Ladies and gentlemen, the makers of Fatima cigarettes and the entire cast and crew and technicians of Dragna
respectfully dedicate tonight's program to the memory of Barton Yarbrough who created and portrayed the role of Sergeant Ben Romero.
Fatima cigarettes, best of all king-size cigarettes brings you Dragnet.
You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail.
Two convicts escaped from a nearby state penitentiary in the early morning.
According to reports, they're heading for your city.
They're both armed. They're both dangerous.
Good job. Get them.
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Dragman, the documentary 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 Saturday, April 24th. It was Houghton, Los Angeles.
We were working with Daywatch on a robbery detail.
My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Didion. My name's Friday.
It was five minutes past 8 a.m. when I got to room 27A. Robbery detail.
Morning, Joe.
Hi, Crowley. How's it working out? Any more word on the escape prisoner?
Nothing this morning, no.
Captain likes to see you, Joe.
Okay.
Ben checking you?
No.
Getting a little late.
Guess he was held up, huh?
Captain wants to see you right away. Some bad minutes, Joe.
Oh, what's the matter?
Maybe it'd be better if he told you.
Oh, all right.
Oh, morning, Joe.
Hi. You want to see me?
Yeah, come on in.
All right.
Sit down.
Yeah?
Got some bad news, Joe. Real bad.
What's the matter?
I know how much it means. I wish I didn't have to be the one to tell you.
Tell me what?
Sorry, Joe. It's about Ben. Something's happened.
Ben? What do you mean?
We were notified about it early this morning. I thought about calling you.
I figured it'd be better if I told you in person.
What's the matter? Is Ben sick?
He's dead, Joe. Ben's dead early this morning.
What?
Sorry. Heart attack. Happened a little after six o'clock this morning.
No.
Got out of bed, started dressing, went to work, went downstairs, put a pot of coffee on, make some toast.
Wife heard him fall. She went downstairs and found him. Already dead. Went fast.
Look, I don't get this. It couldn't be.
Sorry, Joe. It means a lot to all of us.
Yeah, well, I still don't get it. Ben didn't have any trouble with his heart. He never mentioned anything about it.
Well, maybe that was a trouble. With his heart, all right.
When his wife found him, she called the doctor and the fire department rescue squad. They worked over him for an hour. No use.
His wife called me. Snuck a tear your heart out.
I can't believe it. What'd she say?
She didn't break up. Too shocked to realize it, I guess. Sounded apologetic.
Said, I'm sorry, Captain. This is Mrs. Romero. Ben died this morning. I thought you ought to know. Ben's dead.
That's terrible. What a lousy shame.
Kept saying the same thing over again. I'm sorry. Ben's dead. I thought you ought to know. Ben's dead.
Yeah.
Joe Whitehead and I went out there right away. Tried to talk to her. Wasn't much use.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry.
Yeah? You were with him a long time.
Yeah. Eleven years.
The day I came on the job, they assigned me as his partner.
You know, this is a tough one. It's hard to believe.
Tougher on his wife?
If it's all right with you, I'd like to go see her.
All right. I wish I could give you the day off, Joe. I know what it means to you.
The escape convict thing. I just can't spare you.
Yeah, that's all right. I just have to work.
I figured I ought to talk to Amy, though. Might help to take the edge off of the court, maybe.
Sure. Go ahead.
Joe?
Yeah?
I know what it is. I've been on the job 19 years, lost two partners, good cops.
One of them was killed in the line of duty. The other one worked at his job until he dropped.
The same thing, Joe.
Yeah.
In my book, they both are eight medals.
I left the office and went down in the elevator alone. I got in the car and I started over for Ben's place.
I thought about what I was going to say to his wife.
I thought about his little boy. I thought about Ben.
Eleven years I'd been working as a cop. All of a sudden it wasn't the same anymore.
I thought about the first day I met Ben. I was a rookie. I remembered what he taught me about being a cop.
I thought about how much I owed him. I thought about the thousands of cops just like him all over the country.
The ones that came before us. The ones that will take our place.
I thought about their lives and their homes and their families. What they meant. What their jobs meant.
I thought about Ben. Eleven years. Stakeouts, the early morning watch, interrogations, office duty.
You could cover it in volumes or you could write it in the back of an envelope.
He was a good cop and he was a good friend. There wasn't much else to say. It was a big loss.
