Dragnet: The Big Saint (EP4748)

Summary

Podcast Title: The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)
Host: Adam Graham
Episode: Dragnet: The Big Saint (EP4748)
Release Date: July 5, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Great Detectives Present Dragnet, host Adam Graham takes listeners on an engaging journey through the classic old-time radio episode titled "The Big Saint." Adam not only revisits the intricate plot of the episode but also offers insightful commentary, bridging the gap between the 1950s setting and today's audience.

Adam Graham [01:13]: "Welcome to the Great detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This is your host, Adam Graham."

Episode Overview: "The Big Saint"

Set against the backdrop of Los Angeles in 1951, "The Big Saint" revolves around Joe Friday, a dedicated detective sergeant, and his partner Ben Romero. Assigned to the auto theft detail, they confront a perplexing case: a significant drop in auto theft recoveries, particularly involving late-model General Motors (GM) cars.

Joe Friday [00:00]: "Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still?"

Investigative Process

Identifying the Anomaly

Captain Stilson briefs Friday and Romero about the declining recovery rates, pointing out that GM cars—Cadillacs, Pontiacs, Chevys, and Oldsmobiles—are predominantly targeted. The detectives delve into salvage reports and identify Herman Salvage, located at 2716 West San Pedro, as a significant player dealing heavily in GM vehicles.

Captain Stilson [04:37]: "In general, it appears that all the outstanding thefts are GM cars... Low mileage cars."

Interrogation and Surveillance

Upon visiting Herman Salvage, Friday and Romero engage Herman Lester, the owner, noting inconsistencies in his dealings. They inspect the salvage yard, meticulously checking the listed stolen GM cars. Despite Lester's cooperative demeanor, subtle discrepancies begin to surface.

Herman Lester [08:08]: "We kind of built up a reputation specializing in GM used parts."

Uncovering Deception

The detectives discover that Lester has been selling rebuilt GM cars without proper documentation. A pivotal moment occurs when they inspect a 1949 Cadillac engine at Jake's Used Car Lot, revealing mismatched serial numbers between the engine and the body—indicating that Lester was substituting stolen engines into different car bodies.

Ben Romero [19:10]: "Body serial doesn't match. Doesn't correspond with the engine model."

Resolution: Arrest and Conviction

The culmination of Friday and Romero's investigation leads them to Lester's residence in the secluded Laurel Canyon district. In a dramatic confrontation, they arrest him, presenting evidence of his elaborate scheme to profit from stolen GM vehicles by manipulating salvage processes.

Joe Friday [27:04]: "That was a stolen car, Lester, and you know it."

Herman Lester is subsequently tried and convicted on multiple counts of grand theft auto and grand theft money, underscoring the effectiveness and meticulousness of the Los Angeles Police Department's approach to combating organized auto theft rings.

Narrator [27:50]: "Herman W. Lester was tried and convicted on three counts of grand theft auto and two counts of grand theft money."

Host’s Commentary

Adam Graham reflects on the episode's unique elements, highlighting its departure from the more typical violent confrontations often portrayed in the series. He appreciates the technical sound effects, particularly the realistic engine sounds that enhance the immersive experience.

Adam Graham [29:00]: "From a technical standpoint, I love the sound effects work on that engine at the junkyard."

Graham also delves into the real-life locations featured in the episode, such as Laurel Canyon, drawing parallels between the 1951 setting and its contemporary state. He muses on the neighborhood's enduring charm and historical significance within the entertainment industry.

Adam Graham [29:10]: "It's still a very nice and quiet neighborhood, but with a lot of history in the entertainment industry."

Conclusion

"The Big Saint" stands out as a compelling installment in the Dragnet series, blending authentic policing procedures with a gripping narrative. Adam Graham's insightful analysis not only honors the original material but also makes it accessible and relevant to modern listeners. For aficionados of classic radio dramas and aspiring detectives alike, this episode offers both entertainment and valuable lessons in investigative techniques.

Adam Graham [29:00]: "Dragnet will return a week from next Thursday. Coming in two weeks... the Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio one week from Sunday."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Joe Friday [00:00]: "Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still?"

• Captain Stilson [04:37]: "In general, it appears that all the outstanding thefts are GM cars... Low mileage cars."

• Herman Lester [08:08]: "We kind of built up a reputation specializing in GM used parts."

• Ben Romero [19:10]: "Body serial doesn't match. Doesn't correspond with the engine model."

