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We were working the day watch out of juvenile detail. My partner's Frank. The boss is Captain Powers. My name's Friday. We're on our way out from the office. And it was 10:36am when we got to the old central jail building Crime lab. Ray? Back here, John. Come back soon as enough. Hi, Ray. Ray. How's it going? Hot. It's gonna hit 90. Probably will too. Any water around? Bottle over there in the corner. Help us out. Thanks. How about you, Joe? No, no thanks. You got anything for us, Ray? Not the same as usual. Take a look. Same entrance. Cut the screen on one of the back windows. Broke the glass and climbed in. Any prints? None we could find. Here's a picture of the edge of the screen here. You see the cut edges? You got anything from it? Not much. We figure it was done with a knife. We come up with that, we might be able to tell you if you got the right one. What about the physical evidence in the house, Ray? Not that much. We got a couple of partials. Lifted them from the glass top on the dresser here. Let me fix it. Now, you can see here. Not much to go on. Match up with the prints from the other job. Couple of points, but not enough to build a case on. Only thing you got that definitely ties this one in with the other is the footprint. Another one? Mm. Found it in the soft earth underneath the window. Hand me a print, will you, Frank? Oh, yeah, yeah. Here you go, Frank. Here. There, you see it clearly? The heel mark, same as in the other. You get a cast of it? Mm. You wanna see it? No, no Reason? If you've looked it over, you got the same thing on the picture. Anything else? You had it? No. Got a cigarette? Ran out and had a chance to get some more. Here. Thanks. Thanks, John. Tail. You been able to chase down the rubber heel for us? Yeah. No luck. We contacted half a dozen firms. They all tell us the same thing. Made special. Probably some small factory. Specializes in custom made shoes. Might be some sort of correcting shoe. You know us, Petey. Oh, yeah. You've had it for a couple of weeks now. What do you sit on it all right? Well, we found it. We talked to about every repairman in town. None of them have seen this kind of a heel before. None of them can tell us where it was made. Checked with the doctors in the area. None of them know the brand. Figured it might be one of them who sent for it. Nothing on it, though. No, It's a new one to them, too. Yeah. Wish there's more I can give you fellas. Well, that's all right. It seems no matter which way we turn, there's another wall waiting for us. How about burglary? Anything convincing them? Well, they're checking it all down. They got the same thing we came up with. Anything turn up on the stolen merchandise? No. Burglary's made all the checks. Pawn shops have been alerted. Stuff's all cheap costume jewelry. No reason to try and hock it. They wouldn't get anything for it. Brings it back to motive. Why is he pulling the jobs in the first place? Lorraine, we'll file that with where the heels are made. About the only thing we can figure is that some kid out for kicks gets his laughs from breaking into houses. There's no other reason. Stuff he's stolen you can buy by the carload in any dime store. A couple of times he's left money alone when it's in plain sight to steal some cheap pin. Looks like you've got yourself a wild one. Yeah. What can you tell us about the footprints? Eh, not much. Found under the window. Kid wasn't moving when they were made. Can't figure a stride. What about weight? Only a guess. Joe? Yeah, I'd say came in about 140. Could be £15 one way or the other. What about the size? 7. Looks like 7C. You sure about that? Well, pretty sure. Not much, is it? Best we can do. Okay. Last place the woman was real sore. Don't blame her. Not about the costume jewelry. She didn't much care about that surprise Gladiola she was raising. Kid tramped all over him real sore that he stepped on. Don't blame it. Says when she catches him, she's going to give him a good talk or two. Cramping up all our plants. Well, we'll see you, right? Yeah, sure. Haven't got much to go on, have you? You called it. Frank and I went back to the office and we pulled all of the reports that we had on the thefts. We spent the rest of the morning going over them. The method of operation was apparent. Each Friday night For the past two months, between the hours of 8:30 and 11pm A single thief had entered a home in a wealthy section of town and stolen as much worthless costume jewelry as he could carry out. On each occasion, the entry was made through a rear window. In those cases where the window was locked, the thief broke the glass and undid the latch. On each occasion, he left at least one footprint in the dirt around the house. The heel impression was of a type that we hadn't been able to identify. We'd gotten pictures of it out to all major shoe manufacturers but they were unable to tell us where the shoes had been made. We'd canvassed the area where the thefts were taking place without results. Rolling stakeouts were set up on Friday nights and they'd netted us nothing. The thief approached the home, broke into