Dragnet: The Big Brink 12/15/1953

Summary

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio

Episode Summary: Dragnet: The Big Brink (12/15/1953)

Release Date: January 7, 2025
Host: Choice Classic Radio

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of Dragnet, listeners are taken on a meticulous journey alongside Detective Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner, Frank Smith, as they navigate the complexities of a high-stakes bank truck robbery. Set against the backdrop of 1950s Los Angeles, the episode showcases the procedural prowess and relentless determination characteristic of the Dragnet series.

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The Great Bank Truck Robbery

Timestamp: [02:53] – [11:05]

The story unfolds on Thursday, June 5th, a warm evening in Los Angeles. Detectives Joe Friday and Frank Smith are assigned to a robbery detail following a daring heist where a gang hijacked and stole over $100,000 from an armored truck. Despite thorough investigations, initial leads—such as fingerprint analysis and victim interviews—yield no substantial information.

Joe Friday reflects on the case's challenges:

Joe Friday [03:09]: "A robbery. Did you get him?"

As the investigation stalls, a mysterious tip from an unnamed informant emerges, presenting the first concrete lead. The informant claims to possess serial numbers from the stolen bills, which, upon verification, prove authentic. Plans are set to meet the informant that evening at 10:00 PM.

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Confrontation at Garfield Place

Timestamp: [03:51] – [12:27]

The detectives converge on 1657 Garfield Place, Apartment 408, anticipating the informant's arrival. Instead, they encounter Henry Vincent Peterson, a suspect whose demeanor raises suspicions.

Frank Smith questions Peterson:

Frank Smith [08:22]: "What are you doing in here?"

During a tense exchange, Peterson initially denies involvement, claiming ignorance of the stolen guns found in the closet. However, inconsistencies in his story and the absence of his friends, Harvey Fitzgerald and Lou Colton, who were also implicated, prompt further scrutiny.

Joe Friday presses him:

Joe Friday [10:13]: "They belong to Colton, huh?"

Faced with mounting evidence, Peterson confesses his role in the robbery:

Frank Smith [13:29]: "Yeah, well, after the job, we made the split, talked it over and decided to dig in for a few days and then take off."

This confession leads to Peterson's arrest and subsequent identification as a fugitive from New Jersey, where he had previously escaped from prison.

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The Pursuit of Colton and Fitzgerald

Timestamp: [22:34] – [26:56]

Even after Peterson's capture, the case remains incomplete without apprehending his accomplices, Harvey Fitzgerald and Lewis Jeffrey Colton. Collaborating with the San Francisco Police Department, Detectives Friday and Smith embark on a cross-country pursuit.

Upon reaching San Francisco, they receive a crucial tip pointing to the suspects' next move. The detectives set up a stakeout at a bustling garage located at the corner of Union Avenue and Lynch Streets, monitoring a 1952 blue Plymouth sedan with a distinctive dent in the left rear fender.

As dawn breaks, Fitzgerald and Colton emerge to retrieve their vehicle. A swift confrontation ensues:

Joe Friday [25:01]: "Colton. See him, Joe? No. Take it easy, Joe. Colton. How about him? He's hit. I can't tell how bad. He's still got the gun."

In the ensuing struggle, Colton is fatally wounded. Despite the intense exchange, Fitzgerald manages to surrender unscathed, bringing the case to a close.

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Trial and Convictions

Timestamp: [26:56] – [27:49]

The narrative concludes with the legal aftermath of the arrests. Harvey Ned Fitzgerald and Lewis Jeffrey Colton face trial in Department 92, Superior Court of the State of California. They are convicted of multiple charges, including kidnapping, first-degree robbery, and violations of the Dangerous Weapons Control Act. Meanwhile, Henry Vincent Peterson is remanded to New Jersey to complete his life sentence.

The episode emphasizes the unwavering commitment of law enforcement in ensuring justice, underscored by the careful procedural steps taken by Detectives Friday and Smith.

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Key Insights and Themes

1. Meticulous Investigation: The episode highlights the importance of thoroughness in police work, showcasing how attention to detail can lead to breakthroughs in seemingly dead-end cases.

2. Persistence Pays Off: Detectives Friday and Smith exemplify perseverance, refusing to be deterred by initial setbacks and continuing their pursuit until justice is served.

3. Collaboration Across Jurisdictions: The cooperation between Los Angeles and San Francisco police departments underscores the necessity of inter-agency collaboration in tackling crimes that span multiple regions.

4. Consequences of Crime: The narrative serves as a cautionary tale about the repercussions of criminal activities, illustrating the legal and personal costs faced by those who choose a life of crime.

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Notable Quotes

• Joe Friday on Investigative Challenges:

  Joe Friday [03:15]: "Nothing from Herman and Benson, huh?"

