Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragman.
You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail.
A gang has hijacked and robbed a bank truck.
They've stolen over $100,000. There's no lead to their identity.
It's your job. Get them.
Dragnet. 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 Thursday, June 5th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of robbery detail.
My partner is Frank Smith, the boss is Chief of Detective Stad Brown. My name is Friday.
I was on my way back from the business office and it was 10.52 p.m. when I got to room 27A. Robbery.
Is it a gun? Yeah, it is a gun. You got the double up buck? Yeah, Jack.
Here you go. Any word yet? No, we ought to be hearing pretty quick.
Nothing from Herman and Benson, huh? Last we got from them, they were over on Hobart.
No action there? Nothing. I got it.
Robbery, Friday. Yes, ma'am. That's right. When was this?
No. No, that's a burglary. If you'll hold on just a minute, I'll have you switch them.
Yes, ma'am. Hold on just one minute.
Would you give this call to 2524, please? That's right, burglary. Thank you.
Woman who wants somebody to come out and talk to her about her husband's work pants being taken from the clothesline.
You should have gone out. Yeah. You got a cigarette? I'm fresh out.
Here you are. Got a match? Yeah, thanks.
Well, you might as well sit down, take it easy. We've got no idea how long we're going to be here.
Guess so. You know, I'm still not real sure about how this tip came in. You want to fill me in?
Call came through this afternoon. A man refused to give his name. Just said he had some information he thought we'd like to have.
No idea who it was, huh? No. Said it wasn't important.
Went on to say that he could tell us where to pick up the man who held up the bank truck.
Well, I figured it might be a crank, so I asked him how we could be sure the story was true.
How did he answer that? Said he could prove it. Said he had some of the serial numbers on the stolen bills.
The check out? Yeah. Gave me the numbers from ten of the twenties. I checked the serial numbers. They're good.
And that's when he said he'd call back, huh? Yeah. Said he'd call tonight around ten and give us the address where we could pick up the man.
It's late now. About an hour. Yeah. But he knows what he's talking about. We got to be here when the phone rings.
No way of getting an ID on him, huh? None. What did he say about the men they have?
The way he tells it, they're loaded. Get all the guns and ammunition they need to hold out for a week.
Who knows that? Why couldn't he give us the address this afternoon?
He said he wanted to put a lot of distance between him and the rest of them. See how many there were?
Not right out. When he talked to them, he figured there were three. Any names?
No. Said he'd tell us where to pick them up. Said when we blew the whistle late, tell us.
Might be a little tight taking them then, huh? If the way they handle the guards on the truck is any indication, that isn't going to be a picnic.
How many men we got? Herman and Benson. We can call them in. Murph and Rafferty. Stuart and Creasy.
Where are they now? Well, I saw Murph and Raff out at the business office just a minute ago. Said they'd be right in.
I'll get it. Robert and Fridy. Yes, it is.
Where? Yeah, I'll put them through. Call from San Francisco. Operator says station distinction.
Might be our boy. Huh. He'd have to fly up north to get there this fast.
Airlines don't ask for recommendations when they sell a ticket. Wait just a minute.
This Friday. Who's this? Okay, if that's the way you want it. Yeah.
Give me that address. All right, let me read that back to you. 1657 Garfield Place, Apartment 408. Is that right?
Okay. Why don't you tell us your name? I won't do any... Hello. Hello.
I hung up. I'll have the business office get on it, see if they can come up with a number. Got the address? Yeah, I got that.
The way he put it, job might be tougher than we figured. What do you mean? Well, I asked him his name. I told him it wouldn't make any difference if he told us.
Yeah, he said it'd make a lot of difference. Said they'd kill him if they found out that he faked on them. That figures.
Said that when he reads in the papers that they're dead, then he'll come in. When they're dead? Yeah, says we won't take them alive.
Ten days previously, on Thursday, May 26th, three men had stopped an armored truck on its way to the Federal Reserve Bank.
The truck had stopped for collection on Wilshire Boulevard. The three holed up men had approached the truck and produced sawed off 12 gauge shotguns.
At gunpoint, two of the men forced the drivers to go out to the San Fernando Valley. The third followed in another car.
On a side road south of Ventura Boulevard, the suspects had tied and then beaten the driver and the guard.
The two men were placed in the back of the truck and after stealing all of the cash in the vehicle, the thieves had driven off.
As soon as the theft was discovered, men from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were notified. Together with them, Frank and I followed down every lead.
The crime lab went over the truck but found nothing that would help us in getting to the thieves.
Light and fingerprints were able to come up with nothing. The driver of the truck and the guard had been shown the mug books but they were unable to make an identification.