him, stole what he wanted and then he left without being apprehended or seen. Throughout the investigation, Frank and I had been working closely with Burglary Division but their men hadn't been able to come up with any more than we had. At 1:15pm Frank and I left the office. We got something to eat, and then we started to check the playgrounds again. At each one, we'd contact a member of the Park Department and ask them if they'd seen anyone wearing a pair of shoes similar to the pictures that we had. Every place we got the same answer. None of them had. We stopped groups of boys on the street and asked to see their shoes. We checked malt shops, drugstores, pool halls and bowling alleys without any result. The same operation had been going on for the past two weeks without bettering our chances of apprehending the suspect. 5:30pm Frank and I left one of the larger bowling alleys in town and headed back for the office. Boy, I'll sure be glad to get home tonight. Yeah. Hot. Sure was. I must have gone over 90. Yep. Mustard paper said 90, but it was hotter. I can always tell. How can you always tell? My feet, Joe. Always tell with my feet. Cold day. I Can walk for a couple of miles, not have any trouble. Come to hot weather, and if I step off a curb, I got misery. Yep. I think I'll get me another pair of shoes. Kind with the holes in them. What kind with the holes in them? You know what I mean. You see them all the time in the men's magazine's. Kind of cloth on the top, you know, real thin leather on the sole and cloth over the top. Lot of little holes in it. They're cool. See them all the time in the magazine, don't you? Oh, yeah, yeah, I see them all the time. You know, it's got a picture of a guy wearing them with a tan suit on. Oh, he's got on the same suit and he's got a straw hat with one of those vans made out of feathers. You know, like kind of snake, kind of. Mm. Guy's always in a tan suit and a hatred. You gotta have one of those before you can buy the shoes. You figure one of those cities? Yeah. I don't know. You're not talking much today. Haven't got room to get in. You're doing it all. Oh, hi. That's pretty funny. It was hot. Must have been over 90. I was just about to say it must have been overnight. Slut on it, huh? Take it easy. See a kid up there? No, up there. Just coming out of the drugstore in the corner. Waiting for the light there. Oh, yeah, Tennis player. Well, he's wearing a pair of canvas shoes, looks like from here. Wanna check him? Might as well look good here. All right, go away. No, I'll come with you. Hey, fella, pull it up. What? Wait a minute. You mean me? Yeah, yeah. What do you want? Police officer. Son, we'd like to ask a couple questions. What for? I haven't done anything. No, we didn't say you did. We just want to ask a couple questions. I sat there for a minute. You were after me. My partner, Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Hi. Oh, I'm. I'm Alec McCarron. What'd you want to ask? You been playing tennis? No, just practicing. I go down to the handball courts at school and practice. Couldn't get a game this afternoon. Why? Let's take a look at your shoes. What? Your shoes there, that you're wearing. We want to see them. What is this, a joke? No. It sure sounds like a rib. You guys sure you're really copped. Here's the ID again. You want to look now? Let us look at your shoes then. Okay. No reason not to There. The souls we want to see. You sure this isn't some kind of joke? Look, son, no joke. Come on, Alec. Let's see the soul. Sure that is. Well, you satisfied now? Yeah. Okay for me to go now? Pray not. Why? Say, what is this anyway? Oh, it's stopping me in the shoe thing. You looking for something special? Not anymore. We just found it. Frank and I took the boy back to Georgia street and checked his name through R and I. We found that there was no previous arrest record for him. 7:15pm we took him into one of the interrogation rooms. Your full name's Alec McCarren, is that right? Yeah. How old are you? Sixteen. Where do you live? 4782 Fargo Street. Where's that, son? Up above Silver Lake. Mm. You live with your family? Yeah. Mother and father both living. Yeah. When are you gonna tell me what this is all about? Got a job, son? Not now. I got one coming up. Doing what? Foxboy in a market. Supposed to go to work next week. Kid they got now is going in the Army. They promised me his job. You go to school? Yeah, I'm a senior in high school. Look, it's getting late. My dad's gonna start to worry. Is it okay if I call him? We'll call him for you in a minute. Thanks. What do I tell him when he wants to know what's happening? We'll talk to him. What do you usually do nights? I don't know what you mean. Well, evening hours. What do you do? I stay home mostly. Gotta get my grades up for college. I usually study during summer vacation. My dad helps me. I gotta make up a couple of credits. Thought you had to go to summer school for that. I guess I'll get out of school late. You study every night? Just about. Yeah. But not everyone, huh? No, I go out sometimes. When? Mostly the weekends. Friday. What do you do when you go out? Where do you