• Joe Friday [27:04]: "That was a stolen car, Lester, and you know it."

• Adam Graham [29:00]: "From a technical standpoint, I love the sound effects work on that engine at the junkyard."

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Final Thoughts by Adam Graham

Adam concludes by expressing appreciation for the episode's depth and the cleverness of its narrative structure. He encourages listeners to explore the rich history of Dragnet and stay tuned for upcoming episodes, promising more detective stories and classic radio adventures.

Adam Graham [29:00]: "For me, it's probably as close as I'll get to living in LA. Now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day..."

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This detailed summary aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the "The Big Saint" episode, capturing its essence and the investigative prowess of its characters, while also reflecting on the host's personal insights and appreciations.

Transcript

[Joe Friday]

Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still?

[McDonald's Jingle]

Bada ba ba ba.

[Riverbend Motel Announcer]

Riverbend Motel and Spray salutes America's armed forces and all of our military veterans for the sacrifices they've made. Our troops are our angels of freedom and our wings of protection fighting to defend our country. So please honor our warriors for their dedication and bravery, as well as our veterans and those who have given their lives in the line of duty because they are America's true heroes. A message from Riverbend Motel in Spray. That's Riverbend Motel in Spray.

[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, to 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 by mailing a donation to Adam Graham, P.O. box 15913. That's P.O. box 15913, Boise, Idaho, 83715. And you can become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as $2 per month. And I want to welcome our latest Patreon supporter, Jerry, supporting the podcast at the chief of detectives level of $30 or more per month. Thank you so much for your support, Jerry. Really appreciate it. And now, from April 26, 1951, here is the Big Saint.

[Narrator]

The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to auto theft detail. A well organized ring of car thieves begins operations in your city. It's one of the most puzzling cases you've ever encountered. Your job.

[Joe Friday]

Break it.

[Narrator]

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 Monday, May 11. It was fair in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of auto theft detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Stilson. My name's Friday was 8:35am when I got to room 40. Auto Theft Division Captain's office.

[Captain Stilson]

Morning.

[Ben Romero]

Friday morning. Hi, Jill.

[Joe Friday]

Ben, wanna sit down? Thank you.

[Captain Stilson]

I Was just telling Romero here I'm briefing all the men in the bureau on this thing. That's the reason I called you two in.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah, I got some figures here I want to go over with you. All right.

[Captain Stilson]

As you know, the percentage of all auto theft recoveries is 96 to 98% on the average. That's normally.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah.

[Captain Stilson]

In checking the monthly averages, the past four months that percentage has dropped to the low 80s.

[Ben Romero]

Quite a drop.

[Captain Stilson]

Corner pocket thinks so too. They want some action on it.

[Joe Friday]

Well, we've been working on it.

[Ben Romero]

Absolutely no pattern to the thefts. Time, location. The method makes it impossible to stake out on it.

[Captain Stilson]

Yeah, those are some of the reasons our percentage is taking such a dive. I know the problems, we all do. But we gotta break this thing soon.

[Joe Friday]

Well, it figures. We're dealing with a well organized bunch. They know what they're doing.

[Captain Stilson]

Cross checking all the reports. It seems to boil down to this. In general, it appears that all the outstanding thefts are GM cars. Cads, Pontiacs, Chevys, Oldsmobiles, all late models. All seem to be in good condition. Low mileage cars.

[Joe Friday]

Well, in addition to the regular broadcast and teletypes, we got out a special bullet. Non instantly.

[Captain Stilson]

That's right. All the thefts were listed. License, make, model and color. Been sent to all major cities and border patrol stations. Nothing so far.

[Ben Romero]

I was checking through the salvage reports. Salvage buys? Do you have the last two months? Escape from March and April?

[Captain Stilson]

Yeah, right here. I noticed the same thing. That outfit down on San Pedro Street.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah, let me see. Oh, yeah. This is a composite on the report for the past two months.

[Joe Friday]

That's right.

[Ben Romero]

This one here, Herman Salvage. 2716 West San Pedro. They seem to deal a little heavy on General Motors cars, don't they?

[Captain Stilson]

Yeah, they do. I've been watching the buys on this place for the past few weeks now. Wanted to make sure it wasn't coincidence.

[Joe Friday]

Well, looks like a good place to run down anyway.

[Captain Stilson]

You two want to check it out?

[Joe Friday]

All right, fine. 2716 West San Pedro.

[Ben Romero]

That's it. Outfit appears to be okay.

