Dragnet: The Big Market (EP4894)

Summary

The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio – Dragnet: "The Big Market" (EP4894) Originally aired October 25, 1951 | Podcast Host: Adam Graham | Date: January 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features a classic Dragnet drama, “The Big Market,” where Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero tackle a string of rapid-fire supermarket robberies terrorizing Los Angeles. The case presents the detectives with a clever pair of bandits who consistently evade capture. Notable are the methodical, procedural efforts of law enforcement and the cooperation between city and county police—hallmarks of Dragnet realism. Host Adam Graham wraps up with appreciation for the show's details, like creating composite sketches and the humble mimeograph, and underscores the value of inter-agency teamwork.

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Key Discussion Points and Story Breakdown

The Robbery Spree

• Crime Pattern:

  • Over 21 days, 11 markets have been hit by a pair of bandits (02:34).
  • All robberies occur in large supermarkets on major thoroughfares, generally in LA’s south end.
  • The bandits consistently use stolen cars, typically Pontiacs or Nashes, which they abandon a few blocks from the crime scene (05:19).

• Distinct MO:

  • Crimes take place in morning hours; one man drives, the other robs—often holding a white handkerchief up to conceal his face (06:43).
  • When a haul is small, they quickly hit another market nearby.

• Police Response:

  • Friday and Romero organize a large-scale police stakeout with 25 crews from Metro Division and the County Sheriff’s office to cover the area, distributing detailed suspect and crime information using mimeographs (13:02, 13:53).

Breakthrough: A Witness and Composite Sketch

• First Real Lead:

  • Witness Mrs. Swanson sees one suspect’s face when he removes his handkerchief due to a stuck car door (08:00).
  • She can’t pick an exact match from mug books but helps build a composite using features from several men (09:26).
  • “Just put the two sets of pictures together, I think you’d have the man perfectly.” —Mrs. Swanson (10:21).

• Composite Sketch and Distribution:

  • Police mimeograph over 1,000 wanted sheets and composite sketches for markets across the city and stakeout cars (13:53).

Large-Scale Stakeout Operations

• Briefing the Teams:

  • Friday coordinates 20 patrol units and additional county cars, each assigned a nine-block sector; teams are instructed to remain in their sectors unless called for backup (15:04–16:54).
  • “If there’s a robbery call in somebody else’s area, stay put till you get a call to lend a hand.” —Joe Friday (16:59).
  • Market managers have also been briefed and are warned to look out for and communicate with patrol teams.

• Patrols and Slow Progress:

  • First few days yield multiple false leads—suspects stopped and screened, abandoned cars checked, but no breakthrough (18:53–19:15).
  • Bandits change tactics, robbing a supermarket owner on the street, but again elude immediate capture due to a delayed report by the victim (20:12).

• Montage of Frustration:

  • As the days drag on, the detectives endure the grind and frustration of stakeouts—a signature Dragnet tone (21:41).
  • “Every day seems to get a little longer. These lousy stakeouts sure don’t wear very well on me.” —Ben Romero (21:41).

The Break and Culprits’ Capture

• Final Robbery and Chase:

  • A call comes in about a fresh market holdup on Graham Avenue. Sheriff’s deputies chase the suspects’ stolen Nash for two miles, capturing the driver after the second man escapes (22:42).

• Interrogation:

  • Arrested suspect Grant Jamison refuses to cooperate; police find a card with four suspicious names/addresses (24:06–25:04).
  • “You go right on kidding yourself, Jamison. Play it real close, you see how far it gets you.” —Joe Friday (25:03).

• Locating the Second Man:

  • Using the list, Friday and Romero track the second suspect, Matthew Sanford, to an apartment (26:32).
  • Sanford pulls a gun but is quickly arrested; the money sacks from the latest robbery are found on the premises (27:38).
  • “You pulled the gun. You got no business in here.” —Friday (27:32).
  • “Money sacks, Joe. Found him in the desk. Same market they hit tonight.” —Romero (27:38).

