21st Precinct, Sergeant Burns. A ticket? Well, where? East what? Do both of them have guns? Where is this? In the liquor store? All right, I'll send the officers right over. You're in the mushroom room at the 21st Precinct. The nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken pursuant to that call from this minute until the final report is written in the 124 room at the 21st Precinct. Hello, CB. Sergeant Burns at the 21st. At the liquor store, 192E77. There's a robbery in progress. That's right, a robbery in progress. Two armed men. Okay. Yuck. 21st. 160 patrolmen, 11 sergeants, and four lieutenants, of whom I'm the boss. My name is Kennelly, Frank Kennelly. I'm captain in command of the 21st. It happened at 1055PM. Specter car number four of the 21st was on patrol on Lexington Avenue in the 70s with patrolman Daniel Mercado as operator and patrolman Horace Nelson as recorder. It had been a quiet tour. And what did he say? Oh, he didn't say much, Dan. He said if I wasn't satisfied with the views, they'd give me something else. I told him I was satisfied, all right, as if they were ripping him the heel. It's almost 55, Nellie. We'd better ring in. Yeah. So what happened? They gave me a new pair. I got them on. That was nice of them. Yeah, I thought so. 21st, police, sergeant coming. Soldier Nelson, specter car four, box 11. Okay. What do you have for us? Nothing. Car 681, K. Car 681 at Lexington and 73rd, K. At 192-877th Street, the liquor store, single 30, hold up in poppers. 10-4. I'll go with the silent, Dan. They wouldn't jump. Yeah. Put your hand out, Nellie. Okay. I'm going to take the corner. Go ahead. It's pretty clear. Hit it. Move over the taxi. Down to the corner. Outside, Nellie. There they are. Go on. Come on. Hold up. Hold up there. There's two of them, Nellie. Let's get them. That's burning up. Hold up. He's going in the building. You get him. Okay. Hold up there. I'll see you, Nellie. You, you better stop where you are. I'll see you. Stay away from me. I said stay away. Elmer? Who is it? On the stairs. On the stairs. Come on. Stay against the wall. Keep away, I said. Watch it, Sergeant. All right. I'm okay. On the next landing. Is he close enough to get a shot at him? Sergeant, I haven't even been close enough to see him. Cover me and I'll try it. There he goes, upstairs, to the roof. Go ahead. Hold up, mister. There he is. Watch it. He's just standing there, ready to go out on the roof. Come on down here. What's in it for me? Come on down. We'll talk about it. My god, I've hit his body down the street. I know. I've been calling the acrobat. How about it, mister? There he goes. Watch yourself. Hold up, you. Okay, Nellie? I'm okay. He went out on the roof. Good. Wait for me, huh? Wait. Stay away! Delton? Delton! Here. Where is he? There. On the vent. I hit him, I think. You! You, come on out. Take a look. Watch it. He's laid out. Are you through, boy? I'm through, yeah. Throw that gun out here. It's empty. That's why I'm through. Throw it anyway. Are you hit? Yeah. I'm hit. I'm hitting the shoulder, right? The shoulder. You're lucky. Yeah, I'm lucky. I'm the luckiest guy in the world. While the apprehension of this holdup man occurred, I, as ranking officer on duty in the 6th Division, was at the emergency ward at Metropolitan Hospital interviewing the patrolmen who had been injured in the 17th. Lieutenant Snyder, the desk officer at the 21st, reached me on the telephone at the hospital to inform me of the occurrence and the shooting. He reported that detectives of the 21st squad under the command of Lieutenant Matt King were on the job, that the second holdup man had run to 3rd Avenue and escaped, and that the ambulance was en route to Metropolitan Hospital with the wounded suspect. I walked outside the emergency room door to await the ambulance. As I heard it approach, a car pulled up to the door. It was Lieutenant King. Okay, Whitey. Hello, Matt. Captain. What's the situation? We're over on the lot. Come on in, Todd. How'd you get here so fast, Captain? Before I was here. A cop was hurt down in the 17th. So I had to make the investigation. Oh. Pretty bad. Sure, it doesn't look too bad. He fell through a broken step in a condemned building trying to run some tricks off. His legs all scratched up. Doctor says that's about all. What have you got? One of your men made a good collar. Nelson. Yeah, I heard about that. How bad is this boy shot? Not too bad, I hope. A lot of want to find out from him. You're right. I'm sure he's got a lot of blood. Yeah. You're right. I'm sure he's got a lot of blood. Did he tell you anything over there, Matt? He wouldn't give me the right time of day. All right. You'll be with him now. All right. Roll it out over there. Take my jacket. Don't forget my jacket. All right. I got this then. Go on. Easy there, watch it. I'm okay. Go ahead. Hello, Captain. Hi. Lift it high. Nelson. Nice job. Thanks. Okay. Go ahead. Easy, will you? Okay, back here. Go ahead. Want to come inside, Captain? Yeah, sure, Matt. Why