WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.000 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. 00:08.000 --> 00:11.000 The names have been changed to protect the innocent. 00:19.000 --> 00:23.000 You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. 00:23.000 --> 00:28.000 You get a call from the San Diego Police Department that three hold-up men have fought to be heading for your city. 00:28.000 --> 00:33.000 You know they're armed. You know they're dangerous. Your job, get them. 00:42.000 --> 00:46.000 Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. 00:46.000 --> 00:50.000 For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, 00:50.000 --> 00:57.000 you will travel step-by-step on the side of the law to an actual case transcribed from official police violence. 00:57.000 --> 01:04.000 From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. 01:08.000 --> 01:13.000 It was Monday, October 5th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working tonight. Watch out for robbery detail. 01:13.000 --> 01:16.000 My partner is Frank Smith, the boss of Captain Diddy and my name is Flanny. 01:16.000 --> 01:21.000 I got my way into the office and it was 4.58 p.m. when I got to room 27A. Robert. 01:23.000 --> 01:24.000 Hi, Mark. You think Frank? 01:24.000 --> 01:27.000 Yeah, he was here a couple of minutes ago. I think he went down the hall. Said he'd be right back. 01:27.000 --> 01:28.000 Thanks. How are the kids? 01:28.000 --> 01:30.000 They're wearing the cycle again. 01:30.000 --> 01:31.000 Flanny? 01:31.000 --> 01:32.000 They're on the cold cycle. 01:32.000 --> 01:33.000 Oh, yeah? 01:33.000 --> 01:37.000 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. 01:37.000 --> 01:41.000 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. 01:41.000 --> 01:42.000 Yeah, I see what you mean. 01:42.000 --> 01:47.000 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. 01:47.000 --> 01:48.000 All right. 01:48.000 --> 01:51.000 Don't do anything special for it and it'll take seven days to get rid of it. 01:51.000 --> 01:57.000 So, an APB here from San Diego. Boys down there really zoomed out of the gym. 01:57.000 --> 01:58.000 Can I take a look? 01:58.000 --> 01:59.000 Yeah, here you go. 02:01.000 --> 02:03.000 I can hear them moan all the way from here. 02:03.000 --> 02:04.000 What is it? 02:04.000 --> 02:06.000 Well, I had a jeweler out. We had a hotel on the coast. 02:06.000 --> 02:10.000 Three men, took 135,000 in jewels and at least 15,000 in cash. 02:10.000 --> 02:13.000 150,000, huh? Any leads on them? 02:13.000 --> 02:16.000 No, APB gives a description. List of the stolen jewelry. 02:16.000 --> 02:18.000 Oh. When did that happen? 02:18.000 --> 02:19.000 I said 1.30 this morning. 02:19.000 --> 02:21.000 Yeah, it's going to keep them busy for a while. 02:21.000 --> 02:23.000 That Mort's screaming like an eagle shell. 02:23.000 --> 02:24.000 Why? 02:24.000 --> 02:27.000 Well, I talked to him last week. Said he was going down to Mexico to do some fishing. 02:27.000 --> 02:30.000 Been saving days off for the last three months. 02:30.000 --> 02:31.000 I'll get to go now. 02:31.000 --> 02:32.000 Yeah, I'll get it. 02:34.000 --> 02:36.000 Robbie, Friday. 02:36.000 --> 02:38.000 Yeah, go ahead. 02:38.000 --> 02:39.000 San Diego. 02:39.000 --> 02:41.000 Yeah, hi Mort. 02:41.000 --> 02:43.000 Yeah, we got the APB. How's it going? 02:43.000 --> 02:44.000 Yeah. 02:44.000 --> 02:45.000 Mm-hmm. 02:45.000 --> 02:47.000 When do you figure they left? 02:47.000 --> 02:48.000 Yeah. 02:49.000 --> 02:51.000 Okay, Mort, yeah. 02:51.000 --> 02:53.000 All right, we'll keep an eye open. 02:53.000 --> 02:55.000 Right. Bye. 02:55.000 --> 02:56.000 What you got? 02:56.000 --> 02:58.000 Well, Davis, Walton, Hewitt are coming up. 02:58.000 --> 02:59.000 They're driving? 02:59.000 --> 03:01.000 Yeah, they're taking the hold of men are heading this way. 03:05.000 --> 03:09.000 The early editions of the afternoon papers came out and they carried the complete story. 03:09.000 --> 03:12.000 Three men had entered the Carlton Surf Hotel at 1.30 a.m. 03:12.000 --> 03:15.000 All three were armed and they forced the manager to open the safe. 03:15.000 --> 03:19.000 Inside the vault were the jewels and the other valuables that had been deposited 03:19.000 --> 03:21.000 with the management for safekeeping by the guests. 03:21.000 --> 03:25.000 After looting the safe, the three men had robbed five of the guests who had entered the lobby 03:25.000 --> 03:28.000 during the time that they'd been going through the safe. 03:28.000 --> 03:30.000 After taking all the money and valuables they could find, 03:30.000 --> 03:35.000 the three men forced the manager and the guests into a back-store room of the hotel and they locked them in. 03:35.000 --> 03:40.000 None of the victims could tell the San Diego officers what kind of a card they'd been used, 03:40.000 --> 03:43.000 but all of them were able to give good descriptions of the three men. 03:43.000 --> 03:49.000 The San Diego Police Department had been called and the men from the Detective Bureau had begun an immediate investigation. 