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Learn more about driver Assistance Technologies@nhtsa.gov DriverTech paid for by the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 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 juvenile detail. For the past two weeks, there have been rumors of a teenage gang war taking place in your city. You don't know when it's going to start. You don't know where your job. Stop. It. Was Tuesday, September 8th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of juvenile detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Powers. My name's Friday. We just transported a prisoner from the main jail. And it was 10:39pm when we got to Georgia Street Jail. The interview room. Sit down. Angelo. Yeah. What'd they call you? Angie. Yeah, Angie. Why'd you tell the officers who arrested you that you were 18? How'd they find out different? All they had to do was check your record. I don't make any difference. Some of them say 16, some say 17. They're all different. You're 17, though, aren't you? Yeah, 17. All right. You wanna tell us about this burglary? I told the other guys. Ain't got enough we wanna hear. Well, figure if you tell her once, that's enough. The cop died. I told them all about it. Why don't you ask them? All right, boy, give us a story. You got a match? Be better if you don't smoke, don't you think? Well, my folks don't care. They let me smoke. The law doesn't. Until you're 18. Oh, yeah. Come on, Angie, tell us about it. Nothing to tell. Me and a couple other kids broke into a house. That's all there is to it. We just broke into the place. What about the stuff you took? I told the other two guys all about that. The officers from Burglary? Yeah. They said it was from Central. I told them all about it. Everything. You show them where the plant was? I told them. I didn't go there, though. I just told them. What'd you steal? Huh? The things you stole. Name them for us. Just different stuff, you know, like you find in a house. All kinds of stuff. Was there an electric mixer? Yeah, good one. You know, with orange juice attachment. Good. What else? Electric razor, some silverware. What kind of silverware? You know, like you eat with. Was there a silver tea service? A what? A tea service. You know what I mean? If I knew, I wouldn't ask you. Like a coffee pot with legs. A lot of scroll work on it. Silver, you know? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. Oh, was it one of those? No. How about a German Luger and a pistol? That's right. No, there wasn't one of them. Hey, you guys gonna let me out tonight? No, you'll be held here. Well, I thought you was gonna let me go tonight. How about my folks? They know I'm here. We haven't had a chance to notify them yet. Where they live. Down on Wall. They have a phone, huh? I thought you always told them when you picked up a kid, you were booked as an adult. Oh, yeah. You fenced any of the stolen merchandise yet? No, we just got it last night. We just broke into the house and haven't had a chance to fence it. The other officers say they're gonna pick it up. Yeah. You got a job? What? I said, are you working? I told you I did. Where? Place down on East 5th. What do you do? I'm a messenger. Ride a bike. Delivery thing. You working there now? I'm here now. You know what I mean? No. You're not working there? Boss and me had a beef. He's moody. Me too. Real moody. Your parole officer know you lost the job? I never told him. Well, maybe he found out. Maybe that's why he was sore at you. Yeah. You been reporting regular? Yeah, pretty much. What's that mean? Once in a while. A couple of times I miss. Just a couple. Then I have to make a federal case out of it. My parole officer know about this arrest? I think he's been notified. How many times have you been arrested? I don't know, maybe six, seven. You ever been to camp? Yeah, I was there, what, four? Truancy. How long were you there? A couple of weeks when I broke out and they sent me to Preston. I'm on parole now. You can't let me out tonight, huh? We'll book you and notify your officer. What's his name? Lockridge. The moody old guy. He ain't in the mood when he sees me. Rough. If he's in a mood, all right. Yeah, like he came down to see me one day and asked me how I was doing. I told him, fine. I had a job, I was doing fine. He says, that's good, Angie. Like that. That's good. Tells me how fine I'm doing. Next day, he comes to my house and reads me off. Says I'm a bum, I'm no good, all like that. Moody, Why'd he read you off? I don't know. Didn't he tell you? No, he just came in and yelled at me. I wasn't doing anything. He's moody. You belong to a gang, Angie? Huh? I said, do you belong to a gang? Yeah, we got a club. I belong to that. What's the name of the club? Little Wall Street Gang. You heard of it? No. Good club. You sure you ain't heard of us? No. How about you? No. Your gang fight much? What do you mean, fight? What? You ever get mixed up in gang wars, anything like that? No, no, not us. We've been in a couple of street fights. Maybe you know, some kids come over to where we are and start trouble. But we never been to no gang wars. We got a good gang. You know anybody that belongs to Pink Rats? Couple of guys. I don't know them real well. Who are they? I told you, I don't know them real well. Just to know them when I see them. You know, like that. You don't know any of the names, huh? I think one of them's called Pinky. That's all I know. Look, why you asking me about them? Well, we got a rumble up there cooking up a gang war. Wondered if you know anything about it. Where'd you hear it? We did. You know anything on it? No. You sure? I told you I wouldn't tell you if it wasn't right. Now, look, Angie, if this thing breaks loose, there's gonna be a lot of kids hurt. If you've got no part in it, why don't you give us a story? I'm giving it to you. Ain't nothing more I can tell you didn't Hear nothing about no war. I told you, I belong to the little Wall street gang. We don't get mixed up in no wars. Couple of street fights maybe, but no wars. You gonna stand on that? I haven't gone any other way. What did you hear? What? What did you hear about the rats? About the war, I mean. Who are they gonna fight? Oh, when it comes to us, they're gonna cut into the organs. You mean from the south side? Yeah, they're rough guys. That's what we hear. How. How did it start? What do you mean? What's the beef? The orchids won't go that far away. From homeless stage. Something gotta be a reason. You guys know what it is? The way we got it, a girlfriend of one of the orchid gang moved over into the pink rat territory. He started to go with one of the rats. The orchids didn't like it, so they drove over