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You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. And if something comes up, you can Cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments. You just pay per session. GROW helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing. Grow Therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans, including Medicaid in some states. Some sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com booknow today to get started. That's growththerapy.com booknow growththerapy.com booknow availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet, You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. A man has been shot down on a street corner of your city. There's no apparent motive, no lead to the assailant. Your job. Find him. It was Tuesday, May 8th. It was cool in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of homicide details. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Lorman. My name's Friday. I was on my way over from the office and it was 10:13pm when I got to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, the waiting room. Hi Frank. Joe. How's he going? I don't know. Talked to Dr. Sebastian. How's it look? Well, not too good. Slugs embedded in his lung caused a hemorrhage he's getting a transfusion. What do you got on it? I just talked to the guys who came in with him for a minute. They didn't have a lot. Call came in from a man who owns a newsstand at the corner of Normandy and Willowbrook. See the witness? Yeah. Anything there? I don't know. We'll have to talk to him. What do you got on the victim? Wait a minute, I got it here. Name's Matthew Denton. Address given is 18970 Taft street in Hollywood. Did you get in touch with anybody? No. Tried the house but nobody was there. Anything else? I went over the personal property. Usual stuff, cigarettes, lighter, comb. Found a diamond ring on the small finger, left hand. Looks Expensive. Gold wristwatch. $140 in cash. $1,300 in American Express checks. Doesn't spell robbery, does it? No, none of the stuff was disturbed. Well, maybe you can tell us something, huh? Yeah. Joe. Frank. Hi Doc, how are you? How's it look? What time you got? 1016. Make it 1013. Close enough for the report. What time of death? Matthew Trevor Denton, WMA. 31 years, 5 foot 9, 164 pounds. Had stopped living at 10:13pm on May 8. We didn't know who he was or why he died. Before we left the hospital we put in a call to Denton's address, but we got no answer. We checked the name and description through R and I. There was no record on the dead man. At 10:48pm we left Georgia street and drove over to the scene of the shooting where we talked to the witness, Andrew. Kate. Right over there is where it happened. The bus stopped. Uh huh. I was standing right here. Right here. I saw the whole thing happen. Yes sir. About what time was that, Mr. Cates? Oh, I guess it was 9:30 or so. I see. I was just staring in here and bang, bang, two shots. Did you see what led up to the shooting? What do you mean let up? Well, I mean, you see what happened before. Oh yeah, whole thing. Uh huh. Would you tell us about it? Sure. All right, go ahead. Well, one of those nights where just nothing went right, you know what I mean? I started talking to my wife. Burn the coffee. I wouldn't think a person could do that, would you? Burn the coffee like. Go ahead. I had a big argument before I left home. I just started off that way. Yes sir. Got on here and took over. About what time did you open the stands here? Oh, 7:30 in the morning. Try to get breakfast business, you know, people on the way to eat. Stop off for the paper. I see. I try to get them all right. I open her up in the morning. And then there's a school kid takes over for me about 3 in the afternoon. He's here around 6:30 when I come back from supper. I see. That's when she burned the coffee. Tonight's supper. All right. You want to tell us about the shooting? Oh, sure. Kind of hard, you know. This is the first time for me. How's that? Well, it's the first time I've ever been a witness first. I see. What time did you first see the victim? Man who was shot? Yes, sir. Well, I told you, about 9:30. The car pulled up to the curb and this fella got out. He kind of stood there for a minute and he talked to the other fella in the car. He just stood there a minute and talked. Kind of leaning the windows. Car pulled away. And the one man. One who got out? Yeah. He walked over and sat down on the bench like he was waiting for the bus. Kate, did you get a good look at the car he got out of? I saw it, if that's what you mean. Would you describe it for us? It was a black Chevy. I'd say maybe a 52 or 53. Sedan or coupez. No, it was a sedan, four door. Nothing special about it. Did you get a look at the man that was driving? No, no. The light's kind of bad over there. You can see for yourself. The one fellow leaning in the car, I couldn't get a good look. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it anyway. It didn't seem anything to get all concerned about. All right, sir, you want to go ahead? Well, the fellow sat there for a minute, not doing nothing, just waiting. Then this other car pulled up right up the curb. One guy got out of the car, got right out and walked over to the fellow sitting on the bench. Excuse me a minute. The customer. All right, sir. What do you think? I don't know. Old Bert always stops by same time. He gets one of each, you know. Same time every night. Good old Bert. You see. Now, what if you go ahead with your story. Oh, oh, yeah. Well, this car pulled up and the fella got out. He walked over to the bench, started talking to the first man. They got in an argument. How do you know that? What? Well, how do you know they were arguing? Well, I could see you standing over there waving their arms around. I could even hear some of the yelling. Was no trick at all to see that they were having some kind of trouble. Could you hear what the trouble was about? No, just a lot of yelling and waving. Could hear no wild rock words. You want to go ahead, please. Well, next thing I knew was when the fellow got out of the car, started swinging at the other one. That was the victim. Yeah. One of them was shot, all right. Well, you just bet the guy tackled more than he could handle. The victim. Fellas started to clean up on this other one. He just started to mop up the street a bit. I see. That's when the guy who was waiting in the car got out and went over to help his friends. Three of them kind of struggled around for a while. Then the one from the car