Sound off for Chesterfield. Chesterfield is best for you. First cigarette with premium quality in both regular and king size. Chesterfield brings you Dragnet. Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a burglary detail. A string of safe burglaries breaks out in your city. In the past two months, 35 safes have been broken into. You know, there's more than one man in the operation. You've got no lead to the thieves identity. Your job, get him. Years ahead of them all. Chesterfield is years ahead of them all. The quality contrast between Chesterfield and other leading brands is a revealing story. Recent chemical analysis has given index of good quality for the country's six leading cigarette brands. The index of good quality table, which is a ratio of high sugar to low nicotine, shows Chesterfield quality highest. Chesterfield quality highest. 15% higher than its nearest competitor. Chesterfield quality highest. 31% higher than the average of the five other leading brands. Yes, Chesterfield is first with premium quality in both regular and king size. Don't you want to try a cigarette with a record like this? Chesterfield. 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 Tuesday, August 18th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of burglary detail. My partner is Frank Smith. The boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives. My name is Friday. It was 1.34 p.m. when we got to the second floor of the Central Jail building. The crime lab. We couldn't sleep last night. Faye and I had another beef. Oh, what about this time? Cards, you know, can I ask you? Yeah? Folks next door came over after dinner and we got to playing. They play real good. Mm-hmm. It wasn't long before we really getting schlocked. What? You know, schlocked. Beaten. Oh. Terrible. Yeah. Last hand, they go down right away, Joe. Seemed like everything I threw them, they could use. Picked up everything. I couldn't do anything right. Just kept building up males, they did. Big thing for us was to get out as quick as we could. You know, get the hand over with? Yeah. Faye wasn't doing any good. Finally, I still don't know how they let it happen. I got enough points to go down, so I asked Faye if it's okay. Uh-uh. You have to do that, you know, ask your partner's permission to get the hand over. Yeah. You know that? Yeah, well, you. Well, you might not believe it, but you know what she said? No. Just sat there and said she didn't think it was time. Is that right? Yeah. I know it's kind of picky, but there they were, the other kids just piling up points, schlocking us all over the place. Schlocking. Yeah. Handed them around a couple more times. Each time I asked Faye if she wants to get out, each time, you know what she says? No. That's it. No. Well, what finally happened? Oh, the other folks ran out of cards. Wasn't any more play, so they got out. Thirty-six hundred points. And I found out why Faye didn't want to quit. Why? Had to deuce. What? A deuce, a two, you know? Yeah. She said she didn't want to get caught with it. Yeah, well, we better get started, huh? Wait a minute. That's not the worst of it, let me tell you. All right. All night we're playing, see, all night. I'm saving cards. You know, I'm like tens. Like to get tens. I save tens. Yeah. I guess everybody saves tens. Well, I save more than other guys. We get all through and you know what? We find out there are only seven tens in the deck. One of them's missing. All night. There's seven tens. Well, that's dreadful. Well, I tell you, you're a schlock. Schlocks. I couldn't sleep a wink. Roddy? Yeah, Ray? Leg here. Girls out to lunch. I'm on my way. Come on back. Hi, how's it going, Ray? Moving around is about all. Hot out, huh? Yeah, paper says it's going to go over 90 today. Too hot for me. Yeah. Well, how you coming on the job this morning? Just finishing up. Looks like the rest of them. Yeah. Got some pictures here. Take a look. Here's pictures of the marks they left on the door this morning. See those two long scratches on the wood? Yeah, here? Yeah, over here. Here's a picture from the Argosy Manufacturing Company's door. See? Same two marks. Pretty safe bet to figure that both doors are open to the same pry bar. Yeah, same type of entrance made this time, huh? Yeah, just the one mark on the door. They know what they're doing. Insert the bar, hit it once, and the door opens. How about the safe? What do you got on that? Here. This is a picture we got of the room. Same as the others. Standard rip job. Nothing different there. How about marks? No, no help there. Here's the pictures. Looks like the same tool that was used on the other jobs. Did you find anything else, Ray? No. At least nothing that helps. Layton Prince picked up a couple from the safe. Belonged to the manager of the place. Nothing else would give us anything. Well, I'd say that was the same bunch. Yeah, either that or they're lending their tools to the boys in the neighborhood. Yeah, well, that is likely. Cigarette, Ray? Yeah, thanks. Ray? Here's the light. Ray? Thanks. Really leaning on you guys for this one, huh? Yeah, Skipper's taking a lot of heat. What's this make for them? 34 or 35? 