
I said 1.30 this morning.
Yeah, it's going to keep them busy for a while.
That Mort's screaming like an eagle shell.
Why?
Well, I talked to him last week. Said he was going down to Mexico to do some fishing.
Been saving days off for the last three months.
I'll get to go now.
Yeah, I'll get it.
Robbie, Friday.
Yeah, go ahead.
San Diego.
Yeah, hi Mort.
Yeah, we got the APB. How's it going?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
When do you figure they left?
Yeah.
Okay, Mort, yeah.
All right, we'll keep an eye open.
Right. Bye.
What you got?
Well, Davis, Walton, Hewitt are coming up.
They're driving?
Yeah, they're taking the hold of men are heading 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 card they'd 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 to 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.
Sergeant Carl Davis, Jerry Walk, and Happy Hewin arrived at the city hall.
They filled us in on what had happened.
The thing was they figured that someone who had either worked for the hotel or was working for it had engineered it.
Ah, that checked out.
The identification was yet?
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 him.
How about the other two, Carl?
Nothing on them, yeah.
What made the figure they might be coming up here?
Well, Russell's got a record, such as package and found that he has a sister in San Diego.
Checked her and she gave us a 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, package closed, said he had to come up to L.A. on business.
Was he 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 placed out on Olympic Boulevard.
Anything on that address?
Yeah, 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 going to 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 him.
The three of them were in a hurry.
She didn't give us a description of the other two.
What time did this happen?
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, huh?
Looks like that.
Identification of mugs.
Russell's sister told us when he was packing that brooch fell out of his grip.
She picked it up for him.
You got a description of it?
Yeah, that's just one that was taken from the hotel in the theft.
Large diamond with four rubies in the setting.
Looked real good for the job.
You got it 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 in gas stations.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
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 a lead, though.
Something else to look out for.
Any chance they might have gotten across the border into Mexico?
Yeah, it's possible, but it isn't likely.
Soon as we got word on the car, we got a supplemental APB on it
and got in touch with the authorities down the border.
They said they hadn't seen the car.
They'd match the description across the border.
Now, 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 the car.
We got the description of jewelry out all over town.
We haven't had any reports on it yet, though.
They aren't going to try to sell it piece by piece,
or 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 camp.
You can't be quiet for long.
Bound to be rumbles on at some place.
I'd like to check out the place on Olympic.
It looks like it's best leave we got.
Okay, where are walking you and me?
I went down to the hall with Murphy.
Wanted to check some things at R&I.
Well, why don't we get on out to Olympic, huh?
You got the address?
Yeah, you'd better check the place first.
Could be rough.
What do you mean?
Well, three of them are on.
Ruffles served time quite before at the joint.
Yeah.
I don't think he's going to want to go back.
We checked the name of Ruffles' 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 suspect.
She told us she hadn't seen him.
Directly in front of the roaming house we found a car answering the description given us by the sister.
There were no lights on in the roaming house.
Walking you uncovered 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 to see if I can spot anybody.
Right, Carl.
I'm going to try the door.
Yeah.
Who is it?
Come on, open up.
Ain't 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 anything?
I'm not doing anything. I'll take them, Joe.
He's clean.
Everything okay?
Yeah, Carl.
I'll get walking you.
Who else is in the house?
Nobody but the landlady. She's upstairs. Her and her daughter.
Nobody else here.
What's your name?
Peter.
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 room.
Where'd this door go?
Bedroom.
Ain't nobody in there.
Open it up.
Joe, nobody in the kitchen. Check the back porch.
Walk in Davis upstairs.
All right, we'll try this one here.
Come on, you open it up.
It's locked. You can't get in.
There's a key in the door over here. Let's see if it's there.
Rachel! Rachel! Get up! Rachel, it's the cops! Get up!
I'll get out of the way. You come on. Get up.
I'm up there, Joe. I see you.
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 color there?
Yeah.
Three guns.
With the suspects in custody, we searched the house.
In the back bedroom where we 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 our eye, and we found that he had one previous conviction on a robbery charge.
Two-fifteen 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 other than 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 telling 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 go that route standing in your ass 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, I suppose so.
There's no 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.
Then you made a good deal, all right. Seven thousand for a hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars worth of jewelry.
One worth a hundred and thirty-five. That's just the papers making it sound big.
No, no, no. You're wrong. That's what the stuff is worth.
Are you kidding?
You got that report, Frank.
Yeah.
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, I do. I hear that.
This report you got from the insurance company, Carl?
Yeah, that's it.
Would you like to read it to yourself, Russell, or do you want me to read it to you?
Oh, let me see it.
Uh-huh.
What a lobby bum.
Oh, no good, could you?
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?
Like you think he was doing you a big favor. Some deal. Seven thousand dollars.
If we picked him up, he'd have screamed like an eagle.
He's your pal, all right.
Oh, no good thief. I can't believe it.
Who do you sell his stuff to, do you know?
No, no, I don't, and that's the truth. I saw that guy, but I don't know who it was.
How did the deal work?
Earlier tonight we got together out in Westwood. He called the fellow.
He was going to handle the deal. Told him to meet us there.
Who's he?
A think, a lousy think.
What's his name?
Payne Al Payne.
I spell it.
Last name?
P-A-Y-N-E. He got a record?
No, I don't think so. I never heard him talk about it. He gives 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 pain look like?
I don't know. He's about 37, maybe 150, 60 pounds.
Both.
A little bit of hair on the edges of his head.
I'll type the names you want in, I do.
Right. You want to bring the mugs back here?
Yeah.
Huffle?
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.
Let's go ahead with the story about the buy, huh?