The method of operation was checked through the stats office but when the leads that developed were checked out, we were in the same position as when we first got the call.
We had no idea who the thieves might be. Descriptions obtained from the two victims were broadcast to the entire nation but there were no kickbacks.
The FBI weighed and sifted all evidence in its Washington headquarters but they came up with the same results we had. Nothing.
The phone call from the informant was the first concrete lead that we'd gotten. There were nine men from robbery division and three teams from the FBI in the operation.
From the information we had, we knew the suspects were armed and they were dangerous. The people in the building were gotten out of their apartments. The building itself was completely surrounded.
1.36 a.m. We moved in.
Boys in the street are set. Let's go.
All right. Did you check the manager?
Yep.
Descriptions of the men in the apartment match the one we got from the driver of the truck. It checks out to be the same guys.
The managers say how many there were?
Three. She's not sure they're all in.
All right.
Sounds like somebody's moving around in there.
Well, you ready?
Yeah.
Let's go.
Police officer, stand still.
What are you doing in here?
You here alone?
Yeah, alone. What are you looking for? A convention?
Where are the other two?
What two?
Nobody else, Joe.
The closet over there looks like an arsenal. Loaded with guns. A couple of sawed-off shotguns.
You guys got no right to come in here like this.
I don't know what you're looking for, but you ain't gonna find it.
What's your name?
Hank Peterson.
You rent this apartment with two other guys. Manager tells us that they're Harvey Fitzgerald and Lou Colton. Is that right?
Yeah, they live here.
Where are they now?
I don't know. Out. Maybe to a movie. I don't know.
When do you expect them back?
Look, they're big fellas now. They don't have to get me to sign a report card. They do what they want. They went out. I don't know where. They didn't tell me.
They also didn't tell me when they'd be back.
What's this all about?
Where'd you get those guns in the closet?
They don't belong to me.
Who do they belong to?
One of the guys.
Which one?
You ain't coming in here and asking all these questions. I ain't done nothing. You got no beef with me. I don't know anything about the guns. Maybe Lou likes to hunt. I don't know.
They belong to Colton, huh?
Yeah, he brought them.
You don't know where he is now?
I told you. If I knew where he was, I'd tell you. I don't want any trouble. I don't like to have people pointing guns at me. Would you put that one away?
Turn around.
Why?
I said turn around. Get over to the wall. Put your hands up on it.
Big deal. What happens now? You kick my feet out and I fall down?
Stand still.
I'm gonna jump.
You ain't gonna find nothing on me. I tell you, I'm clean.
Nice try, Peterson. Here's a.38 Colt Joe had in his belt.
You go around pretty heavy for a fellow that doesn't want trouble, don't you?
I carry a lot of money. Sometimes I think some guys are trying to take it away from me. I gotta protect myself. Anybody's got the right to protect themselves.
Yeah, you got a permit for this gun?
No, I didn't get around to it yet. I'm going to though right away. I'll get one. You know how it is. You mean to do something, but you forget. Hey, can I stand up straight now?
Yeah.
Come on, Peterson. Get your hands behind you.
Maybe your guys will tell me what this is for. What are you looking for?
They'll tell you downtown.
You know you're making a big mistake.
Am I right?
Sure, you really call this one wrong. You're dragging an innocent man. I'm clean. I made a mistake when I didn't register the gun. Our cop does that, but that's the edge. I don't go past there.
You know you got it wrong, Peterson.
Read me how.
We got you going in for the bank truck robbery. You and your two friends, you're gonna stand for it.
Keep talking about my two friends. I got no friends. I'm moving with a couple of fellas. All of a sudden I got a piece of some action there shoving. You got it wrong, cop.
You aren't gonna tell us you happened to be here at the wrong time, are you?
Look, I'm from Chicago. I got a lead on a job out here. It gets cold in Chicago in the wintertime. I don't like the cold.
Get a lead on a job out here in California, so I put an ad in the paper telling how I'd like to drive out with the guy, share expenses.
The fellow that answers the ad wants to leave. When I got to go is Luke Colton. I took a third of the tab driving out.
We got into town. He's got this apartment line up. This one right here. I got no place to stay, so he says for me to pad down with him. That's it. The beginning, the middle, the end.
Anything outside of that, I don't know. If you got trouble with Lou, then take it up with him, but don't make me fit in. I got no part of the action. I don't want any.
What about the gun? The gun you had on you?
I tried to explain that. I meant to get a permit for it. I didn't get around to it yet.
What about the ones in the closet?
Well, talk to Lou. They belong to him. Maybe he's gonna open a museum.