• Resolution:

  • Both Jamison and Sanford are charged and ultimately convicted on 14 counts of first-degree robbery, each receiving sentences of five years to life (28:03).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Composite Sketch Process:
  “Like the mouth and chin on this man here?... And the upper part of his face, would you say it resembled these others here?... Just put the two sets of pictures together, I think you’d have the man perfectly.” —Mrs. Swanson (09:35–10:21)

• Tough, Cynical Dragnet Tone:
  “Don’t let them make you the first [victim].” —Joe Friday, on always being careful (17:48)

• Policing’s Slow Grind:
  “‘Every day seems to get a little longer. These lousy stakeouts sure don’t wear very well on me.’ – Ben Romero” (21:41)

• 1960s Police Tech:
  Adam Graham lauds the role of the mimeograph in crime-fighting:
  “Of course, there is the secret star of the episode, the mimeograph...not something that people are as familiar with, but it was really important before you had photocopiers come along.” —Host Adam Graham (29:20)

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Host Commentary & Insights

(29:20–32:54)

• Inter-agency Cooperation:
  Adam Graham highlights the key role of city/county collaboration in solving the case:
  “A good case, and one of those episodes where the capture comes from a partnership with Los Angeles county, which is really important in real life to so many LAPD operations.”

• Realism in Composite Drawings:
  Graham compares the composite sketch scene here to other old-time police procedures, linking it to real-world and pop culture practices—mentioning “He Walked By Night” and a “Perfect Strangers” sitcom mimeograph gag.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Case Setup & MO – 02:34 – 05:43
• The Critical Witness/Composite Sketch – 08:00 – 11:04
• Stakeout Briefing – 13:53 – 16:54
• Stakeout’s Grind – 18:53 – 21:15
• Victim Delay/Lost Opportunity – 20:12
• Lead from Arrested Suspect – 24:06 – 26:32
• Final Confrontation & Arrests – 26:32 – 28:03
• Case Resolution – 28:03
• Host Reflections & Historical Tech Talk – 29:20 – 32:54

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Conclusion

This Dragnet episode plunges listeners into the procedural realism of midcentury policing, from working with scarce witness descriptions and mimeographs to orchestrating massive multi-agency dragnets. The detectives’ persistence—and eventual break—mirror the show’s commitment to authentic, unglamorous justice. Adam Graham’s commentary links period details to modern listeners, while the episode’s structure showcases why Dragnet remains an archetype of the police procedural.

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Transcript

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[Detective Joe Friday]

Foreign.

[Podcast Host Adam Graham]

Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet. But first I do want to encourage you. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. Today's program is brought to you in part by the financial support of our listeners. You can support the show on a one dime basis at support.greatdetectives.net and I want to thank Robert for supporting the show that way. Thank you so much for your support. You can also become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as $2 per month. Just go to patreon.greatdetactives.net but now, from October 25, 1951, here is the big market.

[Narrator]

The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail. A pair of bandits are staging a rapid fire campaign of hold ups in your city. In 21 days, 11 food markets have been robbed. The holdups go on. The suspects are still unidentified. Your job. Get them. 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.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Was Tuesday, September 26th was hot in Los Angeles. We're working the day watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Didion. My name's Friday. It was 9:18am when I got to the Record Bureau. Lieutenant Cunningham's office.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Joe, what's doing? Oh, not too much.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Got a job you can do for us, Frank? Like to have it as soon as you can get it out.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Oh, what's it about?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Own these market bandits. We've already got not a dozen teletypes and bulletins on them. Like to get out some mimeographs too, if we can.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

General distribution, eh? What do you want on them?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, I better lay out the whole thing for you. A lot of the copies are going to the Retail Grocers Association. All their members. Uh huh.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

No luck with those two thieves so far?

[Detective Joe Friday]

No, we're no closer than we were three weeks ago. Figure this ought to plug another loophole.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

How many copies you figure you want on this? About a thousand.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, that's fine. That ought to do it. All right. Okay.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Now why do you want to go into Joe?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, you better lead off with the first job they pulled. That was on the third of this month. Makes it a little better than three weeks now. They hit a supermarket out on Pico.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Okay, got it.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Ever since, they've averaged about three jobs a week. We know they're hitting nothing but supermarkets. All of them on main thoroughfares. No small neighborhood stuff.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

I got it.

[Detective Joe Friday]

So far they've confined their operations to the 77th Street Division in the county territories, generally the south end of town. They're two men and they got a pretty well established MO well established MOK they're hitting in the morning hours, usually from the time the markets open up until around noontime. They use a stolen car 95% of the time. A car stolen from the industrial area. Cars they steal for the jobs are always either a Pontiac or a Nash.

