Dragnet.
Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a bunko detail.
For the past year, a confidence man has been cheating women in your city.
You finally get a lead on him. Your job? Get him.
It was Wednesday, February 12th. It was cold in Los Angeles.
We were working the day watch out a bunko detail. My partner is Frank Smith.
The boss is Captain Steve. My name is Friday.
We were at the Armstrong Thomas Department Store cafeteria and it was 314 p.m. when I got back to the table.
Here, Joe. Let me give you a hand.
Thanks. Here you are, Mr. Terrance.
Thank you.
I wonder if you tell us what this is all about now, ma'am.
Surely. Sorry you had to wait, but I thought it might be better if we talked up here.
Yes, ma'am.
Would you pass the sugar, please?
Oh, yes, ma'am. Here you are.
Well, it's not a pretty thing. I don't know how I could have been so foolish.
But I guess when you get to be my age and you haven't got anything on the... any attention makes you forget.
Yes, ma'am. How'd you first meet this man, then?
I saw him first at a musical. I met him very briefly that night.
He called me the next day, said that he wanted to see me again.
Well, I told him that I didn't think it would be proper, but he insisted.
So that night we had dinner together.
He seemed so nice. I still can't believe it.
Yes, ma'am.
Such a wonderful time. I didn't think anybody could be so happy.
We ate at a wonderful little place down at the beach.
Then we went for a long drive and listened to the music on the radio.
Just beautiful. The way the ocean looked, all moonlight and all.
When did you see him again, ma'am?
Not until he left. He'd call a couple of times a day.
Got a little embarrassing. The girl's story here got to kidding me about it, but I didn't care.
Then he told me he wanted to marry me. I couldn't believe it. So wonderful.
Yes, ma'am.
Then one day he told me that he was going to have to take a business trip up north.
When was that, do you remember that?
I guess it was about three weeks ago, something like that.
Go ahead, please.
Well, he left. I went down to the station and saw him off.
He kissed me and said that when he got back we'd be married.
We were going over to Las Vegas on our honeymoon. Wonderful plan. Wonderful.
Then I heard something. He got Sam P. Sisto.
He called me from the hotel and said that he'd lost his wallet on the train.
He told me he'd lost everything. All his money, his identification, everything.
Mm-hmm.
That's when he asked me for the hundred dollars. I didn't think that anything was wrong, so I sent it to him.
Where'd you send it, ma'am?
To his hotel.
Did you hear from him at all after that, ma'am?
Not a word. At first I thought that maybe he was just kind of funny that he wouldn't say something about getting the money I sent, but not a word.
Then I got worried.
Yes, ma'am, I understand.
Finally I called the hotel and they told me that he'd checked out.
I figured that maybe he was back in town and wanted to surprise me, so I called his apartment.
The landlady told me that he had left a couple of weeks before, that he didn't leave any forwarding address.
Yes, ma'am.
I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to believe that he'd just used me, but there didn't seem to be anything else to think.
Yes, ma'am.
Then, of course, it was only a hundred dollars. It seemed that if he'd wanted to rob me, he could have asked for more.
I still don't believe it, even when I know it's true.
Yes, ma'am. I wonder if you could give us a description of the man.
Yes, I can do that. But he was tall.
About how tall, ma'am?
Over six feet, maybe six feet two. He had blond hair, kind of wavy.
About how much would you say he weighed, Miss Terry?
I'd just be guessing, but I'd say about 190 or so.
I see. I wonder if you'd be kind enough to come down to the city hall and look at some pictures for us.
You think you might have one of these?
It's possible, ma'am. Maybe it'd make you feel a little better to know that you're not the only woman that this bedroom has taken. There have been quite a few.
I guess I knew that. Even if I didn't want to believe it, I guess I knew it was just a confidence game.
Such a cruel thing, though, to use a person's loneliness to rob them.
Yes, ma'am, it is.
When you get along years and you haven't got anything to hold on to,
a little attention and affection makes you forget everything else.
