Your detective sergeant, you're assigned the burglary detail.
In the past two months, a thief has broken into 18 markets.
There's no lead to his whereabouts, no clue to his identity.
Your job, get him.
Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime.
For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
It was Monday, December 14th. It was cold in Los Angeles.
We were working the day watch out a burglary detail.
My partner is Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Bernard.
My name is Friday.
We're on our way out of the office. It was 8.05 a.m. when we got to Georgia Street Juvenile Bureau.
Sergeant Lindby Simmons' office.
Yeah? Oh, did you give it to him?
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
What'd he say?
Yeah.
Well, when did he come back?
Uh-huh.
Well, did he have it for you?
Yeah.
Well, that'll teach you not to go that route anymore.
All right, Patrick, tell the sergeant to call me when he gets back.
Right.
Hi, Friday Smith.
Oh, good morning, Sergeant.
Just talking to Gene Patrick over at Highland Park. You know him?
Yeah, I met him a couple of times.
Picked up the youngster a couple of days ago on suspicion of burglary.
Brought him into the office, and Patrick talked to him.
Yeah.
Well, he finally bought it, but the kid didn't have anything to do with the sets.
He told him to go home.
Uh-huh.
Kid told Gene he didn't have the money to get home, so Gene gave him 20 cents.
Kid swore he'd come in and pay it back.
Did he?
Yeah, he came in this morning, gave Patrick two dimes.
Told him thanks for believing the story.
Uh-huh.
Then Patrick got the kicker.
Kid really did break into our house last night to get the money.
What's Patrick got to say about that?
Says the kid's honest in a sort of way. He did pay him back.
Where's the youngster now?
Got him over at Holland Park juvenile.
I better call Gene. Maybe I can give him a hand.
I got a couple of street card tokens he won't be using.
Might like to have them.
Oh, hold it.
As loud as you, I don't think I'd bring it up to him for a couple of days.
Well, what can I do for you two?
Well, Lindsay, we've been working on a string of burglaries.
You maybe got the word on them.
Well, I don't think so. What's the story?
Bunch of store burglaries.
Papers are tagged in them. Note bottle job.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Seems Hardgrove was telling me something about them the other day.
Where do we come in?
Well, the way the job looks, we've been thinking that maybe he belonged in your department instead of ours.
How do you figure that?
First off, the milk thing.
What do you mean?
Every job he's pulled, we found an empty milk bottle on the counter.
Okay. What's that prove?
Well, milk and kids go together.
Sure. So do milk and ulcers.
Maybe your thief's got the bull hard when he gets into the store.
No, Lindsay, there's another thing.
The way he prowls the places, all he takes is petty cash.
Just a couple of bucks outside.
Candy, cigarettes, nothing big.
Some of the places he's gone into, you could open the safe with a pocket knife.
And he hasn't even made a move toward them.
Anyway, I've got a lot of them on the books.
Maybe that's the way he gets his kicks.
Oh, that's a nice try, Lindsay.
If you know anybody that can climb through a 14 by 10 inch hole, you trot them up and we'll talk to them.
Okay, I haven't got the names of my desk, but you take a trip to Santa Anita, you'll meet a lot of them.
Jockeys.
You guys know we'll go along with you on this thing.
Anything we can do, but until we're sure that there's a juvenile involved, there's nothing we can do.
Anything turns up, we'll be sure to turn it over to you.
Well, look, we're not trying to prom this thing off on you, Lindsay.
We've had the stats office make so many runs on small adults that the cards are wearing out.
It means that none of the leads we've been chasing come out anywhere.
I figure that maybe you could come up with some answers for us.
Well, it's a new one on me, Joe.
This milk that I've heard of a couple of thieves that went for it, but I can't name you a juvenile offhand.
I'll pass the word around today, watch and see what they can come up with.
I'll leave a note for heart growth.
You can pass it on to the night watch.
Well, I appreciate anything you can do.