03:49.000 --> 03:52.000 From the phone conversation I'd had with Lieutenant Mort Gere, 03:52.000 --> 03:56.000 they had evidence to believe that the three men were heading up to Los Angeles. 03:56.000 --> 03:59.000 While the three detectives from the San Diego Department came to L.A., 03:59.000 --> 04:03.000 Lieutenant Gere, Sergeant Tony McGuire would continue the investigation down in their city. 04:03.000 --> 04:05.000 11, 12 p.m. 04:05.000 --> 04:09.000 Sergeant Carl Davis, Jerry Walk, and Happy Hewin arrived at the city hall. 04:09.000 --> 04:11.000 They filled us in on what had happened. 04:11.000 --> 04:15.000 The thing was they figured that someone who had either worked for the hotel or was working for it had engineered it. 04:15.000 --> 04:16.000 Ah, that checked out. 04:16.000 --> 04:17.000 The identification was yet? 04:17.000 --> 04:18.000 Yeah. 04:18.000 --> 04:21.000 Virgil Russell worked for the hotel a year ago as a busboy in a dining room. 04:21.000 --> 04:23.000 All the victims gave a positive identification on him. 04:23.000 --> 04:24.000 How about the other two, Carl? 04:24.000 --> 04:25.000 Nothing on them, yeah. 04:25.000 --> 04:27.000 What made the figure they might be coming up here? 04:27.000 --> 04:31.000 Well, Russell's got a record, such as package and found that he has a sister in San Diego. 04:31.000 --> 04:32.000 Checked her and she gave us a lead. 04:32.000 --> 04:33.000 Yeah. 04:33.000 --> 04:36.000 Said her brother and two men came by the house early this morning. 04:36.000 --> 04:38.000 Her brother's been staying with them the past few weeks. 04:38.000 --> 04:42.000 Anyway, he came by this morning, package closed, said he had to come up to L.A. on business. 04:42.000 --> 04:44.000 Was he having a dress up here for him, Carl? 04:44.000 --> 04:45.000 Not good. 04:45.000 --> 04:46.000 Said he told her he'd get in touch with her. 04:46.000 --> 04:48.000 He was staying with a friend and placed out on Olympic Boulevard. 04:48.000 --> 04:50.000 Anything on that address? 04:50.000 --> 04:52.000 Yeah, package gave an address out there. 04:52.000 --> 04:54.000 Russell had listed a friend of his when he was arrested. 04:54.000 --> 04:56.000 We figured he might be out there. 04:56.000 --> 04:57.000 Got a good description of the car. 04:57.000 --> 04:58.000 One thing is going to help. 04:58.000 --> 04:59.000 Yeah. 04:59.000 --> 05:02.000 Sister told us that she asked her brother about the other two men. 05:02.000 --> 05:04.000 Wanted to know if they didn't want to come to the house. 05:04.000 --> 05:06.000 Russell said, no, they were waiting for him. 05:06.000 --> 05:07.000 The three of them were in a hurry. 05:07.000 --> 05:09.000 She didn't give us a description of the other two. 05:09.000 --> 05:10.000 What time did this happen? 05:10.000 --> 05:11.000 About 5.30 this morning. 05:11.000 --> 05:13.000 Well, they came right up here. 05:13.000 --> 05:14.000 They'd get in about 8 then, wouldn't they? 05:14.000 --> 05:15.000 Yeah. 05:15.000 --> 05:17.000 You're pretty sure that these are the right ones, huh? 05:17.000 --> 05:18.000 Looks like that. 05:18.000 --> 05:20.000 Identification of mugs. 05:20.000 --> 05:23.000 Russell's sister told us when he was packing that brooch fell out of his grip. 05:23.000 --> 05:24.000 She picked it up for him. 05:24.000 --> 05:25.000 You got a description of it? 05:25.000 --> 05:27.000 Yeah, that's just one that was taken from the hotel in the theft. 05:27.000 --> 05:29.000 Large diamond with four rubies in the setting. 05:29.000 --> 05:31.000 Looked real good for the job. 05:31.000 --> 05:33.000 You got it broadcast out on the car? 05:33.000 --> 05:36.000 Yeah, Russell's sister told us it was a 53 Nash, red and black Continental hookup. 05:36.000 --> 05:40.000 She said Russell just got back from a trip through Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico. 05:40.000 --> 05:44.000 Said that he had the rear window covered with those stickers, you know, the ones they get in gas stations. 05:44.000 --> 05:45.000 Yeah, I know what you mean. 05:45.000 --> 05:46.000 Window's supposed to be covered with them. 05:46.000 --> 05:47.000 Shouldn't be hard to spot. 05:47.000 --> 05:49.000 Well, maybe he figures that too. 05:49.000 --> 05:50.000 Might have them taken off, huh? 05:50.000 --> 05:51.000 Possible. 05:51.000 --> 05:52.000 It's a lead, though. 05:52.000 --> 05:53.000 Something else to look out for. 05:53.000 --> 05:55.000 Any chance they might have gotten across the border into Mexico? 05:55.000 --> 05:57.000 Yeah, it's possible, but it isn't likely. 05:57.000 --> 06:00.000 Soon as we got word on the car, we got a supplemental APB on it 06:00.000 --> 06:02.000 and got in touch with the authorities down the border. 06:02.000 --> 06:04.000 They said they hadn't seen the car. 06:04.000 --> 06:06.000 They'd match the description across the border. 06:06.000 --> 06:09.000 Now, if they'd gotten to the border, the officers down there didn't know about it anyway. 06:09.000 --> 06:11.000 Yeah, I talked to Al Gaitan from our office. 