[Captain Stilson]

Never been out of line.

[Ben Romero]

Seems funny they should deal with the top avian GM cars, doesn't it?

[Captain Stilson]

Right when our recovery percentage takes a dive. Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Do you have the last salvage report there, Captain? Yeah, the last one.

[Ben Romero]

Here you are. Thank you. Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Here's one for Herman's. 1949 Cadillac. A little further down Herman's again. 47 Olds. You know, there's five GM buys on the list. Herman got four out of five of them.

[Captain Stilson]

Let's Find out why.

[Joe Friday]

From the time an automobile is first manufactured and sold, a constant and complete record is maintained on that automobile. His certificate of ownership, the pink slip in the state of California. His certificate of registration, the white slip. These two slips of paper contain the information necessary for the positive identification of your car. Fact that every motorist knows. There are many agencies that work for the protection and security of your automobile. One of these is the National Auto Theft Bureau, a kind of nationwide clearinghouse. Acting upon information supplied by the various insurance companies and other allied agencies. This bureau forwards all facts and figures concerning the disposition of motor vehicles on a nationwide basis. Reports are made available to all law enforcement agencies. One of the pieces of information put out by the National Auto Theft Bureau is the salvage report listing all sales and purchases of automobiles that for one reason or another may have been relegated to the junkyard or to the salvage company. A fact that many motorists may not know. 9:14am Ben and I checked through the police commission and found that the owner of Herman Salvage was a Herman Lester. He had been in business at the same location for six years and appeared to be a reputable businessman. We drove down to 2716 West San Pedro to check it out. It was an average looking garage with a connecting salvage yard filled with several hundred smashed up cars of all makes and models. It was 9:32am when we walked into the garage.

[Ben Romero]

There's a fellow there in a white shirt.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, I see him.

[Herman Lester]

Can I help you gentlemen?

[Ben Romero]

Yes, sir. Police officers. Auto theft detail.

[Herman Lester]

Oh, yes. I don't believe I know you fellas. My name's Lester.

[Ben Romero]

This is Sergeant Friday. My name's Romero.

[Herman Lester]

How do you do? How are you?

[Joe Friday]

Are you the owner here?

[Herman Lester]

Yeah, that's right. Whatever happened to Mac and Donovan? Used to drop in once, twice a month. Haven't seen him for two, three weeks now.

[Joe Friday]

Well, they're a little busy on a special assignment.

[Herman Lester]

Oh, I see.

[Joe Friday]

Bart, if we look around here?

[Herman Lester]

Oh, you bet. Make yourselves right at home. Anything special?

[Ben Romero]

No, just looking. Okay.

[Joe Friday]

Notice you've been pretty busy, huh?

[Herman Lester]

Yeah, had a pretty good month. Salvage rackets gonna get sour again. Looks like with the Korean War and all the cutbacks.

[Joe Friday]

Doesn't seem to have hit you so far.

[Herman Lester]

Well, no, not so far. Looks like it may tighten up anytime.

[Ben Romero]

I noticed from our salvage report. You've been doing a big business in GM merchandise.

[Herman Lester]

Yeah, we have. You know, they're starting to build tanks back there now. We wanted to make sure we wouldn't run short on parts.

[Joe Friday]

You get a lot of call for GM parts, do you?

[Herman Lester]

Oh, yeah, we sure do. Everybody in town knows if they need something for a Caddy or a Buick or any of those cars, this the place to come. We kind of built up a reputation specializing in GM used parts.

[Joe Friday]

I see.

[Ben Romero]

Mind if we check your last few buys?

[Herman Lester]

Fine.

[Ben Romero]

You have 49 Cadillac, 47 Old Pontiac, 481949 Chevrolet. Wonder if we might see those.

[Herman Lester]

Yes, sir. Right out in the yard back this way. All four of them are really bent up bad shape. Just breaks your heart to see beautiful merchandise like that all smashed up. I don't know what people are thinking of the way they drive. Yeah, you take a new Caddy, one of those new convertibles, really beautiful merchandise. Somebody takes one out, rolls it, we pick it up and tow it down here. Beautiful car like that all rolled up in a ball.

[Ben Romero]

Georgia Street Receiving Hospital probably picked up the rain.

[Herman Lester]

Yeah, I'm really ashamed. Here we go. There's your Caddy.

[Ben Romero]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Let's see.

[Herman Lester]

The Olds and the Pontiac are in that row there. You see him?