• Frank Smith on Detective Work:

  Frank Smith [04:09]: "Call came through this afternoon. Man refused to give his name. Just said he had some information he thought we'd like to have."

• Peterson's Denial and Breakdown:

  Frank Smith [10:00]: "You're asking me to come over to your side? Seems like you'd be willing to come a little closer to the line."

• Climactic Arrest Scene:

  Joe Friday [25:02]: "Police officers. You're under arrest."

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Conclusion

Dragnet: The Big Brink masterfully encapsulates the essence of classic detective storytelling, blending procedural accuracy with compelling character dynamics. Detective Friday and Frank Smith's relentless pursuit of justice serves as an archetype for law enforcement narratives, making this episode a standout in the Dragnet series and a cherished piece for old-time radio enthusiasts.

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Enjoy more thrilling detective stories by subscribing to Choice Classic Radio on Facebook and YouTube, and support our continued productions by donating at [e-mail].

Transcript

[Joe Friday]

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[Frank Smith]

Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts.

[Joe Friday]

Launch your podcast on Podbean today.

[Frank Smith]

My school uses Podbean.

[Joe Friday]

My church too. I love it. I really do. Welcome to Choice Classic Radio where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail].

[Narrator]

Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet is brought to you by Chesterfield. Made by Liggett and Myers. First major tobacco company to give you a complete line of quality cigarettes. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail. A gang has hijacked and robbed a bank truck. They've stolen over $100,000. There's no lead to their identity. Your job, get them. During this holiday season, young America, all of us will be concentrating on our favorite winter sports. Ice skating, bowling, basketball, skiing. One thing you'll notice, whatever Young America does, wherever it goes, Chesterfield goes along. Yes, Chesterfield is the choice of young America. Chesterfield is the choice of more. Thousands of smokers everywhere. People are learning the facts about Chesterfield. Learning that Chesterfield is highest in quality, low in nicotine. Learning that Chesterfield is really mild, really satisfying. So how about it, friends? Change to Chesterfield yourself. Smoke America's most popular two way cigarette, regular and king size Chesterfield. Best for you, Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case. Transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.

[Joe Friday]

It was Thursday, June 5th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is chief of Detective Stadt Brown. My name's Friday. I was on my way back from the business office and it was 10:52pm when I got to room 27. A robbery. Did you get him? Yeah. Here's the gun.

[Frank Smith]

You got the double ought, buck?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, Jack, here you go. Any word yet?

[Frank Smith]

No. We ought to be hearing pretty quick.

[Joe Friday]

Nothing from Herman and Benson, huh?

[Frank Smith]

Last we got from them, they were over on Hobart.

[Joe Friday]

No action there.

[Frank Smith]

Nothing.

[Joe Friday]

I get it. Robbery Friday. Yes, ma'am. That's right. When was this? No, no, that's a burglary. If you'll hold on just a minute, I'll have you switch them. Yes, ma'am. Hold on just one minute. Would you give this call to 2524, please? That's right. Burglary. Thank you. Woman who wants somebody to come out and talk to her about her husband's work pants being taken from the clothesline.

[Narrator]

You should have gone out.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. You got a cigarette? I'm fresh out. Here you are. Got a Mac? Yeah. Thanks.

[Frank Smith]

Well, you might as well sit down. Take it easy. We got no idea how long we're gonna be here.

[Joe Friday]

Guess so. You know, I'm still not real sure about how this tip came in. You wanna fill me in?

[Frank Smith]

Call came through this afternoon. Man refused to give his name. Just said he had some information he thought we'd like to have.

[Joe Friday]

No idea who it was, huh? No.

[Frank Smith]

Said it wasn't important. Went on to say that he could tell us where to pick up the men who held up the bank truck.

[Joe Friday]

Well?

[Frank Smith]

Well, I figured it might be a crank. So I asked him how we could be sure the story was true.

[Joe Friday]

How do you answer that?

[Frank Smith]

Said he could prove it. Said he had some of the serial numbers on the stolen bills for checkout. Yep. Gave me the numbers from 10 of the 20s. I checked the serial numbers. They're good.

[Joe Friday]

And that's when he said he'd call back, huh?

[Frank Smith]

Yeah. Said he'd call tonight around 10 and give us the address where we could pick up the men.

[Joe Friday]

It's late now. About an hour.

[Frank Smith]

But he knows what he's talking about. We gotta be here when the phone rings.

[Joe Friday]

No way of getting an ID on him, huh?

[Frank Smith]

None.

[Joe Friday]

What'd he say about the men? They're heavy.

[Frank Smith]

The way he tells it, they're loaded. Got all the guns and ammunition they need to hold out for a week.

[Joe Friday]

He knows that. Why couldn't he give us the address this afternoon?

[Frank Smith]

He said he wanted to put a lot of distance between him and the.

[Joe Friday]

Rest of them, see how many there were.