I stayed at Ben's house for about an hour talking to his wife. Joe Whitehead from the medical detail was there.
All things considered she seemed to be taking it fairly well.
I told her I'd drop her out later in the day and then I'd check back in at the office for work.
Temporarily Sergeant Ed Jacobs was assigned to work with me.
The big problem at the moment was a pair of escaped convicts.
Jacobs and I drove out to run down on a possible lead.
11.05 a.m. we got to the address listed, the Cathedral of St. Augustine.
We checked in at the rectory and then we went around to the church.
Go ahead.
Okay.
It's a very beautiful church isn't it?
Yeah, a nice choir isn't it?
I wonder if they're holding services.
No, the choir's probably just practicing.
You see the priest around anywhere Ed?
No.
Oh yeah, there's someone over by the side altar there. Looks like a padre.
Yeah, come on.
Easter hymns.
They're pretty, aren't they?
Yeah, they sure are.
It really takes me back. You'd never believe it, Kel.
What's that?
It used to be a boy tenor.
Er... excuse me please.
Yes?
Are you Father Newman?
Yes, that's right. Can I help you?
Police officer's father.
I see.
This is my partner Sergeant Jacobs. My name's Friday.
Welcome to you.
Housekeeper over at the rectory told us we could find you here.
I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes if you've got the time Father.
Let's see, I have confessions starting at three o'clock. Leave me about ten minutes.
What was it about Sergeant?
Well we're inquiring about a Stanley Blair father. We understand that you know him fairly well.
Oh yes, I do. As a matter of fact I read about him in the paper this morning. Trouble he's in.
Is that what you wanted to talk about?
Yes, that's right. We're making a check of all his known friends and relatives.
Very unfortunate isn't it? Do the newspapers have the story correct?
Yes, I'm afraid so.
I wonder if we could step outside Father if we could talk out there without disturbing anyone in church.
Sure, exactly. This way please.
Very good.
Certainly a tragedy. I mean happening at Easter time.
I'll remember the boy in my mask tomorrow. Lord knows he can use some prayers.
Yes sir, I guess he can.
Here we are. Bench there. You care to sit down?
No sir, it's all right.
The newspapers weren't too specific. How did he manage to escape the way he did?
I always thought state penitentiaries were well guarded.
Apparently Blair was one of the trusted prisoners. It's a minimum security prison to begin with Father.
I see. I suppose Blair and the man he escaped with thought about it a good deal.
According to the paper it was well planned. When did they get away last night?
Oh, it was this morning. Prison officials figure about 2 a.m.
They slugged the guard and went over the wall. Somehow the two of them got hold of a gun,
held up a motorist on the highway and stole his car. That's the last report we had.
Terrible. Do the police consider them dangerous?
Well they're armed Father. Both of them were doing time for robbery. They've both used guns before.
How about possible contacts you might have out of town Father? Can you help us there at all?
I'm afraid not Sergeant. I think Stan knew some people in San Francisco.
I don't know their names or addresses though. I haven't any idea.
And there's no special person or place that you know of that he'd be likely to go if he heads back for Los Angeles?
No, no. I can think of. You imagine he'd be likely to come back here?
We're not sure. The last report we had seemed to indicate Blair and his partner were heading this way.
The prison's only about 40 miles away. He could be there in the city now.
I don't understand. I mean, with all the police looking for them, why would they come back here?
They probably figure they can find cover a lot easier than they could in some of the small towns.
Sergeant. Yeah Father.
Do you think they'll have trouble taking Stan? I mean, can they take him alive?
Well we'll try our best to make it that way. It's like I told you Father, he's got a gun.
If he's cornered there's a good chance he might try to shoot his way out.
It gets discouraging sometimes. I try to help them. I pray for them. Young thieves.
I only hope they're all as lucky as he was.
How's that sir?
The grotto back there in the garden. Figure of a man in it.
Oh yeah.
The Statue of Thismas. One of the luckiest men who ever lived. I like to tell fellas like Stan about him.
I don't think I understand Father.
You know the story of the crucifixion of two men who were crucified with Christ. They were both thieves.
A few minutes before he died one of the thieves turned to Christ on the cross, confessed his crimes, asked our Lord to remember him.
Christ told him, this day he'll be with me in paradise. The man's name was Dismas. We like to call him the good thief.
Oh yeah. Uh huh.
I told Stan about it right here in this courtyard. He should have remembered it.