one night and beat up on one of the rats. The next night, the rats went over the south side and kicked around one of the orchids. That's the way it started. A couple of nights ago, one of the rat kids was riding down the street on the motorbike car full of orchids. Came up alongside the boy and before he could do anything about it they wrapped a piece of bicycle chain around his head. Kill him? No, he's still in the county hospital. He's not doing too well. We got word there's going to be a party this Saturday night at one of the rats house. They figure maybe that's where the trouble's gonna be. You're not throwing any coconuts in. This is for real. The way we get it, most kids get started and somebody's gonna get hurt real bad. Maybe a lot worse than you gotta figure. What do you mean? I heard about the job the orchids did last week. Yeah, they broke into a place and cleaned it out. Must have been for Saturday night. How do you mean? They stole a couple of rifles. Something worse. Yeah. 12 gauge shotgun. 10:45pm Angelo Markel was rebooked at Georgia Street Juvenile on a charge of burglary. His shoes and his belt were taken from him and he was held in detention. We put in a call to his parole officer and told him what had happened. After that, we drove by Markel's home to inform his parents of the arrest. But we found nobody there. We left our card with a notation asking him to call us when they returned. Before the Markow boy had been placed in the cell, we'd gotten a description of the boy. He Knew as Pinky. After trying to contact Markal's parents, we went up to the second floor of the Juvenile division and had the record bureau check the nickname and description. We came up with three possibles. We pulled the mug shots of the boys and showed them to Angelo Markel, but he was unable to give us an identification. It was difficult to tell if the boy was lying or telling us the truth to try to cover up for the members of the Pink Rat gang. The following afternoon, Wednesday, September 9th, Frank and I checked into the office and then we drove out to see the parents of the Markow boy. They still hadn't returned and the neighbors told us that they had seen the couple drive away early Monday morning without giving any indication as to when they might return. We asked the woman who lived next door to call us when they did come back. 4:40pm we drove over to the east side of town to check on the three possibles named Pinky that we turned up the previous night. All of the boys were able to prove to our satisfaction that they were not the Pinky we were after. We talked to the youngsters in the neighborhood, asking them if they knew anything about an expected gang war. Either they didn't know anything about it or they wouldn't tell us. 6:15pm we went back to the office and put in a call to Central Burglary. Yeah, we haven't got the exact date the way we got it. There are a couple of rifles taken. And a 12 gauge shotgun. No, and a 12 gauge shotgun. Yeah, sure, I'll wait. They're checking the reports now. This is one tip I'd like to have turn bad, wouldn't you? Yeah, I'm with you. Yeah. Rex. Mm. That'd be the.30, huh? Yeah. What's that? Yeah, I guess it might be. Won't help with this. Right. Let us know, huh? Right. They got the reports. Guns were stolen on Tuesday, August 30th. They still haven't been able to get anything on it. Rifles were.30 0 sixes. Your rifles, huh? Yeah. Olson says they got another report last night. Might mean something. Yeah. Hardware store broken into. What'd they take? Four boxes of.30 06ammo. Three boxes of 12 gauge cartridges. It might have been a coincidence, but if it wasn't, the Orchid Gang was armed with three guns and 225 rounds of ammunition. Enough to start and sustain a small war. 6:35pm we contacted Lt. Hartgrove, the night watch commander, and he assigned two other teams of officers to work with us. In addition to the Juvenile officers, radio units on a Metro division reserves joined us in the search for members of the Orchid Gang. The streets in the area were combed. Citizens in the area were questioned, but they failed to supply any information on the boys who belonged to the gang. The satin embroidered jackets the members of the Orchid Gang wore had disappeared from the streets. At 12:01am the search was called off and a broadcast was put out to the regular units in the area to be on the watch for any gang activities. 12:47am we got in touch with Rex Olson in Central Burglary. He told us that the crime lab had failed to come up with any physical evidence on the theft of ammunition from the hardware store. 1:20am Frank and I checked out of the office and we went home. The following morning at 8:30am we got in touch with the juvenile informant and he was able to give us more information on the expected gang war. He told us that the fight was set for Saturday night. He was unable to give us the exact address of the party that was to be crashed, but he did give us a general idea of the location. He was also able to give us the name Pinky Eggers and his address. He told us that the Eggers boy was the leader of the Pink Rats and might be able to give us information on the membership of the Orchid Gang. 12:40pm Frank and I drove out to talk to the Eggers boy. We checked his school, but he wasn't there. We went to his home. It was a small one story frame building with a weathered picket fence surrounding it. The 1947 hopped up Ford was in the driveway. Frank and I went up on the porch and rang the bell. Yard could sure stand a cleaning up. Yeah. Wonder who the car belongs to. I don't know. Sure looks fast. Yeah. Like to see Pinky Eggers. Who are you? Police officers. Can't you lay off the kid? Why don't you quit rousting him? Is he here? No, he ain't here. And if he was, I don't think I'd let you see him. That his car? Yeah, it's his. Registered in his name? No, in mine. Now what do you after the kid for? I want to talk to him. Well, talk to me. I'm his father. Anything you have to say to him, you can tell me. Your boy belonged to a club called the Pink Rat Gang. Why does he? I answer no questions till you tell me why you're asking. Now look mister, we're not out here to pass the time of day. Your boy's mixed up in something that can turn out to be pretty serious. That right? That's the way it is. Who says it's serious? What are you talking about? We got word that your boy's mixed up in a gang war that's going to break out this weekend. And you two big cops are out here leaning on a kid because he's mixed up in a beef. Listen, there's a five year old kid down the street skating on the sidewalk. Why don't you go put the arm on her? If this war breaks out and somebody's going to get hurt, maybe you're a boy. We're trying to stop him. Well, don't bother. Pinky can take care of himself. Any of the gangs cause trouble, the Rats can swing therein. You want to stop the beef? Go talk to the other kids. Tell them to lay off. My boy's gang is now looking for trouble. Any fighting going on, you can talk to the other kids. You check them. Leave my boy alone. I don't want to talk to him. Mr. Eggers, you gonna make a pinch? No, we just want to talk to him. Should have known you were gonna take him today. Only two of you. Well, I'm telling you, you ain't laying a hand on Pink. You try it and I'll haul you in every court in the country. Now get out of here. Where's your boy now? That's none of your business. I told you to get out. Maybe you don't understand, Eggers. This is a gang war. Your boy's helping to build it. Now you get off my property and don't come back. You hear me? Anything happens, Pinky can take care of himself. He'll be okay. Now you guys leave him alone. I hope he's right. 