[Frank Smith]

Not right out where he talked, though. We figure there are three.

[Joe Friday]

Any names?

[Frank Smith]

No. Said he'd tell us where to pick him up. Said when we blew the whistle, they'd tell us.

[Joe Friday]

Might be a little tight taking them then, huh?

[Frank Smith]

If the way they handle the guards on the truck is any indication, it isn't going to be a picnic.

[Joe Friday]

How many men we got?

[Frank Smith]

Herman and Benson. We can call them in. Murph and Rafferty? Stewart and Creasy.

[Joe Friday]

Where Are they now? Well, I saw Murph and Raft down at the business office just a minute ago. Said they'd be right in. I get it. Robbery Friday. Yes, it is. Where? Yeah, put them through. Call from San Francisco. Operator says station to station might be our boy. He'd have to fly up north to get here this fast.

[Frank Smith]

Airlines don't ask for recommendations when they sell a ticket.

[Joe Friday]

Wait just a minute. This Friday? Who's this? Okay, if that's the way you want it. Yeah, give me that address. All right, let me read that Back to you. 1657 Garfield Place, apartment 408. Is that right? Okay. Why don't you tell us your name? It won't do any. Hello? Hello? Let me hung up.

[Frank Smith]

Holla at the business office. Get on it. See if they can come up with a number. You got the address?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, I got that here. The way he put it, job might be tougher than we figured.

[Narrator]

What do you mean?

[Joe Friday]

Well, I asked him his name. I told him it wouldn't make any difference if he told us. Yeah, he said make a lot of difference. So they'd kill him if they found out that he thinked on them.

[Frank Smith]

That figures.

[Joe Friday]

Said that when he reads in the papers that they're dead, then he'll come in.

[Frank Smith]

When they're dead?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. Says we won't take him alive. Ten days previously on Thursday, May 26, three men had stopped an armored truck on its way to the Federal Reserve Bank. The truck had stopped for collection on Wilshire Boulevard. The three holdup men had approached the truck and produced sawed off 12 gauge shotguns at gunpoint. Two of the men forced the drivers to go out to the San Fernando Valley. The third followed in another car on a side road south of Ventura Boulevard. The suspects had tied and then beaten the driver and the guard. The two men were placed in the back of the truck and after stealing all of the cash in the vehicle, the thieves had driven off. As soon as the theft was discovered, men from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were notified. Together with them, Frank and I followed down every lead. The crime lab went over the truck but found nothing that would help us in getting to the thieves. Latent fingerprints were able to come up with nothing. The driver of the truck and the guard had been shown the mug books, but they were unable to make an identification. The method of operation was checked through the stats office, but when the leads that developed were checked out, we were in the same position as when we first got the call. We had no idea who the thieves might be. Descriptions Obtained from the two victims were broadcast to the entire nation. But there were no kickbacks. The FBI weighed and sifted all evidence in its Washington headquarters. But they came up with the same results we had now, nothing. The phone call from the informant was the first concrete lead that we'd gotten. There were nine men from Robbery Division and three teams from the FBI in the operation. From the information we had, we knew the suspects were armed and they were dangerous. The people in the building were gotten out of their apartments. The building itself was completely surrounded. 1:36am we moved in.

[Frank Smith]

Boys in the street are set. Let's go.

[Joe Friday]

All right. Did you check the manager? Yeah.

[Frank Smith]

Descriptions of the men in the apartment match the one we got from the driver of the truck. Checks out to be the same guys.

[Joe Friday]

Manager say how many? There were?

[Frank Smith]

Three. She's not sure. They're all in.

[Joe Friday]

All in? Sounds like somebody's moving around in there. Yeah. You ready? Yeah.

[Frank Smith]

Let's go.

[Joe Friday]

Police officers. Stand still.

[Frank Smith]

What are you doing in here?

[Joe Friday]

You here alone?

[Frank Smith]

Yeah, alone. What are you looking for, convention?

[Joe Friday]

Where are the other two?

[Frank Smith]

What two?

[Narrator]

Nobody else, Joe?

[Frank Smith]

Closet over there. Looks like an arsenal. Loaded with guns, couple of sawed off shotguns. You guys got no right to come in here like this. I don't know what you're looking for, but you ain't gonna find.

[Joe Friday]

What's your name?

[Frank Smith]

Hank Peterson.

[Joe Friday]

You rent this apartment with two other guys. Manager tells us that they're Harvey Fitzgerald and Lou Colton. Is that right?

[Frank Smith]

Yeah, they live here.

[Joe Friday]

Where are they now?

[Frank Smith]

I don't know. Out, maybe to a movie. I don't know.

[Joe Friday]

When do you expect them back?

[Frank Smith]

Look, they're big fellas now. They don't have to get me to sign a report card. They do what they want. They went out. I don't know where. They didn't tell me. They also didn't tell me when they'd be back. What's this all about?