Yeah I guess so.
I told him you never give up hope. You can make the grade in the last five minutes of your life. Stan ought to know better. You ought to remember.
Sir?
The good thief. He made it with a prayer, not with a gun in his hand.
Before we left Father Newman we gave him our card and he gave us a list of eight names and addresses.
People in the neighborhood who'd known the escaped convict, Stanley Blair.
Before he was sentenced to the state penitentiary to serve time on his robbery conviction.
3.15 p.m. We met with Sergeants Max Herman and J.E. Crowley from Robbery Detail. We divided the list of names in half and we began checking them out.
Ed and I didn't have much luck on our end. Most of the people we talked to told us that they knew Stanley Blair but none of them had seen, heard from him, or knew anything about his activities or his family since Blair had gone to prison two and a half years before.
The stakeouts were set up at two of the hottest places. 5.20 p.m. Ed and I went back to the office. Crowley was waiting for us.
No, no luck on our end. The same thing. Last they heard of him was when he was set up.
I guess that finishes it. Any late reports at all?
Yeah, there's a teletype in the sheriff's office that was waiting here when Max and I got back. I guess their hunch was right. Looks like they headed this way.
Well, how do you mean? Somebody spot him?
Just this side of West Covina. Hell up a grocery store, Sludby owner. Got $23.40. It's not going to take him far.
Descriptions match up?
Yeah, perfectly. Suspects believed to be two prisoners who escaped this day from a California institution from Manchino. Stanley R. Blair, Wesley A. Russell.
But something else.
Yeah?
The grocery store they knocked over, they picked up another gun, the Onus. Description of serial numbers on it here. Had 20 rounds of ammunition too. Supplementary APB's already out on it.
How about a car? Did they switch over?
They have. We don't know about it. Apparently they're still using the Buoy coupe they took from that motorist this morning. No reports on it though.
That's a queer one. You'd think somebody'd spot it. They got the highway patrol working this?
Highway patrol, sheriff's office, our department, everybody you can name.
By the way, you had R. and I pull their mug shots, didn't you?
Yeah, both of them, Blair and Russell. They're running off the duplicates now. 500 of them should be about ready.
Pretty good shots?
Mm-hmm. Stand-up mugs, fairly recent. I made the last time we had the two of them through here.
How about that other list of their friends and relatives we pulled from their packages? Young and McAlib were checking them out, weren't they?
Probably still are. No word from them yet.
How do you size the two of them, Joe, Blair and Russell?
I don't know. It's a tough combination. Russell's older, he's got the experience. Blair's younger, he's got the nerve.
Anyway, you figure it's not going to be easy.
Guns and the ammunition they grabbed, they ain't going to help much either.
I guess the roadblocks are up, huh? Highway patrol take care of that.
Yeah, all set working now. All our special details have been alerted. Airports, bus depots, train terminals, just about everything covered.
Robbery crawling. Yeah, Mike, how is it? Mm-hmm. You'll stay on it, huh? Right. See you later.
McAlib, he and Young are still checking on friends of Russell's on the places he hung out.
Any luck?
Not in the end.
Either one of you see the captain on the wheel?
No, I said he'd be over at the sheriff's office, didn't he?
Hot shirt. I'll get it.
Yeah. What is it?
Clothing store out on North Fig, 211 and slugging. They're sure moving fast.
Sam?
You got it, Blair and Russell.
Five-fifty-five p.m. A supplementary broadcast and an all-points bulletin were gotten out immediately on the two escaped convicts.
While Crowley and Herman stood by at the office, Ed Jacobs and I picked up duplicate mugshots of the suspects and drove out to the scene of the robbery, a men's clothing store near the intersection of North Figaroa and Merced.
We showed a group of mugshots to the victim and two witnesses, and they definitely identified Blair and Russell as the holdup men.
The robbery had netted them less than $20.
We relayed all the information we got back to communications immediately, and another supplementary broadcast was gotten out on the two fugitives.
An hour later, at 7.05 p.m., Blair and Russell hit again, this time at a sporting goods store in the San Fernando Valley.
It netted them $94, a.3030 hunting rifle, and 200 rounds of ammunition.
According to the broadcast, they were last seen heading north through the valley in the Buick Coupe, the original escape car.
7.38 p.m., Ed Jacobs and I got a call to return to our station. We went back to the city hall.
Got a hunch, Joe. It's gonna be a long night.
