Ritual Representative (3:34)
Please drink responsibly. Captain Morgan Original Spice Rum, 35% alcohol by volume. Captain Morgan Rum Company New York, New York. The story you're about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to. In four months, 15 food markets in your city have been held up and robbed. The bandit is well dressed, well armed. Your job, stopping 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. It was Monday, February 12th. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives. My name's Friday. It was 9:48pm when we got to room 25A. Interrogation room. Have a chair, Mr. Potter. Yeah, thanks. Now, what is it that you want to tell us, sir? Well, you. Have a cigarette, please? Yeah. Here you are. Thanks. I'm a little nervous. It's never happened to me before. What's that? After I thought it over, I knew it wouldn't be any use to keep it up. I knew you'd find me. I don't think I quite follow you. I want to confess. That's why I came here. Yeah. I knew I was doing wrong. I just couldn't help myself. What have you done? I'm not trying to defend myself. I needed money, that's all. Wasn't anything else I could do. Well, we still don't know what you're talking about. Pollard. Been after me four months. Thought maybe you recognized me. From the description, some of the people must have seen me. Hmm. Those food market hold ups. You pulled those robberies by yourself? Yeah. 15 of them needed the money. Pollard. Is that your true name? That's right. Jeff Frank Pollard. You ever been arrested before? Drunk charge, that's all. I don't know why I went wrong, it just did. You ever done any big time? No. Why do you want to confess? I want to get it off my mind. I want to tell somebody. Everybody. Look, call in newspapers. I'll give them a whole story. I'll tell them everything. How many of those markets did you hold up, Polly? 15. You said you needed the money, is that right? Why? Personal reasons. Look, you got a light again? The smoke's out there. Yeah. Hey. Yeah? Yeah. Thanks. You used pretty much the same routine on all of the hold ups, is that right? Yeah. I only pull one job a week. Figured that was the safest way. Dressed pretty well, like a salesman. Always had a briefcase with me. Said what are you carrying the gun? Yeah. Always work too. I'd show up at closing time, get the manager in the back room, then pull the heist. What kind of a gun did you use? Service pistol. I had it from when I was in the army. How do you usually work it? Well, when I got the manager alone in the back office, I'd just pull a gun and I'd say, give me the money. All of it. They knew I wasn't fooling. They gimme the toe. You don't seem to fit the whole of man's description too closely. Did you wear a mask on those jobs? Sometimes I did, sometimes it didn't. How about the man who worked with you? Where's he? Wasn't anybody else. Just me. Worked him alone. That's why you cops were wrong. You thought there were two of us, didn't you? We thought so, yeah. Pulled every job by myself. That's where I crossed you up. I knew what I was doing. I didn't need any help. How about that market out in West 7th that you held up last night? Did you pull that one alone too? Yeah, sure. I always work alone. Guess I had you guys going, huh? Your story doesn't come very close. A man we're after doesn't use a service pistol. He never wears a mask either. What are you guys getting at? I told you I pulled those robberies. I ought to know how it happened. I used a service pistol. Did you use it in that robbery last night? The one out on West 7? Sure. I always use the same gun. Last night was no different. You're wasting time, mister. What do you mean? Look, I just want to confess. No, sir. There wasn't any robbery last night. On further questioning, the suspect, Frank Pollard, broke down and admitted his confession was a lie. He explained that he wanted the publicity to impress a girlfriend. We had him fingerprinted and delivered him to the Georgia Street Hospital. Detail was filed on and then removed to the psychopathic ward at the county hospital for further examination and treatment. Our four month old search for the Market Bandit went on. In the two weeks that followed, we tracked down more leads. They led nowhere. The real Market Bandit was still at large. On the night of February 25th, he hit again. This time at a supermarket out on Santa Monica Boulevard. We interviewed the manager, a Mr. Harry Talbot, in his small office at the rear of the store. I guess I should have known better. I got the bulletin you sent out on the guy. His description, everything. I just wasn't thinking, I guess. He came in the market just before closing time, is that right? Yeah, a couple of minutes after 8. Looked well dressed, had a briefcase under his arm. I fell for it like the rest of him. I thought he was a salesman. How about the man's Description, sir? About 5 foot 11, 170 pounds, I guess. Gray suit. It's the same description you have printed up in the paper. Was anyone else around when the man came in the door? One of my clerks, Everett Smiley. He saw him leave and get in a car right after the robbery. Was this clerk still around? We'd like