All right. Let's get out of here.
Come on, let's go.
Look what you did to the door, breaking it up like that. No reason. All you had to do was knock. Landlady's gonna be pretty sore about it.
I'd have let you in if you had a knock, breaking up a door like that. She's gonna be real sore. Probably won't talk to me.
Well, it's gonna be a while before she's got the chance.
While Frank and I took Henry Peterson downtown, the other officers from robbery maintained the surveillance on the apartment.
Because of the construction of the building, it was impossible to wait inside of the room. However, all of the entrances were covered.
2.40 a.m. We checked the suspect through R&I, but we found that he had no record in Los Angeles.
His fingerprints were taken and forwarded to Washington for checking.
It was printed and mugged and then placed in a cell in the felony section at the main jail.
The rest of that night, the watch on the apartment continued without results.
The following morning, Frank and I met with Lieutenant Smeyers at a special show-off of the suspect for the driver and the guard of the armored car.
Without hesitation, they both stated positively that Peterson was one of the men who'd held them up.
The kickback arrived from Washington with the information that Peterson was wanted for escape from the state penitentiary in New Jersey.
He'd been convicted on a charge of murder and robbery and given a life sentence.
The record showed that he'd escaped from the prison on Friday, May 9th, two weeks before the truck had been robbed.
4.15 p.m. We had him brought from his cell and Frank and I talked to him in the interrogation room at the main jail.
You got a cigarette?
Yeah.
Thanks. Here's a match.
What do we got going now?
Same thing. We want to know about the robbery of that armored car.
You figure there's something I could tell you on it, huh?
We wouldn't beat you otherwise.
I'll make you a deal.
We don't make them.
Now hear me out. You might go for this.
We can't promise you anything.
You're asking me to come over to your side. Seems like you'd be willing to come a little closer to the line.
What do you got to say?
How bad you got me nailed?
As deep as it can go.
For real?
That's right.
Lay it out.
All of it?
Yeah.
We got the kickback from Washington. We know you're wanted for escape.
We checked the guns from the apartment. Found out they were taken in a burglary in Chicago Tuesday, May 13th.
Go ahead.
We checked with the Chicago papers. The ad you told us about asking for a ride out here, it was never run.
You guys are sure thorough.
The victims of the robbery identified your picture.
They sure?
They're sure.
No chance for a mistake?
No chance.
If I cop out, where am I going to do the time?
We don't decide then.
You think they'll send me back to Jersey?
I told you we got no say in that.
It's so cold back there. It's nice here in California. I like to stay here.
Nothing you guys can do so I can take the fall in Quentin, huh?
Nothing.
Any way you hear it, I'm nailed, huh?
That's right.
Okay. Maybe it's marked down that I copped out to let me stay in California.
It'll be put down that way.
Okay. Where do you want me to start?
Try the beginning.
Good places, any?
You're worth a hold up, huh?
Yeah.
How about the other two?
You picked them up yet?
No.
They haven't come back to the apartment.
Might be good if they didn't.
Where do you come up with that?
Heavy, real heavy.
What are their names?
Luke Colton, Harvey Fitzgerald.
Those are the names in the mailbox. Are they real?
As far as I know.
You're not sure, huh?
No. Part of what I told you is true. I broke out of a jail in Jersey, then beat it to Chicago.
Laid around for a couple of days and started to look for some action.
I was broke. I needed a score to set me up.
Sitting in a bar down on State Street one night and I met Lou and Harvey.
They tipped me to the job out here.
You mean they came all the way out here to pull the one job?
Yeah.
They got a rumble about how it'd be a cinch.
Came out to run it off, then they figured I'm going back leaving you cops with nothing.
When were they figuring on leaving?
I don't know. This was their part of the deal.
I told them going in I wanted to stay out here.
Didn't make any difference to them.
We all figured that if we cut up a hundred thousand dollar score, none of us was going to look bad.
For all I know, they might be on the way back now.
Their clothes were still in the apartment.
You know how many suits you can buy with a third of a hundred thousand dollars?
Go ahead.
Yeah, well after the job we made the split.
Talked it over and decided to dig in for a few days and then take off.
At least they decided to leave. Didn't say when.
I told you now they might be on the way back now.
Who else knows you're in on the job?
Huh?
Outside of you three. Colton, Fitzgerald. Who else knows about it?
Isn't anybody.
Where's your part of the money?
Got it down in the bus depot. Got it in the locker down there.
How long's it been there?
Since day before yesterday.
How often do they clean out them lockers?
Every 24 hours.
And there's 33 thousand dollars floating around in the check room.
You got the key to the locker?
