Joe Friday (14:53)
The car pulled into a parking space and stopped the motor. Another automobile had parked directly in front of the car and the driver of the first machine had moved so that there was no one in front of him. The man went on to say that a few minutes after the driver pulled into the second parking place, three men had come around the corner, gotten into the car and the four of them had driven off. The witness was unable to give us a description of the car other than to say that it was a late model Plymouth or Ford. The only description he could give us of the men was that one of them was large and was wearing a gray topcoat and a hat and that one of them was small. 8:40pm Frank and I went back to the office and checked out for the night. The following morning at 8:02am I checked back in for work. Hi, Joe. Morning. Kind of cold out. Yeah. You look happy this morning. I didn't sleep a wink last night, Joe. Not a wink. What's the matter? Stomach? Next time I even think about eating enchiladas, stop me, will you, Joe? Yeah, sure. Any mail come in? I don't know. I just got in. There's an ad here from that store over on West 6. They're having their annual sale. Yeah, I want to try to get over there. Like to get me a new suit for Christmas. There's a special delivery from Bragg. Huh. Probably those mugs we asked for. I'll see. Yeah, there's six of them. You want to get in touch with Cliff hall and drive over and have him take a look at them? Yeah. You got any other pictures? Yeah, we can mix them up. I'll call Hall. Okay. I sure hope we get an identity. We haven't got much to go on. There's got to be a break someplace. We gotta find it. From what Finley said about the gang starting up operation, doesn't sound like just one job. No. They start on a string, they can do a lot of damage. Doesn't give us much choice, does it? No. We got to get to him. 8:27am Frank and I left the office and drove over to talk to the victim, Cliff Hall. We showed him the mug shots George Brereton had sent us. He picked one out and said that he was positive that the man in the picture was the one who'd held him up. The name on the mug shot was Harold Bishop. According to the record Brereton had sent us, Bishop had been convicted twice on violation of 211pc armed robbery. 9:20am we drove over to the county hospital and showed the pictures to the other victim, Andrew Rich. He picked the mug shot of Bishop as the suspect who'd robbed and beaten him. The notation on Bishop's picture gave us the information that he was on parole at the time. We returned to the office and put in a call to Fred Galloway at the State Adult Parole Office. Yeah, Fred, this is Joe Friday. Mm. Yeah, fine. We'd like some information on a Herald Bishop. San Francisco number 826-0926. That's right. Male, white, Caucasian. We got a mug from Burden. No, he says on parole. Yeah, if you will. Thanks a lot. He's checking the master file now. Mead and Lightner standing by if we need him. When we get this address, we're gonna have to move fast. Yeah. Yeah, Fred, when was that? Well, how's his report there? I see. No, I don't know. Yeah, I suppose. Right, Fred? Thank you. Well, you can tell me and Lightner to relax. Bishop's got an out of state parole. He's living over in Phoenix. Well, he still could be getting into California. No, not likely, huh? Fred checked with his parole officer. Yeah, he's got a job, and he's been reporting to his parole officer every month. We asked Fred Galloway at the state parole office to contact Bishop's parole officer in Phoenix and check him closely. The report came back that the suspect had a job with a small contractor and that he'd been working regularly. He'd also been giving monthly reports to his officer. We'd had a suspect identified by two of his victims, including. And yet, if the information we'd gotten was correct, it would have been a physical impossibility for him to have committed the robbery. We got a copy of his jacket and looked over his past record. We found that Bishop had been arrested for armed robbery the first time, 18 years previously. He'd been brought to trial and acquitted. The next arrest was 10 months after his trial. He'd been convicted and served six years at San Quentin. He'd been released, and within six months, Bishop had been picked up again. This time he was sent to Folsom Penitentiary. While he was there, he appeared to be a model prisoner. And after serving four and a half years, he'd been placed on parole. After leaving the prison he'd requested and been granted an out of state leave. In checking Bishop's MO we found that it matched exactly that of the thieves who'd held up the Lockton Market. The time of approach was the same, the number of men used was the same. The method of leaving the scene was exact. We had a suspect. And yet he couldn't have committed the crime. Three weeks passed. On Saturday, November 26, the thieves hit again. In checking with the victims, they identified the mugshot of Bishop. We put in a long distance call to the Phoenix Police Department and asked them