pulled the gun. Bang, bang. Two shots. First guy dropped right down on the sidewalk. The other two got in the car and took off. Went roaring down Normandy that way. Can you describe the second car? Well, not too good. I. I just got a glance at it. I wasn't paying a lot of attention at first time. I figured I should take a good look at the. It was gone. I see. Now, how about the men driving it? What do you want to know? Can you describe him? Not good. Well, if you tell us just what you can, Mr. Kate, and it helps. Sure. First one was a tall, lanky fell. He didn't weigh much. Sort of string bean. How tall would you say? Oh, I don't know. Close to six. Three, maybe six. Two round in there. He's a tall one. About how old? 23, 25? I couldn't tell. That too good. I see. What about his coloring? Was he light or dark? Do you remember? Right. He was blonde. How about his clothes? He had on a pair of jeans. One of them jackets, you know, made out of the same kind of material. Rivets or were real tight jeans. Both of them were wearing them. Anything else you can tell us about the tall man? No. Was he the driver of the car? Oh, yeah. He was the one who did the shooting. The tall fella. Could you see the gun? Yeah, but not good. You remember whether it was a revolver or an automatic? Well, it looked like a revolver to me. All right. Now, what about the other man? He was shorter than the first one. No run, but see. You know, shorter. Guess anybody looks small next to him. About how tall was he? Oh, he's about five, nine, five ten. Give a couple. Take a couple. All right. How was he built? Sort of light. Well, maybe 140. Anything else about the two men? Did either of them wear glasses, do you remember? No, not so as I could see. Might have taken them off you know, before they got out of the car? Might have, but I didn't see him. When the fight started, did either of them use a name that you could hear? I told you before, I couldn't hear anything. They said there's just a lot of yelling. The fight started all right. Wasn't anything special about the two fellas. Make them stand out. One tall, the other short. No big reason to remember them. Afraid you got it wrong, mister, huh? We got a reason. We made arrangements for Andrew Cates to come down to the offices and looked through the mud books. The rest of the neighborhood was checked again, but we were unable to find anyone else who'd witnessed the shooting. While we'd been talking to Kate, a team of detectives from homicide detail had gone out to the victim's house. They didn't find anyone at home, but when they spoke to the neighbors, they were told that Matthew Denton's wife was in a hospital. Frank and I checked with her doctor and found out that she was in the maternity ward. He recommended that we delay talking to the woman as long as possible since she was in a weakened condition. From the hospital records, we found that Denton was employed by an advertising agency. We checked with the nurses on duty and found that he left the hospital with another man. They gave us a description of him, but they were unable to identify him for us. We asked that they call the office in the event the man returned to the hospital. Frank and I went back to the office and checked out. The next morning, Wednesday at 8:40am we were back in the squadron. Yes, sir. You looking for somebody? Black. See somebody about this stuff. Which one is that, sir? Caught the shooting last night. Corner of Normandy and Willowbrook. All right. What is it you want to talk about? Are you the officers handling the case? Yes, sir. My name's Sterling Hall. I think maybe I can help you out. All right. Want to have a seat, Mr. Hall? Sure, fine. Sit right here. Thanks. It's my partner, Frank Smith. My name's Friday. How'd it do, Mr. Smith? All right. What do you got? Well, it says here in the paper where Denton left the hospital with the man. Says you're looking for him. That's right. Well, you don't have to look no further. I'm him. You were with Denton last night, were you? Just said that. All right. How long were you together? Till about 9:30. They dropped him off at the bus stand right where he was shot. All right. I wonder if you could start at the beginning and tell us the whole story, will you? Sure thing. Well, you see, I got a lady friend, same hospital as Denton's wife. I was over there last night to say hello. I brought her a box of caramels and said hello. Uh huh. Well I was on my way out the place and I stopped off for a cup of coffee in that little old shop they got there, you know, where they have the gifts, books on what to name the baby and all. Yeah, I know. Well, I was having a cup of coffee and this here Denton come in. He wanted to buy a little plant for his wife. They just had a baby, wanted to send her something. I see. Now we got to talking and had a cup of coffee. It turned out he, he didn't have his car, so I asked him if I could give him a ride home. He was kind of nervous and all. New father? Yes sir. We left the hospital. He said it wasn't necessary for me to take him all the way home. Said for me to just drop him off the bus stop. Told me there was one, went right near his house. All right. Well on the way we was following his car and all of a sudden it stops. No signal, nothing. Just slams on the brakes and we rammed into it. Well, didn't hardly do no damage to the other car. Broke one of my headlights is all. But didn't hurt the other car at all. Two fellers got out and they walked back and they started a little ruckus. Said we was speeding and driving reckless, all that kind of stuff. Real loud, this dent and he'd tell them to shove off. Said their car wasn't hurt at all and said not to make a big thing out of it. He told them was their fault anyway. Were you still in the car? No, we got out to see what damage had occurred. I see. These two guys started to get rugged now like they wanted to start some real trouble. And Denton said if they wanted to make a problem out of it, the thing to do was to call the cops and make a complaint. What'd they say to that? Nothing. Just said to forget it. And then they got in the car and shoved off. Now I didn't see him again, but I got to thinking about it this morning when I saw the story in the paper. You think it might have been one of them two who shot Den? Well, we don't know, sir. Can you give us a description of the men? Sure thing. Now one of them was real tall. The other one was about my height. Be about five eight, five eight and three quarters. All right. Can you give us a description of the car? Yes sir, it was A light blue