go? Show, sometimes. Anywhere else. Bowling, sometimes. Just down to the library to get a book. Mostly to the show. Do you go with anybody? No. Where'd you get those tennis shoes? My dad got them for me. Where? Place back east. I had them a long time. You know the name of the place? Not right off. Some place in Maine, I think. You know anybody else who's got a pair like them? I've never seen any others. I told you, my father got them for me. Used to wear them when he was a kid. Sent back to Maine for him. Mm. You guys won't tell me what this is all about, huh? Yeah, we will. There's a bit of string of burglaries in town. Housebreaking person that's been pulling him wears a pair of shoes just like yours. Like mine? That's right. You think I'm the one. Well, it looks like it, doesn't it? I better call my father. All right, we'll call him for you. Isn't the only pair of shoes in the world, you know? Only ones we've been able to find, son. There must be a lot more. We're willing to see them. Hello, this is Sergeant Friday, Los Angeles Police Department. Who am I speaking to, please? Yes, sir, your son's here. Suspicion of burglary. That's right. Well, that may be so, Mr. McCarran, but that's the charge. Yes, sir. No, no, we'll bring him to his home. Sure you can. Just a minute. Podbean, your message amplified. Ready to share your message with the world. Start your podcast journey with Podbean. Podbean, the AI powered all in one podcast platform. Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts. Use Podbean to record your podcast. Use PodBean AI to optimize your podcast. Use PodBean AI to turn your bl into a podcast. Use Podbean to distribute your podcast everywhere. Launch your podcast on Podbean today. Hello, dad. Yeah. Huh? At the police station. No, it's no joke. What? Well, I'll tell you when I see you. Yeah. Bye. All right, Alex, get your sweater. You taking me home now? That's right. Just dad set you straight, huh? Told you it was all a mistake. I'm afraid he didn't. What do you mean? Didn't he tell you this whole thing is wrong? Well, he tried to. Yeah, that's right. Well, you're gonna have to let me go. No, afraid not. But you have to. If it's a mistake. Yeah, if it's a mistake. Frank and I left the office with the boy and we drove out to his home. It was a large two story colonial house overlooking Silver Lake. We were admitted to the place by a maid and we were shown into the living room. The boy's father, Henry McCarron, was waiting for us. You're the officer? Yes, sir, that's right. My partner, Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Howdy, Jeff. You want to tell me what this is all about now? Well, it looks like your son's mixed up in some burglaries, Mr. McCarron. You're aware that's a pretty serious charge? Yes, sir, that's right. I suppose you have some kind of proof to make that statement? We think so. Mind telling me what it is? While we were talking, Would it be all right to look at the boys room? Do you think that's quite fair? Necessary, Mr. McCarron? What if I say you can't? Well, then we'll have to come back with a Warrant. All right, Ms. Wade. What do you got to say about this, Alex? I didn't do it, dad. That's the truth. Yes, sir. Good enough for me. Through here. This is it. Go ahead, Frank. Yeah. Now I suppose you tell me what this is all about. The shoes that your boy is wearing there, you got them for him? That's right. Had them made to order. Where? Face back east in Maine. You know if anyone else has a pair of them? No. As far as I know, that's the only pair on the coast. Good tennis shoes. I used to wear them when I played. Uh huh. What do they have to do with this? Well, on each one of the steps we found a print from a shoe like that outside the window. That doesn't mean that Alec was in them at the time. How about Alec? You let anybody else use his shoes? No. Well, there's your answer. Still doesn't come down to proof. What night did your boy spend out of the house, Mr. McCann? I don't know. I guess he's gone on Friday most of the time. You know where he goes? Show library. I don't keep a chain on him. Sergeant, I have complete trust in Alex. Burglaries have been taking place on Friday nights. Still entirely circumstantial. Yes, sir, but it fits, doesn't it? What's he supposed to have stolen? Costume jewelry. You mean five and dime stuff? Yes, sir. All right. There you are. You tell me why, sir. Why'd Alex steal that? Now look around, Sergeant. I just spent fifteen hundred dollars on this room. Had it all redone. Alex got just about everything he wants. He gets a good allowance. If he needs any more money, he only has to come to me. There's no reason for him steal, I said. This is a nice room and all. What you say may be true, but the fact states the thefts are taking place. All right then, I'll put it on the line. I've got faith in my son. He's had all the things a boy could want. A good family, good home. All the things that count. Maybe there is a thief, but it isn't my son. I know that. You got an explanation for the shoes for the Friday night? No. I'll find one. Maybe you can try it for this, too, Mr. Karen. What? Found these in the boy's closet. Box