06:11.000 --> 06:12.000 He said they'd be on the lookout for him. 06:12.000 --> 06:14.000 Our pawn shop detail got right on the car. 06:14.000 --> 06:16.000 We got the description of jewelry out all over town. 06:16.000 --> 06:18.000 We haven't had any reports on it yet, though. 06:18.000 --> 06:20.000 They aren't going to try to sell it piece by piece, 06:20.000 --> 06:22.000 or too many of those pieces are easy to recognize. 06:22.000 --> 06:25.000 They'll probably try to peddle through a fence and have it broken up. 06:25.000 --> 06:28.000 Well, we'll get the word out to our informants, ask them to watch out for it. 06:28.000 --> 06:30.000 Yeah, heist that big camp. 06:30.000 --> 06:31.000 You can't be quiet for long. 06:31.000 --> 06:32.000 Bound to be rumbles on at some place. 06:32.000 --> 06:34.000 I'd like to check out the place on Olympic. 06:34.000 --> 06:36.000 It looks like it's best leave we got. 06:36.000 --> 06:37.000 Okay, where are walking you and me? 06:37.000 --> 06:38.000 I went down to the hall with Murphy. 06:38.000 --> 06:40.000 Wanted to check some things at R&I. 06:40.000 --> 06:42.000 Well, why don't we get on out to Olympic, huh? 06:42.000 --> 06:43.000 You got the address? 06:43.000 --> 06:44.000 Yeah, you'd better check the place first. 06:44.000 --> 06:45.000 Could be rough. 06:45.000 --> 06:46.000 What do you mean? 06:46.000 --> 06:47.000 Well, three of them are on. 06:47.000 --> 06:49.000 Ruffles served time quite before at the joint. 06:49.000 --> 06:50.000 Yeah. 06:50.000 --> 06:52.000 I don't think he's going to want to go back. 06:52.000 --> 06:58.000 We checked the name of Ruffles' friend through our files. 06:58.000 --> 07:00.000 We found that he had no record. 07:00.000 --> 07:03.000 We drove out to the address on Olympic and we talked with the neighbors. 07:03.000 --> 07:06.000 From them we found out that it was not a private residence. 07:06.000 --> 07:08.000 We talked to the woman who lived next door. 07:08.000 --> 07:12.000 We asked her about the man listed in the San Diego package as a friend of the suspect. 07:12.000 --> 07:14.000 She told us she hadn't seen him. 07:14.000 --> 07:19.000 Directly in front of the roaming house we found a car answering the description given us by the sister. 07:19.000 --> 07:21.000 There were no lights on in the roaming house. 07:21.000 --> 07:23.000 Walking you uncovered the rear of the place. 07:23.000 --> 07:26.000 Frank, Carl, Davis, and I went up to the front door. 07:26.000 --> 07:27.000 Pretty dark. 07:27.000 --> 07:28.000 I can't see anybody in there, can you? 07:28.000 --> 07:29.000 No, I can't. 07:29.000 --> 07:31.000 Check the window to see if I can spot anybody. 07:31.000 --> 07:33.000 Right, Carl. 07:33.000 --> 07:35.000 I'm going to try the door. 07:35.000 --> 07:37.000 Yeah. 07:49.000 --> 07:50.000 Who is it? 07:50.000 --> 07:51.000 Come on, open up. 07:51.000 --> 07:52.000 Ain't it? Nobody gets in here. 07:52.000 --> 07:54.000 All right, Frank, let's hit it. 07:54.000 --> 07:55.000 All right, stand right where you are. 07:55.000 --> 07:56.000 Hold on. 07:56.000 --> 07:57.000 I'm not doing anything. What are you doing? Breaking anything? 07:57.000 --> 08:00.000 I'm not doing anything. I'll take them, Joe. 08:00.000 --> 08:01.000 He's clean. 08:01.000 --> 08:02.000 Everything okay? 08:02.000 --> 08:03.000 Yeah, Carl. 08:03.000 --> 08:04.000 I'll get walking you. 08:04.000 --> 08:05.000 Who else is in the house? 08:05.000 --> 08:07.000 Nobody but the landlady. She's upstairs. Her and her daughter. 08:07.000 --> 08:08.000 Nobody else here. 08:08.000 --> 08:09.000 What's your name? 08:09.000 --> 08:10.000 Peter. 08:10.000 --> 08:11.000 Where's Russell? 08:11.000 --> 08:12.000 I don't know any Russell. 08:12.000 --> 08:14.000 All right, we'll look around. Come on. 08:16.000 --> 08:17.000 What's in there? 08:17.000 --> 08:18.000 Dining room? 08:18.000 --> 08:19.000 There ain't nothing in there. 08:19.000 --> 08:21.000 Open it up. 08:24.000 --> 08:25.000 See? 08:25.000 --> 08:26.000 Nobody here. 08:26.000 --> 08:27.000 No. 08:27.000 --> 08:29.000 All right, we'll check the other room. 08:33.000 --> 08:34.000 Where'd this door go? 08:34.000 --> 08:35.000 Bedroom. 08:35.000 --> 08:36.000 Ain't nobody in there. 08:36.000 --> 08:37.000 Open it up. 08:37.000 --> 08:40.000 Joe, nobody in the kitchen. Check the back porch. 08:40.000 --> 08:42.000 Walk in Davis upstairs. 08:42.000 --> 08:43.000 All right, we'll try this one here. 08:43.000 --> 08:44.000 Come on, you open it up. 08:46.000 --> 08:47.000 It's locked. You can't get in. 08:47.000 --> 08:49.000 There's a key in the door over here. Let's see if it's there. 08:49.000 --> 08:53.000 Rachel! Rachel! Get up! Rachel, it's the cops! Get up! 08:53.000 --> 08:56.000 I'll get out of the way. You come on. Get up. 08:56.000 --> 08:58.000 I'm up there, Joe. I see you. 08:58.000 --> 09:00.000 All right, come on. You out of that bed. 09:00.000 --> 09:01.000 Hey, Joe? 09:01.000 --> 09:02.000 Yeah? 09:02.000 --> 09:03.000 There's a bottle of sleeping pills on the table here. 09:03.000 --> 09:05.000 Yeah, an empty bottle of whiskey. 