[Captain Stilson]

Yeah.

[Herman Lester]

And that Chevrolet, wasn't it?

[Joe Friday]

Yes, sir. 1949.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Herman Lester]

There she is over there. Third car down.

[Ben Romero]

Maroon.

[Joe Friday]

Maroon one? Yeah. Down there.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah.

[Herman Lester]

Looks like a graveyard, doesn't it?

[Ben Romero]

Sure does. What do you do with all these cars? Strip them down for parts?

[Herman Lester]

Well, at least the four you're checking now. Yeah, they're all total wrecks. Nothing much can be done with them except for parts.

[Joe Friday]

How about that Cadillac down there? The sedan? That one over there? Can't you fix that one up? That doesn't look beyond repair from here.

[Ben Romero]

Oh.

[Herman Lester]

Step around the other side here. You can't see from where you're standing here. The right side's all stove in. By the time you figure replacing those side panel and fenders trim, we couldn't come out on it.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, I see now. Well, I don't know too much about it, but it'll look good from over there.

[Herman Lester]

Yeah, that's what we get all the time. People want us to pay top prices for stuff we can't get our money out of.

[McDonald's Jingle]

If we could repair them, fix them.

[Herman Lester]

Up and resell them as a complete automobile, it'd be a lot of money.

[Ben Romero]

In this business, you do that with some of them?

[Herman Lester]

Oh, very few of them, I'll tell you.

[Ben Romero]

That's what we look for, but we.

[Herman Lester]

Don'T always get lucky.

[Joe Friday]

I see.

[Ben Romero]

Say, how'd you boys like to see.

[Herman Lester]

Some really beautiful merchandise?

[Ben Romero]

What's that?

[Herman Lester]

Well, come on back in the shop.

[Ben Romero]

All right.

[Herman Lester]

Kind of a hobby of mine. Here's what keeps us busy. Plates and pink slips on the way up to Sacramento for cancellation. Yeah. Over this way. Here we are. Take a look at this baby.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. A hot rod, huh?

[Herman Lester]

No, not exactly. We don't go in for that kid stuff racing around town.

[Joe Friday]

Well, sure looks like one.

[Herman Lester]

Yeah, but it's a little better than most of the kids can throw together.

[Ben Romero]

What'll it do?

[Herman Lester]

We clocked her up at Muroc at 112 last weekend. You know, they've been coming in here from all over town to see this car.

[Joe Friday]

That so?

[Herman Lester]

Yeah. You ever get up to Muroc Dry Lake?

[Joe Friday]

No, I never do. But that's the place for it, running around town. And those things can cause a lot of accidents.

[Herman Lester]

Those drag races the kids have. Yeah, we don't go in for that stuff. This is strictly scientific as far as I'm concerned. I like to build them up. See, we can make them do.

[Ben Romero]

Cost a lot of money, don't they?

[Herman Lester]

Got $5,400 in this one right now I'm putting more into it. Mallory, ignition, milled heads. Quinn, Wakefields. Here, let me start it up for you.

[Ben Romero]

Okay.

[Herman Lester]

120 horses under there.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, sounds good.

[Herman Lester]

Listen at that. Beautiful, isn't it? Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

A lot of power here. Go in.

[Herman Lester]

Gotta see it up at the lakes. He really goes alben.

[Ben Romero]

This all made up out of salvage cars.

[Herman Lester]

Every bit of it. Buy a few things new, but most of it's right out of wrecks like those outside.

[Joe Friday]

There takes a lot of talent to build up something like this from scrap, doesn't it?

[Herman Lester]

No, not really. After you've been at it long as I have, it's not too tough. The trick is to get more speed out of them. Anyone else can.

[Ben Romero]

You did a good job on this car, huh?

[Herman Lester]

Well, if you put your mind to it. You can do a lot with a wrecked car.

[Joe Friday]

Before we left Herman's Salvage, we checked all four of the GM cars that were listed on the salvage report. We made a careful check on all of the cars in the yard and in the garage, Paying special attention to the few cars that were in the process of being rebuilt by Herman Lester's mechanics. We went over his records, carefully, checking the disposition of all of his buys for the past several months. Everything was in perfect order. We found that in the past three weeks, Lester had taken in 10 cars. Eight of them had been stripped down for parts. And two of them had been rebuilt and resold. The investigation showed that four of those cars were GM cars. And the two that were resold were both General Motors. 11:28am Ben and I drove back to the office and asked Mac and Donovan if they'd check through the two resold to make sure everything was in order. As the reports indicated. We checked through on the remaining eight cars that were listed by Herman Lester as broken down for parts. According to dmv, all plates and pink slips had been returned to them for cancellation.