35. Six months. Any near at all? No, not much. Got anything to tell how many men there are? That'd be hard to say for sure. The way they work figures about three or four maybe. Yeah, that's the way it looks. Take that number to pull out the operation as smooth as they're doing it though, Ray. You got anything at all to work on? Well, we checked around town. There aren't any rumbles. One of the tightest gangs that we've seen in a long time. Doesn't seem like anybody outside knows what's going on. We checked the places around. Nobody's spending a lot of money they can't account for. How much they take so far? Well, what they got this morning, let's see, it comes to a little under $36,000, doesn't it, Frank? Yeah. What about you, Ray? You turn up anything we can use? Nothing that points any place. We know how they got in, how they hit the safe. That isn't going to help much. Same M.O. as the others. You haven't got any idea who they are, huh? No, nothing. If we had any idea who they are, we could maybe use the anthracene on their tools. That's great. We've got to find the tools before we use that. We've got no idea where they plan them. Seems that one of your informants would be able to come up with something on it. Yeah, you'd think so. We've checked them all, Ray. No leads to the gang. Doesn't seem there's anybody in town that knows who they are. Anybody new operating on them? No, we checked that out, too. We've had the stats office make so many runs that they're wearing out the cards. M.O. isn't new. It's been used before, but all the possibles have been checked out. Stuff from Brereton up at C.I.I., the other lead from the A.P.B.s, they've all been cleared. Now, we've got just what we started with, a gang working when they want to, where they want to. There's nothing we can do about it. Well, I wish there was more I could do to help out. I've got to get back to work. Got some precipitant tests. Homicide wants us this afternoon. Yeah, well, we'll see you later, Ray. Right. You want this stuff booked? Yeah, we'll take care of it. Okay. Excuse me a minute. Yeah. Crime lab, Pinker. Yeah? Yeah, they're both here. Which one? Yeah, hold on. Joe? Yeah? To you, office. Thanks. Friday. Oh, yeah, Chandler. Uh-huh. Wendy Call. Yeah, well, what's that number? 4-4? Right. Yeah, I'll call him right away. Right. Bye. Chandler, huh? Yeah, Don Jackson called. Said he wanted to get in touch with us. Jackson? Doesn't ring any bells. It's the guy we pinched last month. Remember? Looked like the guy who was in on the service station jobs. Oh, yeah, I remember. The guy with the wax mustache, huh? Mm-hmm. Hello. Don Jackson? Oh, could I speak to him, please? Don, this is Joe Friday. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, well, it's 1-47 now. Take us about 10 minutes. How about 2? All right. Fine. Yeah, we know where it is. Right. We'll see you there. All right? Bye. What's he want? He wants to see us about the rip jobs. Yeah? Says he's got a rumble on him. Don Jackson had been a suspect in a series of service station burglaries we'd investigated. He'd been picked up and interrogated, but investigations showed that he couldn't have been involved in the thefts. Since he'd been released, we'd heard nothing from him, and as far as we knew, he'd gone back to his job in a downtown clothing store. From what he told me on the phone, he had some information about the current series of safe burglaries. 1-48 p.m. Frank and I left the crime lab and drove over to the store where Jackson worked. He managed to get relieved, and he took us to a small coffee shop near the store. We sat down and ordered some coffee, and Jackson told us what he knew about the burglaries. Now, I could be wrong about this. I don't think so. But outside, it could be. Uh-huh. Don, you got any one reason for figuring that the Scott fellas tied in with the jobs? Well, nothing I can put my finger on, you know, just that the guy's never done a full day's work in his life. Don't think he knows what a callous is. Yet he's always loaded, always got a role. It's real, too. Not like them you see sometimes with a big bill on the outside and ones in the middle. Now, this guy's loaded, you know? Yeah. Where'd you meet him? Well, I was sitting in a bar down the street one night, having a belt before dinner. We got to talking, ended up beating together that night. You remember when this was, Don, when