forward. One of them new ones, you know, with the plastic on top. That's it. I took a good look at it. Matter of fact, I kind of thought there might be some trouble about the accident. I didn't want to be out on a limb with my insurance company, so I made sure. Yeah, I got the license. Now. Number. While I got a complete description of the two men, Frank checked DMV on the license number. Five minutes later, he came back to the office. Joe. Yeah, you got it. If you find out who the car belongs to, shouldn't be anything to pick up them two fellers. Not going to be that easy. Car was stolen. Before Frank and I left the office. We made arrangements for Sterling hall to check the mug books in the hope that he might be able to identify the suspects. At 11:20am we drove over to talk to the registered owner of the stolen car. He told us that the vehicle had been taken from a parking lot the day before and that he'd made an immediate report on it to the police. Additional broadcasts were gotten out on the automobile and on the suspects. That afternoon we drove over and talked to the victim's wife. She told us that the money and the express checks Denton had been carrying were for the payment of the hospital and the doctor bills. We questioned her about her husband's friends and associates. Although we had the story given us by Sterling hall, it seemed unlikely that the man was killed as the result of an argument over a minor traffic accident. We spent the rest of the day interviewing people who knew the victim. From them, we learned that Denton was well liked and he was respected. He took an active interest in neighborhood clubs and events. The more we went into his background, the more convinced we became that he'd been killed by the men in the stolen Ford. Two days passed. On Saturday, May 12, the vehicle was found abandoned. A stakeout was placed on it, and when no one approached it, the crew from Layton Prince went over the car. They found several partial fingerprints, but not enough for classification. The prints were photographed and held for evidence. Frank and I continued to work on the killing. A month went by without additional information. Turned on Tuesday, June 19, we got a call from burglary detail. Yeah? No, nothing. Where'd he come from? Not at my checkout. No, no. We'll pick him up. Yeah, okay. Right. Thanks, Mac. Over in Burglary? Yeah. He says he just picked up a guy for receiving. Tried to make a deal. Said if he got a break, he might be able to help us clean up something. Say what it was? Yeah. He did the Denton killing. We left the office, we went over to room 45. We talked with the officers who picked up the suspect. They told us that they found a large quantity of stolen automobile supplies in his possession. We took him to the interrogation room for questioning. For almost an hour, he remained silent. How about it, Keneally? Gonna give us a hand? Kenealy? Come on, stand up. Let's go. Giving up, huh? No, we'll be back. Where you taking me? Back to Burglary. Make me book you. Main jail? Yep. But you guys are all through with me, huh? Yeah, for now. We'll talk to you again. Well, you won't get any more. Tell me something, will you? Why? A little while ago, you said you knew something about a killing. Now you shut up. Won't give us the time of day. Why? I told that other cop, if I got a break, you get one. You know we can't make deals. No? That's gonna cost you. You're gonna take an installment. How do you figure that? You said you knew something about Matthew Denton's murder. Isn't that right? I don't remember that far back. We do. And we can prove you did. You're up on a receiving rap now, that's bad enough. But if we can tag you withholding information, we'll make you as an accessory after the fact. You mean you'll try. I think we'll make it. Well, from here it's got another color. Let's see how it comes out, huh? Come on, let's go down this way. I know what's a tab for being accessory? Five years. Okay, let's go back, huh? I'll tell you all about it. We returned Harold Keneally to the interrogation room. We put out a call to Gene Bechtel to come and take a statement. Keneally asked that we send out for some coffee for him. Frank went down the hall and brought back three cups. After he'd finished his, Keneally leaned back. Hey, it's good coffee. Strong. I like it that way. Yeah, well, now that you've had the clash, let's start the story. What do you say? Sure. What do you want to know? Who are the two men? I don't know. Are you gonna start this all over again? Are you? I'm giving it to you on the line. I don't know who they are. What do you know about them? Not much. Couple of guys are doing pretty good with radios. You one of their customers? Yeah, me and a half a dozen others. You know who they are? You're not gonna get the names. All right, let's get back to two men. Why do you think they had something to do with Denton? Well, about three weeks ago, there was in my place, had five new radios. The kind with the bar to pick the stations. You know, like the new cabs. Yeah, I know I had five of them. Want to turn them over? Yeah. The price they were asking was way out. I told them so. So they'd have to find someplace else to drop them. All right. Told me there was a beef. They had to get out of town. Said they needed the money to swing it. That still doesn't add up to Denton's killers, does it? Well, it will. All right, come on, tell us. Well, I went out of the office for a couple minutes. Told them I had to make a phone call. Yeah, I got a mic hidden in the room. Found out it helped. Helps in business. Once in a while, I turned it on and listened to the guys talk. Go ahead. They were yakking about some guy that got shot. The big fella was saying there was no other way to handle it, so that he didn't like it either. But there just wasn't any other way. Big thing then was to get some money and just be down. I waited outside for a couple more minutes, but I didn't say anything. So I went back in. I told him I couldn't swing the radio deal. What'd they do then? Well, they said they had to dump them someplace. If I couldn't take them, they'd find somebody who would. Told them to go ahead. What do these guys look like? A couple of bums. One tall, the other short. Wearing those jeans with the coats made out of the same cloth, you know? You had dealings with them before? Yeah, a couple of times. You know the name? No. All I know is the big one's called Dusty. I don't know the last part. How about the other one? Nothing there. Anything else about them? Now, they're both luscious. Yeah. Big