[Ben Romero]

11:50Am well, that's it, Joe. Yeah. Eight of the cars check out. Two of those were GMs. Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Well, that leaves just the two that Mac and Donovan are checking, huh?

[Ben Romero]

Now, everything down there looked all right. Succinct. Lester wasn't holding back anything. As far as I could tell. It's cooperative. Everything in order.

[Joe Friday]

If those two that Mac and Donovan are working on check out, I gotta.

[Ben Romero]

I'd say. Well, seems to me Lester told us everything. Everything we asked him. Anyway. I don't think he ought back if he did.

[Joe Friday]

I got an idea who might be able to tell us. Somebody's been left out in the cold here.

[Ben Romero]

What are you getting at?

[Joe Friday]

Well, now, if Herman's been able to buy up all those GM cars, what are the other salvage dealers been doing about him?

[Ben Romero]

Thanks. A thought.

[Joe Friday]

Let's check his competition. 12:40pm we drove back down to West San Pedro Street. We picked out a group of salvage companies in the immediate neighborhood close to Herman's. 3209 West San Pedro John's Wrecking Yard. We introduced ourselves and started to talk with the owner, a John Bacon. A routine check was made of his establishment and as far as we could tell, everything appeared to be okay.

[Ben Romero]

And that's all you made, huh? Just that one buy?

[McDonald's Jingle]

That's it. 1946 Ford. We're dying a slow death.

[Joe Friday]

Business pretty bad, huh?

[McDonald's Jingle]

Never seen it worse, at least as far as we're concerned.

[Ben Romero]

How do you account for that, Mr. Bacon?

[McDonald's Jingle]

Oh, everything, I guess. Business bad all over at the moment. Scrap metal situations in a state of flux at the present time.

[Ben Romero]

In looking around, Mr. Bacon, we noticed you don't have much in the way of General Motors does. Is that because of GM going into war production? Any cutback would eventually affect you, wouldn't it?

[McDonald's Jingle]

No, no, not at all.

[Narrator]

Cutback wood, sure.

[McDonald's Jingle]

But there's no tremendous curtailment right at the present time. They're still turning out a lot of automobiles back there.

[Joe Friday]

Well, then what's your problem?

[McDonald's Jingle]

We're being outbid right up and down the line by the same outfit.

[Ben Romero]

Who's that?

[McDonald's Jingle]

Company by the name of Herman Salvage, just up the street there. Go out to buy a piece of merchandise. Their boys just won't let us get near it.

[Ben Romero]

They pay more than you do, huh?

[McDonald's Jingle]

More than we can, Sergeant. I honestly don't see how they're coming out on some of their deals.

[Joe Friday]

It's that much out of line, huh?

[McDonald's Jingle]

Certainly is. You know, whenever there's anything available, all the salvage companies get their bid in. Well, Herman simply outbids all of us.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, it makes it kind of rough.

[McDonald's Jingle]

I'm not the only one. Pete Larkin up the street. Old man hurt. Henry next door. All of us. I don't know what we can do about it. Herman seems to be doing all right. No matter what he pays for his cars.

[Ben Romero]

Mm.

[McDonald's Jingle]

None of us can figure it out. Just judge him from the number of cars he outbids us on and the number he rebuilds. I just can't see how he's coming out.

[Ben Romero]

But he is. Yeah.

[McDonald's Jingle]

Figure he's laying odds on a big shortage. That's what all of us think.

[Joe Friday]

He's laying in a stockpile. Is that the idea?

[Ben Romero]

Sure.

[McDonald's Jingle]

What else could it be?

[Joe Friday]

We continued our check on all salvage dealers, both in the neighborhood of Herman Lester's place and throughout the city. It seemed to be a fact well known to most dealers that Herman was outbidding all of them on any and all GM automobiles. The only possible explanation was that he must be trying to lay in a large stockpile of this particular make of car. 3:35pm we received word from Sergeants Mack and Donovan that they had checked out the two remaining cars listed in Herman's books. The resales. Ben was right. They checked out with no discrepancy. During the next 10 days, the investigation continued. The theft of late model GM cars continued with few recoveries. Suspects were arrested in question. We could find no connection that might lead us to an organized ring of car thieves that might be responsible for the lack of GM car recoveries. The salvage reports showed no change in Herman's buying technique. Apparently, he was still dealing heavy on the one particular make of car. Thursday, May 25, we received a teletype from DMV listing all the salvage by transfers. In making our usual daily check of this teletype, we noticed a 1949 case. Cadillac engine number 598-77-4415. It had been resold from salvage to a used car lot.