of cheap costume jewelry. With the finding of the jewelry in Alec McCarron's room, the circumstantial case against him seemed to solidify. Although he denied any knowledge of the pieces he was taken down to Georgia Street Juvenile and booked on suspicion of violation of section 459.PC delinquent. His father retained a lawyer immediately. The next day, the jewelry found at his home was shown to the victims and they gave us a positive identification on each one of the pieces. A petition was filed and the facts were presented to the juvenile court. Detention was requested. On Thursday, July 8, Frank and I got back from the second floor after talking to the McCarron boy. He still admitted nothing about the burglaries. I don't know. Maybe I'm starting to believe the kid. He sure makes you Wonder, doesn't he? Sergeant Friday. Yes, sir. How are you, Mr. McCarron? Fine, thank you. I've got it, Sergeant. I got it right here, sir. The way to show you that my son had no part in these burglaries. All right, sir, Go ahead. Now, you say that all the thefts have taken place on Friday night. Is that right? Yes. Yes, sir. And your big piece of evidence is the heels on his shoes, right? That's part of it, yes, sir. All right, then you can just turn them loose. The big part. I remembered it last night. I couldn't get to sleep and got to thinking. I remember it. All right. Go ahead. Alec's shoes get a lot of use. He plays a lot of tennis, wears his shoes all the time. Soles and heels wore out. We had to send them back east and have them resoled. Sent them back on May 5th. Didn't get them until May 19th. Now, there's two fighters in there, Sergeant. The shoes were gone. Alec couldn't have done the burglaries. Frank. Yeah? I hope now that you'll admit that you've made a mistake, Shell. If we have, Mr. McCarron, we'll sure tell you. Well, you can take my word for it. Alec had no part in any of this. Good boys. Honest, smart. He was going to steal anything if it really came to that. He wouldn't risk his neck for a few cheap beads. Doesn't seem so, does it? Here you are, Joe. Well, what about it? Why don't you find out? Just a minute, sir. Are you going to release my son now? No, sir. Well, the shoes were out of state. Then he couldn't have committed the thefts month of May. Two Fridays in that month. Yes, sir, that's right. No burglaries on either one of them. You are listening to Dragnet. The authentic story of your police force in action. Seemed like every attempt the father made to prove the innocence of Alec McCarron only turned up another piece of evidence against him. The date for his hearing in juvenile court was set. And Frank and I talked with Mr. Bowman of the probation department on the preparation of the case. From the evidence, it appeared that the boy would be found guilty. We questioned and requested. We went over every facet of his story, but he still stuck to it. At no time did he change any part of it. Saturday, July 10th. Frank and I checked into the office. Boy, it's gonna be another scorching. Yeah. Probably over 90 again, huh? Yeah, over 90. More than that. Joe, I'm going over the Broadway at noon today. Pick up a pair of those shoes I was telling you about. With the tan suit ones with the holes in it not to suit the shoes, you know. Finally decided last night I need them more in a new spinning reel. I'm gonna get them. Well, that's good. Anything for us? Yeah. Looks like we might be wrong about that McCarran boy. What do you mean? Another housebreaking last night. Footprints all over the place. Yeah, all of them with the same heel print. We left the office, we went over to the crime lab. Ray Pinker showed us photographs that had been made at the scene. The marks were identical with those we'd found before. The size of the shoe, the way they were worn, everything matched. The information blew the case against Alec McCarran sky high. And both Frank and I felt a little relieved. The probation department was informed what had happened and the boy was released immediately. Frank and I drove him to his home where he was reunited with his family. It obtained the name and address of the shoe company who'd made the tennis shoes. And the radiogram was sent to the police department in that city requesting all information on similar shipments to the Los Angeles area. We got the answer the next morning. Only one other pair had been sent to the Southland. Those had been sent to a Mr. Homer Ellsworth, care of General Delivery, Ventura, California. We checked the name through records and identification, but we were unable to come up with a record form. The name was sent to George Brereton, CII Sacramento. At a quarter past eleven, Frank and I drove up to the Beach City. We talked to the postmaster and several of the clerks. They told us that several pieces of mail had been delivered to Ellsworth. Although none of the people could tell us where the man lived, they were able to give us a good description of him. They went on to say that they gathered from conversations that he resided someplace in Los Angeles. We left word with him that the local police department be called in the event the man returned. And then Frank and I drove back to the city. We checked the name again, this time with the description. No, mate. One of the outstanding things in the way the man was described was that the little finger from his left hand was missing. This was checked through the Oddity file without result. The additional information was forwarded to Brereton. We checked with burglary detail, but they had nothing on the suspect. 