[Joe Friday]

Where'd you get those guns? In the closet.

[Frank Smith]

They don't belong to me.

[Joe Friday]

Who do they belong to?

[Narrator]

One of the guys.

[Joe Friday]

Which one?

[Frank Smith]

Why are you coming in here and asking all these questions? I ain't done nothing. You got no beef with me. I know anything about the guns. Maybe Lou likes to hunt. I don't know.

[Joe Friday]

They belong to Colton, huh?

[Frank Smith]

Yeah, he brought them.

[Joe Friday]

You don't know where he is now?

[Frank Smith]

I told you, if I knew where he was, I'd tell you. I don't want any trouble. I don't like to have people pointing guns at me. Would you put that one Away.

[Joe Friday]

Turn around.

[Frank Smith]

What?

[Joe Friday]

I said turn around. Get over the wall. Put your hands up on it. Big deal.

[Frank Smith]

What happens now? You kick my feet out, I fall down.

[Joe Friday]

Stand still. I'll get a jump.

[Frank Smith]

You ain't gonna find nothing on me. I tell you, I'm clean.

[Joe Friday]

Nice try, Peterson. Here's a.38 Colt. Joe had it in his belt. You go around pretty heavy for a fella doesn't want trouble, don't you?

[Frank Smith]

I carry a lot of money. Sometimes I think some guys are trying to take it away from me. I gotta protect myself. Anybody's got the right to protect themselves.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. You got a permit for this gun?

[Frank Smith]

No, I didn't get around to it yet. I'm going to, though, right away. I'll get one. You know how it is. You mean to do something, but you forget. Hey, can I stand up straight now?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. Come on, Peterson. Get your hands behind you.

[Frank Smith]

Maybe you guys will tell me what this is for. What are you looking for?

[Joe Friday]

We'll tell you downtown.

[Frank Smith]

You know you're making a big mistake.

[Joe Friday]

Is that right?

[Frank Smith]

Sure. You really call this one wrong, you're dragging an innocent man. I'm clean. I made a mistake when I didn't register the gun. I'll cop to that. But that's the edge. I don't go past there.

[Joe Friday]

No, you got it wrong, Peterson. Read me how we got you going in for the bank truck robbery. You and your two friends, you're going to stand for it.

[Frank Smith]

Keep talking about my two friends. I got no friends. I move in with a couple of fellas. All of a sudden I got a piece of some action they're shoving. You got it wrong, cop.

[Joe Friday]

You aren't going to tell us you happen to be here at the wrong time, are you?

[Frank Smith]

Look, I'm from Chicago. I got a lead on a job out here. It gets cold in Chicago in the wintertime. I don't like the cold. Get a lead on a job out here in California. So I put an ad in the paper telling how I'd like to drive out with the guy, share expenses. Fellow that answers the ad wants to leave. When I got to go as Lou Colton. I took a third of the tab driving out. We got into town, he's got this apartment. Line up this one right here. I got no place to stay, so he says for me to pad down with him. That's it. The beginning, the middle, the end. Anything outside of that, I don't know. If you got trouble with Lou, then take it up with him, but don't make me Fit in. I got no part of the action. I don't want any.

[Joe Friday]

What about the gun? The gun you had on you?

[Frank Smith]

I tried to explain that I meant to get a permit for it. I didn't get around to it yet. What about the ones in the closet? Well, talk to Lou. They belong to him. Maybe he's gonna open a museum. All right, let's get out of here.

[Joe Friday]

Come on, let's go.

[Frank Smith]

Look what you did to the door, breaking it up like that. No reason. All you had to do was knock. Landlady's gonna be pretty sore about it. I'd have let you in if you'd have knocked. Breaking up a door like that. She's gonna be real sore. Probably won't talk to me.

[Joe Friday]

Well, it's gonna be a while before she's got the chance. While Frank and I took Henry Peterson downtown, the other officers from Robbery maintained the surveillance on the apartment. Because of the construction of the building, it was impossible to wait inside of the room. However, all of the entrances were covered. 2:40am we checked the suspect through R and I, but we found that he had no record in Los Angeles. His fingerprints were taken and forwarded to Washington for checking. It was printed and mugged and then placed in the cell in the felony section at the main jail. The rest of that night, the watch in the apartment continued without results. The following morning, Frank and I met with Lt. Smyers at a special show off of the suspect for the driver and the guard of the armored car. Without hesitation, they both stated positively that Peterson was one of the men who'd held them up. The kickback arrived from Washington with the information that Peterson was wanted for escape from the state penitentiary in New Jersey. He'd been convicted on a charge of murder and robbery and given a life sentence. The records showed that he'd escaped from the prison on Friday, May 9, two weeks before the truck had been robbed. 4:15pm we had him brought from his cell and Frank and I talked to him in the interrogation room at the main jail.