No trouble.
Been running your ragged on this, huh?
Pretty rough.
Just that we can't seem to be able to come up with anything that has.
Yeah.
Oh, excuse me.
Yeah.
Georgia Street juvenile, Sergeant Simmons.
Yeah.
Yeah, they're here.
Yeah.
Okay, hang on.
I'll see you at your office.
Thank you.
Friday, Tony.
Yeah.
Right away, what's the address?
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Oh, I got it.
We'll leave right away.
Who?
Yeah, call him.
Thanks.
Well, come on, let's go.
The milk bottle kiddie hit again.
The call had come from Lieutenant Ginder in burgery.
He told us that he'd just gotten a call from a storekeeper named Marty Decker.
He said he'd been in the store for a while.
The call had come from Lieutenant Ginder in burgery.
He told us that he'd just gotten a call from a storekeeper named Marty Decker.
The man had called to report a burglary at his store at the corner of Jackson and Broadway
Street.
Lieutenant Ginder told us that the crime lab had been notified and had dispatched a crew
to investigate the premises for physical evidence.
Frank and I left Georgia Street juvenile.
We drove over to Figueroa, and then we turned over onto Broadway.
The store that had been broken into was a small Italian delicatessen on the southeast
corner.
We walked out there, the crime lab crew had already arrived and was winding up their investigation.
We walked into the place and we met with Ray Pinker.
Hi, Joe.
Frank.
Ray.
How's it going?
Usual thing.
Bottle of milk on the counter.
You want to check it over?
Yeah.
Come on back here.
See if you can make it's entrance back here at the rear of the store.
Now this broke out the window pane.
Yeah, not very big, huh?
It measures nine and a half, a 12 and three quarters.
No alarm on the window, huh?
Yeah, you can see the wires here.
Take a look.
Oh, yeah.
How come the alarm didn't go off?
I talked to the owner.
He said he'd had trouble with the alarm system last couple of weeks.
Called the company and asked them to fix it.
He thought it was okay.
Guess there's something wrong.
Some place didn't work last night.
What kind of alarm was it, Ray?
I'll try it on the building.
You know the kind.
Yeah.
What'd he take this time, Rick?
Usual run of stuff.
According to the owner, there are about four cartons of cigarettes and that thing.
Several boxes of candy.
Can't be absolutely sure.
Said he's got a check he stopped.
You better have to talk to him on that.
Yeah, we will.
We'll catch him later.
Want to wait a minute?
I'll check to see how the boys are doing on the prints.
Have them check the counter in the milk bottle.
Fine, thanks, Ray.
Be right back.
Bye.
I wonder when we're going to blow the whistle on this guy.
I don't know.
Can't do it fast enough for me.
I don't know about you.
Hey, Joe.
Look at this.
You know, I'd like to get a couple of those before we leave.
What are you talking about?
Salami, Joe.
Those right there, the hard Italian kind.
See, right there.
I remember last summer I was out in San Francisco.
Yeah, I remember.
Went up there to pick up a prisoner.
Remember you were collecting days off?
Yeah, I recall.
I had a hundred of them coming.
Yeah, pretty funny.
Anyway, I met Dan Shelley up there.
You mean the Irish tenor?
Yeah, he and I went down to Cookie's Bar for lunch because he had some of the salami.
Sliced it like paper.
You could almost read through it.
Oh, that's the way it's supposed to be.
I know, Joe.
Anyway, Cookie sliced up a bunch of it, served it with cold cracked crab.
Boy, I never tasted anything so good in my life.
Have you ever read the newspaper through sliced salami?
Yeah, well, I never have.
Have you?
All the time.
Just the funnies.
Well, anyway, Faith tried to find them for me.
Salami like this.
Brought home all kinds of things, but she's never found the right kind.
You know, they'd be hard enough to pound tax with when she got them on.
Oh, I never forget old Cookie and that spread.