[Ben Romero]

That's the place right up the block.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, I see.

[Ben Romero]

Same kid we saw in Herman Salvage Yard.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. It's funny, isn't it? The one in Particular that I asked him about. You remember?

[Ben Romero]

Yeah, I remember. You thought it could be fixed up. He said no.

[Joe Friday]

It's only been a little over two weeks ago, hadn't it?

[Ben Romero]

Yeah, I try.

[Joe Friday]

Well, still doesn't prove anything.

[Ben Romero]

Here we are. Jake's. This is the place.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. There's a CAD in the front line right down there, huh?

[Ben Romero]

Mm. I don't see anyone around, do you? No, I don't.

[Joe Friday]

Well, I guess it's hard to check the engine number anyway. Yeah.

[Ben Romero]

I'll get the hood release. Right.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. There we go.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Engines had a good steam cleaning. Let's see. 5, 9, 8, 7, 7, 4, 1 5.

[Ben Romero]

That's it. Herman sure did a nice job on it, didn't he? Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Almost looks too good, doesn't it?

[Ben Romero]

Just a minute.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah.

[Ben Romero]

Body serial doesn't match. Doesn't correspond with the engine model.

[Joe Friday]

It's a 49 body. Could be a late 49, but it's a definite switch, isn't it?

[Ben Romero]

Sure is. That's funny.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah. Look at this right side here. This was the bad side, wasn't it?

[Ben Romero]

Yeah, that's right.

[Joe Friday]

Does it look like it's been rolled out to you?

[Ben Romero]

No. It's no feathering. No orange peel. Either. That's the best repaint job I've ever seen. Or it's never been in an accident.

[Joe Friday]

I'll take a look underneath.

[Adam Graham]

Okay.

[Joe Friday]

Wanna move your feet there?

[Ben Romero]

Yeah.

[Herman Lester]

All right.

[Ben Romero]

Anything?

[Joe Friday]

No, nothing. There's not a seam or a joint under there. No welding marks of any kind. Car's never been in a smash up.

[Ben Romero]

The engine number checks. The body doesn't.

[Joe Friday]

And this is the one Herman couldn't fix up.

[Ben Romero]

That's what he said. Maybe he changed his mind.

[Joe Friday]

Or he lied.

[Narrator]

You are listening to Dragnet from beginning to end. Dragnet is the authentic story of your police force in action.

[Joe Friday]

1949. Cadillac engine number 598-77-4415. In checking out this automobile, Ben and I had found that the engine number corresponded with the salvage report concerning Herman Lester's place. The one big item that did not jibe was the fact that the engine was now mounted in a different body than when the car left the factory. A fact that had to be accounted for in complete detail. When we had checked this automobile on 11 May at Herman Salvage Yard. Both engine and body numbers corresponded. In taking a close look at the car, it was obvious that the body had not been repaired in any way. It was clear that this particular car had not been in any kind of collision. We went back to the rear of the lot and asked one of the salesmen not to sell the car without informing us. When we got back to the office, we started rechecking all of the auto theft reports. We found five stolen Cadillacs, but all the body styles and models were different, with the exception of one. A 1949 Cadillac sedan reported stolen on May 14. It was registered in the name of William Brownell. We checked his home and found that he was at work. He was a superintendent for the North American Van Lines. We drove over and picked him up and took him to Jake's Used Car Lot on Vermont Avenue.

[Ben Romero]

This is the car, Mr. Brownell. Well, it's just like mine, but I don't think it's the one.

[Joe Friday]

Are you sure?

[Ben Romero]

For one thing, it's a different color. My car was maroon.

[Joe Friday]

You want to step over here, Mr. Brownell?

[Ben Romero]

Sure.

[Joe Friday]

Now, if you'll look very closely here on the door edging and on the jam.

[Ben Romero]

Right here.

[Joe Friday]

See, this is the one place sometimes they miss with a spray gun if they're going to repaint.

[McDonald's Jingle]

Oh, yeah.

[Ben Romero]

There's a faint trace of red under the blue paint there. Looks like it could be maroon, doesn't it?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah.