[Frank Smith]

You got a cigarette? Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah.

[Frank Smith]

Thanks.

[Joe Friday]

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[Frank Smith]

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[Joe Friday]

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[Frank Smith]

What do we got going?

[Joe Friday]

Same thing. We want to know about the robbery of that armored car.

[Frank Smith]

You figure there's something I could tell you on it, huh?

[Joe Friday]

We wouldn't be here otherwise.

[Frank Smith]

I'll make you a deal.

[Joe Friday]

We don't make them. No, no.

[Frank Smith]

Hear me out. You might go for this.

[Joe Friday]

We can't promise you anything.

[Frank Smith]

You're asking me to come over to your side? Seems like you'd be willing to come a little closer to the line.

[Joe Friday]

What do you got to say?

[Frank Smith]

How bad you got me nailed.

[Joe Friday]

Steep as it can go.

[Frank Smith]

For real?

[Joe Friday]

That's right.

[Frank Smith]

Lay it out.

[Joe Friday]

All of it?

[Frank Smith]

Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

We got the kickback from Washington. We know you're wanted for escape. We checked the guns from the apartment. Found out they were taken in a burglary in Chicago. Tuesday, May 13th.

[Frank Smith]

Go ahead.

[Joe Friday]

We checked with the Chicago papers. The ad you told us about asking for a ride out here was never run.

[Frank Smith]

You guys are sure thorough.

[Joe Friday]

The victims of the robbery identified your picture.

[Frank Smith]

They sure?

[Joe Friday]

They're sure.

[Frank Smith]

No chance for a mistake?

[Joe Friday]

No chance.

[Frank Smith]

If I cop out, where am I gonna do the time?

[Joe Friday]

We don't decide then.

[Frank Smith]

You think they'll send me back to Jersey?

[Joe Friday]

I told you, we got no say in that.

[Frank Smith]

It's so cold back there. It's nice here in California. I like to stay here. Nothing you guys can do. So I can take the fall in Quentin, huh?

[Joe Friday]

Nothing.

[Frank Smith]

Any way you hear it, I'm nailed.

[Joe Friday]

That's right.

[Frank Smith]

Okay. Maybe it's marked down that I copped out. They'll let me stay in California.

[Joe Friday]

It'll be put down that way.

[Frank Smith]

Okay. Where do you want me to start?

[Joe Friday]

Try the beginning.

[Frank Smith]

Good a place is any you were.

[Joe Friday]

Worth the hold up, huh?

[Frank Smith]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

How about the other two?

[Frank Smith]

You picked them up yet?

[Joe Friday]

No. They haven't come back to the apartment.

[Frank Smith]

Might be good if they didn't.

[Joe Friday]

Where do you come up with that?

[Frank Smith]

Heavy.

[Joe Friday]

Real heavy. What are the names?

[Frank Smith]

Luke Colton, Harvey Fitzgerald.

[Joe Friday]

Those are the names in the mailbox. Are they real?

[Frank Smith]

Far as I know.

[Joe Friday]

You aren't sure?

[Frank Smith]

No part of what I told you is true. I broke out of a jail in Jersey, then beat it to Chicago. Laid around for a couple of days and started to look for some action. I was broke. I needed a score to set me up. Sitting in a bar down on State street one night and I met Lou and Harvey. They tipped me to the job out here.

[Joe Friday]

You mean they came all the way out here to pull the one job?

[Frank Smith]

Yeah. They got a rumble about how it'd be a cinch. Came out to run it off. Then they figured on going back, leaving you cops with nothing.

[Joe Friday]

When were they figuring on leaving?

[Frank Smith]

I don't know. This was their part of the deal. I told them going in I wanted to stay out here. Didn't make any difference to them. We all figured that if we cut up a hundred thousand dollar score, none of us was going to look bad. For all I know, they might be on the way back now.

[Joe Friday]

Her clothes were still in the apartment.

[Frank Smith]

You know how many suits you can buy with a third of a hundred thousand dollars?

[Joe Friday]

Go ahead.

[Frank Smith]

Yeah, well, after the job, we made the split, talked it over and decided to dig in for a few days and then take off. At least they decided to leave. Didn't say when. I told you. Now, they might be on the way back now.

[Joe Friday]

Who else knows you're in on the job, huh? Outside of you three, Colton, Fitzgerald. Who else knows about it?

[Frank Smith]

Isn't anybody.

[Joe Friday]

Where's your part of the money?

[Frank Smith]

Got it down the bus depot. Got up in the locker down there.

[Joe Friday]

How long has it been there?

[Frank Smith]

Since day before yesterday. How often do they clean out them lockers?

[Joe Friday]

Every 24 hours.

[Frank Smith]

There's $33,000 floating around in the check room.

[Narrator]

You got the key to the locker?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. Where is it?

[Frank Smith]

In my shoe. I got it taped in the sole inside.