to talk to him. Oh, he went down the street a minute. He'll be right back. Maybe that's him. Yeah. Mr. Talbot? You remember me, Mrs. Bolton? Oh, yes, ma'am. Like to ask you a favor, Mr. Talbot, as an old customer. I'm tied up right now, ma'am. Could I see you a little later on? I won't even come in, Mr. Talbot. You see, we're having our annual benefit whist party down at the community church. They were going to have it next Thursday, but I made them put it off another week so we could get some decent prizes. Oh, yes, ma'am. Of course, a lot of our people are good customers of the store here, so I knew you'd be willing to give something to the prize list. Oh, yeah. Shall I put you down for one of the door prizes? Maybe two or three market baskets full of canned corn, peas, things like that? Yeah, okay, Mrs. Bolton. I'll have ever fix them up tomorrow, of course. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Talbot. I'll have my boy Robert pick them up tomorrow. You'll have the baskets fixed up real nice, won't you? Yes, ma'am. I'll take care of it. Well, thank you again. Goodbye. Goodbye, ma'am. Goodbye, gentlemen. Bye, Mr. Talbot. I wonder if you could tell us what happened after you got back here in your office with the hold up man. Well, it happened pretty fast. He reached into the briefcase he was carrying like he was gonna get his order book, and he came up with this gun. He told me to open that safe there, but I stalled. I said I didn't know how. I see. And that's when he started telling me what he'd do to my family, my wife, if I didn't open the safe. He knew all about us. My address, my wife's name, my kids. He said he'd get them if I didn't do what I was told. Same MO Never failed him. What'd you do then? Tally? Money's not worth that much to me. I opened the safe and gave him everything. A little over $400. I still don't know how he got that information about my family. Do you have any suspicions at all? No. Nobody I can think of. How about the gun he had? Can you describe it? Well, just like you have it listed in that bulletin on him.38 revolver, blue steel, long barrel. Mm. Mr. Talbot? Come on in, Ev. Officers, this is my clerk, Everett Smiley. I'm sorry, I forgot your name. Friday and Romero, robbery detail. Hi. Hello. Hey, Mr. Talbot says that you saw the hold up man leaving the market. Is that right? Yeah, that's right. He walked right out of the store and down the street just like nothing happened. I didn't know anything was wrong till later. Did you notice if the men got in the car? Yeah, I did. Car was parked about halfway down the block. Another guy was driving. Motor was running. You catch the license number? No, but it was a brand new sedan. A Pontiac, I think. You shouldn't have much trouble finding it without a license number. Well, it's a brand new car. I remember the color. I couldn't forget that. Yeah, bright red, just like a fire engine. 90% of the time, color identification of a car means nothing. For one thing, a getaway car can be painted in a matter of a few hours. And for another, the color of a vehicle is not listed on the registration slip. It's impossible to check a car through DMV on color alone. But in this case, we figured that we had half an exception to the rule. The car used in the robbery was new, was painted a very distinctive color. We began an immediate canvass of automobile dealers throughout the city. After a day and a half of calling and checking, we found two dealers who had sold two new cars within recent weeks with fire engine red paint jobs. We Got the names and addresses of the purchasers and checked them out. One of them was a Ms. Mona Taylor, an ad taker for one of the daily morning papers. I'm sorry to bother you at your work, Ms. Taylor. Not at all. Worst of it's over for today. What is it you want to know? We understand that you bought a new Pontiac sedan about three weeks ago. Is that correct? Yes, I did. If this is about that parking ticket, why, I've already taken care of it. No, ma'am, that's not it. We'd just like to know if you still own that car. Well, I don't own it yet. I'm still paying on it. Colors are bright red, is that right? Yes, it is. Fire engine red. I like bright colors. Well, does anyone else besides yourself drive the car, Ms. Taylor? Well, yes, once in a while. I lend it to my boyfriend, Al. Al Daley. I've known him for a long time. Oh, excuse me. Classified ads, Ms. Taylor? Yes, sir. A two room apartment, unfurnished. All right. You got a smoke room, heat, view, Beverly Hill. $80. Okay. Yes, sir. Tomorrow morning's edition. Yes. $2.12 for two days. Could I have your name, address and telephone number? Thank you, sir. How about this friend of yours, Ms. Taylor, this Al Daly. How long have you been lending him your car? Since he got his new salesman's job. He has to make night calls on customers out in the Valley, so I let him have the car. Usually about once a week. When's the last time that he borrowed the car, miss? Two nights ago, from Mona Taylor. We got the address of her boyfriend, Al Daly. We located him in a rooming house on South Bovard Avenue. He admitted he borrowed the Taylor girl's car the night before, but