[Narrator]

All right.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, we also know they're dropping the stolen cars within a short radius of the hold up scene. About a half a dozen blocks or so. In some instances, they use a second automobile or public transportation, some kind bus or streetcar, you know, to make their getaway after they drop the stove.

[Narrator]

Just a minute, Joey.

[Detective Joe Friday]

I'm sorry. Going a little fast, huh?

[Narrator]

Yeah, okay, I got it.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Okay, well, let's see.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

All right, go ahead.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Now, they usually pull up and park directly in front of the market that they're gonna hold up. One of the men always remains in the car behind the wheel. Apparently it's always the same man here's the description. Meager. We know he's good size, mwa, fairly large build. Here's about the best description we've been able to piece together on the second man. Picked up a little bit from each victim. Second man described as MWA, also about 5 foot 8 inches, medium build, 155 to 160 pounds. Always wears a hat, brown suit, rough material of some kind, maybe tweed. Want to smoke, Frank? Huh? Smoke? Oh, no, no. All right. When he enters the market for the hold up, the second man always holds a white handkerchief. Holds a white handkerchief to his face as if he's wiping his eyes. Keeps most of his face covered with it. During the robbery, he's armed with a nickel plated revolver, possibly.38 caliber. We know the jobs are well cased because in almost every instance the suspect goes directly to the manager of the market.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Goes directly to the manager.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Hu. He hands the manager a brown paper sack, tells him to put the money in it, and then he takes off. So far, he's never attempted any rough stuff. No gunplay. On three occasions when the suspects got only small amounts of money at one market, they hit again in 15 or 20 minutes at another store in the same general area. They never make any attempt to disguise or conceal the license number on the getaway car. As I say, they always abandon the car a short distance from the hold up scene.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

I see. Okay, I got it.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, that's about all of it, Frank. I guess you can boil that down into some kind of shape, huh?

[Narrator]

Yeah. Okay.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

I'll have it typed up in the form.

[Narrator]

I'll get you a copy before we.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Make the run, see if it's okay with you.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Fine. Thanks.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

It's not going so good, huh?

[Detective Joe Friday]

No, it isn't, Frank. Pretty slow. I've been on top of the thing for a couple of weeks now. We're still looking for some kind of a break, see.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

I understand Glenn Chandler from your office took off for some fishing down in Mexico, huh?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah. Not doing bad, what I hear. I got a card from him yesterday. He's down by Keno Bay. He put the bite on me to send him a dozen mutton plugs.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Fish must be hitting pretty good down there.

[Detective Joe Friday]

That's what he says. Yeah, those big brown sea bass especially. I wouldn't mind getting in a couple of days down there myself.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Excuse me.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yep?

[Narrator]

Record bureau.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Cunningham.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Yes.

[Detective Joe Friday]

A minute.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

You Joe? Thanks, Frank.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, man. Mm. When? All right. Yeah, okay. Right away. Yeah, fine. Check that for me later, Frank. Might be a little change. What's the matter? Market bandits. They hit again. 9:38am Ben and I got in the car and drove to the scene of the bandit's latest holdup, a new supermarket out on Slauson near the intersection of South Broadway. After interviewing the manager of the store and all available witnesses to the robbery, there wasn't much doubt about the identity of the suspects. The description and MO Fitted perfectly with that of the two men who'd been staging a whirlwind campaign of market robberies throughout the south end of the city for the past three weeks. The approach and execution of the holdup was the same in every detail, even to the stolen car they'd used, which was found abandoned a short distance from the robbery scene. There was only one deviation, and it was the first break we'd had in the case since it started. A woman customer at the market and Mrs. Thomas Swanson saw the holdup man as he left the store and ran to the getaway car. She told us that the car door apparently stuck when he tried to pull it open and that he took away the handkerchief which he'd held to his face in order to pull the door open with both hands. During those few seconds, she got a good look at him. After taking the crime report and making our preliminary investigation, we brought Mrs. Swanson downtown. We had her check through mug books of all recent parolees from the state penitentiary, all ex convicts with robbery records. After a couple of hours of checking mug shots, she couldn't seem to make positive identification.

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

Very sorry, officer. Just gets a little confusing after a while. Looking at all these pictures, I did get a good look at the man's face. I just can't settle on one of these pictures, so.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Well, from what you did see of him, Mrs. Swanson, the lower part of the man's face especially, can you find a good likeness in any of these?