3:15pm Frank and I drove over to Pinky Agre school again. We spent the next two hours talking to the youngsters in the neighborhood. Those that would cooperate with us didn't have the information that we needed. The others refused to tell us anything. In the meantime, officers from 77th Street Division were checking on the activities of the Orchid gang. They ran into the same evasive answers that we had. If the information we'd gotten was true, we had a little more than 48 hours to find the principles in the war before the shooting could start. Thursday night, 8:40pm Frank and I met with Captain John Powers, Lieutenant Hartgrove and the heads of the juvenile details throughout the city. From them we learned that word of the impending war had spread through the gangs in the separate districts and that the other gangs were taking sides in the argument and were ready to start their own battles with factions who opposed them. Captain Powers, along with the heads of the divisions, mapped a plan of action to be put into effect at the first sign of an outbreak. Additional cars from Metropolitan Division reserves were to be ready if they were needed. Days off for all juvenile officers were canceled. The three way radio contact would be kept open between all divisions. On Saturday night, the area where the main activity was expected would be heavily patrolled both by beat men and by radio car officers. Once the operating plan was set up, there was little to do but wait. In the meantime, the search went on for members of the Orchid Gang and for Pinky Eggers, the leader of the Pink Rats. A watch had been placed on his home, but he failed to return. Friday, September 6, 9:42pm Frank and I checked with the Burglary division on the stolen guns. Then we went over to the New Yorker restaurant to get something to eat. Hi, S. Hey Joe. Call your office. I just called you. Yeah, thanks. Order me the fish and chips, will you Frank? Sure. How's it going? S not bad. With you. Kind of rough. Where's Rosie? Friend? The kids want the movies. 2568, please. Yeah, George Jubilee. Right. Which end? This Friday. But when did it happen? Well, we like. Get a pencil. Sol, hand me that menu, will you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Go ahead. Yeah, I got it. Yeah. What do you want us to do? Yeah, they know yet? Yeah. All right. No, we'll get right over there. Bye. Never mind the food, Sal. What's the matter? Kids didn't wait until Saturday and just shot up Highland Park. What's the score? Still coming in a good start? Yeah. 11 year old boy killed. The first victim of the juvenile gang war was 11 year old Tony Herman. The teenagers next door to the Herman house were having a party at 9:36pm Friday night. A group of youngsters had arrived at the house and tried to crash the party. A fistfight had ensued and Tony, who was doing his homework next door, had gone out to see what was causing the disturbance. As he stood on the porch watching the fighting, a 12 gauge shotgun had been fired. The pellets from the cartridge had caught the youngster in the stomach and the abdomen and he'd gone down. At the sound of the shot, the fighting had stopped and the party crashers had left the scene. The police had been called and Tony was removed to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. He was dead on arrival. From the neighbors, descriptions of the party crashers had been obtained. All of the boys Wore satin jackets with a large white orchid embroidered on the back. One of the people who saw the shooting said that the boy who'd fired the gun wore a jacket with the name Gene under the orchid design. A broadcast was gotten out immediately, along with a description of the car that the juveniles had used to escape. The parents of the Herman boy were not at home when the shooting occurred. From the neighbors we found that they usually went to a movie on Friday night. And they didn't return until after midnight. An officer was stationed at the house to bring them to the hospital. When they returned at 1:34am Mrs. Herman arrived at the hospital. She was a small, dark woman with graying hair. She didn't know what had happened. Frank and I met her in the hall. I want to see Sergeant Friday. Is he here? I'm Sergeant Friday. Then. Well, I'm Mrs. Herman. They say something's happened to Tony. Yes, ma'. Am. You want to step in here? Might be a little better to talk. All right. Can I see him? He isn't hurt bad, is he? It's that bicycle. I told his father. I knew it was too soon for it. He's so little. And to buy him a big bike like that. But he couldn't hardly reach the pedals. Well, that's it, isn't it? He fell off the bicycle. No, ma'. Am. What is it then? What is it? Something more. He's hurt. I want to see him. Just a minute, Ms. Herman. Why won't you tell me what happened to him? My husband will be here in a few minutes and he's going to want to know. Why won't you tell me? How bad's he hurt? Pretty bad. Man, that's not an answer. How bad's he hurt? He's dead. Dead before he gets you anything. My boy's dead. Tony. What? He'd fallen off the bicycle. He got it for his birthday. A new bicycle, 28 inch wheels. I thought he'd fallen. I didn't know it was like this. Can I see him? My boy? Can I? Yes, ma'. Am. How'd it happen? How? We're Sorry about it, Ms. Herman. My Tony had an accident with his dad. He went to a movie and come home to find our son's dead. Better get the doctor, Frank. Right. Doctor will be here In a minute, Ms. Herman. Just do. He's doing his homework now. He's dead. How did it happen, Mr. Frydon? The gun went off. He was standing on the porch. He was hit. But who was shooting? Who shot my boy? Who killed him we don't know, Ms. Herman. I want to know who it was who killed him. I want to know. His