to check on the suspect. We got word back that he was in their city. They told us that he wasn't at work due to a virus infection. They went on to say that they checked with his landlady and that she told him that Bishop hadn't left his apartment at all on the day of the theft. Monday, November 28th. We got our first break in the case. I'll get it. Robbery. Smith. Yeah. Oh yeah, Jerry. Huh? You sure about that? Where? Uh huh. How about the rest of them? Yeah, just a minute. Toss me that pair, will you Joe? Here we go. Okay, Jerry, go ahead. Yeah. Mm. How do you spell it? La L, E, A, H, Y? Uhuh. I got it. You know the address? Yeah. Okay, thanks Jerry. We'll get in touch with you. Right. Jerry Evanson. Remember the guy we talked to over in South 7th? Yeah. Well, the way he tells it, we aren't too far off. What do you mean? He saw Bishop in town last Saturday. We put in a call and we found that there were two major airlines with flights to Phoenix. The flight time they listed was 1 hour and 35 minutes by air. If Bishop caught the last flight leaving Phoenix, he could arrive in los angeles at 11:20pm the night before he planned to commit a robbery the next day. After the holdup, he could catch a plane from the Los Angeles International Airport that would have him back in Phoenix at 8:25pm by doing this, he would be absent from his work only one day. And he could schedule his flights so as not to hit on the days when he had an interview with his parole officer. Tuesday, November 29, a meeting was held in Chief Thad Brown's office. It was decided to put a special stake out on the airport and wait for the suspect to come into town. At that time he'd be followed and taken into custody as he prepared to commit another robbery. The names of the three other men Jerry Evanson had given Frank as having been involved in the hold ups had been checked through R and I. All three of them had arrest records. Surveillances were placed on their homes and they were kept under constitution. Monday, December 12, 11:15pm Frank and I relieved the stakeout at the airport. There's a bench over there. We can keep all the gates in view. Yeah. Wonder when he's gonna hit again. I don't know. The last couple of weeks, it sure dragged by, haven't they? Yeah. Anything on the other three guys? Well, I talked to Pinky Mead this morning. He and Lightner are staked out at Lee's apartment. How they doing? Nothing. Parked in the car down the street. What they say lays like a clock. He comes in at 5am leaves at 9pm every day. Got a cigarette? Yeah. There you go. Joe. Yeah. Bishop. Let's let him get outside. Yeah. Wonder if he's got any luggage. They bring it up outside. We can wait for him there. Come on. You see him? Yeah. There he is. Getting into that cab. Come on. Frank and I got in our car and followed the cab taken by the suspect. We followed him out of the airport grounds and then up La Brea Avenue. The cab turned right on Washington Boulevard and headed for downtown Los Angeles. We pulled up to a stoplight. Still got him? Yeah. He's still up ahead in front of that blue Mercury. See him? Yeah. You got the number of the cab? Mm. 2974. There's the lights. All right, let's go. Better try to pick it up a little, Frank. Caps pull him away from us. Yeah. Think he's seen us? No. Can't you close in a little? Traffic's too heavy. Can't use a siren. We'll tip him. Yeah. Still see him? Yeah. There's a break. Guy. Head's making a right turn now. We're right behind the cab. Yeah. I'll close in now. Good. Watch it, Frank. That guy pulling out of the alley. Hold on. As we drove down the street after the stoplight again changed, a car had failed to make a boulevard stop coming out of an alley, and we'd hit it broadside. The damage done to both cars was considerable, and we'd lost our suspect. Frank got to a phone and called the office. He gave them the number of the cab that Bishop was in and asked for a traffic investigation car. The office started a search for the missing suspect. Lt. Jack Smyers told us to proceed to the apartment of Tom Leahy to wait for further development. In the meantime, a citywide broadcast went out carrying the description of Bishop and the other three men involved in the theft. Frank and I arrived at the apartment. When we relieved me and Lightner, we had the manager of the place let us into Leahy's room. We waited. 1:30am 2:30, 4 o'. Clock, 5:30am Frank and I had been on duty for over 21 hours. At 5:45. The phone in the apartment rang once and then it quit. That was the arranged signal between us and the office. Frank put in a call. Lt. Smyers told us that Officers Max Herman and Ed Benson. Were on the way out to relocation us. Fifteen minutes later, we heard somebody in the hall. Joe. Yeah. Probably Benson and Herman. Yeah, I get it. Watch it. You all right, Joe? Yeah. Come on. He's going upstairs, Making for the roof. Come on. See him? No. You want to take that side. Right. Watch it. The eye of the elevator shaft, Joe. Yeah, I see him. Get away from me, cop. You're in trouble, Bishop. Don't build any more for yourself.