[Ben Romero]

Does it? This car's been repainted. It was maroon. Well, mine didn't have these kind of seat covers. Let's see. Same kind of upholstery I had, though, underneath here. I don't know, Mr. Brownell. There must be something other than the color in the upholstery that you'd know your own car by. Never gave it much thought.

[Joe Friday]

Well, there's usually some little identifying mark of some kind. I know that on my car. The lens on the right headlight got broken, and I had to replace it with one that didn't match.

[Ben Romero]

Something like that, sir?

[Joe Friday]

Let me see.

[Ben Romero]

Could I look inside there a minute? Right here under the speedometer. There was a thumbprint pressed in at the factory. It's pretty deep. No, it's not there.

[Joe Friday]

Now, don't forget that the car's been repainted. Might have been covered up.

[Ben Romero]

No, this was cleared out of the metal. Apparently when they were installing the instruments at the factory. The panel wasn't dry yet. Not there now. And they couldn't have covered it up unless they made a special point of it.

[Joe Friday]

Well, sometimes that's done. Car thieves are kind of clever.

[Ben Romero]

I'm sorry, gentlemen. I don't think this is my car. Don't think I don't wish it was, but it's not. Can you think of just one other thing? Maybe Just one mark of identification is all we need. No, even these tires aren't mine. I had white sidewalls. Could have been switched. They were pretty new. Wait a minute. I think I remember something.

[Herman Lester]

No, there's no rip up there.

[Joe Friday]

What's that, sir?

[Ben Romero]

I just thought of something. The boys down at the office gave me a St. Christopher medal.

[Joe Friday]

You know, the large metal kind you're.

[Ben Romero]

Supposed to bolt to your dashboard?

[Joe Friday]

Yes, sir.

[Ben Romero]

I didn't want to put it on, so I carried it around with me in the car. There was a rip up there in the inner lining of the top. But you see, there's no rip in this. Let me see. How about it, Ben?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah, I can feel it.

[Joe Friday]

Does it feel like a metal.

[Ben Romero]

Get my pocket knife on it.

[Joe Friday]

Okay.

[Ben Romero]

What do you think they replaced the cloth up there? I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Here it is.

[Joe Friday]

This it, Mr. Brown?

[Ben Romero]

O. That's it. Look on the back there. My name's engraved on it. See?

[Joe Friday]

Yes, sir.

[Ben Romero]

Well, I sure didn't think this was my car. I never would have known it.

[Joe Friday]

That's what the guys figured. Who stole it? The 1949 Cadillac was taken to the police garage and a complete and thorough check was made. The car, with the exception of the engine. Engine was positively identified as the property of William Brownell. This definitely implicated Herman Lester and showed his salvage operations to be illegitimate. He had obviously been buying one particular make of salvage automobile, outbidding all his competitors to do so. When he would buy a piece of wrecked equipment, an exact duplicate would be stolen to match it. He would then dispose of the engine from the stolen vehicle and replace it with a salvage engine. With this system of operation, Herman Salvage Administration been enjoying a lucrative business which accounted for a great percentage of the stolen cars that we hadn't been able to recover. 7:25pm May 25, we drove out to pick up Herman Lesker. His home address was listed as 8625 Wonderland Drive. It was up in the Laurel Canyon district, a heavily wooded section of Los Angeles.

[Ben Romero]

Pretty nice place up in there.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, what you can see of it through the trees now. Let's go.

[Ben Romero]

Mm. Look at that, Joe. Looks like a 50. Old everything there but the engine. No plates.

[Joe Friday]

I didn't notice that from the street, did you?

[Ben Romero]

Never could have seen it from down there.

[Joe Friday]

Looks like a garage back up in there, doesn't it?

[Ben Romero]

Perfect spot. Can't see any of this from the street with all those trees. Pretty fancy layout for a home garage. Good size.

[Joe Friday]

Somebody's working up in there.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah.

[Joe Friday]

Come on.

[Herman Lester]

Hi there. Brings you fellas right up here.

[Joe Friday]

Wanna have a little talk with you.

[Ben Romero]

Oh, you bet. Come on in the house.

[Herman Lester]

Have a cold beer, huh?

[Joe Friday]

No, this'll be all right.

[Ben Romero]

Joe, you got a hot sheet? Yeah, right here.

[Herman Lester]

Kind of caught me by surprise here, working out in the garage.

[Ben Romero]

Yeah, that figures. Lester, these plates are from a stolen car. You sure that's right?