09:05.000 --> 09:06.000 I guess he's dead drunk. 09:06.000 --> 09:08.000 Upstairs is clean, Joe. 09:08.000 --> 09:09.000 Russell, huh? 09:09.000 --> 09:11.000 Yeah, he's drunk. I guess we're pretty lucky. 09:11.000 --> 09:12.000 Under his color there? 09:12.000 --> 09:13.000 Yeah. 09:13.000 --> 09:14.000 Three guns. 09:18.000 --> 09:21.000 With the suspects in custody, we searched the house. 09:21.000 --> 09:27.000 In the back bedroom where we found Virgil Russell, we found a folder with all of the newspaper stories of the hotel robbery. 09:27.000 --> 09:32.000 In each instance, that portion of the story which referred to the thieves themselves was outlined in pencil, 09:32.000 --> 09:36.000 and there were small notations along the margins of the newspaper. 09:36.000 --> 09:39.000 A complete search of the house netted us nothing. 09:39.000 --> 09:44.000 There was no sign of the loot from the robbery, although each of the suspects had a large amount of money in their possession. 09:44.000 --> 09:47.000 We talked to the landlady, but she was unable to tell us anything about the suspects. 09:47.000 --> 09:54.000 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. 09:54.000 --> 09:59.000 She said that she hadn't seen them again since that night when they arrived at the house and asked for rooms. 09:59.000 --> 10:04.000 We called the office and arranged for a stakeout on the place, and we took the two suspects back to the office. 10:04.000 --> 10:09.000 We ran Peter Ellis through our eye, and we found that he had one previous conviction on a robbery charge. 10:09.000 --> 10:12.000 Two-fifteen a.m. We talked to Virgil Russell in the interrogation room. 10:12.000 --> 10:18.000 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. 10:18.000 --> 10:20.000 Ain't gonna get any other names other than me. 10:20.000 --> 10:22.000 You got the money we found on you from that hotel robbery, is that right? 10:22.000 --> 10:26.000 I don't know where else it had come from. I got no reason to con you about the hotel job. I pulled it. 10:26.000 --> 10:29.000 I ain't afraid to admit it. I'm just not telling Fink, that's all. 10:29.000 --> 10:31.000 Maybe we can get it out of Ellis. 10:31.000 --> 10:32.000 He won't tell you anything. 10:32.000 --> 10:34.000 You're pretty sure about that. He admits he was in on the robbery. 10:34.000 --> 10:35.000 So what? 10:35.000 --> 10:38.000 We all had a deal. If any of us got caught, they wouldn't tell about the others. 10:38.000 --> 10:41.000 You think Ellis and that other guy go that route standing in your ass alone? 10:41.000 --> 10:43.000 Sure. We had an agreement. 10:43.000 --> 10:46.000 Oh, come on now. Tell us how much you got for the jewels. 10:46.000 --> 10:49.000 You can tell us that and not tell us who the other man is, can't you? 10:49.000 --> 10:51.000 Yeah, I suppose so. 10:51.000 --> 10:54.000 There's no way you could tell if I told you how much we got. 10:54.000 --> 10:55.000 How much? 10:55.000 --> 10:56.000 Seven thousand. 10:56.000 --> 10:57.000 How much? 10:57.000 --> 10:58.000 Seven thousand. 10:58.000 --> 11:00.000 Who set up the deal to sell the stuff, your partner? 11:00.000 --> 11:02.000 Yeah, he handled all that. 11:02.000 --> 11:04.000 He fixed it for you to get seven thousand bucks for all the jewelry? 11:04.000 --> 11:06.000 Yeah, that's right. 11:06.000 --> 11:10.000 Then you made a good deal, all right. Seven thousand for a hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars worth of jewelry. 11:10.000 --> 11:15.000 One worth a hundred and thirty-five. That's just the papers making it sound big. 11:15.000 --> 11:18.000 No, no, no. You're wrong. That's what the stuff is worth. 11:18.000 --> 11:20.000 Are you kidding? 11:20.000 --> 11:22.000 You got that report, Frank. 11:22.000 --> 11:23.000 Yeah. 11:23.000 --> 11:26.000 Now, wait a minute. That's maybe what they claim the stuff is worth. 11:26.000 --> 11:29.000 But you know how people are always jacking things up on the insurance companies? 11:29.000 --> 11:33.000 The stuff was worth maybe fifteen thousand out of a cent more. 11:33.000 --> 11:35.000 Yeah, I do. I hear that. 11:35.000 --> 11:38.000 This report you got from the insurance company, Carl? 11:38.000 --> 11:40.000 Yeah, that's it. 11:40.000 --> 11:42.000 Would you like to read it to yourself, Russell, or do you want me to read it to you? 11:42.000 --> 11:43.000 Oh, let me see it. 11:43.000 --> 11:45.000 Uh-huh. 11:47.000 --> 11:49.000 What a lobby bum. 11:51.000 --> 11:53.000 Oh, no good, could you? 11:53.000 --> 11:58.000 He's a thief. That's what he is. A thieving thief. 11:58.000 --> 12:00.000 That's the kind of a guy you say you had a deal with, huh? 12:00.000 --> 12:04.000 Like you think he was doing you a big favor. Some deal. Seven thousand dollars. 12:04.000 --> 12:06.000 If we picked him up, he'd have screamed like an eagle. 12:06.000 --> 12:07.000 He's your pal, all right. 