Well, if you can get your mind off food for a minute, and I know that'll be tough.
Let's get on with this thing, Joe.
Sure got to buy some of these before we leave.
This is my Cookie head.
Yeah.
This place is powdered, Joe.
Yeah.
Nothing.
Whoever was drinking the milk, he took the bottle out of the refrigeration compartment.
The bottle's sweated, and there's no print on it we can lift.
Too bad.
None of many places.
No, we've gone over the place from top to bottom.
So there we can't find them.
That's not much help, is it?
Came up with one thing.
Maybe you can make something out of it.
What's that?
Outside the window on the back parking lot.
Came up with an open package of cigarettes.
Don't know if it belonged to the thieves.
Anything on it?
No.
Fog last night ruined any prints that were on it.
Boys have got it if you want it.
Well, we'll take a look at it.
Looks like everything's against us, huh?
Another blank.
Don't envy you guys trying to break this one.
Most of the time it's a leak someplace.
Somewhere along the line the guy's going to make a mistake and not cover something.
Yeah, we've been saying that for weeks.
This is either the smartest thief I've ever seen or the luckiest.
What's this make for him?
Number 19.
A lot of chances to take for nothing.
He's not getting anything out of the job.
Maybe he isn't, but we are.
What?
Headaches.
938 a.m. we talked to the victim.
He told us that as near as he could figure there was approximately $4 stolen from the store.
He went on to say that he'd ascertained that five cartons of cigarettes and several boxes of candy bars were taken.
He was unable to tell us if any other merchandise was taken until he made a complete inventory.
He went on to tell us that there was over $600 in the safe, but that as far as he could tell there had been no attempt to break into it.
We made a canvas of the neighborhood and talked to the neighbors.
None of them recalled having seen any suspicious people in the neighborhood the night before.
None of them had seen any suspicious automobiles in the area.
The one thing that was apparent was that the thief was working in a definite pattern.
He worked only on Friday and Saturday nights, always between 8 p.m. and 12 midnight.
Frank and I met with Captain Bernard and it was decided that we would maintain a rolling stakeout in the area in which the suspect operated.
Four other cars from Metro Reserve were assigned to work with us.
The next five nights we worked without result. It was slow and tedious, but considering the lack of information on the thief it was the only way we had left.
We had to be on or near the scene when the thief struck again.
Saturday night, December 19th, Frank and I met and drove out to the area.
The streets were crowded with early Christmas shoppers.
I'll sure be glad when it's over.
Why, what's the matter?
How many rooms in your apartment, Joe?
Three, you know that. You've been there.
Yeah, well, there won't be enough room.
What are you talking about?
Faye.
What's Faye got to do with this?
Hack, Joe, real hack.
Why, what's the matter?
I got up this morning. I felt great. Faye's got breakfast on the table, all nice, a couple eggs, little pig sausages. Nice, you know.
Yeah.
I come down to the table, she's got the food on, and I hit her with it.
What, the food?
You know, Joe, I hit her with what I'm about to tell her. I tell her I'm going to have to work tonight.
You work every night this week. What's wrong with that?
That's the way I figure it, so I got a way out.
You have a?
Mm-hmm. Today is Faye's birthday.
Oh, you didn't tell me.
It's not good to tell people, Joe.
Oh, it isn't?
No. Faye's over 30.
Yeah, I kind of figured that.
Don't you get it?
I'm sorry, pal. You left me a couple of locks back on this one.
Look, Faye.
I may never catch up.
Faye's over 30, Joe. She's getting to the point where she's taking off years, see?
How can you give a person a last birthday present?
What do you mean, last birthday present?
I tell you about it. They're going to give her a present.
Only now, instead of 30, she's 29. You understand?
Well, to be perfectly honest with you, no. But as long as you do, it's perfectly all right with me.
Yeah.
What about this morning?
Well, I told her I was going to have to go to work. I got this present for her.