one, that's Dusty. Always got a flask on his hip. You mean a bottle, huh? No, a metal flask, like they used in Prohibition. This one's all beat up, dented. It's all dirty. But I never seen Dusty without it. Both of them all the time nipping at it. All right. You know where these guys live? No. Someplace downtown. They got a pad there. I don't know where it is, though. How do you know it's downtown, man? Well, I don't know for sure. It's just a guess. Do you ever Hear either one of them say anything about a job? Not those two. They never done a day's work in their lives. The only thing they're good at is lifting radios. They wouldn't work steady if stealing was legal. That all they take? Radios? All I've ever seen. Guess they got a gimmick. Figure they can make a living with them. Why change? I guess they do pretty good. I don't know. I paid them enough times. All right. Anything else you can tell us? No. They work with anybody else, do you know? Not that I've ever heard. How about close friends? None. They say when they'd be back to your place? No. They don't have a regular route. When they pick up some things, they come in, they got nothing to sell. I don't see them. When did you see them last? The time I told you about. Are you still around? Well, I don't know. Rumble says they are. I haven't seen them myself. You know where we can reach them? No. You don't make an appointment with them? You know if these guys have ever been arrested? We never talked about it. Where they seem to feel about cops, though. You sure figure they feel. They from la? Do you know? I don't think so. Never heard him say. Only done business with him a couple of times. We never got real. Buddy. Buddy. They don't go that chummy set much. All right, Keneally. Any more you want to tell us? I guess that's it. All right. Come on. Why don't you check the books? Yeah. Hey, can you spring another cup of that coffee? It's sure good. About the best I ever tasted. Hey, wait a minute. Yeah? There's one more thing about the guys you're after. All right, take it easy with them. Like I told you, they're both luscious. I think. Think they're off their rockers. Yeah, we'll watch it. Well, you better. They're packing heavy. Yeah. Any way you slice it, they're loaded. Harold Keneally went through the mug books, but he was unable to find a picture of the two suspects. The name Dusty was checked to the moniker file without result. Information was forwarded to George Brereton up at CII Sacramento, and a supplemental APB was gotten out. We spent the rest of the day with officers from Burglary detail going over reports. We found that they'd been working on a string of car radio thefts for the past several weeks. When we compared notes with them, it seemed more than possible that their two suspects were the same men. We wanted for the killing of Matthew Denton, however, they were no closer to the men than we were. From the reports, we were able to figure that the pair was still in Los Angeles. That evening, we met with Captain Lorman, Captain Bernard, and chief of Detective Thad Brown. He worked out a system of rolling stakeouts that would cover most of the territory where the thieves had been working. Three additional teams of men from Burgary were assigned to help us. And on Wednesday, June 20, the operation was started. For three days there was no action. Thefts from autos continued, but when they were checked out, the method of operation used eliminated any suspects that we were looking for. On Sunday, June 24, we got a call that a man answering the descriptions of the one of the thieves had been seen in the vicinity of Beverly Boulevard and Elmwood Avenue. Frank and I left our position in the stakeout and we drove out to the area. Should be a couple of more blocks. Yeah, we just passed Ridgewood Place. You better take it easy. Next block when you start cruising. Yeah. See anything? No. Want to take a left here. All right. Doesn't look like it now. Let's go up a couple more blocks. All right. Sure be a break if we nail them tonight. Yeah. A little rough on the study time. How's it going? Oh, I don't know, Joe Times. I don't think I'm ever going to make sergeant. What are you doing now? You mean studying? Yeah, Legal procedure. Well, you should know that. More practical stuff. Yeah, Putting it in the legal language, it makes it rough on me. Yeah, I had the same trouble. I haven't been able to hit the books for the past week. Wait a minute. No, nothing. Keep going. What'd you say? I said I hadn't hit the books. I missed a couple of lectures, too. Well, you're never going to make it that way. That's what Faye says. Wait a minute. Huh? Slow down. What do you got up there? See? Next block on the left, about 50ft in the other side of the street line. I don't see it. Look to me like somebody trying to get into a car. I'm not sure. Well, let's check it. All right. Just up ahead there. Yeah. See anything? Looks like somebody on the other side. Better pull up. We'll take a look. Okay. All right, let's go talk. Cover the other side. Take it easy. If it's the one we want, they're heavy. All right. All right, mister, let's hold it right there. Stand where you are. You talking to me? That's right. What are you causing Me trouble for? I didn't do nothing. We didn't say you did. How about it, mister? Is this your car? Certainly it's my car. What did you think it belonged to? You got the white slip in the machine. It's right out in plain sight, where it's supposed to be. You've been drinking, haven't you? Small wonder you officers don't do better at solving crimes. I had a couple. Yeah. What's your name? I don't see that's any business of yours. All I'm trying to do is get into my car. I'm not causing any trouble. What's your name? It's Kyle. Peter Kyle. You got the keys to this car? Matter of fact, I haven't. That's why I'm having so much trouble getting in. If I had the keys, I could just flip the door open and drive off. Thank you. Yeah. Here. What are you doing? Just want to see what you're carrying. Watch it, Joe. All right, mister. Come on, get up. What I'm doing? Like you say I'm doing. Try it again, Frank. Yeah, come on. Your hands back. He's clean, Joe. All right, turn around. I. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to. Sure. Honest. You got to believe me. I didn't mean it. Come on down here under the light. Now stand still. Yeah. Matches the description pretty good. Where's your partner? I didn't mean to do it. It was. It was an accident. I just hit the guy. I just got in a fight with him. Dusty did the shooting. He did it. I didn't. I just got in a fight. All right, now, calm down. Where is he? I knew you'd catch us a nude all the time. I kept telling Dusty we had to get out of town. We gotta go. I kept telling him all the time. I was telling. Well, where is he? Home. Where's that? He's the one who did it. I just got in a fight. That's. He's the one who shot, not me. Where do you live, mister? Down on Fort, that's where. Where old Dusty is. Old safe Dusty. He said we didn't have to leave. He said you'd never catch us. All right, let's go. Old Dusty is always right. Always knows what he's doing all the time. Never makes a mistake. Not old Dusty. Yeah, well, he made one this time, didn't he? Peter Gregory Kyle and Jesse Haywood Pool were tried and convicted of murder in the second degree and petty theft. 18 counts. They receive punishment as prescribed by law. Petty theft is punishable by imprisonment for a period of not more than one year in the county jail. Second degree murder is punishable by imprisonment for a period of from five years to life. Dragnet is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. Everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built in benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com Switch and now T Mobile is in US cellular stores. Savings versus Comparable Verizon plans plus the cost of optional benefits plan features in Texas. And fees vary. Savings with three plus lines include third line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines. Qualifying credit required. Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet, You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a juvenile detail. A narcotic ring has been supplying drugs to the teenagers in your city. There's no lead to the identity of the key people in the operation. Your job. Find them. It was Monday, February 9th. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of juvenile detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Powers. My name's Friday. I was on my way into the office and it was 8:01am when I got to Georgia Street. Juvenile Squadron? That's right. Hi, old buddy. Been in long? Since about 7:30. How come? No, I couldn't sleep. What's the matter? Anything wrong? Fanny had a beef. One of the kids are sick. We were up with him most of the night. What's the matter? I took him over the rides yesterday. The rides? Rides. You know, the place over there where they have the Merry Go Round Ferris whale. Got a little carried away, I guess. They sure had a good time, though. Took in everything. Roller coaster, airplanes, whole works. She can't expect us to do it on an empty stomach. We had a little something to eat. I guess maybe we overdid it. Anyway, the youngster got sick last night. Faye says I am to blame. One thing led to something else and the beef was on. So you just got up and came into work, huh? Yeah. Stopped and had some breakfast. Read the paper, came on in. How's the kid now? Okay. It was nothing serious. A little too much cotton candy's off. Faye's got a tendency to make too much of those things. But you know, she always does. Yeah. Something we can do for you, young fellow? I'd like to talk to Somebody. All right. Come on in, May. We can help you. You're a cop? That's right. Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Hi. Hello, son. What do you want to see us about? Kind of private. Is there someplace else we can go to talk? We can? Yeah, there's a room down the hall. That might be better. All right. We can go down there. Come on down this way. Yeah, just a minute. This is right here. Go ahead. Yeah. All right. You want to take a chair right there, son? Okay. All right. Now, what can we do for you? I want you to put me in jail. Why? Because it's the only way I'll stop. I know it. I got to be in a cell or I'll do it again. What do you mean, son? I'm hooked bad. I want to stop. He was a nice looking boy, well dressed and clean. He looked like he was in his late teens. He asked us to put him in a cell. There was an intenseness in his eyes that showed that he was serious. Frank and I questioned him further. What's your name, son? John Colter. Spell the last name for me. C O, L, T, E, R. How old are you? 17. What do you love, son? You have to have that. Hasn't got anything to do with why I'm here. Oh, we'll have to have it, son. 1896 Dillon Street. Is that in LA? Yeah. How big a habit do you have, son? I'm using four a day. How long you been hooked? A year. A day before yesterday. Wanna let us see your arms? Yeah. You got a lot of marks there, haven't you? Yeah, I guess so. A couple of them there. We better have the doctor look at. All right. I don't care anymore. How long since you had a fix? Last night. You must be feeling a little rough by now then, aren't you? Not easy. I don't guess it is. Hey, you mind pulling those blinds? It's awful bright in here. Yeah, okay. You live with your folks? My mother. My father died when I was five. Your mother know about this? No. She's gonna have to, you know. Then you're gonna tell her? I'm not. All right, we'll take care of that. The light better now, son? Yeah, thanks. When'd you eat last? Yesterday. You hungry now? No. How about a cup of coffee? No, thanks. How'd you get started on this stuff? It probably runs like all the rest of the stories you've heard. Well, why don't you tell us yours anyway? All right. I'm sure we can't get you Some. Only one thing would do any good, and you can't give that to me. All right, go ahead. How'd you get started? A couple of years ago, it was Halloween. Kids had a party. We all went to this house. Kid that owned it. Had the rooms all decorated up. You know, paper, streamers and those cardboard skeletons. Had the whole place done up like that. We got there and found out they were figuring to play games. We went the game route for a while and a bunch of us decided to leave. Things were dull, so we left. Where'd you go? Just drove around for a while. Tried to figure something to do. Whose car did you have? One of the kids had his father's. All right, go ahead. Well, we drove around for a while and one of the kids said for us to go up to Mulholland. Go up and scare the lovers up there? Yeah. Wasn't anything else to do, so we drove up. When we got there, one of the guys. Fella I didn't know too good, said he had some tea. Said we should have a blast party. This boy was at the other party, was he? Yeah, but I didn't know him. Didn't meet him until we were out on the ride. Did he go to your school? No. All right, son. Go ahead. Well, we parked and he took out these cigarettes. Had them in a tobacco can, you