[Joe Friday]

You want to give it to us?

[Frank Smith]

Well, no, but I don't guess there's any other way.

[Joe Friday]

No.

[Frank Smith]

Okay.

[Joe Friday]

You spent any of the money?

[Frank Smith]

You mean the stuff we stole?

[Joe Friday]

That's right.

[Frank Smith]

No, not a dime. Why do you ask that?

[Joe Friday]

Who else might know the serial numbers on the bills?

[Frank Smith]

Well, nobody. Nobody but us. And I guess the guys at the bank. They got a record of them? I guess.

[Joe Friday]

How about Colton and Fitzgerald? They spend any of their part?

[Frank Smith]

I don't know. You gotta ask them.

[Joe Friday]

That the car you drove out after the armored truck, who'd that belong to?

[Frank Smith]

Colton. It's the one we drove out here.

[Joe Friday]

What kind of car is it?

[Frank Smith]

Plymouth, 1952.

[Joe Friday]

What model?

[Frank Smith]

Sedan.

[Narrator]

Color?

[Frank Smith]

Light blue.

[Joe Friday]

You know the license number?

[Frank Smith]

No, I never paid any attention to it.

[Joe Friday]

What state's it out of?

[Frank Smith]

Illinois.

[Joe Friday]

Who drove the car when you went on the holdup? Harvey Fitzgerald, huh? Yeah.

[Frank Smith]

He drove the car and Lou and I went in the truck.

[Joe Friday]

Either of them been arrested before?

[Frank Smith]

I'm not sure, but I think Lou fell in New York. I'm not sure, though.

[Joe Friday]

How about Fitzgerald?

[Frank Smith]

No. At least he never said anything about it. Only way I knew about Lou is that he talked about the food And Sing Sing. That's the way I knew about him.

[Joe Friday]

You know what he fell for?

[Frank Smith]

Armed robbery, I think. And there was a kidnap rap too. But he beat it.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, clean.

[Frank Smith]

I don't know.

[Joe Friday]

Seems like you planned a job with two guys that you didn't know very well, doesn't it?

[Frank Smith]

I was hungry and I was cold. I wasn't about to ask for a life story when they offered me a part of the action.

[Joe Friday]

How'd they pick you?

[Frank Smith]

I told you. I was in a bar on State. Lou and Harvey came in. Both of them were carrying a load. I was sitting there drinking beer, just the three of us in the place. And Lou was drinking pretty heavy. He gets in a beef with the barkeep. And I saw the roll he was carrying. So I figured that if I could take his side in the brawl, maybe I could make a touch. We walked out of the bar and he offered to buy me a meal. Next thing I know, I'm on the way to California. I'm a partner in a piece of goods that looks safe.

[Joe Friday]

All that time in the car and you didn't find out anything about your two partners?

[Frank Smith]

We drove straight through. We weren't driving. We were sleeping. Anyway, I wasn't a solid member of the club. I wasn't about to get my nose mashed in for having it someplace where it didn't belong. I figured if they wanted me to know something, they'd tell me.

[Joe Friday]

You go with them for the guns?

[Frank Smith]

No. They already got noticed when I fell in.

[Joe Friday]

You knew they were stolen?

[Frank Smith]

Guys turn up with that kind of muscle and can't come from anywhere else. Sure, I knew it was stolen.

[Joe Friday]

Colton and Fitzgerald. Have any friends out here?

[Frank Smith]

No, not in la.

[Joe Friday]

Anywhere on the coast.

[Frank Smith]

I hear Lou's got some people up north.

[Joe Friday]

Where?

[Frank Smith]

Maybe San Francisco, Marin County. I don't know. Might even be Oakland, somewhere around the Bay Area.

[Joe Friday]

They say anything about going up there?

[Frank Smith]

No. Of course, they might have. Way Lou likes to eat, coming out here, he'd go 10 miles out of the way because he knew a place that had a good chili size. Think nothing of it. Never saw anybody who liked to eat so much real gourmet. Only with him, it was glutton.

[Joe Friday]

He mentioned any names of people he knew up north?

[Frank Smith]

No, just said he had people.

[Joe Friday]

Anything about the car they're driving that'd make it easy to spot?

[Frank Smith]

What do you mean?

[Joe Friday]

Well, like a dented fender, a scratch, anything to identify it? Yeah.

[Frank Smith]

Yeah, it might be something. There's a kind of scratch in the back left Fender, I think. Woman backed into us on the way out here. Cut right through the metal.

[Joe Friday]

You think of any reason why they might ditch the car?

[Narrator]

No.

[Frank Smith]

We kept a close tab on the papers right after the job and look to see how much you had on it. When we didn't see anything, we figured the car was all right. I don't think they'd ditch it. Be pretty easy to trace. Lou owns it outright, unless you want to try to grab cold plates. He'd drive it like it was.