Brand new deep fat fryer. Real good. All wrapped up.
Deep fat fryer. All wrapped up with ribbon. Beautiful. Shiny. Beautiful.
So you gave it to her. Did it do any good?
Well, John, you know what she does with it?
Well, at this point, I wouldn't even want to guess.
I'm serious, Joe. This may mean the end of my home.
Go ahead.
She doesn't even open it. Just puts it in the closet on the back porch.
Doesn't even pull the paper apart to peek in what's in it.
Real mad, Joe. You may not find me back in the house tonight.
Well, you can apologize when you get home.
I don't know, Joe. Faye's pretty sore. Didn't even open the present.
Wait a minute.
Huh?
Listen.
Yeah. Is that where it's coming from?
Yeah. It sounds like up on 7th. Come on.
Yeah, right here. Pull up.
Come on. I'll take the front.
All right.
Hey, hold it up there.
Wait, officer. Stop or I'll shoot.
Frank, come around your way. Okay?
Take it easy.
Go ahead and shoot. Come on and kill me.
Go ahead. Shoot me. Doesn't matter anymore.
Go on.
All right. Yeah.
Just get, Joe.
We'll see.
What are you doing in the store, son?
What do you think I'm doing?
You asked your question, son.
Pretty stupid. What do you think I was doing?
How many stores have you broken into, son?
Figure it out for yourself.
Look, what do you got a chip on your shoulder for?
You're a big guy. Don't give me a lot of conversation.
Do what you want to do.
All right, boy. You call it. Come on.
1150 PM.
We called the office and told them that we had a subject in custody
and that we were taking him to George Street Juvenile Bureau.
We put the boy in our car and we waited until a radio car arrived.
We asked the officers to notify the owner of the store and stand by until he got there.
We also asked that they make a 459 report.
1155 PM.
We started to take the youngster to the Juvenile Bureau.
What's your name, son?
What difference does it make?
Acting like that isn't going to help you.
You guys picked me up, remember? You worry about it.
I got nothing to be afraid of.
Oh, yes, you have, boy. You could have been shot back there.
Maybe you should have pulled a trigger.
Look, son, what's the matter with you? Why are you acting like this?
You just got real lucky back there. That's the only reason you're alive now.
It was dark in there.
As far as I could tell, you were an adult. You didn't stop when I told you to.
Now, according to the book, I could have shot you. You know that, don't you?
Showing the kid. That'd make you a big man.
No, I'm just bringing it up to prove a point.
Save it.
Now, look, son. I'm going to tell you something.
When you break into a place at night, you're not a kid anymore.
You're asking for trouble.
You've got both your pockets full of it.
The way you work tonight makes us think you're mixed up in a lot more theft than just tonight.
That right?
You ever been arrested before?
No.
Never been in trouble with the law, huh?
Sure. I'm a real criminal.
I got to take a once-a-lifetime ride through a boulevard stop.
Radio car stopped me and tagged me.
Big deal.
But they're going to send me to San Quentin.
Maybe they can give me the gatchings.
How old are you?
What difference does that make?
How old are you?
How old are you, figure?
All right.
You look like you're about 11 to me.
That's what everybody thinks.
At least 15 my next birthday.
Don't get it, son.
It's the truth.
15.
That's what I'll be 15.
When were you born?
1939, November 2nd.
You're small for your age, aren't you?
Why do you say that?
Aren't you?
It's got nothing to do with it.
Nothing at all.
I can do anything any other kid can do.
Anything.
Don't forget that.
What's the matter with you?
Is that a sore point with you?
Huh?
Your size.
Is that a sore point?
Nothing wrong with my size.
The doctor says that I'm all right.
Just that some people aren't meant to be as big as others, that's all.
There's nothing wrong with me.
Now, now, come on, son.
What's your name?
Now, look, you know we're going to find out.
How are you going to find out?
We will.
Why don't you save us all a lot of time and tell us the truth here?