know, like you buy pipe tobacco. And had him in one of them. Then we lit up and started to smoke. At first it made me sick. I didn't like it much. Come right down to it, I. I didn't think the whole thing was such a good idea. Why'd you do it then? All the kids there had to, or they'd have said I was kicking. All right. How'd you get started on the hard stuff? Oh, I just got to the point where there wasn't much kick in tea, you know, same thing all the time. Wanted to go up a step. Who set you up? One of the kids I met. Wasn't the same boy who had the marijuana, was it? No. You see, once in a while, we'd go to a big blast party at somebody's house. The other kids there, new ones. I met Jerry there. Jerry? That's the boy's name? Yeah. Jerry Rolfe. How old is he? 19. See hook? Yeah. Was he when you met him? I guess so. How do you spell his last name, son? R, O, A, T, H. How'd he turn you on? We were talking about T. How the kick wore off. He said there was something else. Something that had a real jolt yeah. Boy, it's rough. I'm starting to get cramps. You better have that cup of coffee now. I'll get it, Jill. All right. Feel pretty rough, don't you, son? Yeah. It's a good thing I'm here, or I'd start looking for a connection. Did you take your first shot of heroin the night you met this roast kid? Yeah. We went outside to his car. He had a fit there and he cooked up a fix. He took one then I tried it. What happened? Never got so sick in my life. Thought I was gonna die. Figure what's happened since then might have been a good thing. How you been supporting your habit? Only a couple of ways. You steal or you start pushing yourself. Which way do you go? Both. What'd you steal? Anything I could sell. Never took anything from anybody else, though. All from my own house. Most of the stuff was given to me. Rings, my watch, whatever I could raise a buck on. What'd you get rid of it around the school? Couldn't go near a pawn shop, but the kids didn't care as long as they got a bargain. Sold my old man's watch for three bucks. Seventeen jewels. Solid gold. Three bucks. What were you pushing T H? Anything. I'd buy the H and then cut it myself. You don't have to do that many times until you got a couple of extra caps. That took care of me for a while. Pretty soon there was never enough. Got so as I was always looking forward to the next fix. When did you start mainlining it? I chippied with the stuff for a couple of months. Skin pops. Then that wasn't enough. Started in the arm. When did you find out that you were hooked, son? Do you remember? About a year. Took a while, huh? I figured it would never happen. Thought I could beat it, turn it off when I wanted to. Didn't work out that way. Didn't you know you had it bad when the charge went up? Not really. I still thought I could quit when I wanted to. Just never seemed to get that far. Kept putting it off. Guess if I figured I could start the next day, it didn't matter much time. I decided to quit. I couldn't. Here's your coffee, John. Brought one for you too, Joe. Thanks. It's hot. Try to get it down. It'll make you feel a little better. Yeah. Cramps getting worse. You got a doctor here? Yeah, there's one upstairs. I better see him. Might be something he can do. Your mother at home? No, she works. She there now? What time is it? Quarter nine. Be about 10 minutes. Better give us the number, huh? Yeah. You're gonna call her, huh? That's right. Gonna tell her about it? Yep. Gonna take it pretty hard. I don't think she knows anything about it. Oh, we have to do it. I guess. So tell her how there's a cure though, huh? She's gonna be pretty scared. How do you mean? She read where only 2% come out of it. Well, there's less than that who want to be helped. There's a lot less. Yeah. Maybe you got a piece of that 2%. 8:57am the boy was taken up to see the doctor on duty at the receiving hospital. At a couple of minutes after an, we put in a call to the firm where his mother was employed. We talked to the personnel manager and he said he'd have Mrs. Kohler call us. A few minutes later the phone rang and we talked to the woman. We told her briefly what had happened and asked her to come right over to the office. At 9:25am the door to the squadroom opened and a tired looking woman who looked to be in her late 40s or early 50s entered. She identified herself as Nora Colder and asked us what had happened to her son. He's upstairs right now, Miss Kohler. The doctor's looking at him. You tell me he's been using narcotics? That's right. That what he says? Well, he's admitted it to us. The all right? We think so. He's got an infection on his arm caused by a bad needle. But it's going to be all right. That's right. You have cigarettes, Sergeant? Yeah, thanks. Help yourself. There's a line. I guess I should have known it'd be something like this. Beg your pardon? I should have known. Had to show up someplace. I don't think I understand, Ms. Coulter. There's a trouble spotting them all, Sergeant. All of them. This is Johnny's. Hope you don't think I'm saying this personal to you. Just what I've seen in the years I've gone around trouble spotting all men. Did you know your son was using heroin? No, I didn't have any idea. According to what he told us, he's been hooked for over a year. You must have noticed something, didn't you? You used the word hooked. I'm afraid I don't understand that kind of talk. I'm sorry. I mean, he's been an addict for that long. Sergeant, I've been working for a long time. Ever since Johnny's father died. I worked before then. When I get Home. After standing on my feet all day, I got a few more important things to do than wonder what he's doing. All I can do to just drag myself down to the factory every morning. Yes, ma'. Am. Always something. Bills to go over, decide who's gonna have to wait this month. Clothes to wash and iron time. I just get the things done that have to be taken care of. That's all I can do to climb into bed before I pass out. All right, Ms. Coulter. We understand. I wonder if you do. How's that? I said, I wonder if you do understand. Have you ever raised a boy by yourself? No, ma', am. I have. Believe me, it isn't easy. Since 11 years ago, I've been a mother and a father, both to Johnny. I always knew there'd be something that'd blow up. I knew it because he's just like his father. Exactly like him. I'm 35 years old. 35. And for the past 17 years, I haven't had a minute of happiness. Yes, ma'. Am. Anything we can get for you, Mrs. Kohler? No. Only thing I want is a little happiness. Seems like there just isn't gonna be any of that while