father's gonna want to know my boy's death. My boy. My son. You want to handle this, Doc? We'll wait outside. Surely. Kind of hard to do. You're gonna make up for it, right? The kid that fired the gun? Yeah? They got him downstairs. A few minutes after the broadcast had gone out on the boy wearing a jacket with the name Gene on it. Two officers on York Boulevard had picked up the speeding car. In shaking down the occupants and the car itself, they'd found the jacket hidden under the rear seat. In the trunk of the automobile, they'd found the stolen rifles and the shotgun with one discharged cartridge in it. The three boys in the car had been taken into custody and brought immediately to Georgia Street. Two of the youngsters had been taken to the detention cells. And the third, who identified himself as Gene Graff, was brought to the office of the night watch commander. From the identification found in his pockets, we learned his name, address and his age. 16 years old. His parents were notified that he was being held and they were asked to come to the office immediately. All the time the boy had been in the room and the calls had been made, he refused to say anything. When Frank hung up the phone after calling his parents, he made the first statement. What's that gonna prove? What's that? Having him come down here. What are you gonna prove with that? You wanna tell us about him? That's a kid. Gonna be all right. No, he's not. How bad's he hurt? He's dead. Rough. That's all you got to say? What do you want me to say? You gunned down an 11 year old boy and that's all you gotta say about it? Look, cop, I know the routine. You read me off, make a big speech and I'm supposed to feel real bad. Well, I'd like to go along with you, but it won't work. Look, save the effort. Use the words on somebody else. Do what you're gonna do and let's get it over with. How old are you? You already saw it. How old? 16. Pretty heavy, aren't you? I've been around. Yeah. Don't get smart, kid. Not my fault. I was born that way. How many times you been arrested? A couple. How many times? Four. For what? Suspicion 211. Suspicion, 245. You're 16. You've been picked up for robbery and assault. I didn't stand any of them. You ever been in camp yeah. You ever served any time? Look, the taxpayers pay you a lot of money to keep records. Why don't you look all this up? It's there. Where'd you get the shotgun you used tonight? I won it in a raffle. I got a lot of luck. Yeah, well, it just ran out, kid. Now, I'm gonna give you a piece of advice. If you're as smart as I think you are, you're gonna take it. You start answering these questions, you start answering them right. You bought yourself a pile of trouble that you and that smart mouth of yours aren't gonna talk your way out of. You killed somebody. An 11 year old boy. You walked up that house with a gun, a gun you were ready to use. And you just answered the questions. And never mind the sarcasm. Put the muscle away. You lean on me and I'll have every sister in this state on your neck. I'm a juvenile. Don't you forget it. You just got out of that league. That's the way you see it. That's the way it is from where you sit. But I'm telling you, you give me any muscle and I'll scream my head off to every sob sister club in the country. I'm gonna ask you once more, young fellow. Where'd you get that gun? I bought a lucky ticket. Stick with it, kid. We're checking the numbers now. Those guns were taken on the burglary last week. You're dead on it. We got you going in. You try to make it stick. Don't worry, we will. Use narcotics. Do I look like a hype? I asked you a question. And I gave you an answer to. Drink? Sure. I'm a real lush. I'm gonna tell you something. We're running out of patience with you. Then you better go get pumped up. You're gonna need a lot more. What were you doing out there tonight? Where? Come off it. You know what I mean. Gently, gently. What were you doing at that party? What do you usually do at a party? Was having a good time. Why'd you take that gun with you? It was in the car. I didn't take it. I went along for the ride. Well, who put it there? I don't know. Other boys say it was yours. That's a lie. Prove it. I don't have to. You got to prove I did know about it. We don't have to prove a thing. There are a couple of people who saw you shoot the kid. Guys you were with. The copped out. You're nailed and you know it. We'll see what the judge has to say about it. I've gotten off before. I'll swing it this time. I'm a juvenile. I'm not responsible for what I do. You really believe that, don't you? I said it. You know, I got two kids. What do you want, a medal? I got two kids. They're pretty good youngsters, too. They go to school, they study hard, and they're trying hard to grow up to be decent human beings. They'll get married and raise ordinary families. They'll never do much of anything special to get their names in the papers. Nobody's going to give them much notice. Maybe that's the way they want it. But all of a sudden, somebody like you comes along mean and rotten. And people hear about you. They figure all the kids sat down and wrote your name on a ballot. And now you represent all of them. That you're the shining example of American youth. They sit there and shake their heads and talk about what's happening to the younger generation. They got the wrong picture. It isn't true, none of it. You framed it. You act like a big man, and every decent, honest kid comes on looking like a bum. You sit there and blow off about being a juvenile. You like it because you think it'll buy you special privileges. Well, you're wrong, fella. Not in my book. As far as I'm concerned, you're a rotten little killer. And you're going to be treated like one. Now, you bring out the rubber hose. All right, come on, let's go. Take your coat, boy. You're not coming back this way. Yeah. Come in. Mr. Friday? Yes, Ms. Herman. You told me I'd find you here. Is this the boy who did it? Yes, ma'. Am. What's your name? Answer. Gene. Graffiti. Why'd you do it? Why'd you kill my boy? Did he do something to you? Is that it? Did Tony do something to you? Answer me. Say something. Just tell me one thing. What right do you have? What right does a young hoodlum like you have to stand there alive and breathing and my boy dead? What right? Do you hear me? What right? Ms. Herman, make him tell me. What right? What right? What right does he have to do a horrible thing like this? What right? I don't know, but we're going to take it away from him. The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On October 4, a petition was filed in juvenile court. And the subject was declared unfit to be tried as a juvenile. He was ordered to be Tried in