Nothing else seems to matter.
Yes, ma'am. I guess that's the way they figure it.
Frank and I had been looking for Jonathan Bentham for the past year. During that time, he'd taken approximately $37,000 from women in the Los Angeles area.
His method of operation was to answer the ads in the personal columns of the daily papers.
He'd give the woman a whirlwind courtship, then under the pretext of having to clean up some business before married, he'd leave town.
He'd call the next day and give them the story about losing his wallet and identification.
He'd ask them for $100. This in itself was to throw off the suspicions of the victims.
In the event that they suspected that they were being taken in a racket, $100 was small enough so that their fears were quieted.
Bentham would answer about 20 to 30 of these ads at a time, and the request for money would hit all of the suspects at once.
We'd had several complaints lately, and there was no way of knowing how many women were being taken and were too embarrassed to report it to the authorities.
4.30 p.m. We drove Miss Terrence back to the city hall and had her check the mug books.
She was unable to give us an identification, however. Another month passed. During that time, we received 14 more complaints.
In all instances, the description of the suspect matched that of Jonathan Bentham.
All available sources of information were checked. Bulletin had been gotten out carrying his description and the name he used. No result.
On Wednesday, March 25th, we got a call that a man answering Bentham's description had placed an ad in the personal columns of one of the daily papers.
He'd used the name of Thomas Conant. The clerk at the ad counter gave us his address, and at 5.30 p.m., Frank and I went out to talk to him.
Yeah?
You Thomas Conant?
Yeah, that's right. What can I do for you?
Please talk to me. Would you like to talk to me?
Sure, come on in. I was glad to talk to the law.
This is my partner, Frank Smith.
How do you do, Mr. Smith?
How do you do?
If you boys will come on in, I'll shut the door.
Thank you.
And now, what's this all about?
Oh, sir, did you put this ad in the paper?
Now, let me see. Texas cow man desires to meet the young lady object of companionship. Spelled everything right to dead.
Yes, sir, that's mine. I wrote it all myself.
How long have you been in Los Angeles?
Well, now let's see. Got in on the bus last Tuesday. That'd make a week in a day.
Uh-huh. What brings you out here?
Well, I guess you could say it's kind of a business trip. Got a little tired of the same faces back home, so I thought I'd just see what the rest of the country looked like.
What little a's are there? I'm from Texas, you know. Amarillo. Yeah. What's all this about, anyway? Some law I broke?
No, it's about that ad.
Oh, you found out, huh?
Beg pardon?
Oh, you found out about me saying I was a cattleman. That's it, ain't it?
What do you mean?
Well, now, I didn't mean to harm. I do have a couple milk cows on the place. A Holstein and a Guernsey. They're real nice, too.
It's just that I was so darn lonesome, I kind of thought this might be a way to meet some nice gal. I didn't mean to harm. You can see that, can't you?
Yes, sir, I guess so. What if you'd mind taking a ride with us, sir?
Well, I should say, not always happy to go along with the law. Where do you figure to go to?
I'd like you to meet somebody.
Well, now that's right. Nice of you. Got some gal you'd like me to meet, huh?
Well, it's not exactly that, sir.
Well, it don't matter none. I got nothing to do anyhow. Just sitting here wondering if I'd get any reply for the ad.
All right, sir. If you wouldn't mind, let's go.
Not at all. I'll get my hat.
Five forty p.m. We drove Thomas Conan downtown and had a car go out and pick up Miss Terrence. While we talked to Conan in the interrogation room,
she walked by the open door and looked in at the suspect. She told us that he was not the man who victimized her.
She was returned to her home and after Conan had been checked through R.I. he was released.
The next morning, Frank and I ran down a tip from an informant, but it led us nowhere. Ten eighteen a.m. We checked back into the office.
You get the latest bulletin from San Francisco, Joe?
Yeah, I looked it over this morning. They checked out the hotel Benton was staying at. He checked out of there. They haven't seen him since.