All right. Where was I?
You said you went out the west way.
Oh, yeah. Well, we were supposed to meet out in the parking lot for the ice rink.
Big place out there.
Well, we met this guy there. A fellow named Payne Corley.
He looked at the stuff, said it was worth maybe 15,000 the way it was.
But he said it had to be broken down before it could be sold.
And it wouldn't bring that much when it was all broken down.
What did Alfred say to that?
Well, he agreed to it, said it was true. He went right along with it.
A lot of the deals, 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 who it is?
Yeah, I can show you.
We were up there this afternoon while I was setting up a deal.
It was sitting on a building over on, uh, 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. But what that bum did to me, nothing too bad for him.
How are you going to work it, Jim?
Well, Russell, here I'll have to introduce me to somebody who wants to buy this stuff.
I'll have to tell Payne that I'm willing to pay, say, fifty thousand 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 does for us.
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.
Well, we don't got much choice. We got to get the stuff back before it's broken up.
Joe, I got some pictures here.
I'm not the description.
What was that?
I'm not the description.
Oh. You want to look at these?
Yeah.
Joe's going to go see this Payne with Russell and Ella, try to get lead on where this stuff is.
He's going to work it.
I'll tell Payne I'm interested in buying the jewels off of him, maybe fifty thousand.
Pictures are not here. None of these is Payne.
You'd go along with this plan, Russell?
Sure. I'd like to see you get him and get him good.
Pretty risky.
It doesn't look like it's any other way.
It does not.
Russell?
Yeah?
We know Payne carries the gun. I'm going to tell you something. I want you to remember it.
All right.
If 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 going to start any shooting.
Yeah.
But we'll finish it.
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 and we went up to the fourth floor.
The sign on Payne's door read, Albert Payne and Vespa.
Russell opened the door and we walked in.
Hi, Virg. What's the bet?
Well, why couldn't you 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, Sal. We gotta get it back.
Now, what's the pitch? I don't even know what you're talking about.
Come off it, Tane. Joe here's willing to up the ante for the jewels.
How much?
I'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 to value. It's all insured.
People up to price for the insurance companies, papers up to price to 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. Now, it 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.
No, 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, that's tough. He's just telling them to stop breaking it up. Tell them we want it back.
Where do you figure the silver jewels?
I don't see where that concerns you. I'm walking you 50,000 for them. That's all you need to know.
Come on, Al. Come on. 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. Let you forget it.
I'm only gonna say this once more, Ping. You get on that phone and get in touch with your contact.
Tell him to stop breaking them up. You set up a meeting 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 money. He's mouthing it 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? Yes.
Listen, something's come up we can't go through with the deal.
What?
Yeah, I know. I told them. 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. Yes, Fred. He says all of it.
Okay. When can you make it?
Yeah. All right.
Yeah, we'll see you then, right?
Okay, bye.
I'll have the stuff wait till 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 would have told him.
Yeah, sure.
How much of it's been broken up?
Hardly. And he just got started. Fred says it's almost all whole.
Who is this Fred?
That's none of your business.
I asked you a question, Al.
He picked 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? We're going to need Fred.
He said he'd call. Let me know where and when.
Well, it can't be any later than tomorrow. I got to be leaving then.
You're going to have the money with you when you pick up the stuff.
I don't have it.
All of it. I don't want you to stay on payment.
I told you I'd have it.
All right. You call me tomorrow about ten, Brugge. I'll let you know the details, Al.
Okay.
I hope you're right about this, Brugge.
What do you mean?
Oh, this deal. I don't like it. I hope nothing happens to louse it up.
Yeah, so do I.
Brugge will rough one eye, 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-PC.
Then we returned to the office.
To 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 thing didn't tell you?
Well, I saw the number he dialed when he called Fred.
It was a Hollywood prefect sitting out down in the area.
I can try the number to see who answers.
Oh, I'm sorry. I got the wrong number. Excuse me.
Together?
Yeah. The Kinnery Trophy Company.
You want to check the book?
Sure.
K.K.I. and Fred.
David Joe.
Kinnery Trophy Company, son of Los Palmas.
Trophy Company. That would give me a chance to melt the mountains down to metal, wouldn't it?
It would be easy to get rid of it that way.
Makes sense. Why don't you figure to move in on it?
Right now. We can drive out and check the place now. Look it over and then we'll go in and get him.
What happened to 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 know that going on.
Yeah, I suppose so. Well, you tell the DA I helped though, huh?
Yeah, we'll see he knows about it.
It's a bad deal all the way around.
A bad deal. I should have known I couldn't win. That's a start I should have known. Nobody can win.
Still a lot of people trying.
We returned Virgil Russell to his cell and then we drove out to the Kinnery Trophy Company.
It was a two-story building on Los 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. 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 point.
I got it.
What do you guys do breaking in here like this?
Look at that, Joe. Jewelry matches the description of the stolen stuff.
Yeah, it looks like it.
All right, Mr. Stanstow.
Okay.
Thanks, Queen.
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.
Oh, I'd say give me $2,500 if I break it down for him.
What's the fellow's name?
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 and melt it down.
Didn't he call you this afternoon to 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 didn't know where the jewels came from. I didn't care. They 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 a time to melt any of the mounting down. It's all there.
All the pain game.
What's your name?
Fred Michael.
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.
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.
Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of from five years to life.
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.
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, law firm to its police department.
Technical advisors, Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marki Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brasher.
Third tonight were Ben Alexander, Eddie Pyrstone, Art Gilmore.
Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schuman. Hal Gibney speaking.
Transcribed from Los Angeles, Dragnet is an NBC Radio Network production.
Music by John Robinson.