superior court under the general law. Gene Norton Graff was tried and convicted of murder in the second degree. He was referred to the Youth Authority for punishment. Murder in the second degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of from five years to life. Dragnet the story of your police force in action is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. Foreign. I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like, I can't stop, stop. I'm addicted. Start your free trial@shopify.com when wildfire risk is high, every second matters. That's why at Pacific Power we use enhanced safety settings that shut off power in fractions of a second when a potential hazard is detected, helping reduce the risk of sparks. We know losing power can be disruptive, but in moments like these, safety comes first. It's just one of the proactive measures we take to help protect you and your community. Learn more@pacificpower.net wildfire we have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes. But we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The GameTime app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fees are included. So what you see is what you pay. And the gametime guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy and more with GameTime. Download the GameTime app and create an account for $20 off your first purchase term supply. 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 robbery detail. Three hold up men have robbed and beaten two supermarket operators in your city. You've got a good description of the thieves. Your job. Get them. It was Tuesday, November 3rd. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the day. Watch out. A robbery detail. My partner's Frank Smith, the boss and chief of Detective Stab Brown. My name's Friday. We'd gotten a hotshot call about a robbery and it was 9:46am when we got to the corner of Lockwood and Barton avenues. The Lockton Market officer back there? Yeah, Friday and Smith Central. Robert oh, yeah. I'm Jackson, unit 387. You answered the call? Yeah, we got here a couple of minutes ago. Where's the victim? Back room there. He's pretty bad off. Ambulance attendance with him now. Mm. My partner's checking the neighborhood. If there's nothing you need me for, I'll give him a hand. Yeah. Make a 211report for you, Lee, will you? Right. Thank you. Looks like there was quite a fight. Yeah. Stuff all over the place. Come on. What do you got in that bottle? It sure stinks. Now, you got to clean up these cuts. Let's try to hold still. Ow. Hey, take it easy, huh? Yeah. Something you want? We're out of Central Robbery. Is this the victim? Yeah, a couple of cuts. Nothing serious. Tell him about Andy. He's the one who really got it. Who's Andy? Yeah, the clerk. Pretty rough. Looks like it might be a fractured jaw. He's in the truck now. Let me get this tape on you now, huh? Ow. That should do it. Might be a good idea if you saw your doctor. Yeah. What about Andy? We're gonna take him down to Georgia Street Receiving. You gonna call me and let me know about it? It might be better if you called in. Yeah, okay. I see you guys, huh? Yeah, right. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah, sure. Boy, one guy really clouded me. Hurt? Mm. What? If you feel up to telling us what happened here. Three of them. Three came in and held up the place. Clouded me and Andy. Sure hope he's gonna be all right. What's your name, sir? Cliff Hall. You own the store, do you? No. Me and Andy run it, though. We'd like to buy it. What time did these men come in? Must have been around 9:30. Around in there. Did you give the officers who answered the call a description of the men? Yeah, that was the first thing they asked me. Go ahead, please. I was getting the money ready for the bank deposit. Andy was back here stacking bottle cases. These three guys came in. First off, I thought they were customers. A couple of them walked to the back of the place. I thought they were picking out stuff. The other one kind of stood around by the cash register where I was. Go ahead. Well, after he was there for a minute and I see the other two aren't picking up nothing, I asked him if there was something I could get for him. That's when he pulled out a gun. What about the other two? All worked like they had some kind of signal. Soon as the one in front pulled his gun, the other two did too. Fella asked me to put all the money in a paper bag. Got the bag from up in front there. Took it right out of the stack and handed it to me. He said for me to put the dough in it. You recall his exact words? What? The way he said it. The words he used. You recall him? Let me see. I think it was, put all the dough in this bag. Don't say anything. Just do as I say. That was the way he said. What'd you do then? Like he said, he had that gun pointed right at me. I could see the other two guys. I wasn't gonna do anything but what he told me. I put the money in the bag. I thought they'd leave the place. But that's when Andy came out. I guess he wondered what the other two were after. You see, from where he was, he couldn't see the guns. He walked out to him, asked if there was anything special they were looking for. Mm. What happened then? Then he saw what was happening, saw the guns, and he tried to throw the guys out. I don't know why he did it. And he's like that. He gets an idea in his head and there isn't anything that'll shake it loose. He tied into those two guys. Almost had him whipped, too, even with the guns. The guy that was with me saw what was going on, yelled back at him, told him not to shoot. He ran back and laid his gun alongside Andy's head. Oh. Clouded him right along in here. Andy dropped like a sack of potatoes, and the three guys ran out of the store. How much money did they get? You know, I hadn't finished up with a bank statement yet. I'd just be guessing, but I'd say about $8,000. Might run to 8, 5, but that's about it. I see. Now, if you could just give us a description of the man. All three of them, if you could. Yeah. The one who was with me must have been about 5:11. Kind of dark, complected. Had straight black hair. What color were his eyes? Brown. You have any marks or scars you could see? No. Clean shaven? Yeah. I had a real dark beard. Looked kind of like he had some kind of talcum powder on. Do you remember how he was dressed? Let's see. Dark blue suit, gray top coat, gray hat. Was he wearing a tie, do you know? Yeah, a gray tie with maroon stripes. You know, kind of diagonal. A thin tie. Anything unusual about him make it easier for us to identify him? No, I don't think so. How about the gun he was carrying? What kind was it? I couldn't see the name? No, sir. I mean, was it an automatic