Dragnet.
Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail.
Three hold-up men have robbed and beaten two supermarket operators in your city.
You've got a good description of the thieves. Your job, get them.
It was Tuesday, November 3rd. It was cold in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out a robbery detail.
My partner is Frank Smith, the boss of Chief of Detective Stab Brown. My name's Barty.
We'd gotten a hot shot call about a robbery and it was 9.46 a.m. when we got to the corner of Lockwood and Barton Avenues.
The Lockton Market.
Officer back there.
Friday and Smith sent a robbery. Oh yeah, I'm Jackson, Unit 3A7. You answered the call? Yeah.
We got here a couple of minutes ago. Where's the victim? Back room there. He's pretty bad off.
Ambulance attendance with him now.
My partner's checking the neighborhood. If there's nothing you need me for, I'll give him a hand.
Yeah, make a 211 report for you, Lee, will you? Right. Thank you.
Looks like there was quite a fight. Yeah, stuff all over the place. Come on.
What do you got in that bottle? It sure stinks. Yeah, you gotta clean up these cuts and try to hold still.
Hey, take it easy, huh?
Yeah, I sent you one? We're out of central robbery. Is this the victim? Yeah, a couple of cuts, nothing serious.
Tell him about Andy. He's the one who really got it. Who's Andy? Yeah, the clerk. Pretty rough.
Looks like it might be a fractured jaw. He's on the truck now.
Let me get this tape on you now.
Oh.
That should do it. Might be a good idea if you saw your doctor. Yeah, what about Andy?
We're going to take him down to Georgia Street Receiving. You gonna call me and let me know about him?
That might be better if you call them. Yeah, okay. I see you guys. Yeah, right. Yeah, sure.
Boy, that one guy really clouded me. Heard.
What did he feel up to telling us what happened here? Three of them. Three came in and held up the place, clouded me and Andy.
Sure hope he's going to be all right. What's your name, sir? Cliff Hall. You own the store, do you?
No, me and Andy run it, though. We'd like to buy it. What time did these men come in? Must have been around 9.30, around there.
Did you give the officers who answered the call a description of the men? Yeah, that was the first thing they asked me.
Go ahead, please. I was getting the money ready for the bank deposit. Andy was back here stacking bottle cases.
These three guys came in first off. I thought they were customers. Yeah. Couple of them walked the back of the place.
I thought they were picking out stuff. The other one kind of stood around by the cash register where I was. Go ahead.
Well, after he was there for a minute and I see the other two aren't picking up nothing, I asked him if there was something I could get for him.
That's when he pulled out a gun. What about the other two? Oh, work like they had some kind of signal.
Soon as the one in front pulled his gun, the other two did too.
Fell asked me to put all the money in a paper bag, got the bag from up in front there, took it right out of the stack and handed it to me,
he said, for me to put the dough in it. You recall his exact words? What? The way he said it, the words he used. You recall him?
Let me see. I think it was put all the dough in this bag. Don't say anything. Just do as I say. That was the way he said it.
What did you do then? Like he said, he had that gun pointed right at me. I could see the other two guys.
I wasn't going to do anything. But what he told me, I put the money in the bag. I thought they'd leave the place. But that's when Andy came out.
I guess he wondered what the other two were after. You see, from where he was, he couldn't see the guns. Well, he walked out to him.
He didn't ask if there was anything special they were looking for. What happened then? Then he saw what was happening.
Saw the guns and he tried to throw the guys out. I don't know why he did it. Andy's like that. He gets an idea in his head and there isn't anything that'll shake it loose.
He tied into those two guys. Almost had him whipped too, even with the guns. The guy that was with me saw what was going on, yelled back at him, told him not to shoot.
He ran back and laid his gun alongside Andy's head. It all clouded him right along in here. Andy dropped like a sack of potatoes and the three guys ran out of the store.