[Joe Friday]

Okay. We'll get your things and you can come over to City hall and make a statement. How about the key to the locker?

[Frank Smith]

Oh, yeah, there it is. Probably some money due on the package. I'll have to owe you.

[Joe Friday]

We'll take care of it.

[Frank Smith]

Too bad, isn't it?

[Joe Friday]

What's that?

[Frank Smith]

$33,000. I haven't got the dough to bail out the package.

[Joe Friday]

And it works out even. What? You'd have no place to spend it. An immediate APB was gotten off carrying the names and descriptions of the two suspects. Also a description of the car. A radiogram was sent to DMV at Illinois requesting the license and description of any car registered to a Lewis Colton. While Eleanor east lack took Peterson's statement, Frank got in touch with the telephone company. They'd finished checking the phone call we'd gotten from San Francisco, but the information they gave led us no farther toward apprehending the suspects. The call had been made from a pay booth in the Ferry Terminal building. We got in touch with the FBI and filled them in on the developments. As a result of Peterson's statement, the number of men maintaining the surveillance at the apartment on Garfield Place was cut to one team working days and one team working the night watch. We put a call into San Francisco and talked to Chief of Inspectors James English. We filled him in on what had happened. He assigned Inspectors Sutton, Zimmerlin to work with us on the case. 5:46pm we checked out a trip car and we left for San Francisco. Took us a little under 10 hours to drive the 405 miles between the two cities. At 4:03am we stopped in Oakland and put in a call to the San Francisco Police Department. How much? Yeah, just a minute. Frank, you got a quarter?

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Thanks. Here you are. 264, please. Hello, this is Joe Friday. Yeah, you got a message there for me from Charlie Sutton or Jules Zimmerlin? Hmm? Yeah. No, no, we just got in. Yeah, Oakland. What? Just a minute. You see that street sign up there? Yeah. Wait a Minute. Fifth and Poplar. Fifth and Poplar. Yeah. No, we're coming right over. When was this? I see. Well, if Charlie calls in, tell him that we're on the way, will you? Right. Thank you. Well, they're almost too late. What do you mean? They got a lead. Sutton and Zimmerlin called in 30 minutes ago. Yeah, they got the car waiting for the suspects. Now.

[Narrator]

You are listening to Dragnet. The authentic story of your police force in action. There are good reasons why thousands of people are changing to Chesterfield every day. Why Chesterfield is the largest selling two way cigarette in America. Why Chesterfield is best for me and best for you. To sell a product, you have to make it good and keep it good. What do the latest reports show about Chesterfield? Well, our research laboratory has compared it with the leading cigarettes in the country. Chesterfield is highest in quality, low in nicotine. People these days want facts. When you want people to use your product, you have to tell them what effect it has on people who do use it regularly. That's why a doctor has examined for almost two years a large group of Chesterfield smokers. 45% of them have on the average, been smoking Chesterfields for well over 10 years. What is the effect on these people from smoking Chesterfield? No adverse effects to the nose, throat and sinuses, says the doctor. From smoking Chesterfield. Consider Chesterfield's record with those smokers with millions of other smokers throughout America. Another good reason for you to change to Chesterfield. Regular or king size? Chesterfield is best for me and best for you.

[Joe Friday]

The address the business office had given me on the phone was a large garage located at the corner of Union Avenue and Lynch streets. When Frank and I got there, we met with Inspectors Sutton and Zimmerlin. They told us that when they'd gotten the apb a call had gone out immediately to the officers in the city to be on the lookout for a 1952 blue Plymouth with a dent in the left rear fender and carrying Illinois license plates. The suspects had parked the car in a no parking zone on O'Farrell street between Taylor and Mason streets. At the peak hour of traffic. The car had been towed away from the parking place and left in a garage. While it was in the garage, the information on it had been received from our department and an immediate stakeout was placed on it. We felt reasonably sure that the suspects would return for the automobile. They had no reason to think that there might be anything wrong. The address of the garage had been left so that they might find the car. All that would be necessary to release it would be the Payment of the fine for overtime. Parking along with the towing and garage fee. The garage itself was a large building and provided four stories for parking. The suspect's car was on the basement level. We were able to keep watch on it from a small office near the exit ramp. The attendants were instructed to act as if nothing was wrong when the suspects came in. Once we knew that they were in the building, the entrances and exits would be blocked and they would be taken into custody. Was nothing to do but wait. 5:30am no sign of Colton and Fitzgerald. 6:15am Frank went out and brought back some hot coffee. 6:45, 7am People began to come into the garage to get their cars, but not the two suspects. The later it became, the more difficult it would be for us to take the two men into custody. Was going to be any shooting, we'd be in a bad position with civilians in the range of fire. 7:38, 800, 4:00am Somebody coming down there. Yeah.