Well, that means he's probably back here in town, huh?
Well, if he is, we should start hearing about him again pretty soon. I'll get it.
Bunko Friday.
Who?
Oh, yes, ma'am. Yes, Miss Terrence, I remember.
Yes, ma'am. Where was that?
Would you give me that again?
Yes, ma'am. Four eight Vine. Uh-huh. Yes, that's right, ma'am. We'll get in touch with you.
Right. Thank you very much. Bye.
Grace Terrence?
Yeah, she just saw Benton.
Where?
Went into an apartment out on Vine Street.
Ten forty one a.m. Frank and I got to the apartment house on Vine Street. We talked to the landlord and he told us that a man answering the suspect's description was registered in apartment 4B.
He was registered under the name Jonathan Benson. He told us that this Benson had just moved in and paid his first month's rent in advance.
He said that he was just going to be in town for a short time and that in the event that he moved out before his month was up, he expected no refund.
Frank and I went up to the fourth floor and knocked on the door.
Yeah?
You're Jonathan Benson? Who are you?
Police officers want to talk to you.
What about?
Might be better if we talked inside.
Maybe I don't want you in my...
All right, I must be you. Get your hat. We want to talk to you downtown.
What for?
Come on, get your hat.
Just a minute. I think maybe there's been some kind of mistake here. Just tell me exactly what it is you're looking for. I'm sure we can work...
Come on, Mr. Quits stalling. Get your hat, will you?
Come on in. I'll get my hat.
I'll get it for you. In this closet?
Yeah, the gray one.
You sure you got the right man?
Looks that way.
Mm-hmm. No way to work this out.
What do you mean by that?
Well, I don't even know why you want me to go with you. Seems you could fill me in on that.
Got some people we'd like to have you meet.
Who?
You'll see when we get there.
Here's your hat. Come on, let's go.
You guys sure think you're the Gestapo, coming in here dragging a private citizen out of his house.
If you haven't done anything wrong, you got nothing to worry about then, have you?
That's not the point. I don't like it. Coming in here and taking me downtown so a lot of stupid old broads can look at me.
Who said we wanted women to look at you?
You did.
We wanted you to meet some people.
Must have misunderstood, huh?
Yeah, I guess you did.
Um, no way we can work this out, huh?
There's no way. Now, come on.
Oh, just a minute. I want to be sure I got my key. I don't want to be locked out.
Don't worry about it.
What do you mean?
You might not be coming back.
Frank and I took Jonathan Benson downtown. We ran him through R&I, but we got no identification.
His fingerprints were rolled and checked, but they didn't make him.
Miss Terrence was called and asked to come down to the city hall to try to identify the suspect.
2.30 p.m. We took him to the interrogation room.
You ever use the name Benton?
No.
You sure?
Yeah.
You ever use any other alias?
Why should I?
You tell us.
Now, look, why don't you come off it? Tell me what this is all about.
You told us you just got in the town, is that right?
Yeah, I've been here about a week.
Where'd you come from?
Up north.
Where up north?
San Francisco.
You live up there, do you?
Most of the time, yeah.
Most of the time? What's that mean?
Just that, most of the time I live in San Francisco. That hard for you guys to understand?
What kind of work you in?
I'm a salesman.
Yeah, and what do you sell?
Whatever people want to buy.
What are you selling now?
Nothing right now. That's why I'm here. I'm looking for a deal.
You know a woman named Terrence, Grace Terrence?
No, I don't think so. My wife.
We'd like to know.
Hey, maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but it seems to me that when they taught me civics in school,
they said that I had to be booked, that you had to let me go. They changed that law?
No, that law's still good.
Then let's stop horsing around. I got a lot of things I want to do.
Put me in on this and then let me out of here.
All right. There's been a confidence man working in the L.A. area that's been taking money from women.
Gives them a big pitch about wanting to marry them, and then he hits them up for a hundred bucks and leaves them.