How much money did they get, you know? I hadn't finished up with the bank statement yet. I'd just be guessing, but I'd say about $8,000.
Might run to $8,500, but that's about it. I see. Now, if you could just give us a description of the man. All three of them? If you could, yeah.
The one who was with me must have been about 5'11", kind of dark complex. It had straight black hair. What color were his eyes? Brown.
He had any marks or scars you could see? No. Clean shaver? Yeah, I had a real dark beard. It looked kind of like he had some kind of talcum powder on.
Remember how he was dressed? Let's see. Dark blue suit, gray top coat, gray hat. Was he wearing a tie, do you know? Yeah, a gray tie with maroon stripes.
You know, kind of diagonal, a thin tie. Anything unusual about him? Make it easier for us to identify him? No, I don't think so.
How about the gun he was carrying? What kind was it? I couldn't see the name. No, sir, I mean, was it an automatic or revolver? Oh, an automatic.
It looked like a big caliber, I'd say.45. One of the other fellows had a revolver, but the guy with me and the small one had automatics.
You know if they drove a car? Well, if they did, I didn't see it. Might have had it parked right out in front for all I know. I told you, I was busy when they came in.
When they left, I was too worried about Andy to pay any attention to him. Why are they hitting on a terrible thing right along here?
Oh, excuse me, man. I got some aspirin in the door. Yes, sir. I sure hope Andy's going to be all right. We've been together a long time.
I can't get over that little guy, the one who hit me. I should have taken him. But the big one, he's a tough looking real fighter.
Well, this is going to help much. Huh? He's going to lose this one.
We got the descriptions of the other two men and a supplementary local broadcast was gotten out.
The two officers who had answered the call found a woman in the neighborhood who'd seen three men leave the vicinity immediately after the robbery.
She said that she was parked in a car half a block from the store on the same side of the street. She explained that about nine twenty a.m., a car pulled into a parking place in front of her.
She'd seen three men leave the car and walk down the sidewalk in the direction of the Lockton Market. About ten minutes later, the men came back to the car.
They appeared to be in a hurry. One of the men was upset and arguing with the other two. She told the officers that they'd gotten into the car and driven off toward Hollywood Boulevard.
We asked her to describe the three men. The description she gave us matched the one we'd gotten of the thieves.
She gave us a description of the car and another supplementary broadcast was put out.
We asked her to come down to City Hall to go through the mug books to see if she could give us a positive identification.
The report from Georgia Street Receiving Hospital indicated that the victim of the slugging, Andrew Rich, was suffering from a fractured jaw and a concussion.
He was given emergency treatment and removed to the county hospital. The crime lab crew came out and they went over the store for physical evidence.
They were able to lift three partial fingerprints from the counter next to the cash register.
Dean Bergman in Leighton Prince explained that the partials were not enough for identification, but that if we apprehended the holdup men, he'd be able to tell us if they'd left the impressions.
Ten twenty-seven a.m. We took the victim Clifford Hall and the woman who'd seen the car to the mug room.
They went through the mug books, but they were unable to come up with an identification. We had the stats office make a run on the MO.
They came back with a list of seventeen names of men who at one time or another had used the same method of operation.
The list was split and Sergeants Mead and Leitner worked with us in checking the names out.
It was Thursday three forty eight p.m. Frank and I got to the sixth name on our list.
Jerry Evanston, right? Yeah.
It's sure dark in this hall. We ought to wash the windows, let some light in.
Yeah, here we are.
Why not be in? We'll try again.
Now let's talk to the manager. Yeah.
Yeah? Who is it?
The manager. We want to see him in it.
Just a minute.
What do you want? I just sleep. Come on, Evanston, open up.
Now go and get out of here.
Come on, Evanston, get up.
What are you doing, McQueen?
Look, you got no right to come busting in here like this.
Yeah, you're so clean. What are you putting that trouble for?
I get scared, that's all. I just get scared.
You feel somebody walk you up and shoves their way into your room.