or revolver? Oh, an automatic. Looked like a big caliber. I'd say 45. One of the other fellas had a revolver, but the guy with me and the small one had automatics. You know if they drove a car? If they did, I didn't see it. Might have had it parked right out in front for all I know. I told you I was busy when they came in. When they left, I was too worried about Andy to pay any attention to him. Way they hit him, a terrible thing. Right along here. Oh, excuse me a minute. I got some aspirin here in the door. Yes, sir. Sure hope Andy's gonna be all right. We've been together a long time. Can't get over that little guy. The one who hit me. I should have taken him, but the big one, he's tough looking. A real fighter. Well, this is gonna help much, huh? He's gonna lose this one. We got the descriptions of the other two men and a supplementary local broadcast was gotten out. The two officers who'd answered the call found a woman in the neighborhood who'd seen three men leave the vicinity immediately after the robbery. She said that she was parked in a car half a block from the store on the same side of the street. She explained that about 9:20am a car had pulled into a parking place in front of her. She'd seen three men leave the car and walk down the sidewalk in the direction of the Lockton Market. About 10 minutes later, the men came back to the car. They appeared to be in a hurry. One of the men was upset and arguing with the other two. She told the officers that they'd gotten into the car and driven off toward Hollywood Boulevard. We asked her to describe the three men. The description she gave us matched the one we'd gotten of the thieves. She gave us a description of the car and another supplementary broadcast was put out. We asked her to come down the city hall to go through the mug books to see if she could give us a positive identification. The report from Georgia Street Receiving Hospital indicated that the victim of the slugging, Andrew Rich, was suffering from a fractured jaw and a concussion. He was given emergency treatment and removed to the county hospital. The crime lab crew came out and they went over the store for physical evidence. They were able to lift three partial fingerprints from the counter next to the cash register. Dean Bergman and Layton. Prince explained that the partials were not enough for identification, but that if we apprehended the hold up man, he'd be able to tell us if they'd left the impressions. 10:27am we took the victim, Clifford hall, and the woman who'd seen the car to the mug room. They went through the mug books, but they were unable to come up with an identification. We had the stats office make a run on the mo. They came back with a list of 17 names of men who at one time or another had used the same method of operation. The list was split and Sergeants Mead and Leitner worked with us in checking the names out. Thursday, 3:48pm Frank and I got to the sixth name on our list. Jerry Evanston. That right? Yep. Sure dark in this hall. He ought to wash the windows, let some light in. Yeah, here we are. Why not be in? Yeah, we'll try it again. Now let's talk to manager. Yeah? Yeah, who is it? Manager. We want to see a minute, Mr. Man. What do you want? Asleep? Come on, Emerson, open up. Now we can get out of here. Police officer. Come on. Watch it, Joe. Come on. All right. Come on, Emerson, get up. What are you doing? I'm clean. Look, you got no right to combusting in here like this. Yeah, you're so clean, what are you putting out trouble for? I got scared, that's all. I just got scared. Well, how'd you feel if somebody walked you up and shoves their way into your room? You ain't gonna stand around and just let them do it. Stay clean, Joe. I told you that. I got no trouble. I don't want none. You check with Galloway. He'll tell you I'm home Every night at 9 o'. Clock. Every night. Where were you this morning? Huh? This morning, where were you? What time? You just tell us what you did, starting when you got up. I was up all night. I got a virus or something. I couldn't sleep. Take a look there in the dresser. You can see the stuff I've been taking. I haven't been out of this room, not for a couple of days. Can you prove that? Why, can you? No, there wasn't anybody here. You got any phone calls? No. I don't know what this is all about, but you guys are leaning on me for nothing. Now, you talk to Galloway. He'll tell you I've been working. Well, look here, I'll show you. Where you going? I just want to show you something. I got in the drawer. You stay right there. I'll get it for you, okay? I got nothing to hide. Take a look in the top drawer there. Left hand side. Yeah. These what you mean? Yeah, that's it. I'll take the rubber band off and look. You'll see I'm telling you the truth now. You see, it's all the check receipts I've gotten from where I work. You look at them. I'm working every day and I'm home at night. Oh, nine o' clock every night. How about it, Joe? Yeah. You see, you haven't been out of this room all day, huh? Not a minute. Come on. What's all this about anyway? What are you guys after? We figured maybe you could tell us. Yeah, I'm sorry. Without you telling me what you want, there's nothing I can give you. You see any of the boys anymore? I mean, the fellas I knew before I fell? That's right. Not if I can help, but I'm trying to stay away from. See any of them lately? Yeah. Saw Alex a couple days ago. Alex? Yeah, Alex Finley. I knew him when I was up in Q. He came in where I was working. Did you talk to him at all? Just said hello. Past couple of minutes. Talking about some of the guys we knew seeing the rackets now. I don't know. Is he on parole? Yeah, I think so. Did he give you anything? Oh, a couple of rumbles. But if I turn them over to you, I don't want a credit for him. You don't know where you got him. All right. Alex tells me there's a gang that's gonna start working here in town. Market jobs. How many men? From what Alex says, there's four, all heavy guys. Finley with him? No, I don't think so. He told it to me that he just heard it. Did he say anything about who the four men are? No, I don't think he knew. He just said they were heavy and they were starting to work. You know where we can get in touch with Alex? No. Well, you might check with Galloway at the parole office. He might have it. Yeah, we will. I'll probably see him again. I'll try to get the information if I can. Well, what does he want? To know who the guys are? That's right. Okay. Now, like I told you, though, I don't want any credit for it. I'm in real trouble if it gets around that I'm playing footsie with you. Yeah, sure. I'll try to find out when they're gonna start working too. Well, don't you worry about that, huh? We already know that. 4:10pm we got in touch with Fred Galloway at the state Adult parole offices. And we checked on Jerry Evans. From what the record Showed the story Evanston had told us was true. His parole officer had reported him working and apparently living up to the conditions of his release. We left him one of our cards and asked him to call us in the event he heard from Alex Finley. 