Sounds like a good rack.
He's taking a lot of money from people who haven't got it to spare.
Offhand, I'd say that's a tough life.
Offhand, we'd say you're wrong.
The way you look at it. Where do I fit into this little fantasy?
You look good for the guy who's been pulling the deal.
I'm going to flip in description matches.
So I look like another guy.
Everything else about you checks out.
So you figure you've made me for the judge, huh?
That's what we figure.
Which way is the gas chamber? Now come off it, fellas.
You guys know you're trying to hang a bad rap on me.
You know it and so do I.
Now let's call the whole thing off.
I can get out of here and you can get to the pinnacle.
I'll get it.
Hello, John.
What?
Why'd you do it, Jonathan?
Why?
If you wanted the money, you could have asked for it.
I'd have given it to you.
You didn't have to lie about what you felt.
Place is full of them loonies.
Is this the mayor, Miss Terrence?
Yes, Sergeant, that's him.
All right, how about it, Benson?
I don't know what she's talking about.
What's this bit where that's him?
Loonies jumping with her.
All right, now Benson, I've had enough of that.
Now come off it. You've just been identified.
We've got a lot more of them that we can have here.
I think they'll identify you too.
Why, John? Why?
Oh, get her out of here.
One thing I can't stand is a woman balling.
Something comes along, I can't figure out right away they got a ball.
Anything comes along, they got to cry. I'm sick of it.
All right, ma'am, maybe it'd be better if you waited in our office.
Yes, Sergeant.
I still don't know why he did it.
Why he took this way to get the money.
I took this way because it was the easy way.
You broads are all alike. Every last one of you.
Let me get a few things straight first.
You say I took $100 from you. Is that right?
Yes.
All right.
I want you to think about this and think real careful.
Didn't I say that I wanted to borrow the money?
Isn't that what I said? Borrow?
Yes, that's what you said.
Did I say that I'd pay the money back in any certain time?
I don't know.
Well, you think real good. You'll remember that I didn't.
I just said that I'd pay you back. That's all. I didn't say when.
I guess, I don't, I don't care.
There you are.
Is it any crime to borrow money from a friend?
I borrowed the money from her. I'll pay it back.
You said you wanted to marry me. You said you loved me.
Oh, come off it, Sarah. You've got no beef.
You've got the soft light and the romantic music. You've got it all.
Look at you. Take a good look.
Who'd want to marry you?
Here, just a minute.
Here.
Here's a hundred bucks I borrowed. I want to pay you back.
I got a hundred dollars worth of laughs from you.
That much easy. Here's your dough.
Now go home and have a good cry.
I wouldn't marry you if you were the last woman on earth.
That's enough of that, Benson.
You're not just kidding this old harpy with romantic ideas.
What a laugh.
She thinks anybody want to marry her and she's a loony too.
I didn't think anybody could be this mean.
I didn't think anyone could be this cruel.
I don't believe it.
You've got no choice. You know it all along.
Thanks for the laughs.
Come on, Miss Terrence.
Imagine that, that old bag really thinking I'd marry you.
Yeah.
Real laugh.
Well, anyway, she got her dough back. I said I'd pay her back. I did.
You check with the rest of them. I'll tell you the same thing.
I borrowed the money, that's all.
I can't help it if they thought something else.
I can't help it, Captain.
Come on, let's get this over with. I want to get out of here.
Yeah.
You look upset, Cap.
Don't be. It won't prove anything.
I got something for you, Benson.
Is that right?
Yeah. Some place, some time you're going to make a mistake.
Is that right?
Yeah, and when you do, we're going to lean on you and we're going to lean hard.
We had 12 of the victims of the confidence man look at Benson.
All of them gave a positive identification that verified his story that he'd borrowed the money from them.
4.25 p.m., Frank and I got in touch with the district attorney's office and talked with them.
What Benson had said was true.