It'd be better if you did.
If I do tell you.
You going to put it in the papers?
Huh?
I'll tell you.
There's going to be a lot of reporters around.
My name going to get in the papers?
Not so much.
Can't tell you.
You're going to tell me.
I'm going to tell you.
It means there's no reporters around.
You're not going to tell us your name?
Is that it?
That's the way it is.
It's kind of funny, isn't it?
Maybe that's the way it looks to you.
What are you looking at?
Can't tell you that either.
You got things all wrong, son.
It isn't what you want to tell us.
It's got nothing to do with it.
You're going to tell us what we want to know sooner or later?
Where are we going?
George Street.
That's where the jail is.
Why do you ask that?
Because I want to know.
out of the jail where the part of the report is what is this thing with reporters
and you what it's all about the point is put your name in the paper and I'm done
well you get the reporters are lined up you get them from all the papers you
haven't done I'll tell you all about the whole story you just get the reporters and
the photographers be sure about them because I want to take you to. Let me get
this straight what you say you are going to give us any information without the
press being that right that's the way it's going to be you got it wrong boy
what doesn't make any difference who is there you're going to come around yeah
we'll find out.
1210 AM we got to Georgia Street juvenile bureau Frank pulled the car into the side
alley and we took the subject out of the back seat. Up this way.
Yeah well it's been here a long time. Don't you worry about it.
But. You want to take them down the hall Frank I'll check with hard growth Yeah
more.
I have Friday working kind of later Yeah we are I got to know from Simmons on the
milk burglary checked around the night was nothing on it I didn't call it I don't
think you have to worry about I think we got the answers Yeah just picked up a kid
we got him dead to rights in the market open bottle of milk right next to can
you know thanks got him down the hall you think is your boy and it looks like it
everything adds up the entrance what he tried to take the milk all along seems to
fit you get that kind of a case what are you worried about there's two things Yeah
we isn't right it you want that is no got some big thing working about the press
so they won't give us anything without reporters being there makes it rough you
know the policy I do you want to help him if he wants publicity take me down into
this is a report I might do it or do I have to try to go ahead. What am I going
to be well I'm going to say to you from the mirror as well we want to get.
Some you want to talk to somebody from the papers it's against the policy that we
swung for you with the city you from the moon I you tell the hell guy I got a phone
in Baltimore yeah great I read all about it you know right me up like that I hope
that I know what two men killed in that operation how we'd all with stories
everybody did that's I mean for you to write me up with a picture that makes you
think you got it coming you break into one store and try to steal a couple of
cartons of cigarettes that doesn't make the first page one store I got in the
nineteen of them my team before they caught me that's important isn't that the
story I don't know my day couple things you better get straightened out here first
off what your name better get your notebook out be able to take all this down
don't worry about it so you just answer the questions I'll get it yeah OK my name
is I like playing that E.L.R.O.Y. G.R.A.H.A.N.
Yeah I told you once I'm
a 15 you said you broke into nineteen stores is that right yeah I can't might
have made
a more but something wrong tonight I'm sure with the burger along that I turned
up that mistake you still work and I wasn't for that if it only takes one though
how much do you get yourself you want to apply it at it what you had to have a
reason for committing these robberies you want to tell us what it was sure good
reason we are going to tell it. When you see I was had trouble at school never
seemed to quite make it all the guys like me all that all the girls do to
a girl calling almost every night asking to take in the dance and stuff like that
I don't go much for stuff like that you can understand can't you Mr. Go ahead
all right well they want me for all the teams football basketball all the time
asking to play but I figured you want to get ahead in the world you got to have
a name some place where you want to get to get out that look for it and you're
going to get there don't you find that true Mr. You're going to get the way it
was with me all the time turned down office to be on some team telling some girl
I couldn't take it to a day and didn't have the time and I just couldn't make it
you can understand it you've been around you know I was successful kind of people
who like someone a lot of people we did you know what I mean don't you.