you first met him? Well, let me see. Yeah, it was the day I got the trench coat from England. Now, let me see. That make it about August 4th. Yeah, yeah, it was the night I got the coat. Come to think of it, that's what got us to talking, the coat. I don't understand. Well, you see, I got this here coat. I had it sent over from England. It's a real beauty. All kinds of linings and wind straps in the sleeves. It's great, you know? Uh-huh. Well, I had him send this coat to the store. It got there on the 4th. I had it with me that night. And Scotty noticed it. We got to talking about clothes and went to dinner. He asked me how much the coat cost. I told him, run about 40, maybe 50 bucks. He asked me if I could get one for him and I told him, sure. It'd take a couple of weeks. Uh-huh. Well, he asked me to send a letter to my friend, the air mail special, and asked him to send the coat over by express. I told him I would, and then he asked me if I wanted to pay me then. I told him, no, wait until I knew just how much the coat was going to run. You know, duty and postage and all that. Yeah, I know. Well, he said that'd be okay with him. I saw him a couple of times after that, and every time he'd ask about the coat, I told him that was in the works, you know. Well, finally got the coat. It was beautiful. Never saw the guy again. I'm out 46 bucks. I promise Scotty, leave me with that coat. My own money, too. 46 bucks. I don't make enough to lose that kind of money, you know. That's too bad, Jackson, but why do you figure this got anything to do with the burglaries? Well, now I just told you, for one thing, the money. Always had a lot, but had never had a job. No place to get the money. Not only that, but one night, well, I saw him. We were going out to dinner, and he said he couldn't quite make it then. That something had come up, that he had to take a rain check, you know. Uh-huh. Well, I asked him what had come up, what was so important. He said he had to see a guy over in East L.A. some sort of business deal. He say what this deal was about? No, he wouldn't say. The next day he shows up loaded. Got a roll on, choke a horse. Now I asked him where to get it. I kid him about being one of the guys who ripped the safe in the August he planned. What did he say to that? Nothing, just got real serious, you know. Asked me why I asked him that. Well, it made me think he was in on the job. I kept telling him I didn't know anything about it. I was just kidding. He finally bought it and said it was okay, but he said I shouldn't go around saying things like that. All right, go ahead. Well, I got the coat and looked Scotty up to give it to him. Wouldn't pay for it. They lost the coat thing up or something, I don't know, set the wrong size, and I'm stuck with it. He wouldn't have anything to do with it. I figured since I ordered it for him, it ain't my fault that it's big. He should pay for it, you know, 46 bucks. Now any way you look at it, I laid out the dough. I figured he should make good on it. He wouldn't do it. And I got sore and I figured maybe you'd like to know how he acted about the August he job. Lousy bum. 46 bucks that coat cost. You know where the Scot lives? I haven't got the slightest idea, but I got his phone number, though. I'll give you that. Can you give us a description of him? Sure, he's a sneaky little guy. No wonder the coat won't fit. Little bitty guy, you know. Yeah, now you say his full name is Leonard Scott, is that right? Yeah, crummy bum. I hope you get him. Well, we'll talk to him, Don. He knows something about it. I bet money on it he knows. Say, I don't like to bring this up, but you guys could do me a big favor, you know. What's that? No, I don't suppose you could. What is it, Don? You know anybody could use a size 52 trench coat? We continued to talk to Don Jackson. We got the description of Leonard Scott and his phone number. 3.15 p.m. We drove back to the city hall and checked the name through RNI. We came up with several possibles. The mug shots were pulled on them and they were shown to Jackson. He was able to identify one of them as the man he told us about. The suspect had a record for burglary and had served two terms in the state penitentiary at San Quentin. He'd served his full term and was not on parole. We checked the last address on his convict registration card and we found that he lived in a rooming house on West 11th Street. The phone number he'd given Jackson was the same as the one on the registration card. We drove over to talk to him. We found that he wasn't in his room and from the landlady we learned that he was expected back around seven that evening. We checked his room in company with the landlady and then we called the office and told them where we were in the event they had to contact us. We waited in the living room of the house for the suspect to return. 