In borrowing the money or in saying he was borrowing it, he'd committed no violation of the law.
We had to release him from custody.
A month passed. During that time, we'd heard nothing more from the suspect.
He'd stopped working the Dodge in the Los Angeles area.
We contacted the San Francisco authorities and informed them of what had happened.
They said that they'd be on the lookout for Benson.
During the next two weeks, Frank and I worked on a ring of bunko artists that were working in the obituary columns.
On June 16th, we got a call from Burgery Division that they'd gotten a report of a theft.
In talking to the victim, they'd gotten the name Jack Bentley.
They checked the files on him and found that it could be Jonathan Benson.
The victim and Miss Betty Lindsay came to our office to talk to us.
I don't know why they thought that I should see you. It's just a plain fact.
The officers in Burgery said that they thought we might be interested in the thief, Miss Lindsay.
I wonder if you'd tell us about him.
Lousy crumb. This guy's a real schnook. Schnook of the first water.
Yes, ma'am. What's his name, please?
He called himself Bentley, Jack Bentley. What a bum.
What do you look like, Miss Lindsay?
Tall and blond. Kind of nice looking guy if he went for the type. No, no, good bum.
Why don't you take a look at some of the pictures we've got here and see if he's in need?
Sure. I'd like to see you again. Where are the pictures?
Frank, can we get them for you?
Yeah.
Where'd you meet this Bentley? Do you remember?
Well, I'm sort of the hostess at a place downtown about fifth.
Anyway, about two or three weeks ago this schnook comes in, orders a couple drinks and leaves.
Next night he's back again. Oh, he was a cagey one. Didn't work too fast.
Took about a week to make the pitch, then he asked me out for dinner.
Well, he always seemed kind of nice, so I told him I'd go.
Here are the pictures, ma'am.
If you just take a look through them and see if there's one of Bentley in there.
Sure. Let's see. No.
No. No.
Hey, this one's kind of cute. What's he wanted for?
Well, he works the casualty racket.
What's that?
Gets the names of people that have died, tells their families that they ordered some stuff.
What kind of stuff?
Old pen and pencil sets, watches, cheap things. Charges a lot of money for them.
Most of the people figure that it's one of the last things their loved ones wanted, so they pay the prices.
The stuff's worthless.
Hmm. Lousy racket. But they're nice looking guys, too. So honest.
Well, that's why it works.
Yeah, I suppose so.
Let me see. No, this is not him.
Hey, wait a minute.
Yeah.
That's him. Ooh, what a nudnik.
Ma'am.
A nudnik, a real bum. But that's him, I'm sure of it.
Benson. Yeah.
You mean you know this guy?
Yes, ma'am. What if you tell us exactly what happened?
Sure, like I was telling you, this guy, Benson?
Yes, ma'am. That's right. Jonathan Benson.
Yeah. Well, anyway, he asked me out for dinner. I told him I'd go.
He looked like he was pretty well fixed up. I figured he wouldn't do no harm.
Well, see, I don't get out till 12.30, and there ain't many places, nice places open after that.
But I said, yeah, so he told me to pick me up.
He got the call about 10 o'clock.
Said that he'd gotten through with whatever it was he was doing,
that he came by to see if he could use my apartment to freshen up a bit.
Freshen up a bit. Boy, what a way to heist the place.
Oh, what a bum.
Go ahead, ma'am.
Well, I gave him the key of the place.
He said that he'd stop at a drug store and pick up a razor and shave and wash his face,
and he'd be back to pick me up.
That's the last I ever saw of him.
Walked out with a fur coat I had.
Saved for three years for that coat. Cost me 900 bucks.
And he took a ring worth about 150. Diamonds.
Belonged to my mother.
Sure hope you get him. Nail him good.
Yes, ma'am.
Oh, what a noob, Nick.
We continued to question Betty Lindsay.
She gave us the name of one of Benson's friends.
She checked on him and he gave us the name of the girl who knew the suspect.