Yeah, it's a rough one, guns and ammunition. If they want to make a stand, they're all ready for it.
Can't say how they can go too far in that hot car or roadblock setup. Somebody's bound to stop them.
Well, they're doing all right so far.
Go ahead, Joe.
Yeah.
Friday, Jacobs?
Yeah, Captain, you want us in here?
Not for long. Keep your coats on. Rest of the men have already left.
What's the latest?
This. Communication from the Ventura Sheriff's Office. Blair and Russell were spotted just across the county line.
Sheriff figures they got them boxed in.
How close?
A lot of territory, 20 square mile circle.
They say they got Blair and Russell tied down inside and they're on foot. We're sending up men to help out. You're two of them.
20 square mile's gonna take a lot of men.
If we need more, we'll get them. It's no easy touch. They're desperate. You heard the latest?
What's that?
Last place they hit in the valley. They served notice they're not gonna be taken alive. Either one of them.
That's good sales talk. What have they got to back it up?
Three guns and a load of ammunition. If we want to take them alive, they swear it'll cost us 10 men. They'll kill five cops apiece. You any ideas?
Yeah. Let's make liars out of them.
You are listening to Dragnet. Authentic stories of your police force in action.
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Saturday, April 24th, 9 p.m. Along with Captain Didion and a dozen other men from Robbery Detail,
Ed Jacobs and I left the office and headed north up through the San Fernando Valley.
The area where the two escaped convicts were reportedly surrounded was just on the outskirts of Ventura County line.
On the way out, we stopped for a minute and I phoned Ben's house. His wife had been given a sedative and she was resting.
Her folks were with her. 10, 15 p.m. We arrived at the meeting point on the edge of the blockaded area from which the search was being directed.
Communication facilities had been set up along with a field kitchen to feed the men taking part in the hunt.
There were over 500 of them. From our office, the L.A. Sheriff's Department, the State Highway Patrol, the Ventura Sheriff's Department,
and a couple of dozen private citizens who lived in the area.
Together with Max Herman and Crowley, Ed Jacobs and I took up our position in the line of men that stretched north and east,
then north again circling the entire area, 20 square miles of it.
The line drew slowly inward. 12 midnight. 1 a.m. No sign of the suspects. We stayed at it.
You get no idea the size of these hay fields till you start hiking them.
Well, throw the light over there, will you Ed? Irrigation ditch there.
Right there? That it?
Yeah. That's okay. It's a long hike. I'd sure like to see some of that hot coffee pretty soon.
Yeah, same here. Nice setup they got, huh? That field kitchen?
Hey Joe! Joe Cardy!
Yeah, Crowley?
You got the riot gun, haven't you?
Yeah, we got it.
You want to send up another player? Towards the clump of trees, over this way. Play it up good, huh?
Okay, Crowley!
About a 45 degree angle, Joe. That ought to do it, huh?
Yeah, okay.
That ought to do it. Really lights it up, doesn't it?
You got any extra magnesium shells there, Ed?
Yeah. I think I found one right here.
Here you are.
Thanks.
There we go.
Friday? That you?
Yeah, Cap. Over here.
I don't know you speeding the brush here anymore. We're moving up three miles north.
How come?
Blair and Russell, they hit again, kidnapped an old couple from a farmhouse.
They're still on foot?
Yeah, as far as we know, they're hemmed in a two square mile area. They may try to break out, use the old couple for a shield.
Where does that leave us?
I don't know.
You think they'd harm the old couple?
They kidnapped them. They're desperate. You figure it.
1.45 a.m. All of the men in the search party were shifted north to the area where the two escaped convicts and their kidnapped victims were last seen.
Two officers were sent to each farmhouse in the immediate neighborhood to make sure that the suspects and their victims were not hid out or that they were being held as hostages.
The officers were ordered to remain at the homes in the event that Blair and Russell might try to find cover.
The searching party moved in slowly over the affected area.
We knew for certain the suspects were still somewhere inside.
2.15 a.m. Still no sign of them.
The lines drew in closer. 2.30 a.m.
Can't be much longer, that's sure.
Yeah, well, I can't understand it. We should have jumped them by now.
It's only a few hundred feet to go. There's the other line closing in toward us. I wonder if they could have slipped through.
Beats me, Ed. Where's that coming? Can you see?
Yeah, it looks like Crowley. Yeah, that's him.