You ain't going to stand around and just let them do it.
Stay clean, John. I told you that.
Look, I got no trouble. I don't want none.
You check with Galloway, he'll tell you. I'm home every night at nine o'clock.
Where were you this morning? Huh?
This morning, where were you? What time?
You just tell us what you did starting when he got up.
I was up all night. I got a virus or something. I couldn't sleep.
Take a look there in the dresser, you can see the stuff I've been taking.
I haven't been out of this room, not for a couple of days.
Can you prove that? Why?
Can you? No, there wasn't anybody here.
You get any phone calls? No.
I don't know what this is all about, but you guys are leaning on me for nothing.
Now, you talk to Galloway, he'll tell you I've been working.
Look here, I'll show you... Where are you going?
I just want to show you something I got in the drawer.
You stay right there, I'll get it for you.
Okay, I got nothing to hide.
Take a look in the top drawer there, left-hand side.
Yeah.
Please, what you mean?
Yeah, that's it.
Stand up and look, you'll see I'm telling you the truth.
Now, you see? It's all the check receipts I've gotten from where I work.
You look at them, I'm working every day and I'm home at night, oh, nine o'clock every night.
How about it, Joe? Yeah.
Now, you see?
You haven't been out of this room all day, huh? Not a minute.
Now, come on, what's all this about anyway? What are you guys after?
I figured maybe you could tell us.
Yeah?
I'm sorry, without you telling me what you want, there's nothing I can give you.
You see any of the boys anymore?
I mean, the fellas I knew before I fell.
Oh, that's right.
Not if I can help it, I'm trying to stay away from them.
See any of them lately? Yeah.
I saw Alex a couple days ago.
Alex? Yeah, Alex Finley.
I knew him when I was up in Q. He came in where I was working.
Did you talk to him at all?
Just said hello, passed a couple of minutes talking about some of the guys we know.
Seeing the rackets now?
I don't know.
John Perot? Yeah, I think so.
Did he give you anything? Oh, a couple of rumbles, but if I turn them over to you, I don't want a credit for them.
You don't know where you got them.
All right.
I think there's a gang that's going to start working here in town, market jobs.
How many men?
From what Alex says, there's four, all heavy guys.
Finley with them?
No, I don't think so. He told it to me that he just heard it.
Did he say anything about who the four men are?
No, I don't think he knew. He just said they were heavy and they were starting to work.
You know where we can get in touch with Alex?
No.
Well, you might check with Galloway at the parole office. He might have it.
Yeah, we will.
I'll probably see him again. I'll try to get the information if I can.
What is it? What does he want to know? Who the guys are?
That's right.
Okay. Now, like I told you, though, I don't want any credit for it.
I'm in real trouble if it gets around that I'm playing footsie with you.
Yeah, sure.
I'll try to find out when they're going to start working, too.
Well, don't you worry about that.
Huh? We already know that.
Four ten p.m.
We got in touch with Fred Galloway at the state adult parole offices
and we checked on Jerry Evanston.
From what the records showed, the story Evanston had told us was true.
His parole officer had reported him working
and apparently living up to the conditions of his release.
We left him one of our cards and asked him to call us back.
We were told that he was going to be released.
We left him one of our cards and asked him to call us
in the event he heard from Alex Finley.
Four twenty-one p.m. We checked back into the office
and we met with Sergeants Mead and Lightner.
They told us that they'd checked out the names
on their half of the list without result.
We sent a teletype up to George Brett in C.I.I. Sacramento
giving him the description of the holdup men
and listing the E.M.O. that they'd used.
We asked him to run the information through their files
and forward any information they came up with.
Five nineteen p.m.
We went out to get something to eat and then we checked back into the office.
Good dinner, huh, Joe?
Yeah. I never saw a guy could eat so many enchiladas as you.
Yeah, I can't help it.
I get started on them, can't seem to stop.
Yeah.
You got any soda in your locker?