4:21pm we checked back into the office and we met with Sergeants Mead and Lightner. They told us that they checked out the names on their half of the list without result. We sent a teletype up to George Brereton, CII Sacramento, giving him the description of the hold up men and listing the MO that they'd used. We asked him to run the information through their files and forward any information they came up with. 5:19pm we went out to get something to eat and then we checked back into the office. Good dinner, huh, Joe? Yeah. Never saw a guy could eat so many enchiladas as you. Nah, I can't help it. Get started on him. Can't seem to stop. Yeah. You got any soda in your locker? No. You got trouble again? You know I always do when we have enchiladas. You ought to remember that when you order a half a dozen. I suppose so. I get it. Robbery, Friday. Yeah. When was that? They're pretty sure, are they? Has a lab been called yet? Yep. Okay. Right. Thanks. Well, that's a break. Yeah. They just found the getaway car. 6:47pm we left the office and drove out to where the car had been found. Was parked on Lockwood Avenue, five blocks from the market that had been robbed. The radio car. Officers who'd spotted it had called the office immediately when they saw a brown paper bag in the back seat bearing the printed name Lockton Market. A crew from Leighton Prince came out and went over the car. They were able to come up with a single print from a man's index finger. Bergman compared it with the partials found at the market. They matched. We checked the white slip in the car and found that the vehicle was stolen. The report on it had been filed at 10:37am that morning. We talked with the people in the immediate vicinity, but none of them were able to tell us anything about the people who'd parked the car. However, we did come up with an elderly man who told us that he'd seen three men get into another car at about 9:45 that morning. He said that he remembered it because the driver of the car had pulled into a parking space and stopped the motor. Another automobile had parked directly in front of the car and the driver of the first machine had moved so that there was no one in front of him. The man went on to say that a few minutes after the driver pulled into the second parking place, three men had come around the corner, gotten into the car and the four of them had driven off. The witness was unable to give us a description of the car other than to say that it was a late model Plymouth or Ford. The only description he could give us of the men was that one of them was large and was wearing a gray topcoat and a hat and that one of them was small. 8:40pm Frank and I went back to the office and checked out for the night. The following morning at 8:02am I checked back in for work. Hi, Joe. Morning. Kind of cold out. Yeah. You look happy this morning. I didn't sleep a wink last night, Joe. Not a wink. What's the matter, Stomach? Next time I even think about eating enchiladas, stop me, will you, Joe? Yeah, sure. Any mail come in? I don't know. I just got in. There's an ad here from that store over on West 6. They're having their annual sale. Yeah, I want to try to get over there. Like to get me a new suit for Christmas. There's a special delivery from Braggart, huh? Probably those mugs we asked for. I'll see. Yeah, there's six of them. You want to get in touch with Cliff hall and drive over and have him take a look at them? Yeah. You got any other pictures? Yeah, we can mix them up. I'll call Hall. Okay. I sure hope we get an ident. We haven't got much to go on. There's got to be a break someplace. We gotta find it. From what Finley said about the gang starting up operation, doesn't sound like just one job. No. They start on a string, they can do a lot of damage. It doesn't give us much choice, does it? No. We gotta get to them. 8:27am Frank and I left the office and drove over to talk to the victim, Cliff Hall. We showed him the mug shots George Brereton had sent us. He picked one out and said that he was positive that the man in the picture was the one who'd held him up. The name on the mug shot was Harold Bishop. According to the record Brereton had sent us, Bishop had been convicted twice on violation of 211pc armed robbery. 9:20am we drove over to the county hospital and showed the pictures to the other victim, Andrew Rich. He picked the mug shot of Bishop as the suspect who'd robbed and beaten him. The notation on Bishop's picture gave us the information that he was on parole at the time. We returned to the office and put in a call to Fred Galloway at the State Adult Parole Office. Yeah, Fred, this is Joe Friday. Mm. Yeah, fine. We'd like some information on a Herald Bishop. San Francisco number 826-0926. That's right. Male, white, Caucasian. We got a mug from Burden. No, he says he's on parole. Yeah, if you will. Thanks a lot. You're checking the master file now? Mead and Lightner standing by if we need him. When we get this address, we're gonna have to move fast. Yeah. Yeah, Fred, when was that? Well, how's his report there? I see. No, I don't know. Yeah, I suppose. Right, Fred, thank you. Well, you can tell me and Lightner to relax. Bishop's got an out of state parole. He's living over in Phoenix. Well, he still could be getting into California. No, not likely, huh? Fred checked with his parole officer. Yeah, he's got a job, and he's been reporting to his parole officer every month. We asked Fred Galloway at the state parole Office to contact Bishop's parole officer in Phoenix and check him closely. The report came back that the suspect had a job with a small contractor and that he'd been working regularly. He'd also been giving monthly reports to his officer. We'd had a suspect identified by two of his victims. And yet, if the information we'd gotten was correct, it would have been a physical impossibility for him to have committed the robbery. We got a copy of his jacket and looked over his past record. We found that Bishop had been arrested for armed robbery the first time, 18 years previously. He'd been brought to trial and acquitted. The next arrest was 10 months after his trial. He'd been convicted and served six years at San Quentin. He'd been released, and within six months, Bishop had been picked up again. This time he was sent to Folsom Penitentiary. While