keep going through the door? This kid might be able to clear a whole string of robbery swarms. I hope so. Thanks. All right. Up on the table with him. Watch it now. Take it easy, will you? That's it. With him? Hey, hey, for crying out loud. Oh, bro, bro, bro. All right. I'll lay back. All right. I'll lay back. All right. I'll lay back. All right. I'll lay back. All right. I'll lay back. All right. All right. I'll lay back. All right. I'll lay back. Let's go. All right. I'll lay back. Doctor? Yes, lieutenant. I'll see you in a minute. Well, you're keeping us stepping tonight. You know Captain Konelli. No, I am sure. How are you, doctor? Can I talk to him while you examine him? Well, I don't see why not. His buddy got away from us. We'd like to be there waiting when he likes. All right. You won't bother me. All right. Let's have a look. Just take it easy now, will you? Kill him. You're lucky it didn't. Everybody says I'm so lucky. All over on your side here. Hey, give him a hand, please, will you? so lucky. Roll over on your side there. Hey, give me a hand please, will you Arthur? Oh, yeah, sure. Come on. Easy will you? Oh! That's it. Who was with you, Arthur? Who was with me where? Hey, what are you gonna do with the scissors? You're not gonna cut the shirt. Are we gonna get it off? You don't have to cut it. No good. It's got a hole in it full of blood. Bucks. It's fucked down the drain. Who got my jacket? Where's my jacket? I've got it. Is there a bullet hole in that too? Yep. Lousy shink. That's all I can say. We want you to say a lot more than that, Arthur. Look, I'm busy now. Take it easy, Doc. What are you doing? Why, still. Who is he, Arthur? No, you're wasting your time. I got lots of it. Maybe you have it, I haven't. Now listen to me, boy. You're in a big jam. You tried to hide from the liquor store and you took a couple of shots at a policeman. You got stung yourself. You're trouble. You're through being a wise guy. You're through for a long time being a wise guy. This is gonna sting. Hold still. Oh! Take it easy. What are you trying to kill me? I'm trying to cure you. Why, I don't know. Who is he, Arthur? Hey, Doc, cut it out. If you don't help us, it might take a little longer, but we'll get him anyway. What good is it doing you, him walking around and you here? Let me alone. I don't know anything. Listen, boy, we've got the cards out of your pocket. We know your name, where you live. You'll find out who your friends are. We'll go around and talk to every one of them. You'll find the guy. Don't worry about that. All we're asking you to do is save us a little time. What are you to me? I should save you time. I don't care anything about saving you time. You put a bullet through me and you want me to save you time. All right, hold still. Cut it out. All right, we're through for a while, Captain Lieutenant. What's the look like, Doctor? Well, it's in there pretty deep. I don't think he's in too bad shape. It's gonna be a while before there's any help to you, man. I hear. Better send upstairs pictures and get the resident surgeon in here. He's gonna have to do some deep cutting. Hey, Doc, come here. Why'd you leave me alone? Lay back there. Sure wants service, doesn't he? Excuse me. Sure. All right, what's the trouble? Kill him. Well, he's not gonna be much help. Looks like we're gonna have a busy time with him, Captain. Yeah, he'd be a lot busier, man, if he were running around loose. You are listening to 21st Precinct, a factual account of the way police work in the world's largest city. Now back to 21st Precinct and Captain Frank Cannelli. Lieutenant King and Detectives under his command continued to question the suspect until he was taken upstairs to the operating room. I returned to the 17th Precinct to enter the report of my investigation concerning the injured police officer and the blotter. It wasn't until after 1 a.m. that I got back to the 21st. There I saw Lieutenant King. He told me that Arthur Rollins had not given him any further information before he underwent surgery for the removal of the bullet, and that he was still under anesthesia being guarded by a patrolman detailed from the 21st. By then the case had taken a new turn. Another holdup had occurred in the 28th Precinct on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. One man. He had entered a bar and grill and stuck up the bartender and two customers. One of the customers put up a fight. He was shot and killed. The killer was described as about the same age, weight, and height, and as wearing the same kind of clothing as the man who escaped in the 21st. It appeared to be the same man. By 8 a.m. when I signed the blotter and left the Precinct to go off duty for 24 hours, detectives had still not been able to talk to Arthur Rollins. It was later in the morning before his condition permitted an interview. I wouldn't press him too hard yet, Lieutenant. He's not completely out of it. All right, Doctor. You want to stand by while I talk to him? No, no, that's all