No, you got trouble again?
You know I always do when we have enchiladas.
You ought to remember that when you order a half a dozen.
I suppose so.
I get it.
Lobby Friday, yep.
When was that?
They're pretty sure, are they?
Has the lab been called yet?
Yep. Okay. Right, thanks.
Well, that's a break.
They just found the getaway car.
Six forty seven p.m.
We left the office and drove out to where the car had been found.
It was parked on Lockwood Avenue,
five blocks from the market that had been robbed.
The radio car officers had spotted it
and had called the office immediately when they saw a brown paper bag
in the back seat bearing the printed name
Lockton Market.
A crew from Layton Prince came out and went over the car.
They were able to come up with a single print from a man's index finger.
Bergman compared it with the partials found at the market.
They matched.
We checked the white slip on the car
and found that the vehicle was stolen.
A report on it had been filed at ten thirty seven a.m. that morning.
We talked with the people in the immediate vicinity,
but none of them were able to tell us anything about the people who had parked the car.
However, we did come up with an elderly man
who told us that he'd seen three men get into another car
at about nine forty five that morning.
He said that he remembered it because the driver of the car
had pulled into a parking space
and stopped the motor.
Another automobile had parked directly in front of the car
and the driver of the first machine had moved
so that there was no one in front of them.
The man went on to say that
a few minutes after the driver pulled into the second parking place,
three men had come around the corner,
gotten into the car, and the four of them had driven off.
The witness was unable to give us a description of the car
other than to say that it was a late model Plymouth or Ford.
The only description he could give us of the men
was that one of them was large
and was wearing a gray top coat and a hat
and that one of them was small.
Eight forty p.m.
Frank and I went back to the office and checked out for the night.
The following morning at eight oh two a.m.
I checked back in for work.
Hi Joe.
Morning. Kind of cold out.
Yeah.
You look happy this morning.
I didn't sleep a wink last night, Joe. Not a wink.
What's the matter?
Stomach. Next time I even think about eating enchiladas,
stop me, will you Joe?
Yeah, sure.
Any mail come in?
No.
There's an ad here
from that store over in West Sixth.
They're having an annual sale.
Yeah? I want to try to get over there
and get me a new suit for Christmas.
There's a special delivery from Bracken.
Probably those mugs we asked for.
I'll see.
Yeah, there's six of them.
You want to get in touch with Cliff Hall?
Drive over and have him take a look at them.
Yeah. You got any other pictures? Yeah, we can mix them up.
I'll call Hall, Kay.
I sure hope we get an ident
that we haven't got much to go on.
There's got to be a break someplace.
We've got to find it.
From what Finley said about the gang starting up the operation,
it doesn't sound like just one job. No.
They start on a string, they can do a lot of damage.
It doesn't give us much choice, does it? No.
We've got to get to them.
Eight twenty-seven a.m.
Frank and I left the office and drove over
to the victim, Cliff Hall. We showed him the mug shots
George Bracken had sent us.
He picked one out and said that he was positive
that the man in the picture was the one who had held him up.
The name on the mug shot was Harold Bishop.
According to the record Bracken had sent us,
Bishop had been convicted twice on violation
of 211 P.C. armed robbery.
Nine twenty a.m.
We drove over to the county hospital and showed the pictures
to the other victim, Andrew Rich.
He picked the mug shot of Bishop as the suspect who'd robbed and beaten him.
The notation on Bishop's picture
gave us the information that he was on parole at the time.
We returned to the office and put in a call
to Fred Galloway at the State Adult Parole Office.
Yeah, Fred, this is Joe Friday.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, fine. We'd like some information
on the Harold Bishop. San Francisco
number eight two six oh nine.
Two six.
That's right. Male, white, Caucasian.
We got a mug from Bracken.
No, he says on parole.
Yeah, if you will.
Thanks a lot.
Checking the master file now.
We'll be standing by if we need him.