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

Well, yes, I can find good likenesses for some of his features, but none of them are all together in any one of these pictures here. Like the mouth and chin on this man here?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yes, ma'. Am. Is that pretty close?

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

Most exactly, I'd say. And then the nose on this one here, it's the very same. I just haven't seen any picture that fits them all together. You know what I mean, don't you?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yes, ma', am, I understand. Now, these five pictures here that you've picked out, you'd pretty much say that they incorporate all the features of the man that you saw getting there.

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

That's right, Officer. This man here and this one too, I'd say the lower part of his face was exactly like that. The small mouth, mustache, just like that. And the chin, pointed, like on this man.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

And the upper part of his face, would you say it resembled these others here?

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

Yes, these three here. Just the upper part, you see, around the eyes, the forehead. I'd say that was very close. Now, just put the two sets of pictures together, I think you'd have the man perfectly. Sorry I can't be more help to you. As I say, looking at all these books of pictures, it gets a little confusing.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, you've given us quite a bit of help, ma'. Am. Thank you very much.

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

Not at all. Is there anything else?

[Detective Joe Friday]

No, thank you. Not right now. We've got your address and telephone. We'll probably be contacting you in a day or two. If you'd like to wait right here, we'll make arrangements to have one of the officers drive you back to your home.

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

All right, thank you very much.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Goodbye, ma'.

[Narrator]

Am.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

We'll be talking.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Do you.

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

Yeah.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yes.

[Mrs. Thomas Swanson]

The biopsy.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

What do you think, Joe?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, it's more than we had yesterday. Her description's the best we've got on the guy so far.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

How about getting a composite picture made up from the mug shot she picked up?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. You want to duck in and get somebody to drive Ms. Swanson home? I want to go in here in the captain's office, fellow. Yeah, okay. Thanks, Man.

[Narrator]

Friday. How'd you make up?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, could have been worse, Captain.

[Narrator]

Woman find anything in the mug books?

[Detective Joe Friday]

No. Positive identification. She picked out five of them she thought were close, I think maybe put off over at the crime lab. Ought to be able to make up a pretty good composite from him.

[Narrator]

Mm. But you fairly positive about the man's description?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, seems to have a clear idea. Good composite ought to help us quite a bit.

[Narrator]

You get this new description, that memograph you haven't made up?

[Detective Joe Friday]

No, not yet. I'm gonna see Frank about it.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Hi, Skipper.

[Narrator]

Ben.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Got ahold of Jess Gonzalez, Joe. He's gonna drive Mr. Swanson home.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Fine. Did you ask him if he checked on that last run we made through the stats office?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Yeah, he picked it up. He and Frank Estrada are gonna start checking the names this morning. It's not much of been pretty well picked over already.

[Narrator]

That's all you got from the witnesses out there this morning? Description from this Mrs. Swanson?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, that's about it. Rest of it was their usual MO Swanson woman was the only one who got a good look at the guy when he took the handkerchief away from his face.

[Narrator]

How about the getaway car?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

They're fine, same as the others. Leighton Prince checked it over clean.

[Narrator]

Well, two thieves had their share of luck.

[Detective Joe Friday]

When we get eyes, how about Metro division? Captain? Can we get any help out there?

[Narrator]

What do you got in mind?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, we know the. The take that the two thieves got in that job this morning was pretty small for them. $340 from their M.O. in the past. We know whenever they get a small take on a job, they usually hit another place fast. They work in a fairly concentrated area down the south end. They only go after big markets on the main thoroughfares. Well, I was thinking if we could get some help from Metro, put maybe 15 or 20 crews down in the area for the next couple of days, might stand a good chance of grabbing them.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

We were talking to Dick Tiernan over at the sheriff's office, Skipper. He says he could put some of his men down that area too. Cover the county. On. On the fringe is the territory around there. What do you think? All right, fine.

[Narrator]

See if I can get Stevens at Metro right now. Set it up. Figure about 20 crews. Is that right?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Just about, yeah. With any kind of luck at all, we ought to land them.

[Narrator]

Sure worth trying. Lieutenant Stevens, please. Yeah, Joe, this is Harry Didion. Fine, fine. We got a little stakeout problem here. How about using some of your men? About 30. All right, I'll settle for 25. McKay. Yeah. South end of town. Those market bandits, Brian, will you have them report here at robbery 7:00 clock tomorrow morning? Ryan, thanks a lot. It's all set. You got 25 men, 7 o' clock tomorrow morning. Okay, Scabber, we'll give you a dozen teams to start with. Gonzalez and Estrada are one more. How many you figure working from the sheriff's office?