7.15 p.m. Sure? Yeah. He matches the description, doesn't he? Come on. Just a minute. You Leonard Scott? Yeah. Who are you? Police officers. Like to talk to you. What's this all about? Be better if we went up to your room. Oh. All right. Come on up. Can't you give me some idea what this is all about? We'll talk to you about it. Go ahead. Open the door. Go ahead. Yeah. Okay. What's the pitch? You've been through it before. You're an ex-con. You know the pitch. You tell us what you do for a living? I work. Doing what? I'm a salesman. What do you sell? Different things. What's all this prove? You guys coming in here making like big men. I'm going straight. I work for a living. Now either tell me what this is all about or get out of here. You remember what you were doing on August 4th? It's a long time ago. You remember what you were doing? You have to think about it. It's a long time ago. Why don't you take your time? We'd like to know. August 4th, huh? Yeah. Oh, sorry, fellas. Can't remember a thing. How about the 5th? Same there. 6th? Nothing. How about the 7th of August? Oh, I can give you a hand there. I had a dinner with a friend. Then we went to a show. I had a few drinks after and then I came home. Who's the friend? Well, I know. What's his name? Why I gotta tell you that? We gotta check your alibi. What do I need an alibi for? I haven't done anything. My time's clean. I got nothing to explain to you. Then maybe you can clear up a few things for us. I would like to help the cops out. What do you want to know? How come you remember what you were doing on August 7th? You got trouble with time before then, haven't you? What's so important with the dates? Maybe if you tell me what you're after, I can help you out. You quit being cagey. Maybe I can come up with the answers. The Argosy manufacturing plant had their safe ripped open on that night. You look good for the job. Oh, you're out of your mind. Yeah, we got a witness who tells us you showed up with a pocketful of money the next day. You've fallen twice before for burglary. You can't account for your time before or after the day, but you happen to have an alibi for the night of the heist. You got no steady job, but you got plenty of money. Now, come off it, Scott. We got you nailed for the job and you know it. You got a choice of giving us a hand on this thing and it'll be marked down in your favor, or you can be a big man and stand for this thing alone. It's up to you. We'll play it any way you want. You figure you can make me for the jobs? Looks like it won't be too tough. You're in the middle, Scott. Why don't you cop out? What do I get for turning pink? I told you it'd be marked down that way. How about it, Scott? All right, I guess I gotta go with you. I wasn't in on the jobs. I didn't really have anything to do with the casing. It helped a little bit. Not much, just a little. Where'd you figure it? Once I worked as a lookout for him. Who are they? I can give you the names. I'd like to see you get them, lousy bunch. Hope you get them good. Make every one of them lousy mums the way they treated me. What do you mean by that? Big deal. Have the cops run around in circles. Big deal. Nothing. Work along with them. Everything will be fine. Big deal. How many of them are there? Four. Four real bums. They said they were gonna take care of me. They told me I'd get my share of the money. Lousy liars. One job I was with them. After that, they told me I hadn't done enough to earn my way, that I wasn't any help to anybody. Well, next time you see them, you can tell them. Yeah? They were wrong. We got the names of the four men who were involved in the burglaries. We took Leonard Scott down to the city hall and pulled the packages on the four suspects. He gave us a positive identification on them. We checked with Captain Wisdom and it was decided to wait until we could catch the suspects in the actual attempt to commit a burglary. We checked out the address of the four suspects and got as much information as we could on them without letting them know that they were under surveillance. Additional teams of men were assigned to the stakeout. Each of them was watched 24 hours a day and each of the teams of detectives were in constant contact with the burglary division. Two days passed. None of the suspects made any attempt to make contact with the others. We met with the district attorney and it was decided that in the interest of bringing the gang to justice, the first suspect, Leonard Scott, should be released from custody to act as an informant for us. He would be kept under constant surveillance. Frank and I were assigned to follow him. In the next three days, he went about his business as usual. Each