I'm on this earth. I'm sick, Sergeant. I'm old and I'm sick. And I can't go through any more of this. Your boy's pretty sick, too. Yes, I know all about that, too. I read how none of them cures work. What they say, 2%. There's something else I gotta carry. Might be a little different with John. I don't see why. No reason for him to be something special. No reason for him to be cured. Yes, there is. He wants it. Ms. Calder. What's gonna happen to him? We'll file a petition on him. After that, well, they'll have to make an appearance in juvenile court. They'll decide what treatment's gonna be best for him. Can I see him? Yes, ma'. Am. We can take care of that now. Frank, you want to see if the doctor's through them. Yeah. You have another cigarette, Sergeant? Yes. There you are. Here's a match. Thanks, Sergeant. Fine. I'll tell you something, Ms. Kohler. Your son's pretty sick. He's not going to look too good when you see him. You been hurt? Not so it shows. But he's going through a great deal of pain. There's going to be a lot more for both of us, Sergeant, I think you should. Right at that. Might be better if you remember that he's just a youngster. He's only 17. I won't forget. He's mine. All right, he's made a mistake. But he knows it. And he's taking it on himself to try and do something about it. Tell you something, Sergeant. All right. I've had a lot of trouble with Johnny. When he was little, he was always running away from home. Time he got to school, he played hooky a couple of times a week. High school, it was the same thing. But that's not the worst of it, ma'. Am. He's been stealing from his own mother. He's been stealing? Yes, ma'. Am. He told us. He admitted it. Yes, he did. Well, there you are. Not bad enough he's a dope fiend. He's a thief too. I wasn't sure about the stealing. I just thought so. A few things have been missing around the house. And I'd asked Johnny about him. He'd offered some half baked story. And now I know. Thief. I haven't got enough. Try to take it easy with the boy. Take it easy? That's a laugh. All I've done for him. Nice home. Not real big or fancy, but it's clean. We've got a kind of closet. Sort of nice and big with a window. Got that all fixed up for Johnny. Airplane pictures on the wall. The best I could do. We eat good. Never gotten hungry. Lord knows I have. But he hasn't. No reason for him to do a thing like this. No reason at all. Yes, ma'. Am. Hello, Mother. I know all about it, Johnny. These men told me all the time I've been telling you. It end up like this. You in trouble with the police? You just wouldn't listen. You thought you knew better than me. Well, you found out how much you know. Yeah, I'm sorry about it. A little late for that. How am I going to go home with all the neighbors knowing about what's happened? I'm sorry. Well, that lot of good that's going to do. I had you home right now, I'd show you. And don't think you're too big for me to do it. You want to take me upstairs, Mr. Smith? Yeah, just a minute. I got some more things to say to you. Don't you go walking out on me like that. I don't feel so good. I'd like to be by myself. I'll talk to you later. You'll talk to me now. I got a lot of things I want to tell you. All the trouble you've caused. I'm sorry. Please, Mr. Smith. It's tough enough. All right, let's go. You bring him back here. You bring him back. Well, that's it. Now they're both gone. Now there isn't anybody. Anything we can get for you, Ms. Coulter? Yeah. Get me a reason why this had to happen. Give me one. Do you know one? Well, I can't be sure. What do you mean by that? Just like you said before. What? He's your son. We made arrangements for Mrs. Calder to be taken to her home that night. John Colder was kept at Georgia Street Jail. The next morning, we filed a petition on him. We had one of the doctors at the county hospital talk to Mrs. Coulter, and he finally convinced her that her son would get proper treatment at one of the state hospitals. And she signed the necessary papers. For the next three days, the boy had it pretty rough. If the novice drug user had the opportunity to witness a patient going through withdrawal pains, the majority of drug traffic would be brought to a halt. Because of the sincerity of the Colder boy, Frank and I spent as much time as we could spare with him. While he was going through the symptoms. He complained of violent headaches and stomach cramps, the usual things. He was unable to keep any food down. His eyes watered cold. And for 72 hours, he was in a state of constant violent pain. On the fourth day, he began to recover. He was able to take some warm beef broth and apparently was on his way to being physically well. On Saturday, February 15th, we talked to him at the hospital. Rough go? Yeah. You got the worst of it behind you now. Best thing I've heard for a week. Don't think I could go through any more of it. Well, you got a maid now, John. From here on in, you'll get all the help we can give you. Well, you guys have done a lot already. A couple of times there. I think I would have gone off my rocker if I hadn't been able to talk to you. Well, that's what we're here for. Hey, either one of you got any gum? Yeah, sure. Here's something jumpy. I gotta do something to calm down. You seen my mother? She called us yesterday. Yeah? How's she getting along? A lot better. One of the doctors here at the hospital said she wants to see you. What's that going to prove? Be the same thing, her telling me how tired she is, how I'm a goofball. I don't think so this time. It hasn't been easy for her either, you know. Maybe not. I don't know. I wonder if you give her a chance to make it up if she wants to. Yeah, I guess there isn't much more I can do. All right. Now, there are a couple things we want to ask you. What? We want the men who kept you supplied names. That's right. You figure I'll tell you, don't you? Figure you will. Wrong base. I'm a bum in a lot of ways, but I ain't gonna get anybody else in trouble. You told us about this Jerry Rolfe, didn't you? Yeah. We got a want out on him now. Only be a matter of time before we pick him up. Then let him tell you. Do you think you got it a little wrong here? Yeah. What'd these people do for you? They're friends. Check the books. Go over what they've done for you against what you've done for them. What do you mean? You're a big boy. Figure it out for yourself. You know, they tell us there's an estimated 25,000 narcotic users right here in Los Angeles. And a big part of them are kids. Reed's good figures always help. I know you remember something