[Detective Joe Friday]

About four or five teams, I imagine.

[Narrator]

All right. It's your operation, you told me in charge on our end. You run the show. You brief the men. If you need anything, call me.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Right.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

How about the overall plan, Skipper? You got any special ideas on it?

[Narrator]

Just one. Yeah, get them.

[Detective Joe Friday]

One. 18:00pm we got the revised description of one of the hold up men to Lieutenant Frank Cunningham at the Record Bureau. He told us a thousand copies of the special mimeograph form containing all available information on the two market bandits would be ready for us. That night we met with Sergeant Put off the artist at the crime lab and he went to work making up a composite picture of one of the suspects from the mug shot selected by the robbery witness Mrs. Swanson. When the picture was completed, we had Mrs. Swanson check it for similarity to the actual holdup man. And then we brought it back to the Record Bureau where a thousand copies were made of it. The pictures, along with the mimeograph forms were sent immediately to the Retail Grocers association for distribution to all market operators throughout the city. Additional copies of the picture and the information sheet were given to each man who was to work the stakeout when we met in the squadron at seven o'clock the next morning. Besides the men from Metropolitan Division and the men from Robbery who are going to work with us, Lieutenant Dick Tiernan and Sergeant Dave Terry from the Sheriff's office were also there for the briefing.

[Narrator]

Well, briefly.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

That's a rundown on the two suspects and the MO they follow. It's the same information and description on them you'll find in those memeo forms we handed out. Joe, you want to take over, give them their assignments? Yeah.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Well, if you'll just take a look at this pinup map here for a minute, I'll try and brief you on how the stakeout's gonna go. The way we got it figured anyway, we've worked out a plan we think ought to be the easiest and the best way to work it. If any of you have any suggestions as we go along, we sure like to have them. All right, now, as you can see from the map here, the stakeout area is in the south end. It runs from. Can you all see it from there?

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Okay. It runs from Santa Fe Avenue over here on the east to Vermont Avenue on the west, running north and south. Now, we'll have to cover from Santa Barbara Avenue on the north down to Manchester. That'll be the southern boundary right there. That's the area the thieves have been working. And we're going to have 14 of our own crews covering that area. And Dick Tiernan and Dave Terry from the Sheriff's office will have their men covering adjoining county territory. Now, we've broken the map down into equal units. As you can see here. Each unit will be covered by one car. And each of you will be assigned a unit number. Romero and myself will be an 80k. We'll have a roving unit. We'll cover the entire area. You'll have three way radios in your car, so you'll be able to contact us directly if you have to. Now, if you'll check the map again. You can see these green pins we've placed here. Each one of them represents a market robbery. Now, notice that every One of them is on a main thoroughfare. Manchester South Broadway, Vernon South Hoover. Now, I don't have to tell you that that's where you'll have to keep a sharp watch on the main street. Each of the individual units here on the map will be covered by one car. As I said, each one's roughly nine blocks square. Now, you'll be responsible for the area assigned to you. We haven't got too much time, so before we go down the list to assign the areas, have you got any questions? Any questions at all?

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Suppose there's a 211 call in somebody else's area. I mean, other than the one you're assigned to.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Do we leave our area and head over there? No, Jess, I meant to bring that out. If there's a robbery, call in somebody else's area. Stay put till you get a call to lend a hand. Oh, anything else?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Yeah, how about the managers of these markets? They've been briefed on a stakeout.

[Detective Joe Friday]

I know.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

We're gonna be covering the area.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, they've all been alerted. Now, in case of a holdup, they might try to contact you directly. They'll be looking for you, you'll be looking for them. That it, Bob's?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

That covered for you? Well, yeah, but I'm just wondering about.

[Narrator]

This number two suspect, the one who.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Drives the getaway car. Yeah, well, it says here in the dope sheet, number one suspect carries a nickel plated revolver.

[Narrator]

How about number two?

[Detective Joe Friday]

He carry a gun? Well, I wish I could answer that. We don't know. All the information we got on him is on the sheet right there. I see.

[Narrator]

Well, they never try any rough stuff anyway, do they? No gunplay?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

They never hurt anyone?