right. Well, good luck. Thanks. Yes, sir? I'm Lieutenant King. Yes, sir, I know. Patrolman McCarter, Lieutenant. How's he doing? How do you think I'm doing? He's doing all right. Doctor says it's all right for me to talk to him. Yes, sir. Make an entry in their memorandum book that I talk to him and I'll sign it. Okay, Lieutenant. Well, how you doing, Arthur? How do you think? You're in a lot of trouble, you know that. Yeah, I know it. Who was that with you? Who was it? Look, you're wasting your time. I've got plenty of it to waste, Arthur. Your partner, whoever he was, decided that one close call wasn't enough for him last night. Went up to the 25th, held up a bar, and killed a customer, a man that wanted for murder. Now, who was he? I don't know. Some guy, some guy I just met. Now, listen to me, Arthur. We want a little help from you. There's a lot more involved now than just another stick-up with a homicide involved. You know who the guy is. There'll be a lot of people here to talk to you today. There'll be homicide detectives and detectives from the 25th and somebody from the TA's office. I want to stop playing around. We want to know everything you know. We want to know what's bad. Now, how about it? I asked you how about it. Nothing about it. I can't tell you what I don't know and I don't know a thing. Not a thing. That's the way it went during the whole day. Detectives from the various commands involved talked to Arthur for as long as the medical authorities would permit. They got no help. In the meantime, other detectives attempted to trace him out, so his present address, his friends, and the people he did business with. All of these knew a little more about him than he had already revealed. By the following morning, the investigation had moved forward hardly an inch. At 7.30 a.m., I walked into the muster room where Lieutenant Snyder was desk officer and Sergeant Burns was on telephone switchboard duty. Morning, Captain. Sergeant. I have a few messages for you. All right, I'll get them. Let's see what's on the block. Captain. 21st precinct, Sergeant Burns. Atrova and Mercado, Box 26. Listen, Connor is taking a prisoner to court. You put out his school stanchions before you're relieved, okay? Yes, sir. All right. You got those messages, Sergeant? Yes, sir. Oh, thanks. And that young woman is waiting to see you, Captain. Who is she, do you know? Yes, sir. She says her name is Mrs. Rollins. Mrs. Ellie Rollins. She? Any relation to that Arthur Rollins over in Metropolitan? I didn't ask her, Captain. Is he still there? Yes, sir. Why haven't they moved him to Bellevue? We can't spare a man off of every platoon to guard him. Lieutenant Snyder spoke to the doctor during the night, Captain. He can't be moved, Jack. All right. Let me know when they're ready to turn out. Yes, sir. Did you want to see me, Mrs. Rollins? Are you the commanding officer? That's right. I'm Captain Cannelli. You told me I'd have to get permission from the commanding officer to visit my husband in the hospital. Is your husband Arthur Rollins? Yes, that's right. Would you come into my office, please? Yes, thank you. Thank you very much. Do you have a seat? Thank you very much. This is Wednesday morning. Your husband has been in the hospital since Monday night. Haven't you been able to see him since then? Well, no. I didn't even know about it. You see, we haven't been living together, not for five or six months. Where do you live? Me? I live over in Jersey, Newark. Been living there since we separated. It just happened that a friend of mine brought home a New York paper last night, and I saw it in there. Just an accident, but I know about it. How did you find out that you had to get my permission? Well, you see, after I found out last night, I called the hospital on the telephone. I asked if I could visit Arthur. They told me he was a prisoner, and I'd have to get permission from the commanding officer of the 21st Precinct. Who told you? I don't know. Whoever answers the phone there, the switchboard operator, I guess. Then I called here on the phone. They told me he wouldn't be into work till 8 o'clock this morning. I couldn't see any news coming until now. I see. He's in very bad trouble. I mean, is it, uh... It's robbery, assault, and violation of the gun law. Oh. Serious enough. I don't understand how he could do anything like that. He's not bad. He really isn't. He's all right. Apparently you didn't think so. You broke up with him. That was over something else altogether. It wasn't his fault. I guess it was just as much mine. Could I get permission to see him? That's what the rules say, isn't it? You can give him permission. Well, the rules also say that in felony cases where an investigation is being conducted, the commanding officer must consult with the detective squad commander before giving any such authorization. Oh. Have any detectives talked to you about Arthur? No. I wouldn't know anything about what he was supposed to have done. I'd have seen him in months, but I didn't