else, youngster? You came to us and you asked for help, didn't you? You walked into the office. He said you were in trouble. We're not trying to steal a plea or sound like big men. But when you said you wanted help, we didn't ask you if you could afford it. We didn't care. Now, these people are such good friends, why didn't you go to them? I'll tell you why you didn't. Because you were scared. You knew what'd happen if you walked up to them with empty pockets. You knew they'd spit right in your face. They're your buddy as long as you can pay for it as soon as you're broke. They never met you, did they? Loyalty's fine. It's a good thing. People could use a lot more of it. But turn it around, son. You've stolen things from your own family to support this habit. Now, how loyal have your friends been when you haven't had the price of a cap? How quick did they come through for you then? You know what it's like in here. You've had it bad. Any of your friends been around to see you? Any of them been willing to hold your head while your insides fell out? Now, we asked you a question. We don't really need the answer from you. We'll pick up the people who did this. We'll reach every one of them from the mule that sold you that first cap to the Guy who's been bringing the stuff right into the country. We just figured you'd like the chance to help out the other 25,000. I guess we had it wrong, didn't? There's the phone. Put in a call to one of your high powered friends. See how fast they come through for you. Now, you don't need us and we don't need you. Let's go, Frank. Yeah, wait a minute. Yeah, I'll give you the names. We talked to the boy for another hour and a half. During that time he gave us as much information as he could on the operations of the narcotics ring. He supplied us with the names, dates, times and places. However, he could only go so high in the organization. Frank and I went back to the office and we called narcotics detail. We talked to Sergeant Roxy Lucarelli and his partner Steve Broadhurst. We filled them in on what had happened and gave them a list of the names we had. The roundup of narcotic salesmen started inside the next 24 hour period. 14 men and women had been taken into custody. Each one one of them was interrogated. But they either didn't know the name of the key man in the operation or they refused to tell us. They were all booked on various sections of the state narcotics code. On Wednesday, February 18, we received word that Jerry Roth had been picked up in a washroom in Pershing Square. Frank and I went over the main jail to talk to him. All right, get it over with. We want one thing from you, Roeth. Yeah? The name of the wheel. I don't know what you're talking about. Roll up your sleeves, boy. What for? Roll them up. Let's see the other one. They're both the same. Let's see it. Marks, John. What's that? Proof that you're left handed. When'd you have your last fix? Who says I use the stuff at all? I'll come off it, Rose. We got you and you know it. I don't see where it says that. How old are you? You got the record. Look it up. You're a big talker, aren't you, son? I live that way too. Well, you're just taking a little drop, kid. You won't keep me here for more than 12 hours. They'll make book on that. Well, I got a lot of friends in this town. They'll get me out. You keep believing that. We put a hold on you when we came in. What's that mean? Means you'll be dropped into an ISO cell. There's going to be anybody who can talk to you without us knowing about it. Everybody comes near you is going to be checked back to the time they were born. Now, what's that going to prove? We'll get to the wheel. You talk loud, cop, but I got trouble with my ears. All right. You sit right with it, kid. You'll be screaming for us to talk with you. Yeah, sure, keep believing it, cuz. I'll give you one thing free. Yeah. Next time we're here, it'll be to listen. Jerry Roth was returned to his cell and Frank and I went back to the investigation. For the next two days, we kept a constant check on the suspect. During that time, nobody had attempted to see him or talk to him. Saturday, February 21st. We got back to the office from lunch. Wanna check the book? Yeah. Anything? Yeah, we're supposed to call the main jail. Roth probably wants to talk. Well, he might have tried to spring him. Yeah. This Friday, Juvenile. When? We'll be right over. Rose? Yeah? Want to talk? Well, maybe we can ask him, huh? They just cut him down. He tried to hang himself. Frank and I left the office and drove over to the jail. The boy had torn his trousers into strips and braided them into a rope. He'd attempted to take his own life. He'd been found on a routine check and had been cut down. The accident had been discovered almost immediately and by the time we got there, he was almost fully recovered. We talked to him in the interrogation room. Kind of lousy way out, isn't it, kid? That looked good at the time. How's it seem to you now? I made a mistake. How do you feel? Pretty lousy. You want to give us the name? What kind of protection do I get? How do you mean? Well, if I tell you, I gotta know he ain't gonna get me. I will try to build some kind of a wall for you. You won't know it's me. No, not from us. All right. Name's Pollard. Zern. You want to spell that? Yeah. Z, E, R, N, E. He the top man? Yeah, I built the whole thing. They bring this stuff into the country? Yeah. Sergeant, he's got a boat. He tells people he's going fishing for albacore. Where's he bringing in from? Mexico. Yeah, I've been with him a couple of times. He lands a boat at a beach down there, makes the contact and then comes home, hides the stuff and fish. Got the idea from an old movie. That way, if they look the boat over, chances are they won't find it. Nice setup, huh? Yeah, it sure worked. Good for him. Yeah, he made a mint. Got a big house, drives a new car. Got everything he wants. Just sits back and pulls a handle. Jackpot. Every time. No, not this time, huh? He just turned a lemon. Pollard, Harris, Zern and the other members of the narcotics gang were tried and convicted of violation of the state narcotic act, a felony, and received sentence as prescribed by law. A petition was filed on John Keith Coulter and he was made award of the juvenile court. After treatment, he was pronounced cured and returned to the custody of his mother. You have just heard Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. And starring Jack Webb, a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? 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