[Joe Friday]

You remember a 49 Cadillac we looked at down at your place a couple of weeks ago?

[Ben Romero]

I'm not sure.

[Herman Lester]

49 cat.

[Joe Friday]

That's right. Whatever became of that car?

[Herman Lester]

Oh, now I remember. Yeah, I sold that car to Jake's over in Vermont.

[Ben Romero]

Thought you told us you couldn't fix it up. I don't remember.

[Herman Lester]

You sure you don't mean some other car now?

[Joe Friday]

No, it's the same one. You know, the one we mean. How about it?

[Herman Lester]

How about what?

[Ben Romero]

That was a stolen car, Lester, and you know it. That's a stolen car out there in the yard, isn't it?

[Joe Friday]

Watch that hoist, Ben. There he goes, Joe. All right, Lester, hold it. All right, now, come on. Stop it, Lester. Drop the hammer. All right.

[Ben Romero]

I'll get the cuffs, Joe.

[Joe Friday]

Come on, get up on your feet.

[Ben Romero]

All right, come on. On your feet.

[Joe Friday]

Stand still.

[Ben Romero]

Rough one, huh? Yeah. Come on, Lester, let's go.

[Herman Lester]

How'd you find out Who?

[Ben Romero]

Who tipped you off?

[Joe Friday]

St. Christopher.

[Narrator]

The story you just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.

On August 15, trial was held in Superior Court Department 82, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. Herman W. Lester was tried and convicted on three counts of grand theft auto and two counts of grand theft money. All sentences to run consecutively. Grand theft auto is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 1 to 5 years. Grand theft money by a term of 1 to 10 years. The suspect was also filed on by federal authorities for violation of the dire act. 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.

But watch your Dragnet portions transcribed from Los Angeles. Stay tuned for counterspy next over many NBC stations.

[Adam Graham]

Welcome back. This is a reason I love revisiting Dragnet. Now, there are those episodes which are all time great episodes that you know, you remember. But then there are those quirky, interesting programs that you kind of forget because there were more than 300 original broadcasts of Dragnet. And this is one of those. And there's so much I like about this. We Get a different type of crime in this sort of auto theft mixing with junkyard. And there are some really interesting details in the investigation and how they solve this. I also want to say, from a technical standpoint, I love the sound effects work on that engine at the junkyard. They must have brought in a special engine or special piece of equipment to record that and make that come alive through the sound effect. Probably not quite the same as a car engine of the same sort, because I have to imagine that it would have been way too loud to even hear any of the dialogue or to sound good over radio. This one was surprising too, because of all the episodes to end with a suspect violently resisting, you would not have thought this one. But again, it shows that while violent confrontations and arrest are not nearly as typical as many other programs would lead you to believe, it still does happen. And it can happen unexpectedly because a lot of people just do not want to go to jail. And another nice thing about Dragnet is that because it uses real locations, it just adds another dimension to the series. I found myself curious about Laurel Canyon and the way, of course, it's described in 1951, and I was curious how it looks today. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's still a very nice and quiet neighborhood, but with a lot of history in the entertainment industry. And according to some of the articles I read, you still do see some wildlife in the neighborhood. While there have been a lot of developments of big, new, expensive homes, there's a lot of history with the entertainment industry and you still will find, you know, ramshackle cabins and Tudor homes up in that area. And I think actually if there were a place, I'm not. I'm not a person who dreams of moving to la, and I don't think that would be the best thing in the world for me. But if I had to move to la, I think I would want to move to the Laurel Canyon area because looking at the pictures reminded me of a lot of places and neighborhoods I seen around Idaho and very similar. I think probably the main difference is about 6 or $700,000 per house. Regardless, it was fun to look into and if you want to see some of the landscape, you can do a Google Images search. For me, it's probably as close as I'll get to living in la. Now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day and I want to go ahead and thank Laura patreon supporters since June 2020. Currently supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant level of $7.14 or more per month. Thank you so much for your support, Laura. And that will actually do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And if you're enjoying the podcast on YouTube, be sure to like the video and mark the notification bell. All those great things that help YouTube channels to grow. Dragnet will return a week from next Thursday. Coming in two weeks. We will be cross posting the series Cloak and Dagger from the new podcast series, the Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio. And you can hear the premiere of the Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio one week from Sunday. And we have a fantastic week of encore presentations for your listening pleasure. Ready to roll starting tomorrow. But from Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.