12:07.000 --> 12:11.000 Oh, no good thief. I can't believe it. 12:11.000 --> 12:13.000 Who do you sell his stuff to, do you know? 12:13.000 --> 12:17.000 No, no, I don't, and that's the truth. I saw that guy, but I don't know who it was. 12:17.000 --> 12:18.000 How did the deal work? 12:18.000 --> 12:21.000 Earlier tonight we got together out in Westwood. He called the fellow. 12:21.000 --> 12:23.000 He was going to handle the deal. Told him to meet us there. 12:23.000 --> 12:24.000 Who's he? 12:24.000 --> 12:26.000 A think, a lousy think. 12:26.000 --> 12:27.000 What's his name? 12:27.000 --> 12:28.000 Payne Al Payne. 12:28.000 --> 12:29.000 I spell it. 12:29.000 --> 12:30.000 Last name? 12:30.000 --> 12:32.000 P-A-Y-N-E. He got a record? 12:32.000 --> 12:35.000 No, I don't think so. I never heard him talk about it. He gives a description? 12:35.000 --> 12:37.000 Yeah. 12:37.000 --> 12:40.000 That stuff was really worth a hundred and thirty-five grand. 12:40.000 --> 12:43.000 He said it was a lot of talk. Newspaper talk, he said. 12:43.000 --> 12:46.000 Oh, brother, what a laugh. What's his pain look like? 12:46.000 --> 12:50.000 I don't know. He's about 37, maybe 150, 60 pounds. 12:50.000 --> 12:51.000 Both. 12:51.000 --> 12:52.000 A little bit of hair on the edges of his head. 12:52.000 --> 12:54.000 I'll type the names you want in, I do. 12:54.000 --> 12:55.000 Right. You want to bring the mugs back here? 12:55.000 --> 12:56.000 Yeah. 12:56.000 --> 12:57.000 Huffle? 12:57.000 --> 12:58.000 Yeah. 12:58.000 --> 12:59.000 That first name, is it Alfred or Albert? 12:59.000 --> 13:02.000 I think it's Albert. He's some kind of a promoter. I don't know what he promotes. 13:02.000 --> 13:05.000 I think it's just a dodge, kind of a front. 13:05.000 --> 13:07.000 I'll be right back. 13:07.000 --> 13:10.000 Let's go ahead with the story about the buy, huh? 13:10.000 --> 13:11.000 All right. Where was I? 13:11.000 --> 13:12.000 You said you went out the west way. 13:12.000 --> 13:16.000 Oh, yeah. Well, we were supposed to meet out in the parking lot for the ice rink. 13:16.000 --> 13:17.000 Big place out there. 13:17.000 --> 13:20.000 Well, we met this guy there. A fellow named Payne Corley. 13:20.000 --> 13:23.000 He looked at the stuff, said it was worth maybe 15,000 the way it was. 13:23.000 --> 13:26.000 But he said it had to be broken down before it could be sold. 13:26.000 --> 13:28.000 And it wouldn't bring that much when it was all broken down. 13:28.000 --> 13:29.000 What did Alfred say to that? 13:29.000 --> 13:32.000 Well, he agreed to it, said it was true. He went right along with it. 13:32.000 --> 13:35.000 A lot of the deals, he was probably in on the whole thing. 13:35.000 --> 13:36.000 Wouldn't be surprised. 13:36.000 --> 13:38.000 I just can't get over it. 13:38.000 --> 13:41.000 We had all that stuff and didn't know what it was worth. 13:41.000 --> 13:42.000 You got any idea who this guy is? 13:42.000 --> 13:44.000 No, I told you I didn't know. 13:44.000 --> 13:47.000 You said this Payne had an office here in town. You know who it is? 13:47.000 --> 13:48.000 Yeah, I can show you. 13:48.000 --> 13:50.000 We were up there this afternoon while I was setting up a deal. 13:50.000 --> 13:52.000 It was sitting on a building over on, uh, on Sixth. 13:52.000 --> 13:53.000 You'd be willing to go over there with us? 13:53.000 --> 13:54.000 So you can nail him? 13:54.000 --> 13:55.000 That's right. We want to get the jewels back. 13:55.000 --> 13:59.000 Sure I'll go. But what that bum did to me, nothing too bad for him. 13:59.000 --> 14:00.000 How are you going to work it, Jim? 14:00.000 --> 14:03.000 Well, Russell, here I'll have to introduce me to somebody who wants to buy this stuff. 14:03.000 --> 14:07.000 I'll have to tell Payne that I'm willing to pay, say, fifty thousand for the jewelry. 14:07.000 --> 14:09.000 That way Payne will have to get in touch with the other man. 14:09.000 --> 14:11.000 I don't think he'll pass up a deal like that. 14:11.000 --> 14:13.000 Maybe he figures to make more than that does for us. 14:13.000 --> 14:16.000 Yeah, but suppose he thinks that Russell here wants to do business with me. 14:16.000 --> 14:19.000 He'll get the stuff back. I don't think he'll want to cross Russell. 14:19.000 --> 14:20.000 Might work. 14:20.000 --> 14:23.000 Well, we don't got much choice. We got to get the stuff back before it's broken up. 14:23.000 --> 14:25.000 Joe, I got some pictures here. 14:25.000 --> 14:27.000 I'm not the description. 14:27.000 --> 14:28.000 What was that? 14:28.000 --> 14:29.000 I'm not the description. 14:29.000 --> 14:31.000 Oh. You want to look at these? 14:31.000 --> 14:32.000 Yeah. 14:32.000 --> 14:37.000 Joe's going to go see this Payne with Russell and Ella, try to get lead on where this stuff is. 14:37.000 --> 14:38.000 He's going to work it. 14:38.000 --> 14:42.000 I'll tell Payne I'm interested in buying the jewels off of him, maybe fifty thousand. 14:42.000 --> 14:45.000 Pictures are not here. None of these is Payne. 14:45.000 --> 14:46.000 You'd go along with this plan, Russell? 14:46.000 --> 14:49.000 Sure. I'd like to see you get him and get him good. 14:49.000 --> 14:50.000 Pretty risky. 