[Detective Joe Friday]

No, not yet. Don't let them make you the first. 7:30am we finished handing out the assignments and the men left to take up their stakeout positions in the south end of the city. Two men to a team. Each team in a three way radio car. Each car to patrol a designated nine square block unit. There were 20 such units within the frame of the overall stakeout area. At the same time, cruiser cars from the sheriff's office operating on their own radio setup began patrolling the fringe positions which fell in county territory. Through Control one at our communications division. We kept in continual contact with them. 8:00am all the cars were in position, each of them patrolling their individual nine square block units. The first two hours passed. No reports, no sign of the market bandits. Between 10am and noon, half a dozen possible suspects were stopped and questioned by different teams. And then brought to the 77th Street Division for processing. All of them were eliminated. The afternoon of the first day went pretty much the same. We had shakedowns on four parked cars in the area and more shakedowns on possible suspects. Nothing materialized. The next morning, Ben and I, along with the other 32 men in the stakeout, picked up where we'd left off. Again, no sign of the suspects. No reports. The morning of the third day, the stakeout detail met in the squadroom as usual and then left to take up their Regular assigned positions. 7:35am how about it, Joe?

[Narrator]

You ready to go?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, just a minute. Okay, let's go. I'll get it.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Okay.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Robbery Friday. Yeah. Where? When was that? Yuck. Right away. Oh, come on. We gotta hurry.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

What is it?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Market bandits. Maybe we got them. 7:50am and I arrived at the intersection of 58th and San Pedro streets. Two of our stakeout cruiser cars were pulled up at the southwest corner. One of the teams was Jess Gonzalez and his partner Frank Estrada. Gonzalez briefed us on what had happened. Victim's the owner of the supermarket down the block in San Pedro.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Was walking from his house to the store.

[Detective Joe Friday]

He passed the Corner here about 7:35am.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Had $340 on him.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Part of yesterday's receipts from the store.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

They got him right up the street there.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Took every dollar of.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

You sure it was a market, Ben? Memo description. They check out all the way. We had two teams on as soon as we got the word. Located the hold up car a minute ago.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Where is it?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Down in Avalon Boulevard.

[Detective Joe Friday]

How about the sleeves, Jess?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Car was empty.

[Detective Joe Friday]

No trace of them. Saturday, 8:05am the latest victim of the Market Bandits. The owner of the supermarket on San Pedro street was taken to the 77th Street Division where the crime report was made. He told us that one of the men who robbed him bore a very close resemblance to the composite picture which we'd had drawn up of one of the suspects. We figured we missed grabbing the hold up men by a matter of minutes. Even though some of our units were in the general area at the time of the robbery, it did little good. The victim had delayed reporting the holdup for a full five minutes because the bandits had threatened to find him and kill him if he did. Despite the fact that they'd changed their MO to the extent of robbing the store owner on the street instead of in the market proper, we had no doubt that the same two men we were looking for had committed the holdup. The abandoned car which they'd used in the robbery Was gone over for fingerprints but it was clean. Meantime, the stakeout went on Saturday, passed Sunday. Monday. Nothing. No leads on the suspects, Not a trace of them. Tuesday, the same thing all over again. The operation settled down to a dull routine. Tuesday night we checked the closing of the last market in our stakeout area. 10:45pm Ben and I drove back to the 77th Street Division.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Every day seems to get a little longer. These lousy stakeouts sure don't wear very well on me.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, I don't know what the setup's gonna be if we don't get a break pretty soon. We can't hang onto the gang for Metro division forever.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Joe, has been a bad month. All I need now is a visit from the in laws. That do it up?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Fine. You talked to Jess at dinner, didn't you?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Yeah.

[Detective Joe Friday]

What'd he say about those two men they picked up on South Main this afternoon?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

They brought him in for processing. Checked them out, couldn't find anything wrong. Both of them clean.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Go ahead. Yeah.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

How about grabbing something to eat after we check out, huh?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Okay. Want to stop by Johnny Cokins?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

What about a French dip sandwich? How's that sound? Haven't had one for a long time.

[Detective Joe Friday]

All right. Suits me.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

How was that?

[Narrator]

Uh huh.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Oh, sorry Adele.

[Narrator]

Oh wait a minute.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

He just came in.