What's the matter something wrong. I'm trying to tell you what happened I'm
going to be straight what's the matter. Now you want to tell us the truth all
right well I don't know why you're trying to tell us this line boy it isn't
necessary I don't know why you did what you did but I do know you had a reason
for that's all we want to know just the reason. You don't believe me. Right now
how about you know some of them. Mr. You know.
Can't even lie right. Can you until I good all my life I've been trying to be like
other kids all the time getting beat up getting left out of things you know why
you know. Big reason.
The biggest reason in the world. Because I'm almost fifteen years old for
a few seven inches tall for three seven weight ninety seven pounds and a very big
not big enough. All the time I think it's having around all the time you're the
joke. It's the time when you figure it's easy to laugh to.
But. Because if you don't some kids going to beat you up get to the point where you
don't care anymore. I need to click off those coupons and send them in get the
book back and how to build myself up what that didn't do nothing for me.
We're still four feet seven weight ninety seven pounds all the stuff I took didn't
do no good. Don't come out for seven ninety seven pounds.
All right you want to tell us about the big reason. I did it to be big that's why
I had things that people wanted to go back to me the other things kids wanted. I
had all that stuff that the other kids wanted. Made me important don't you see that
you've got to understand that. That's why one of my picture in the paper that's why
I wanted to story. So the kids would know that then something big so they know. That
it's going to be our. Know what it's like everything else I tried to do I lost it
up I didn't mean to steal but it was the only thing to do the only way I had I
wasn't the only thing I wanted to know what all the time the other kids laughing
all the time talking just couldn't stand it anymore I just couldn't.
You know thanks. You can understand it can't you make sense what that time wasn't
so much the kids and I was little you know I didn't want to think I was small.
Well.
1236 AM we contacted the parents of the Graham boy asked them to come down to the
station talk to them for an hour and try to fill them in the view of the fact that
the parents of the subject responsible person the boy was booked for violation of
section what the P.C.
And he was really his parents pending his hearing in juvenile court five days
passed we heard nothing from the boy on December twenty fourth blanket I checked
into the office. Right well get in the back let's see you in the back OK thank
you. I'm just right I was we do play
a lot I guess you think it's kind of fun what's that I want to tell you I should
think it's good what you did for me but we're with that big thing the other night
well there's no way that some of course the left to make a decision on it yeah
I'm sure what you did to make me feel better five I can turn whatever the judge
decides I'll go along with it I'm on top of my folks so we got it all talked out
all the way talk down but that's good we're glad of the time.
When you guys don't like it I mean you know I'm just like a short time and all
but I want to bring you these. Merry Christmas.
Well I thought when I should be all right but it's necessary I want to get into
a way to get from that's my right to be all right to appreciate it.
A couple of times to the left but they're the kind of smoke yes and they'll be fine
thanks. Well you guys are on.
Yeah I just. Just want my things I can yeah I'm. Just not going to know you know
what that. I didn't feel. The
story you have just heard is true the names were changed to protect the innocent
on the twenty first of December a petition was filed in juvenile court on
behalf of the subject on January twenty sixth trial was held in Department fifty
two of juvenile court state of California in and for the county of Los Angeles in
a moment the results of that trial.
Elroy Merton Graham appeared before the juvenile court where he admitted the
alleged burglaries at this time under the counsel of the judge of the juvenile
court the subject was placed under the care of the probation department for a
period of three years with the provision that his parents take him to a competent
psychiatrist. You have just heard a series of authentic cases from official
files technical advice comes from the office of chief of police W. H. Parker
Los Angeles police department technical advisors Captain Jack Donahoe Sergeant
Marty Wynn Sergeant Vance Brasher tonight were then Alexander Jack Prushin
Olan Suley Sammy Ogg script by John Robinson music by Walter Schuman Hal
Gibney speaking. Transcribed from Los Angeles Dragnet is an NBC radio network
production.