8:40pm we drove out to the McCarran house and talked again to his family. I knew it all the time. Yeah. See, got a boy like Alec, after 16 years, you know pretty much what he will, what he won't do. Yes? A couple things we'd like to go over with you. Sure. Anything you want. Just let me know. All right. Caught the person who was really responsible for this. That's what we want to talk to you about. Fine. Right ahead. Now, the description we've got of the man is that he's about 50, around 5 foot 8, 150 pounds, dark hair, gray at the temples, wears glasses, has a mustache, got a finger missing from the left hand. What's his name? Well, that we don't know, sir. That's why we're asking you. No name at all? Well, he's used. Homer Ellsworth. We don't think that's his true name. It isn't, sir. Name's not Ellsworth. It's Fallon. Homer Fallon. You know him? Sure. He worked for me for 10 years. Sort of a handyman. Does odd jobs around the house. You know where we can reach him? Not sure about that. What do you mean? Quit yesterday morning. We got Fallon's address. We left for the place right away. It was a small house in the South Hollywood area. The front yard was overgrown and several of the pickets from the fence were missing. It was a 1938 Chevrolet truck parked in the driveway. Frank and I left our unit and walked up to the front door. Watch your steps, Joe. Front board looks there. Oh, yeah, I see. Think you'd have a light out here, wouldn't you? I guess. Don't hear anything. We must be here. Would have taken the truck, wouldn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Homer Fallon? Who are you? Police officers. Want to talk to you. Come on, In. Sit down. Just fixing a little dinner. Yes, sir. Go right ahead. Spaghetti. Want some? No, sir. Pretty good. That kind that's all cooked. Just drop it in the water and heat up the sauce. Pretty good. Sure you don't want none? No, thanks. How about you? No, sir. Well, wait a minute. I'll turn down the fire and we can talk. All right, sir. You better watch it pretty close. Gets too cooked and you gotta eat it with a spoon. Not good that way. No. You've had it, have you? You want to come in here, sis? Yeah. Be right with you. Open up the sauce and I'll be right there. Maybe better come in now. What? Come on in. Sit down. Go ahead. Sit down. You haven't got no right to tell me what to do in my own house. No right at all. I better check the place, huh? Yeah. Harry, you got no right to go through my things. We come back with a warrant. If that'd be easier for you. Go ahead and do it. You've got no right. There something you don't want me to find? No, I got nothing to hide. Then you won't mind, will you? I will too. You guys come in here while I'm having dinner, causing a lot of trouble. You've got no right to do this. I'm an old man. I can't take a lot of excitement. And why don't you save us all a lot of time? Well, if you know why we're here, you know what we want. I do? Sure you do. Why don't you tell us? Big thing over nothing. That's all it is. Can you tell us about it? Willie, all this stuff put together wasn't worth a dollar and a half. None of it. It's not even a dollar and a half. Well, then why'd you do it? Wanted to get the kid in trouble. All his life he's had what he wanted. All his life. Different from me. I never had nothing. You put the things we found in his room, did you? Yeah. I knew you'd get to him. Wanted to sew it up, make it look good. I put him there. Why'd you do the burglary last night? Well, I got to feeling sorry for the kid sitting in jail. You ever been arrested, fella? Long time ago. Where? Back east. Vague charge. I was just a kid working my way out here. Took me off a freight. I sat in a can overnight. Then they let me go. Give me a floater out of town. I got sorry for the kid. Figured if there was another stealing while he was in jail, you'd let him go. All right. Get your coat. Willie? Yeah. Where is it? Closet there. Wait there. I'll get it. The only one in there. I got it. Here you go. Thanks. You know, I was sorry right after I. I didn't want to hurt the kid. He's really not too bad. Didn't want to cause him no trouble. You did pretty good, didn't you? Suppose so. Well, wanna go? Yeah. Oh, I forgot the spaghetti. Gotta turn it off, right? I guess it doesn't make any difference anyway. What was that, sir? Don't make any difference? About you taking me to jail. Is that right? Yeah. I cooked the spaghetti, too. Homer Lindsay Fallon was tried and convicted of burglary in the first degree, six counts and received punishment as prescribed by law. Burglary in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than five years in the state penitentiary. Dragnet is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. Sam.