[Frank Smith]

You see who it is?

[Joe Friday]

No. Jules. Yep. You and Charlie want to cover the other side, right? And watch it. We should be able to get a pretty good look at him. Yeah. Lousy deal. You parked the car and it bought off the street.

[Frank Smith]

What kind of town is this?

[Joe Friday]

They got a sign.

[Frank Smith]

You should have put it in the garage.

[Joe Friday]

You and your smart ideas. You read. Why didn't you see the sign? Colton and Fitzgerald. Yeah. You see Jules and Charlie? Wait a minute. Yeah, over by the gray Merc. Looks like they're all set. All right, let's go. Let's get this crate out of here. We can have some practice with the rope. They sure were the right thing to do. Look, you don't have to think. If I wanted somebody for that, you'd.

[Frank Smith]

Still be back East. You know, one of these days you're.

[Joe Friday]

Going to open that mouth just a little too wide.

[Frank Smith]

What do you guys want?

[Joe Friday]

Police officers. You're under arrest.

[Narrator]

Runner.

[Joe Friday]

Hit him off, Joe. I'll get him. Colton, this isn't the way out.

[Frank Smith]

You follow your own. Knockout.

[Joe Friday]

The doors are blocked. Colton, you're in here for good.

[Frank Smith]

You're wearing the wrong pair of glasses.

[Joe Friday]

I'll be out. Now, look, we got you for robbery. Don't make it anymore, Joe. Yeah, he's over in the corner. How about Fitzgerald? Satin on Zimmerlin, gown. Threw their guns in their lap on no part of trouble. Colton doesn't figure it that way. I'll try to get around him. Now watch yourself. Keep those people back out of the doorway. Go on, Frank.

[Narrator]

I'll cover you.

[Joe Friday]

You come near me.

[Frank Smith]

Come on, Tennis.

[Joe Friday]

There's three more.

[Narrator]

Colton.

[Joe Friday]

You aren't gonna get by all of us. Your partner quit. Why not be smart like him?

[Frank Smith]

Ain't that smarty.

[Joe Friday]

Scared? All right, Colton, I'm coming to you. You do and you'll be dead when you get here.

[Frank Smith]

Go down that gun.

[Joe Friday]

Colton. Colton. See him, Joe? No. Take it easy, Joe. Colton. How about him? He's hit. I can't tell how bad. He's still got the gun.

[Narrator]

Colton, you going to hear me?

[Joe Friday]

Throw that gun out here. Nothing. Come on. Better call an ambulance. Right.

[Frank Smith]

Never should have taken us.

[Joe Friday]

Better take it easy, Colton. You're hit where it shows.

[Frank Smith]

Never should have taken us. Two of you, two of us.

[Joe Friday]

You got it wrong, mister. Huh? You were outnumbered going in.

[Narrator]

The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On September 18, trial was held in Department 92, Superior Court of the State of California in and for the county of Los Angeles. In a moment, the results of that trial. Now here is our star, Jack Webb.

[Joe Friday]

Thank you, George Feniman. The Chesterfield Christmas carton is the most talked about gift of the year. It features the covered bridge, which of course inspired the Kissing Bridge song. Now a highlight of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show. The carton itself is featured in Most of the 1,300,000 retail tobacco stores coast to coast. This Christmas, do what I'm going to do. Give America's most popular two way cigarette regular and King Size Chesterfield. Best to give. Best to get for Christmas.

[Narrator]

Harvey Ned Fitzgerald and Lewis Jeffrey Colton were tried and convicted of kidnapping, robbery in the first degree and violation of the Dangerous Weapons Control Act. They were found guilty and sentenced as prescribed by law. Kidnapping is punishable by imprisonment for a period of from 1 to 25 years in the state penitentiary. Robbery in the first degree by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years. Violation of the Dangerous Weapons Control act by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of not less than five years. Henry Vincent Peterson was remanded to the authorities of New Jersey for completion of his sentence. A hold was placed on him by the State of California in the event he is paroled. Be sure to read the current issue of Photography Workshop for an interesting and informative look behind the scenes with Dragnet. That's Photography Workshop, the current issue. You have just heard Dragnet A series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the office of Chief of Police W.H. parker, Los Angeles Police Department Technical Advisors. Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brayshour heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Herb Ellis, Vic Perrin, script by John Robinson, music by Walter Schumann, Hal Gibney speaking. Watch an entirely different Dragnet case history each week on your local NBC television station. Please check your newspapers for the day and time Chesterfield has brought you Dragnet. Transcribed from Los Angeles Buy new Fatima the smooth smoke with Fatima tips of perfect cork, king size for longer filtering and Fatima quality for a much better flavor and aroma. This Christmas, give Fatima in the special Christmas carton, cork tip and plain ends. 2. Hear Merrill Muller and the News next.

[Frank Smith]

On the NBC Radio Network.