When we get this address, we're going to have to move fast.
Yeah. Yeah, Fred. When was that?
Well, how's his report there?
I see. No, I don't know.
Yeah, I suppose.
Right, Fred. Thank you.
Well, you can tell me and Lightner to relax.
Bishop's got an out-of-state parole.
He's living over in Phoenix. Well, he still could be getting
into California. No, not likely. Huh?
Fred checked with his parole officer. Yeah.
He's been reporting to his parole officer every month.
We asked Fred Galloway at the State
Parole Office to contact Bishop's parole
officer in Phoenix and check him closely.
The report came back that the suspect
had a job with a small contractor
and that he'd been working regularly.
He'd also been giving monthly reports to his
officer. We'd had a
suspect identified by two of his victims,
and yet if the information we'd gotten was correct,
it would have been a physical impossibility for him
to have committed the robbery.
We got a copy of his jacket and looked over his
past record. We found that
Bishop had been arrested for armed robbery the first
time 18 years previously.
He'd been brought to trial and acquitted.
The next arrest was 10 months after
his trial. He'd been convicted and served six
years at San Quentin. He'd been released
and within six months Bishop had been picked up
again. This time he was sent
to Folsom Penitentiary. While he
was there he appeared to be a model prisoner,
and after serving four and a half years he'd been placed
on parole. After leaving
the prison he'd requested and been granted
an out of state leave.
In checking Bishop's M.O. we found that it matched
exactly that of the thieves who'd held up the
Lockton Market. The time
of approach was the same, the number of men
used was the same. The method of leaving
the scene was exact. We had a suspect
and yet he couldn't have committed the crime.
Three weeks passed.
On Saturday, November 26,
the thieves hit again. In checking with the victims
they identified the mug shot of Bishop.
We put in a long distance call to the Phoenix
Police Department and asked them to check on the suspect.
We got word back that he was in their city.
They told us that he wasn't at work due to a virus
infection. They went on to say that they'd checked
with his landlady and that she'd told them that Bishop hadn't
left his apartment at all on the day of the theft.
Monday, November 28,
we got our first break in the case.
I'll get it.
Robbery's
man. Yeah. Oh yeah
Jerry. Uh huh.
You sure about that?
Where?
Uh huh. How about the rest of them?
Yeah, just a minute.
Toss me that pad will you? Yeah, here you go.
Okay Jerry, go ahead.
Yeah.
Uh huh.
How do you spell it? L-A?
L-E-A? H-Y?
Uh huh. I got it.
Uh huh. You know the
address? Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay, thanks Jerry. We'll get in touch with you.
Right. Jerry
Evanston, remember the guy we talked to over in South 7th?
Yeah. Well the way he tells it, we aren't
too far off. How do you mean? He saw Bishop in town
last Saturday.
We put in a call and we found that there were two major airlines with flights to Phoenix.
The flight time they listed was one hour and 35 minutes by air.
If Bishop caught the last flight leaving Phoenix, he could arrive in Los Angeles at 1120 PM the night before he left.
The next day after the holdup, he could catch a plane from the Los Angeles International Airport that would have him back in Phoenix at 825 PM.
By doing this, he would be absent from his work only one day.
And he could schedule his flight so as not to hit on the days when he had an interview with his parole officer.
Tuesday, November 29th, a meeting was held in Chief Thad Brown's office.
It was decided to put a special stake out on the airport and wait for the suspect to come into town.
At that time, he'd be followed and taken into custody as he prepared to commit another robbery.
The names of the three other men Jerry Evanson had given Frank as having been involved in the holdups had been checked through R&I.
All three of them had arrest records.
Surveillance was placed on their homes and they were kept under constant watch.
Monday, December 12th, 1115 PM, Frank and I relieved the stakeout at the airport.
There's a bench over there. We can keep all the gates in there. Yeah.
Wonder when he's going to hit again. I don't know.