evening he'd leave his rooming house and walk through the bars in the downtown area. He told us that contact and information regarding the burglaries was made by the leader of the gang, one of the suspects named Howard Ramsey. On Monday, August 24th, we saw Ramsey approach Leonard Scott. They talked briefly in the rear of a bar on 6th Street and then Ramsey left. We waited for about 15 minutes and then we saw Scott leave the bar. We followed him down the street to an all-night coffee stand. We sat down next to him at the counter and at the first opportunity, he told us what Ramsey had said. You guys haven't got long to wait. What did he say? The deal's set. It's gonna be a machine shop out in West L.A. Rumble is the safe, has over 25 grand in it. Biggest job they've tackled. Can you say how it's gonna work? Yeah, I'll fill you in on it. I thought you might want to get in touch with your office, so... How's that? You're gonna work tonight. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. Don't you want to try a cigarette with a record like this? Chesterfield, first to give you premium quality in both regular and king size. Chesterfield, first choice of young America from a survey of 274 leading colleges and universities. Chesterfield, first to give you this report. A doctor has been making thorough examinations of a group of Chesterfield smokers every two months for a full year. And he reports no adverse effects to the nose, throat, and sinuses from smoking Chesterfield. Try Chesterfield, regular or king size. Chesterfield is America's best cigarette buy. 9.32 p.m. We got the rest of the story from Leonard Scott. The plan, as he outlined it for us, was that the four other suspects would not meet until they were at the plant that was to be burglarized. We got in touch with the men who were following the suspects and told them what had happened. 10.07 p.m. We met with Captain Wisdom and put the operating plan into effect. It had been arranged that all of the men following the suspects would be in three-way radio cars so that constant communication could be kept between the units of the operation. Additional officers were planted on the roofs of the buildings surrounding the plant to be burglarized. These men would be equipped with walkie talkie so they could keep in constant touch with each other and with us in a three-way radio car. In this way, we could direct operations and we'd have a complete picture of what was happening in the immediate vicinity. A blockade system was set up to be put into operation once the suspects had entered the trap so that escape would be impossible. 11.45 p.m. The plan was completed and the men involved were in their assigned positions. We followed Leonard Scott to his rooming house and he changed to his working clothes. He came out of his house and we followed him out the freeway to Hollywood. From there, he drove out Sunset Boulevard to Whittier Drive in Beverly Hills and then he went out Wilshire Boulevard toward West L.A. As we drove, we could hear the other units reporting the position of the men that they were following. All of the suspects left their homes at approximately the same time and it looked as if they would get to the plant within a couple of minutes of the scheduled time. Scott had told us that they would not meet at the plant, but they'd rendezvoused at Drive-In a couple of blocks from the plant. There, they would be given their instructions. 2.16 a.m. The five cars pulled into the Drive-In and after a brief conversation, they all left and drove toward the plant. 2.23 a.m. All the police units got into their positions as arranged. Frank and I took up our position and we listened to the reports coming in over the radio. Unit 1KY80, Unit 1KY80, Rubels, come in. Unit 1KY80 to Rubels, go ahead. I'm on the roof of the building directly across the street from the factory, Joe. I can see the suspects now. How many of them are there? I can see three. I think there's a couple more at the corner as lookouts. Hey, Donovan's down the block. Maybe he can see the others. Unit 1KY80 to Donovan, come in, please, over. This is Donovan. Yeah, there's one of them on the corner down here. He drove up and got out to take a look at the motor of his car. He's over there working on it now. This Rubels, I can see another one at the other corner. He's changing a tire. Got the jack under the car, but he's not trying to get the wheel off. The others are at the factory door now. You see anything where you are, Joe? Not much. Shadows across the street. I can't see the doorway. What are they doing now? They're inside now. They forced the lock on the door and got inside. The door's closed. I can't see them anymore, Joe. All units, this is Friday in Unit 1KY80. All units move in to apprehend suspects. Repeat, move