14:50.000 --> 14:52.000 It doesn't look like it's any other way. 14:52.000 --> 14:53.000 It does not. 14:53.000 --> 14:54.000 Russell? 14:54.000 --> 14:55.000 Yeah? 14:55.000 --> 14:58.000 We know Payne carries the gun. I'm going to tell you something. I want you to remember it. 14:58.000 --> 14:59.000 All right. 14:59.000 --> 15:03.000 If you get any bright ideas about tipping Payne off about Joe, remember we'll have men all through the building. 15:03.000 --> 15:04.000 All right. 15:04.000 --> 15:05.000 We're not going to start any shooting. 15:05.000 --> 15:06.000 Yeah. 15:06.000 --> 15:07.000 But we'll finish it. 15:07.000 --> 15:21.000 The two suspects, Peter Ellis and Virgil Russell, were taken to the main jail and booked in 15:21.000 --> 15:24.000 for violation of Section 211 of the California Penal Code. 15:24.000 --> 15:29.000 After that, the officers from San Diego, Frank and I, discussed the plan for finding the stolen jewels. 15:29.000 --> 15:34.000 It was agreed that I would go into the office building with the suspect, Virgil Russell. 15:34.000 --> 15:38.000 To lessen the chances of discovery, I would carry no gun or any police identification. 15:38.000 --> 15:44.000 We were unable to make contact that night, so the following morning we checked over the physical layout of the building. 15:44.000 --> 15:46.000 It was six stories high and had one elevator. 15:46.000 --> 15:51.000 There were two entrances to the building, one in the front and one that opened off an alley in the rear. 15:51.000 --> 15:53.000 Officers were planted at both entrances. 15:53.000 --> 15:55.000 Additional men were stationed on each floor. 15:55.000 --> 16:00.000 Two men were on the roof to cut off any possible escape to one of the adjoining buildings. 16:00.000 --> 16:05.000 1130 a.m. Tuesday, October 6th, Russell called Payne and said that he wanted to see him. 16:05.000 --> 16:07.000 Payne told him to come right over to the office. 16:07.000 --> 16:09.000 Russell and I got into a car and we drove over. 16:09.000 --> 16:15.000 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. 16:15.000 --> 16:19.000 1158 a.m. We got to the office building and we went up to the fourth floor. 16:19.000 --> 16:23.000 The sign on Payne's door read, Albert Payne and Vespa. 16:23.000 --> 16:25.000 Russell opened the door and we walked in. 16:25.000 --> 16:29.000 Hi, Virg. What's the bet? 16:29.000 --> 16:31.000 Well, why couldn't you meet Joe Ferguson? 16:31.000 --> 16:32.000 Joe, glad to meet you. 16:32.000 --> 16:33.000 Yeah, same here, Al. 16:33.000 --> 16:35.000 Sit down, boys. 16:35.000 --> 16:37.000 Now, what's this all about? 16:37.000 --> 16:40.000 It's about the stuff, Sal. We gotta get it back. 16:40.000 --> 16:42.000 Now, what's the pitch? I don't even know what you're talking about. 16:42.000 --> 16:45.000 Come off it, Tane. Joe here's willing to up the ante for the jewels. 16:45.000 --> 16:46.000 How much? 16:46.000 --> 16:48.000 I'll go as high as 50,000. I gotta see it first. 16:48.000 --> 16:50.000 For 15,000 worth of jewels? 16:50.000 --> 16:52.000 Papers say it's worth 135. 16:52.000 --> 16:55.000 I explained that to you. They up to value. It's all insured. 16:55.000 --> 16:59.000 People up to price for the insurance companies, papers up to price to sell more papers. 16:59.000 --> 17:00.000 I told you. 17:00.000 --> 17:03.000 Yeah, and I ain't buying it. I want the stuff back. 17:03.000 --> 17:06.000 I never even got my cut of the 7,000. Now, it feels the same way. 17:06.000 --> 17:08.000 I told you the money'd be coming. 17:08.000 --> 17:10.000 Well, it ain't coming anymore. I want the stuff back. 17:10.000 --> 17:13.000 I don't think we can do that. Most of it's already broken up. 17:13.000 --> 17:16.000 No, not much of it could be broken up in the time that he's had it. 17:16.000 --> 17:18.000 Guy that bought it isn't gonna like it. 17:18.000 --> 17:22.000 Well, that's tough. He's just telling them to stop breaking it up. Tell them we want it back. 17:22.000 --> 17:24.000 Where do you figure the silver jewels? 17:24.000 --> 17:28.000 I don't see where that concerns you. I'm walking you 50,000 for them. That's all you need to know. 17:28.000 --> 17:30.000 Come on, Al. Come on. Quit playing games. Let's get on it. 17:30.000 --> 17:34.000 You get in touch with the guy you gave them to and get the jewels back. 17:34.000 --> 17:38.000 I got something to say about this. I was in on the job with you. Let you forget it. 17:38.000 --> 17:41.000 I'm only gonna say this once more, Ping. You get on that phone and get in touch with your contact. 17:41.000 --> 17:45.000 Tell him to stop breaking them up. You set up a meeting to get the stuff back. 17:45.000 --> 17:48.000 I'll call him. I don't think it's gonna do any good. 17:48.000 --> 17:51.000 He's probably got all the money. He's mouthing it down by this time. 17:51.000 --> 17:54.000 Got it all broken up. You call him. Let's see what happens. 17:55.000 --> 17:56.000 All right. 