he denied that he drove it anywhere in the vicinity of the robbery. How about your friend Jimmy Bray? I don't know. I loaned a car, that's all. He gave me 30 bucks. Well, that's an awful lot of rental money. Why did he need a car, Sevan? I don't know. Don't you ask him? Where's he staying? Bartlett Hotel. Nathan Flower. Mm. You going over to see him now? That's right. Why? Well, I thought if you were going over there, you wouldn't mind taking this with you. He left it in the car when he brought it back. His briefcase. Avalanche. What's the matter? It's all a fuss about a briefcase. Yeah. What is it? Let's see. All right. You got an answer for that Daily? Sure. A funny place to keep a gun. We took Al Daly downtown where he was held for questioning. We had a stakeout placed on his rooming house. We had both Daley and Bray checked through R and I. No criminal record. The briefcase and the.38 revolver were booked as evidence with the property clerk. There was no record or prints on the gun. The Taylor girl's car was impounded to be checked for fingerprints. 7:00pm we drove out to the Bartlett Hotel on Ethan Flower. The room clerk confirmed the fact that Jimmy Bray was a registered guest at the hotel. You want to call the office, Joe? Yeah, all right, I'll do it. You got change? Yeah, I think I have. Yeah. Okay. City Hall. 2511. 2511. Robbery. Powers, Joe. Friday. John. We're out at Bray's hotel. We're gonna stake it out. He's not in yet. Yeah, that's what I figured. What do you mean? Market out on 12th street was held up a minute ago. Yeah. Bandit carried briefcase. You are listening to Dragnet. Authentic stories of your police force in action. 11:30pm after checking Bray's room and finding nothing, Ben and I remained on stakeout at the Bartlett Hotel. The suspect failed to show up at midnight. Young and Mackenzie came out and relieved us. We drove back to the office and got the particulars on the holdup of the 12th Street Market. The MO was almost exactly the same as in the other 16 robberies. The victim's description of the hold up man matched perfectly with Bray's. By noon the next day, the suspect still had not returned to his hotel. An intensive canvas of the immediate neighborhood around the Bartlett Hotel netted us nothing. Nobody remembered Bray. We checked the bars and restaurants he was known to patronize. No one had any idea where he might be. Details at the airport, railroad stations and bus terminals were alerted. We got out a supplementary description on our original apb. The sheriff's office was kept advised. Two days passed. Still no sign. We questioned and re questioned Al Daley. Either he couldn't or he wouldn't add anything to what he'd already told us about Bray. A series of stakeouts were placed at food markets in areas where Bray had staged robberies previously. A composite picture of the suspect was made up and given wide distribution throughout the city. It all went for nothing. The following Tuesday, March 4, Bray robbed a neighborhood market in Highland park of $150. I had to give him the money, Sergeant. He threatened my wife and kids. Said he'd see something happen to them if I didn't open the safe. Did you say he wore gloves, sir? That's right. I thought it didn't jibe at first. A salesman wearing gloves like that didn't think about it till it was too late. Did you notice if he was on foot or did he get away in the car? He had a car all right, parked down the street there. Saw it through the window. Another fellow was at the wheel. Did you notice anything else about the car? The license number maybe? No, I couldn't see that. But it was a coupe, I'm sure of that. Yeah, it was red. Bright red. There was one angle we couldn't figure. If Bray was bent on a steady career of robbery, why did he use an escape car painted the most conspicuous color possible? We checked out Mona Taylor's car again. There was no connection. The search went on two weeks, three weeks, another month. Bray kept to his usual schedule. One robbery a week. The legwork went on, too. On March 20, we got a call from one of Ben's informants. He told us that he'd seen a man answering Bray's description in the Venice park amusement area down by the beach. We drove down to Venice to check it out. Pretty good crowd for a cold night. Yeah. Where do we find this friend of yours? See where the merry go round? Near his upper hand? Yeah, just beyond that. He runs one of the booths you throw baseballs at phony milk bottles. Three chances for a dime, you know. Oh, yeah. He and his wife running. They've been out here for years. I don't know how they ever make a living, eh? Hey, those hot dogs smell good, don't they? Is that your friend's booth across the way there? Yeah. Yeah. Come on, fellas. Show the girls how you can throw a baseball. Fill them out. How about we'll let the girls have a free throw? Step up, Winter cl. Looks like Maud's running the place tonight. Maud? That's his wife. Oh, yeah. How you doing, Sergeant? Cold night, huh? Hi, Matt. This is my partner, Joe Friday. How are you? Glad to know you, Joe. Guess you're looking for Scooter, huh? Yeah. Is he around? Just down the way, Sarge. Hey, how about sail or try you