even know where I was. Well, then why do you want to see him now? After all, I'm his wife. All right, Miss Rollins. You just wait here. I'll go talk to Lieutenant King about it. Who's Lieutenant King? He's in charge of detectives in the 21st squad. Oh. Why did there have to be so many people involved? So many people. You'll have to take that up with Arthur. Maybe he's got the answer. I'll be back in a few minutes. I walked across the muster room to the desk where I instructed both Lieutenant Snyder and Sergeant Burns to keep an eye on the young woman in my office and to detain her as she attempted to leave. Sergeant Burns told me that Lieutenant King was on the job upstairs, so I walked through the back room where the men of the day two were going over the alarms preparatory to the turn on. I walked up the warren's stairs to the second floor and into the 21st squad office. Matt? Hello, Captain. All right, Whitey, go check it out. You too, Fox. Okay, Lieutenant. Yes, sir, Captain. How are you doing with that Arthur Rollins, Matt? Now he's still in Mr. Pardin. He'll probably be able to move into Bellevue today, is what the doctor said. Has he been any help to you? Helped with nothing. I've been over there myself three times to talk to him. The 25th and Homicide Squad and the DA's office were there almost all day yesterday. He won't say who the second man was. He won't say anything. The girl who claims to be his wife is downstairs. The Red Squad? Oh, that's her? Yeah. She wants an authorization to visit him. Okay. And knowing he had a wife. There's a lot of things we didn't know about him. Can we go talk to him? Sure. Whitey, I'll be down in the Captain's office. All right, Lieutenant. I don't know what the boy's holding back for. He's got nothing to lose. All he can do is gain by helping us. He helped us clear Homicide. He had nothing to do with it. He deserves some kind of break. Well, maybe he'll still help you. In fact, kid, all he's got for an answer is a no. So you didn't even know he was married. Good morning, Captain. Nelson. Why doesn't he say anything? Nobody up where he's living now knows that he was married. This boy doesn't do much talking anyplace he goes. Go ahead, man. Thanks. Miss Rollins. This is Lieutenant King. Hello. How do you do? Can I get to see Arthur? That's what I came all the way over here for. I don't see why I have to go through so much red tape just to see my own husband. He's being held on a charge of robbery. I know that. And he hasn't been very helpful. We're still investigating to find out who was with him when he held up that liquor store. Would you know who it might be? No. How would I know? I haven't seen Arthur in months. How long has it been since you were living with him? I don't know. Four or five months. Where did you live, in New York? Yes, I tried in New York, in Washington Heights. Why did you break up? It's an awfully long story. We'd like to know why. Well, you see, he was in service in the Army. He got married when he first went in, and then he went away, first to Texas, and then to Korea. He wasn't any hero or anything, but he was bigger. He was in for two years. Where were you, meanwhile, in Washington Heights? No, no, I was home, living with my folks. When we got out, we found this apartment in Washington Heights, just three rooms, but that was big enough. When was that? About a year ago. Late last summer, I guess, but a little more than a year ago. Did he have a job? Yes, so did I. I got out in the post office, you know, delivering special deliveries. It was just temporary, and he didn't like it, so I tried to get into buildings, construction work. Yes? I heard the post office was much better, for him at least, but he wanted to work with his brother. His brother's in construction work. He works in what do you call it, excavation, when they have to dig a foundation for new buildings. That's what he does. Where does his brother live, in New York? In Brooklyn. He told me how much more money he's making and everything like that, but I said, maybe your brother makes more when he's working, but there's time between jobs and all that, and you're better off in the post office. He was sure of it every week. But he couldn't see it. Was that the cause of the breakup? No, I couldn't say that. The only thing about it was that he always wanted to do everything his brother did. Joe, that's his brother. Joe this and Joe that. That's all I ever heard. Every time we had to make a move, we couldn't do it without consulting Joe. I just got fed up with it, that's all. I said one day, will you marry me or Joe? We didn't ask long after that. One night I said to Arthur, I'm leaving. He said okay. That was bad. I guess it was mutual. After all, he was in the Army, he was a married man, he didn't have to go to his big brother anymore for every little thing. Has Arthur ever been arrested before? No, at least not before we broke up. Has Joe? His brother? Yes. I don't know. I don't care anything about Joe. I think that Joe is becoming