Joe? Ed?
Yeah.
Over here. You got any word?
They found the old couple tied up in an irrigation ditch half a mile south of here.
They all right?
Yeah, they're okay. Old lady's far at bad head wound. She was slugged.
She and her husband have been taken to the hospital.
How about Blair and Russell?
No word. Just heard the captain ask for the car with the loudspeaker. He's over there now with Sheriff Durley.
Well, they couldn't have gotten through the lines. They gotta be around here somewhere.
Doesn't figure we combed every foot of this neighborhood.
Attention all officers. Attention all officers. This is Captain Dinion.
Return to your posts immediately. The search has been canceled. The search has been canceled.
How about that?
I don't know. Come on, let's find out.
There he is, just getting out of the car.
Captain?
Yeah?
What's the matter? Are we giving it up?
No, maybe we've been going at it backwards. We've been trying all night to jump them. Got a new idea.
Yeah?
Maybe we can make them jump us.
Two forty-eight a.m. Captain Dinion and Sheriff Durley ordered the men to return to the sheriff's office.
With the exception of two deputy sheriffs, Captain Dinion, Sheriff Durley, and Ed Jacobs and myself,
the rest of the searching party vacated the area.
The plan was to give the general impression that the search had been called off
in the hope that it might bring the suspects out in the open.
Because of the darkness and the early morning fog settling over the terrain,
we knew that the odds were all against us.
Captain Dinion and Sheriff Durley decided instead to try and lure Blair and Russell from wherever they were hiding out.
Each of the small farmhouses in the immediate neighborhood, eight of them in all, were already under surveillance.
Each of the occupants were requested to park their cars in a conspicuous place outside their homes with the distributor heads removed.
They were asked to turn all the lights off in their houses.
In the event they heard anyone trying to start their cars, they would remain indoors.
Ed Jacobs and I were assigned to cover two of the houses.
The other men covered the rest of them.
The two houses that Ed and I were assigned to cover were separated by about five hundred yards.
We staked out in between the two of them. We waited. Four a.m., four thirty.
Sure cold, huh? Yeah. Fog was right through you.
You're going to be getting light pretty soon.
I just remembered. Yeah, what's that?
Easter morning. I wonder how long this is going to go. I promised to hide Easter eggs for the kids today.
If it's going to break, it has to break soon. It'll be daylight in a half hour or so.
They won't have a chance then.
Wait a minute.
Farmhouse down on the left. Yeah, sounds like it. Come on.
Can you see the car? Wait a minute.
Yeah, you cover the passenger side. I'll come up on the driver's right and watch it.
Joe Hussle, they're getting out of the car. All right, hold it up. Police officers.
Watch it, Joe. Blair, Russell, you haven't got a chance. Throw down the gun.
All right, Ed, let's give it back.
Come on, don't shoot, don't shoot.
Throw out the guns. Come toward us with your hands open.
Don't shoot West. Do what they say. Come on out. Don't shoot West.
All right, come on. Keep coming.
That's far enough. All right, cover him, Ed. I'll shake him down.
Yeah.
We'll break him. Look out, Joe.
You want to throw the cuffs on him? Yeah, right.
I'll go get the car. You want to keep him covered, Ben?
Excuse me, Ed. Ed, I mean.
Sorry. Too bad he wasn't here tonight.
Nothing you tell for sure.
The story you have just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On July 16th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 88, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
And now here is our star, Jack Webb.
Thank you, George Feneman. Friends, we all hope that you enjoyed listening to Dragnet in 1951.
We all like to think that you'll be with us during the new year.
On our part, we hope to do two things. To bring you the kind of entertainment you want and to introduce you to Fatima.
Fatima, America's first largest selling blended cigarette, now King Size.
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When you see the difference, taste the difference, and then smoke that difference, I'm convinced that you'll switch to Fatima.
Because in Fatima, the difference is quality.
Stanley Blair and Wesley Russell were tried and convicted on three counts of first degree robbery and one count of kidnapping.
They received sentences as prescribed by law.
First degree robbery is punishable by imprisonment from five years to life.
Kidnapping is punishable by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years.
One count of escape is still pending.
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.
Heard tonight were Barney Phillips and Big Perrin.
Script by Jim Moser. Music by Walter Schuman.
Hell give me speaking.
Fatima cigarettes, best of all, king size cigarettes has brought you Dragnet.