18:01.000 --> 18:03.000 Now, let me talk to Fred. 18:04.000 --> 18:06.000 Fred? Yes. 18:06.000 --> 18:10.000 Listen, something's come up we can't go through with the deal. 18:10.000 --> 18:12.000 What? 18:12.000 --> 18:16.000 Yeah, I know. I told them. Doesn't make any difference. They want it all back. 18:16.000 --> 18:21.000 Yeah, I told them that too. Doesn't make any difference. 18:21.000 --> 18:24.000 You want the jewels back that have been broken down too? 18:24.000 --> 18:26.000 I told you, Al. I want all of it back. 18:26.000 --> 18:29.000 Yeah. Yes, Fred. He says all of it. 18:30.000 --> 18:33.000 Okay. When can you make it? 18:33.000 --> 18:36.000 Yeah. All right. 18:37.000 --> 18:39.000 Yeah, we'll see you then, right? 18:39.000 --> 18:41.000 Okay, bye. 18:42.000 --> 18:44.000 I'll have the stuff wait till tomorrow night. 18:44.000 --> 18:45.000 Why does he have to wait that long? 18:45.000 --> 18:48.000 How do I know? He just said he couldn't get it to you any sooner. 18:48.000 --> 18:50.000 You should have let me talk to him. I would have told him. 18:50.000 --> 18:51.000 Yeah, sure. 18:51.000 --> 18:52.000 How much of it's been broken up? 18:52.000 --> 18:56.000 Hardly. And he just got started. Fred says it's almost all whole. 18:56.000 --> 18:57.000 Who is this Fred? 18:57.000 --> 18:58.000 That's none of your business. 18:58.000 --> 19:00.000 I asked you a question, Al. 19:00.000 --> 19:03.000 He picked your answer. Doesn't make any difference who he is. 19:03.000 --> 19:06.000 You and your friends lost up the deal. Be happy. You fixed it fine. 19:06.000 --> 19:07.000 Well, I'll come out better. 19:07.000 --> 19:10.000 Yeah, you better be right. Now, remember, I got a piece of this. 19:10.000 --> 19:12.000 I won't forget. 19:12.000 --> 19:14.000 What time tomorrow? We're going to need Fred. 19:14.000 --> 19:16.000 He said he'd call. Let me know where and when. 19:16.000 --> 19:19.000 Well, it can't be any later than tomorrow. I got to be leaving then. 19:19.000 --> 19:21.000 You're going to have the money with you when you pick up the stuff. 19:21.000 --> 19:22.000 I don't have it. 19:22.000 --> 19:24.000 All of it. I don't want you to stay on payment. 19:24.000 --> 19:25.000 I told you I'd have it. 19:25.000 --> 19:28.000 All right. You call me tomorrow about ten, Brugge. I'll let you know the details, Al. 19:28.000 --> 19:29.000 Okay. 19:29.000 --> 19:30.000 I hope you're right about this, Brugge. 19:30.000 --> 19:31.000 What do you mean? 19:31.000 --> 19:35.000 Oh, this deal. I don't like it. I hope nothing happens to louse it up. 19:35.000 --> 19:36.000 Yeah, so do I. 19:42.000 --> 19:45.000 Brugge will rough one eye, left the office and went downstairs. 19:45.000 --> 19:48.000 We checked with Frank, Carl Davis, and the other officers from San Diego. 19:48.000 --> 19:53.000 Al Payne was taken into custody and booked in at the main jail on suspicion of violation of Section 211-PC. 19:53.000 --> 19:55.000 Then we returned to the office. 19:55.000 --> 19:56.000 To find out who has the stuff? 19:56.000 --> 19:57.000 Yeah, a fellow named Fred. 19:57.000 --> 19:58.000 You know who he is? 19:58.000 --> 19:59.000 No, not yet, but we will. 19:59.000 --> 20:01.000 How'd you figure that thing didn't tell you? 20:01.000 --> 20:03.000 Well, I saw the number he dialed when he called Fred. 20:03.000 --> 20:06.000 It was a Hollywood prefect sitting out down in the area. 20:08.000 --> 20:11.000 I can try the number to see who answers. 20:18.000 --> 20:21.000 Oh, I'm sorry. I got the wrong number. Excuse me. 20:21.000 --> 20:22.000 Together? 20:22.000 --> 20:24.000 Yeah. The Kinnery Trophy Company. 20:24.000 --> 20:25.000 You want to check the book? 20:25.000 --> 20:28.000 Sure. 20:31.000 --> 20:34.000 K.K.I. and Fred. 20:34.000 --> 20:36.000 David Joe. 20:36.000 --> 20:39.000 Kinnery Trophy Company, son of Los Palmas. 20:39.000 --> 20:42.000 Trophy Company. That would give me a chance to melt the mountains down to metal, wouldn't it? 20:42.000 --> 20:44.000 It would be easy to get rid of it that way. 20:44.000 --> 20:46.000 Makes sense. Why don't you figure to move in on it? 20:46.000 --> 20:49.000 Right now. We can drive out and check the place now. Look it over and then we'll go in and get him. 20:49.000 --> 20:50.000 What happened to me? 20:50.000 --> 20:51.000 We got to take you back to the main jail. 20:51.000 --> 20:52.000 After the help I gave you? 20:52.000 --> 20:54.000 That's the way it's got to be. You know that going on. 20:54.000 --> 20:57.000 Yeah, I suppose so. Well, you tell the DA I helped though, huh? 20:57.000 --> 20:58.000 Yeah, we'll see he knows about it. 20:58.000 --> 21:00.000 It's a bad deal all the way around. 21:00.000 --> 21:05.000 A bad deal. I should have known I couldn't win. That's a start I should have known. Nobody can win. 21:05.000 --> 21:07.000 Still a lot of people trying. 21:12.000 --> 21:16.000 We returned Virgil Russell to his cell and then we drove out to the Kinnery Trophy Company. 21:16.000 --> 21:19.000 It was a two-story building on Los Palmas Avenue in Hollywood. 21:19.000 --> 21:21.000 They made trophies and fraternity pins. 21:21.000 --> 21:25.000 A large sign on the front of the building advertised that they could duplicate anything in metal. 