[Narrator]

It's for you.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Friday turn in from the sheriff's office.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Oh yeah, thanks Bob. Friday talking? Yeah Dick, just now. Mm hm. Yeah, we'll be over right away.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

And got anything?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Market bandits pulled a hold up a couple of minutes ago and store on Graham Avenue. Out in county territory. Yeah, one of the sheriff's units took the call, chased the hold up car two miles. They get the things? Well you're half right.

[Narrator]

Huh.

[Detective Joe Friday]

I got one of them. 10:52pm Ben and I drove to the Sheriff's Firestone substation where the Market Bandit suspect was taken after his apprehension. When we got there we talked to Deputy Sheriff Sergeants Eddie Jones and Mel Viney who had made the arrest. They said they arrived at the scene of the holdup, the market on Graham Avenue a few moments after the bandits pulled away in their stolen Nash sedan. Jones and Viney gave. But when they finally forced the hold up car to a halt the driver was the only one in the car. Somewhere along the route of the 2 mile chase the second robbery suspect had succeeded in jumping out along with the loot taken in the robbery and making good his escape. A broadcast and the bulletin was gotten out immediately. The hold up suspect they'd apprehended had been fingerprinted and they were checking on his identification downtown. Ben and I went in to talk to him. Jones and Viney stood by while we questioned him.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

I still don't know what it's all about. Property clerk will give you an itemized receipt for everything you have on you. Take everything out of your wallet now put it out in table. You're making a pretty big thing out of nothing aren't you? I haven't done anything.

[Detective Joe Friday]

You want to check those things from his wallet? Bin the cards and some of those papers.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Yeah.

[Detective Joe Friday]

This your true name on this card here. Grant B. Jamison. Is that right?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

That's right.

[Detective Joe Friday]

This your present address?

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Detective Joe Friday]

You ever been arrested before? Why do you ask that? It's not gonna take too much time to find out. You might as well tell us.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

We still don't know what this is all about. I was speeding a little, that's all. I haven't done anything.

[Detective Joe Friday]

No, you're kidding yourself Jameson. We got everything on you that we need. What do you think you're gonna gain by stalling us?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

You must have me mixed up with somebody else. I don't know what you're getting at. This card here you took out of your wallet. You recognize it?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Why?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

These names and addresses you've got jotted down on the back of it. Mind checking them out for?

[Detective Joe Friday]

I don't know what you mean.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Take a look. These here, whose addresses are they? Who are the people? Let's see. No, I don't think I even remember them. Just something I scribbled down, that's all.

[Detective Joe Friday]

You don't even remember one of them?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

No, I don't think so.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Why do you ask? Why don't you come off it mister?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Why don't you talk?

[Detective Joe Friday]

You know what we're talking about. You know it as well as you know your own name. 14 robberies down here in 28 days. You're picked up in the hold up car after the last try. Tonight your partner gets away. Now you go right on kidding yourself Jameson. Play it real close, you see how far it gets you.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

I sure wish I knew what you were talking about. I don't know the thing about any robberies.

[Detective Joe Friday]

All right then you stand by mister. You're going to know a lot more about him. You're going to know a lot in a hurry. Yeah, just as soon as we pick up your partner. 12:20am we continued to question the suspect, Grant Jameson, but he refused to admit anything. Even the fact that he'd stolen the car, that he'd been apprehended in. The only strong lead we could pick out from the articles found on his person was the list of four names and addresses jotted on the back of a card found in his wallet. 12:30am Ben and I left the substation and drove to the address Jamison had told us was his present residence. An apartment house on Vernon Avenue. The manager told us he'd moved at least a year ago without leaving a forwarding address. 1am we began checking out the list of four names and addresses which we'd found in the suspect's wallet. The first was a Jack Williams, his address a Spring street rooming house. The landlady told us he'd moved to Cleveland, Ohio, three months before. The second was a John Gallagher. His address a third rate hotel in East Hollywood. He hadn't been registered there in the past two months. The third was a Matthew Sanford. His address turned out to be an apartment house in the Crenshaw district.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Want to flash the light on the mailboxes over here, Joe?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah. Here you go. You see the name there? Yeah.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Here it is. M.L.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Sanford.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

That ought to be at apartment five.