my husband, I don't know. Did Arthur go to work on a construction job? Yes, I think so. At least I know he quit the post office. Is Joe married? No, not much, it was very recently. Listen, can I go over to see Arthur? All right with me, Captain. Excuse me. 21st precinct, Captain Cannelly. Sergeant Burns, Captain. They're ready to turn out. All right, I'll be right there. Yes, sir. Can I? I'll give you an authorization as soon as I turn out the platoon. About five minutes, Captain. Yes, man. Anyone else, Bill? No. I'll take her over there myself, Captain. Yeah, maybe she can get him to talk. You don't really need her now, do you? You know who you're after. Well, she's entitled to visit her husband. Five minutes. Yes. What did he mean? When? Turn out the platoon. I get the men who are working the next shift on the job. Oh. There was something, isn't it? Yes, there was always something. I turned out the platoon for the day tour and returned to my office where Lieutenant King and Mrs. Rollins were waiting. Patrolman Fallon, the 124 man, came in and I instructed him to write up the authorization for Mrs. Rollins to visit her husband. In the company of myself, Lieutenant King and Detective Whitey Howard of the 21st Squad, she went to Metropolitan Hospital. As there's no prison ward at Metropolitan, a patrolman from the 21st had been assigned to guard Arthur Rollins. As we walked down the long corridor, I could see through the open door of the room he occupied. The patrolman Nelson was inside sitting in a chair beside the bed. Down at the end. There's his doctor. Is he good? Is the doctor any... Very good. Doctor? Hello, Captain. Lieutenant. Doctor. Well, how's the patient? In pretty good condition. This is Mrs. Rollins. Oh, yes. How do you do? Hello. Doctor, how soon do you think he can be moved to Bellevue? I've got three men tied up here on guard duty. I'd like to get him back on the job. Perhaps this afternoon. Oh, good. Doctor, there won't be any internment. Damage to him I need. Well... Excuse me, I want to talk to the officer on guard duty. Go right in, Captain. Thank you. It'd be too bad if there was. He's always been so help. Hello, Nelson. Captain. He's not giving you any trouble, is he? Doctor. How are you feeling, Arthur? Great. Just great. Don't complain, boy. You were shooting at the officer. He didn't have time to stand around and talk about it. Captain, while you're here, can I have an excuse and a personal? Yes, sure, Nelson. Go ahead. Yes, sir. Thank you very much. Arthur, I understand you haven't been much help to the officers who've been around to talk to you. Why should I be any help? What have you guys done for me? Brought you a visitor, Arthur. Yeah? Who? She'll be right in. Who's she? Arthur. Ellie. All right, just lie still. Hello, Arthur. Oh, what'd you have to come for? Why'd you have to see me like this? I didn't want you to come. I didn't want anybody. I brought the paper, Arthur. I had to come. Well, go on. Get out. I don't want you here. Arthur. I don't. You don't always get what you want, do you? You found that out. Oh, you're back. Were you wasting your time? I told you yesterday I'm not saying anything to you. I'm not saying a word. Maybe it's time for me to do a little talking, boy. You don't have to. I know what the score is. I know who was with you and who shot the man in the 25th. What do you mean? That was your brother along with you, wasn't it? Listen, if you could... Lie back there, boy. Wasn't it? You told them, didn't you, Ellie? You told them. How would I know? I didn't tell them anything. She didn't have to, boy. Yeah, it was true. Arthur, you're crazy. You're just plain crazy. You're not telling me anything. I know it. Where is Joe? Look, you know who it was. Isn't that enough for you? We have to get him, and it'll be enough. Hard to talk you into this, Arthur. That wasn't hard. I was broke, so was he. To find a way to cure being broke? I don't know. We didn't work in six weeks. The trucks were pulled out on strike, so there wasn't any work. We were just sitting around and talking. We said it like a joke. You know, we got to stick up someplace. First thing you know, we were getting serious about it. We had a couple of places picked out. We had one gun, we borrowed another one from Raffenda. That was it. Arthur, I'm ashamed of you. Oh, look, baby, don't rub it in. Well, Lizzy, now, you'll have to find out for yourself. We will. You can count on it. Now, I didn't say anything about him. I kept my mouth shut. You remember that. I didn't say a word about him. Talking about him wouldn't have been so bad, Arthur. You made your mistake listening to him. I'm sorry. 21st Precinct, Sergeant Burns. You caught a what? A burglar. You're using the butcher knife on the burglar? Well, where is this? Where? And so it goes, around the clock through the week, every day, every year. The police precinct in the city of New York is a flesh-and-blood merry-go-round. Anyone can catch the brass ring, or the brass ring can catch anyone.