We talked to her and she was able to give us Benson's address.
It was a rooming house on Franklin Avenue in the Hollywood area.
Six forty-seven p.m.
Frank and I went up to his room.
Yeah, come on in.
Should have kept my mouth shut. What do you guys want?
We want to talk you downtown, Benson.
We aren't going to get on that merry-go-round again, are we?
I'm getting tired of this whole deal. What are you guys trying to tell me this time?
We didn't have to do it, Benson. You took care of that yourself.
That's right.
You made a mistake.
What is it this time? You figure I took some candy away from a blind man?
All right, come on, Benson. Let's go.
You're going to arrest me this time or am I going as a favor?
This time it's on us.
You mean we're playing for keeps now?
Yeah.
What's the charge?
Grand theft.
You kidding?
No.
I really believe you're serious.
That's right. You called it.
This is going to be interesting.
If you can't prove this, I'm going to own City Hall and the first thing I'm going to do is fire you two.
You know that, don't you?
We'll take that chance.
All right, but don't say I didn't warn you.
You know, Sunday I'm going to write a book, call it some of my best friends are cops.
Yeah, you do that.
I will.
You'll have the time.
We took the suspect downtown. We talked to him for over an hour, but he'd admit nothing.
Without being able to produce the stolen articles, the case would be difficult to prosecute.
We had Benson take everything out of his pockets.
Among his personal effects, we found a key to a locker in the subway terminal.
Two men from Bunko Division took the key and went down to the terminal.
They recovered a locked suitcase and brought it back to the squad room where we were questioning Benson.
How about it, Benson? That's yours?
Never saw it before in my life.
It's locked. You got a key to this, Benson?
I told you it wasn't mine. What more can I say?
See those keys there, I'll tell you.
Yeah. Here.
All right.
I don't know if this is all going to prove. I told you the suitcase isn't mine.
Yeah, that figures. That's how come the keys fit, huh?
Cheap suitcase. A lot of the keys double.
Is that right?
Sure. Lots of times I lost a key for one suitcase, used a key from another one to open it.
Ever find one of these in the case?
I never saw that fur coat in my life.
Haven't got the slightest idea how it got there. I want to talk to a lawyer.
You're getting kind of jumpy, aren't you, Benson?
Sure. I don't mind admitting it.
I told you I got no idea where that coat came from, but I know you guys aren't going to believe it.
You're out to get me. You said so. You're going to try everything you can do with it.
You want to tell us about it now?
There ain't nothing to tell. I don't know nothing about it.
You don't ever give up, do you?
I don't know what you're talking about. I want to see a lawyer.
All right. We'll fix it so you can put that call in.
We got the owner of this coat on the way down here. She's going to identify him. That's all we need.
Now you just sit there and keep your mouth shut, will you?
I'll get it.
Fokko Smith. What's that?
Oh, yeah, sure. Sure I remember.
What? You did, huh?
Well, that's swell. Glad to hear it.
I wouldn't know. I'm not much of an authority, I guess.
Her name's what?
Yeah.
That's a nice name.
Well, I'll be glad to tell him. I'm sure he'll be pleased.
Thanks very much for calling. When are you leaving?
I think.
Okay. Thanks a lot. Bye.
Anything?
Yeah, that kid from Texas, you know, that Thomas Conant?
Oh, yeah. You mean the cattleman?
Yeah. Got an answer to his ad.
Is that right?
Yeah. Somebody called him up and said he made a real good deal for himself,
and he's shipping her back to Texas.
You mean he found a girl?
No. Bought himself another Holstein.
The story you've just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On October 17th, trial was held in Department 87, Superior Court of the State of California,
in and for the County of Los Angeles.
Jonathan Arthur Benson, alias Jack Bentley, was tried and convicted of grand theft.
He received sentence as prescribed by law.
Grand theft is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary
for not less than one, nor more than ten years.
You have just heard Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action,
and starring Jack Webb, a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
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