he was there, he appeared to be a model prisoner. And after serving four and a half years, he'd been placed on parole. After leaving the prison, he'd requested and been granted an out of state leave. In checking Bishop's MO we found that it matched exactly that of the thieves who'd held up the Lockton Market. The time of approach was the same. The number of men used was the same. The method of leaving the scene was exact. We had a suspect, and yet he couldn't have committed the crime. Three weeks passed. On Saturday, November 26, the thieves hit again. In checking with the victims, they identified the mugshot of Bishop. We put in a long distance call to the Phoenix Police Department and asked them to check on the suspect. We got word back that he was in their city. They told us that he wasn't at work due to a virus infection. They went on to say that they checked with his landlady and that she told him that Bishop hadn't left his apartment at all on the day of the theft. Monday, November 28th. We got our first break in the case. August robbery. Smith. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Jerry. Huh? You sure about that? Where? Huh? How about the rest of them? Yeah, just a minute. Toss me that pad, will you? Here you go. Okay, Jerry, go ahead. Yeah. Mm. How do you spell it? L, A L, E, A H, Y. Uh huh. I got it. Mm. You know the address? Yeah. Okay, thanks, Jerry. We'll get in touch with you. Right. Jerry Evanston. Remember the guy we talked to over in South 7th? Yeah. Well, the way he tells it, we aren't too far off. What do you mean? He saw Bishop in town last Saturday. We put in a call and we found that there were two major airlines with flights to Phoenix. The flight time they listed was 1 hour and 35 minutes by air. If Bishop caught the last flight leaving Phoenix, he could arrive in los angeles at 11:20pm the night before he planned to commit a robbery the next day. After the holdup, he could catch a plane from the Los Angeles International Airport that would have him back in Phoenix at 8:25pm by doing this, he would be absent from his work only one day and he could schedule his flights so as not to hit on the days when he had an interview with his parole officer. Tuesday, November 29th. A meeting was held in Chief Thad Brown's office was decided to put a special stake out on the airport and wait for the suspect to come into town. At that time, he'd be followed and taken into custody as he prepared to commit another robbery. The names of the three other men Jerry Evanson had given Frank as having been involved in the hold ups had been checked through R and I. All three of them had arrest records. Surveillances were placed on their homes and they were kept under Constant watch. Monday, December 12th. 11:15pm Frank and I relieved the stakeout at the airport. There's a bench over there. We can keep all the gates in view. Yeah. Wonder when he's gonna hit again? I don't know. The last couple of weeks are sure dragged by him. They? Yeah. Anything on the other three guys? Well, I talked to Pinky Mead this morning. He and Lightner are staked out at Lee's apartment. How they doing? Nothing. Parked in the car down the street. What they say, lay's like a clock. He comes in at 5am leaves at 9pm every day. Got a cigarette? Yeah. There you go. Joe? Yeah, Bishop. Let's let him get outside. Yeah. Wonder if he's got any luggage now. They bring it up outside. We can wait for him there. All right. Come on. You see him? Yeah. There he is. Getting into that cab. Come on. Frank and I got in our car and followed the cab taken by the suspect. We followed him out of the airport grounds and then up La Bre Avenue. The cab turned right on Washington Boulevard and headed for downtown Los Angeles. We pulled up to a stoplight. Still got him? Yeah. He's still up ahead in front of that blue Mercury. See him? Yeah. You got the number of the cab? Mm. 2974. There's the light. All right, let's go. Better try to pick it up a little, Frank. Cap's pulling away from us. Yeah. Think he's seen us? No. Can't you close in a little? Traffic's too heavy. Can't use a siren. We'll tip him. Yeah. Still see him? Yeah. There's a break, guy. Head's making a right turn now. We're right behind the cab. Yeah. I'll close in now. Good. Watch it, Frank. That guy pulling out of the alley. Hold on. As we drove down the street after the stoplight had changed, the car had failed to make a boulevard stop coming out of an alley and we'd hit it broadside. The damage done to both cars was considerable and we'd lost our suspect. Frank got to a phone and called the office. He gave them the number of the cab that Bishop was in and asked for a traffic investigation car. The office started a search for the missing suspect. Lt. Jack Smyers told us to proceed to the apartment of Tom Leahy to wait for further development. In the meantime, a citywide broadcast went out carrying the description of Bishop and the other three men involved in the theft. Frank and I arrived at the apartment and we relieved Mead and Lightning. We had the manager of the place let us into Leahy's room. We waited. 1:30am 2:34 o', clock, 5:30am Frank and I had been on duty for over 21 hours. At 5:45, the phone in the apartment rang once and then it quit. That was the arranged signal between us and the office. Frank put in a call. Lieutenant Smers told us that officers Max Herman and Ed Benson were on the way out to relieve us. Fifteen minutes later, we heard somebody in the hall, Joe. Yeah. Probably Benson and Herman. Yeah, I get it. Watch it. Give it up, Bishop. You all right, Joe? Yeah. Come on. He's going upstairs. Make it for the rope. Come on. See him? No. You want to take that side. Right. Watch it behind the elevator shaft. Joe. Yeah, I see him. Get away from me. You're in trouble, Bishop. Don't build any more for yourself. I got nothing to lose. They'd help me again. I'll be up at the joints for life. Don't cost no more than should you. There's no way off this roof, Bishop. Throw that gun out here and you follow it. You're out of your mind, cop. Give it up, Bishop. Now come on. Throw that gun out. I'm going out. Copy. You right at copy. I'll blow your head off. You all right, Joe? Yeah. How is he? I better call an ambulance. Yeah. What's that fill out of his pocket? Wait a minute. Something you'll never use. Yeah. Airplane ticket to Phoenix. Albert Martin Kruger, Harold Nelson Bishop, Thomas Nagel Leahy and Charles Everett Lee were taken into custody and brought to trial for two counts of robbery in the first degree. They were convicted and received sentence as prescribed by law. Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not less than five years. 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