The last couple of weeks it sure dragged by him. Yeah.
Anything on the other three guys? Well, I talked to Pinky Meade this morning.
He and Lightner are staked out at Lay's apartment. How they doing?
Nothing. Parking the car down the street. What they say Lay's like a clock.
He comes in at 5 AM, leaves at 9 PM every day. Got a cigarette? Yeah.
Here you go.
Joe. Yeah.
Bishop. Let's let him get outside. Yeah.
Wonder if he's got any luggage.
I'll be bringing up outside. We can wait for him there.
All right, come on.
You see him? Yeah, there he is. Getting into that cab. Come on.
Frank and I got in our car and followed the cab taken by the suspect.
We followed him out of the airport grounds and then up La Brea Avenue.
The cab turned right on Washington Boulevard and headed for downtown Los Angeles.
We pulled up to a stoplight. Still got him? Yeah, he's still up ahead in front of that blue Mercury.
See him? Yeah. You got the number of the cab? Mm-hmm. 2974.
There's the light. All right, let's go.
Better try to pick it up a little, Frank. Cab's pulling away from us. Yeah.
Think he's seen us? No.
Can't you close in a little? Traffic's too heavy. Yeah, use the siren. We'll tip him. Yeah.
Still see him? Yeah.
There's a break. Guy had to make it a right turn. Now we're right behind the cab. Yeah. I'll close in now. Good.
Watch it, Frank. That guy pulling out of the alley. Hold on.
As we drove down the street after the stoplight had changed, a car had failed to make a boulevard stop coming out of an alley and we'd hit it broadside.
The damage done to both cars was considerable and we'd lost our suspect.
Frank got to a phone and called the office. He gave them the number of the cab that Bishop was in and asked for a traffic investigation card.
The office started a search for the missing suspect.
Lieutenant Jack Smire told us to proceed to the apartment of Tom Leahy to wait for further development.
In the meantime, a citywide broadcast went out carrying the description of Bishop and the other three men involved in the theft.
Frank and I arrived at the apartment and we relieved mead and light in it.
We had the manager of the place let us into Leahy's room. We waited.
1.30 a.m. 2.30. 4 o'clock. 5.30 a.m.
Frank and I had been on duty for over 21 hours.
At 5.45, the phone in the apartment rang once and then it quit. That was the arranged signal between us and the office.
Frank put in the call. Lieutenant Smire told us that officers Max Herman and Ed Benson were on the way out to relieve us.
15 minutes later we heard somebody in the hall.
Joe?
Yeah, probably Benson and Herman.
Yeah.
I'll get it.
Watch it, Joe.
I'm coming up for you.
You all right, Joe?
Yeah, come on.
He's going upstairs.
Make it for the roof. Come on.
See him?
No. You want to take that side?
Right.
Watch it.
Behind the elevator, Chef Joe.
Yeah, I see him.
Get away from me, cop.
You're in trouble, Bishop. Don't build any more for yourself.
I got nothing to lose. They held me again. I'll be up at the joint for life. Don't talk no more. He shouldn't use me.
There's no way off this roof, Bishop. Throw that gun out here and you follow him.
You're out of your mind, cop.
Give it up, Bishop. Now come on. Throw that gun out.
I'm going out, cop. You try to stop me, I'll blow your head off.
You all right, Joe?
Yeah.
How is he?
I better call an ambulance.
Yeah. What's that fill out of his pocket?
Wait a minute.
Something they'll never use.
Yeah?
Airplane ticket to Phoenix.
Albert Martin Krueger, Harold Nelson Bishop, Thomas Nagel Leahy, and Charles Everett Lee were taken into custody and brought to trial for two counts of robbery in the first degree.
They were convicted and received sentence as prescribed by law.
Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a period of not less than five years.
Because of his previous record, Thomas Nagel Leahy was given the maximum sentence and is now serving life imprisonment in the State Penitentiary, Folsom, California.
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