in to apprehend suspects. Units 2R4, 5, 6 and 7 and Unit 2R20. Move to blockade positions. All right, let's go. Right. They got the place covered in back, okay? Yeah, all covered. All right. This ought to do it, huh? Right. All right, let's go. Yeah. Well, I got the lookout. Yeah, I see. Well, let's take it easy, huh? See them? No. There's a light back there. Looks like the office. Wait a minute. Yeah. All of them must be back there. Sounds like they're putting a bar into the back of the safe, doesn't it? Yeah. Are there any rubles? All right, let's go. They're in the office now. You want to move in from that side? Right. All right, let's go. All right. Come on, get on it. We haven't got all night. That safe felt like a sardine can. There's no reason to take this along. We're doing the best we can. We got the 10 or 5 bricks giving us trouble. Yeah, let me take a look. All right, hold it right where you are. Cops, let's get out of here. Watch them, Joe. I'll get them. Right. Come on, Ramsey. You got no place to go. The building's surrounded. Back here, Joe. Get out of here, cops. You're never going to take us. Pull it up. Don't shoot anymore. I give up. I give up. Come on, cops. Come on and get it. He ain't talking for me. I've had it. I don't want any more shooting. I give up. All right, throw your guns out here. Here's mine. All right, come on out of there. Get over there. Get your hands back of your head. Stand right there and don't move. I gave up, didn't I? I didn't want any more of it. Come on, Ramsey. Your partner was smart. Why don't you play it that way, too? You come and get me, cop. All right. You win. I'm out of shells. Don't shoot. Throw that gun out here. All right, now come on out of there. Keep your hands back of your head. Come on, move. That's good. Right there. All right, all right. Come on, Ramsey. Over there next to your partner. Now stand still, both of you. Put your hands against the wall. Stand still and don't move. All right, they're clean, Joe. There were three of them. Where's the other one? I made a break for the front door. They got them out there. Lousy luck all the way around. How'd you know? Who told you? That doesn't make any difference. Well, somebody had to tell you. You'd never find out if somebody had told you. Yeah, that's right. Come on, let's go now. Well, who told you? Who turned Fink? Somebody had to tell you, didn't they? Well, don't you worry about it, mister. What do you mean? You're going to have a lot of time to figure it out. Now let's go. The story you've just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On January 14th, trial was held in Department 89, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles. In a moment, the results of that trial. Now here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you, George Fenomen. I'd like to talk to you people who don't smoke Chester for the fields. I'm convinced that if you try just one carton, you'll find that they're best for you. They're milder and they have a wonderful taste. Most important, they have premium quality in both sizes, regular or king size. So pick up that carton, will you? Chesterfields, try them. Howard Allen, Ramsey, Jack Irwin, McArthur, and the other two suspects were tried and convicted of 15 counts of burglary in the first degree. They received sentences as prescribed by law. Burglary in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not less than five years. Because of his cooperation, Leonard James Scott was given a lighter sentence and at the conclusion of his prison term was placed on probation for a period of two years. Ladies and gentlemen, we wish to thank the editors of TV Guide for the cover picture and story on Dragnet. You can get TV Guide at your favorite newsstand. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Technical advisors, Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Wynn, Sergeant Vance Frasier. Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Olin Soule, Vic Perrin, Jack Crouchon. Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schuman. Hal Gibney speaking. For a million laughs, tune in to Chesterfield's Martin and Lewis Show, Tuesday on the same NBC station, and Sound Off for Chesterfields. Either regular or king size, you'll find premium quality Chesterfields much milder. Chesterfield is best for you. Chesterfield has brought you Dragnet transcribed from Los Angeles. Now, new Fatima has the tip for your lips. Fatima tips of perfect cork. King size for natural filtering. Fatima quality for a much better flavor and aroma. So remember, new Fatima has the tip for your lips. Fatima, see how smooth they are. Remember, Fatima is made by the makers of Chesterfield. Liggett and Myers, one of tobacco's most respected names. Music by John Robinson.