21:25.000 --> 21:30.000 We checked with the neighborhood merchants and found that there was a permanent staff of four employees. 21:30.000 --> 21:36.000 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. 21:36.000 --> 21:40.000 5 p.m. The employees of the plant left the building. One man remained. 21:40.000 --> 21:45.000 From the description we'd gotten from Russell, we figured that he was the person Payne had called Fred. 21:45.000 --> 21:52.000 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. 21:52.000 --> 21:55.000 On a table off to one side we could see a quantity of jewelry. 21:55.000 --> 22:00.000 Frank, Carl, and I went to the side door of the plant while the other officers covered the remaining doors. 22:00.000 --> 22:01.000 All right, you ready? 22:01.000 --> 22:02.000 Yeah. 22:02.000 --> 22:03.000 Let's go. 22:03.000 --> 22:04.000 Carl? 22:04.000 --> 22:05.000 Yeah. 22:05.000 --> 22:08.000 I'll hit the door and grab him before he's got the chance to throw the jewelry into the furnace. 22:08.000 --> 22:09.000 Right. 22:11.000 --> 22:13.000 Grab him, Carl. He's making a break point. 22:13.000 --> 22:14.000 I got it. 22:14.000 --> 22:16.000 What do you guys do breaking in here like this? 22:16.000 --> 22:19.000 Look at that, Joe. Jewelry matches the description of the stolen stuff. 22:19.000 --> 22:20.000 Yeah, it looks like it. 22:20.000 --> 22:21.000 All right, Mr. Stanstow. 22:21.000 --> 22:22.000 Okay. 22:23.000 --> 22:24.000 Thanks, Queen. 22:24.000 --> 22:26.000 I don't know what you guys are doing. I don't know what this is all about. 22:26.000 --> 22:28.000 All right, save it. What's this jewelry doing here? 22:28.000 --> 22:29.000 That isn't mine. 22:29.000 --> 22:31.000 I didn't ask you who it was. I asked you what it was doing here. 22:31.000 --> 22:34.000 Oh, I'd say give me $2,500 if I break it down for him. 22:34.000 --> 22:35.000 What's the fellow's name? 22:35.000 --> 22:37.000 Guy named Payne. Said he'd pay me to melt it down for him. 22:37.000 --> 22:38.000 You know this stuff was stolen? 22:38.000 --> 22:41.000 No. No, I didn't. He just made the deal and melt it down. 22:41.000 --> 22:44.000 Didn't he call you this afternoon to tell you to stop breaking it up? 22:44.000 --> 22:46.000 Yeah, and then he called back and told me not to pay attention to what he said. 22:46.000 --> 22:48.000 Go ahead with the job. I did like he said. 22:48.000 --> 22:49.000 Who else is in this with you? 22:49.000 --> 22:50.000 What do you mean? 22:50.000 --> 22:51.000 Who else here at the factory? 22:51.000 --> 22:53.000 Nobody. I'm the only one. I only did it because I needed the money. 22:53.000 --> 22:56.000 I didn't know where the jewels came from. I didn't care. They didn't make no difference to me. 22:56.000 --> 22:59.000 As long as I got mine, I was happy. I didn't know what it was all about. 22:59.000 --> 23:00.000 Looks like most of it's here, Joe. 23:00.000 --> 23:01.000 How many pieces did you break down? 23:01.000 --> 23:05.000 Took a couple of the pins apart. Didn't have a time to melt any of the mounting down. It's all there. 23:05.000 --> 23:06.000 All the pain game. 23:06.000 --> 23:07.000 What's your name? 23:07.000 --> 23:08.000 Fred Michael. 23:08.000 --> 23:11.000 All right. Let's go. 23:11.000 --> 23:14.000 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. 23:14.000 --> 23:15.000 Yeah. 23:15.000 --> 23:16.000 I didn't even get paid for it. 23:16.000 --> 23:18.000 Don't worry about it. You will. 23:25.000 --> 23:30.000 The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. 23:30.000 --> 23:37.000 On February 18th, trial was held in Department 89, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of San Diego. 23:37.000 --> 23:39.000 In a moment, the results of that trial. 23:46.000 --> 23:52.000 Virgil Nathan Russell, Peter Howard Ellis, and Albert Franklin Payne were tried and convicted of robbery in the first degree. 23:52.000 --> 23:54.000 They received sentence as prescribed by law. 23:54.000 --> 24:01.000 Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of from five years to life. 24:01.000 --> 24:05.000 Fred George Michelson was tried and found guilty of receiving stolen property. 24:05.000 --> 24:08.000 He received sentence as prescribed by law. 24:08.000 --> 24:14.000 Receiving stolen property is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not more than 10 years. 24:23.000 --> 24:27.000 You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. 24:27.000 --> 24:33.000 Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, law firm to its police department. 24:33.000 --> 24:38.000 Technical advisors, Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marki Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brasher. 24:38.000 --> 24:42.000 Third tonight were Ben Alexander, Eddie Pyrstone, Art Gilmore. 24:42.000 --> 24:47.000 Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schuman. Hal Gibney speaking. 24:47.000 --> 25:04.000 Transcribed from Los Angeles, Dragnet is an NBC Radio Network production. 25:17.000 --> 25:32.000 Music by John Robinson.