[Detective Joe Friday]

All right, let's try it.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Front door open, see?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah, let's go for it.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Number five should be down this way, I guess.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Number five. Okay, let's give it a try. Grant.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

That you, police officers? You, Matthew Sanders?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Get up here. Get it, Ben. All right, come on. Put the gun down. Drop it.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

I got it, Joe. All right, get your hands out.

[Detective Joe Friday]

I'll cover him. Look around, huh? All right, what is this anyway? What's the idea?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

You tell us.

[Detective Joe Friday]

You pulled the gun. You got no business in here.

[Narrator]

You have no right.

[Detective Joe Friday]

All right, you just stand still. We'll explain it downtown.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Money sacks, Joe. Found him in the desk. Same market they hit tonight.

[Detective Joe Friday]

All right, Sanford, you got nothing from me. I don't know what you're talking about. Get his coat, will you? Ben? Yeah. What are you trying to build anyway? You haven't got anything on me. 14 robberies, mister. That's what we got on you. You think you got proof? We got it. Yeah. 14 victims. Come on, let's go.

[Narrator]

The story you have just heard was T.R. the names were changed to protect the innocent. The two market bandit suspects, Grant Burton Jamison and Matthew Roy Sanford, were tried and convicted on 14 counts of first degree robbery and received sentences as prescribed by law. First degree robbery is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary from five years to life. 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.

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[Podcast Host Adam Graham]

Welcome back. Well, a good case and one of those episodes where the capture comes from a partnership with Los Angeles county, which is really important in real life to so many LAPD operations. I also did like the scene of making the composite picture. It was a bit different. Other scenes that I had seen, for example, in He Walked by Night, they had kind of like pre cut images of different features to determine how the person looked. And they had multiple witnesses. Here you just had one witness, but she was able to say it looked a little bit like this. This top of the face and that bottom of the face. And that was a way they produce the composite. And of course, there is the secret star of the episode, the mimeograph, which is not something that people are as familiar with. But it was really important before you had photocopiers come along. Starting in the latter part of the 60s and then into the 70s. These were a huge step ahead for printing, running off copies, and certainly would be a vital tool in trying to get multiple copies of anything out to the police force. And I actually know of the mimeograph. My first time hearing of it wasn't in this episode of Dragnet or any other episode or movie from the era or even radio program. You don't hear those mentioned a lot. It was actually from a 1980s sitcom. My favorite comedy show when I was growing up was Perfect Strangers. And it featured a mimeograph machine. They made it believable. It was the first episode where they were working in the newspaper. And the writers recognized the mimeograph machine would be a great set piece for the sort of physical comedy they did on that show. And so the writers had the copy machine break down. And so Balky had to use the mimeograph machine. Cousin Larry tried to help him and hilarity ensued. Believable in 1987 that a venerable Chicago newspaper would have one of those machines still around. But these days, I don't think you would find one outside of a museum or a private collection, perhaps. Well, now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. Thank you so much. 2015. Currently supporting the podcast at the Psalmist level of $4 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, John. That will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from. We'll be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet, but join us back here tomorrow for yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Where.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Hi. Morning. Having trouble? Yeah, some kid's been monkeying at this lock. You want some bait? No, no, this is one trip. I didn't come to fish.

[Detective Joe Friday]

How is it, by the way?

[Narrator]

Fishing?

[Detective Joe Friday]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

Fine.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Just my luck. No, I'm supposed to meet somebody here. Oh, it must be that fellow out there. He was already there when I got here. Oh.

[Narrator]

Where?

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

You see that boat?

[Detective Joe Friday]

The bottom side up on the pier near the end.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

You mean the man sitting beside her? Yeah. Got himself a fishing rod, looks like.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Could be.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Want some bait? I'll.

[Detective Joe Friday]

I'll walk out with you and see.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

If you don't mind. Not at all. So the fishing's been good, huh? What have they been catching? Oh, quite a few bass last couple of days off the pier. Yeah, there's some kelp beds in close. Brings them in around here. Funny. Your friend there, you don't see any?

[Narrator]

Hey.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Asleep, I guess. Hey, watch out. He's living.

[Detective Joe Friday]

Grab him.

[Narrator]

But.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

Hey, Mister. Mister.

[Detective Joe Friday]

He.

[Detective Frank Cunningham]

He isn't sleeping. That's right. He's dead.

[Podcast Host Adam Graham]

I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to box13greatdetectives.net Follow us on Twitter radiodetectives. Check us out on Instagram instagram.com greatdetectives from Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.

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