luck? One spin, dime, spill the milk. Pretty good crowd tonight, Maude. Oh, yeah, but they're not spending. Hasn't been good at all lately. Where'd you say your husband was, ma'am? Just down the way. Old man Hudson's out to chow. Scooter runs America around for him while he eats now. Thank you, Maud. We'll drop back and see you before we leave. Right. Glad to. Glad to met you, Joe. Yeah. Glad I met you. Goodbye. What do you say girls? Half the boys show you how good they can throw them out? How about it, Scooter? Is that what you said? Is that the guy's name? Yeah, that's right. He used to run the Scooter Drum. You know the little electric cars you drive around. Bumpers all around. Yeah, yeah. There he is. Scooter. Hey, Scooter. Serge. You been waiting for your lap? Yeah, go ahead, Joe. Okay. How you doing, Sarge? Good to see you. Scooter. My partner, Joe Friday. How are you? Yeah, glad to know you, Joe. I guess we can talk here as well as any place, huh? Sure. What's the story, Scooter? It's like I told you on the phone, Murphy. Down the penny arcade, he noticed the guy first. He pointed him out to me. Sure hits close to Frey's description. When did you first see him? Two nights ago. I wasn't supposed to. Sure it was Brain. The first time that I. I saw him last night. That cinched it. I didn't hear that. I said I saw him last night, not that since. Oh, when did this Murphy. Was that his name? When did he first see him? About a week ago. He's got an eagle eye for strangers who hang around. Murphy thinks the guy's staying out here someplace. Any idea where? Yeah, just a minute. No jumping around like that, son. Now you'll fall off and bang your head, kids. Where'd you spot this man, Scooter? Same place Murphy did. He was hanging around the shooting gallery down the way. The guy who runs the place is new. We don't know him well enough to ask them about it. You mean this man who looks like Bray just hangs around the corner there? Well, no, no, not exactly. You see his little office to one side of the shooting gallery? And the times I seen the guy he was either coming in or going out of there. When's the last time you saw him, Scooter? Huh? I say, when's the last time you saw. Earlier tonight, about 6:30. Yeah, I think Murphy's right. The guy's holing up in there. Hold on there, girly. Now don't try to get off from Mary Garanda. Stop. Sad. That's a girl. Thank you a lot, Scooter. We'll check back with you before we leave. Yeah, okay, Serge. I hope it helps you out. I'm glad I met you. Right. See you later. There's a shooting gallery down there by the bullseye sign. Yeah. If the guy is Bray, it's funny that he hasn't been spotted before. This area is pretty well patrolled here. Try your skill, fellas. Ten shots, only quarter. We're police officers. Like to ask you a few questions. Oh? What about? What's your name? Gridley. Max Gridley. You know anybody by the name of James Bray? Bray? No. I know. Why? How about this, Mr. Gridley? Know anybody who fits that description? No, no, it doesn't mean anything to me. What's the matter, anyway? Well, a man answering that description has been seen entering and leaving this office right next door over here. It's part of your concession, isn't it? Yeah, that's right. But I'm the only one who used it. Somebody must have got the wrong slant. Then you wouldn't mind if we looked it over? Routine investigation. Well, I don't know. Yeah, all right. We'll come around and open the door for you. It's just a cubbyhole, as you can see. Kind of use it as a storage place. Sometimes I have my lunch in here. Take a nap once in a while. Looks pretty well lived in. All those clothes are yours, Mr. Gridley? That's right. Why? Hey, Mac, how about a loan on this thing? Oh, it's customer. Excuse me a minute. Be right back. Yeah, go ahead. Hey, Jill. Yeah? Over here. Have a look. This towel. Look at the name stenciled on it. Bartlett Hotel, 9:30pm we advise the shooting gallery operator not to attempt any phone calls. Then I called the office and Ricketts and Powers came out to help us with a stakeout on the shooting gallery in the adjoining office. Ben and I covered from the penny arcade directly opposite the shooting gallery. Rickets and Powers were staked out two doors away at a stand that advertised. Handwriting analyzed. 25 cents. We waited. Ben munched on a bag of popcorn. 10:30pm no sign of the suspect. 11:00, still no sign. Getting pretty cold. Everybody going home? Yeah. You got any more of that popcorn? Oh, yeah. There you are. There's two pieces left. Sure? Good. Must have been not much in there now. Oh, I'm sorry. I can get another bag machines right over there. No, turn it off. How about some peanuts? No, no, thanks. Oh, sure, there's some in there. Joe, want some? No. Sure would like to see Bray show up. Hate to spend a night staked out here. Hey, wait a minute. Look. Huh? The shooting gallery. The guy in the blue suit, he's talking to the manager. He's going around the side door. Now. Come on. He's going inside. All right, hold it right there, mister. No, Watch It. Rickett, Jelly, cover the back. I joke. Out. Get the door. Come on, let's hit it. Yeah. Went out the back. Come on.