Yeah.
Where is it?
In my shoe. I got a tape of the soul inside.
You want to give it to us?
Well no, but I don't guess there's any other way.
No?
Okay.
You spend any of the money?
You mean the stuff we stole?
That's right.
No, not a dime. Why do you ask that?
Who else might know the serial numbers on the bills?
Well nobody. Nobody but us. And I guess the guys at the bank, they got a record of them I guess.
How about Colton and Fitzgerald? They spending any of their part?
I don't know. You got to ask them that.
The car you drove out after the armored truck. Who'd that belong to?
Colton. It's the one we drove out here in.
What kind of car is it?
Clement, 1952.
What model?
Sedan.
Color?
Light blue.
You know the license number?
No, I never paid any attention to it.
What state is it out of?
Illinois.
Who drove the car when you went on the holdup?
Harvey.
Fitzgerald, huh?
Yeah. He drove the car and Lou and I went in the truck.
Either of them been arrested before?
I'm not sure, but I think Lou fell in New York. I'm not sure though.
How about Fitzgerald?
No. At least he never said anything about it.
Only way I knew about Lou is that he talked about the food in Singsing.
That's the way I knew about him.
You know what he fell for?
Armed robbery, I think. And there was a kidnap rap too, but he beat it.
He out clean?
I don't know.
Seems like you planned a job with two guys that you didn't know very well, doesn't it?
I was hungry and I was cold. I wasn't about to ask for a life story when they offered me a part of the action.
How'd they pick you?
I told you. I was in a bar on state. Lou and Harvey came in. Both of them were carrying a load.
I was sitting there drinking beer. Just the three of us in the place and Lou was drinking pretty heavy.
He gets in a beef with the barkeep and I saw the roll he was carrying, so I figured that if I could take his side in the brawl, maybe I could make a touch.
We walked out of the bar and he offered to buy me a meal. Next thing I know, I'm on the way to California. I'm a partner and a piece of goods that looks safe.
All that time in the car and you didn't find out anything about your two partners?
We drove straight through. We weren't driving. We were sleeping. Anyway, I wasn't a solid member of the club.
I wasn't about to get my nose mashed in for having it someplace where it didn't belong.
I figured if they wanted me to know something, they'd tell me.
You'd go with them for the guns?
No. They already got nose when I fell in.
You knew they were stolen.
Guys turn up with that kind of muscle and can't come from anywhere else. Sure, I knew it was stolen.
Colton and Fitzgerald have any friends out here?
No, not in LA.
Anywhere on the coast?
I hear Lou's got some people up north.
Where?
Maybe San Francisco, Marin County, I don't know. Might even be Oakland. Somewhere around the Bay Area.
They say anything about going up there?
No. First they might have. Way Lou likes to eat. Coming out here he'd go ten miles out of the way because he knew a place that had a good chili size. Think nothing of it.
Never saw anybody who liked to eat so much. Real gourmet. Only with him it was glutton.
He mention any names of people he knew up north?
No, just said he had people.
Anything about the car they're driving that would make it easy to spot?
What do you mean?
Well, like a dented fender, a scratch. Anything to identify it.
Yeah, yeah, it might be something. There's a kind of scratch in the back left fender I think. Woman backed into us on the way out here. Cut right through the metal.
You think of any reason why they might ditch the car?
No. We kept a close tab on the papers right after the job and looked to see how much you had on it. When we didn't see anything we figured the car was all right.
I don't think they'd ditch it. It'd be pretty easy to trace. Lou owns it outright. Unless you want to try to grab cold plates he'd drive it like it was.
Okay. We'll get you your things and you can come over to the city hall and make a statement.
How about the key to the locker?
Oh yeah. There it is. Probably some money due on the package I'll have to owe you.
What's that?
Thirty-three thousand. I haven't got the dough to bail out the package.
It kind of works out even.
Why?
You'd have no place to spend it.
An immediate APB was gotten off carrying the names and descriptions of the two suspects. Also a description of the car.
A radiogram was sent to DMV at Illinois requesting a license and description of any car registered to a Lewis Colton.
While Eleanor Eastlack took Peterson's statement Frank got in touch with the telephone company.
They'd finished checking the phone call we'd gotten from San Francisco but the information they gave led us no farther toward apprehending the suspects.
The call had been made from a pay booth in the ferry terminal building. We got in touch with the FBI and filled them in on the developments.
As a result of Peterson's statement the number of men maintaining the surveillance of the apartment on Garfield Place was cut to one team working days and one team working the night watch.
We put a call in to San Francisco and talked to Chief of Inspector James English. We filled him in on what had happened.
He assigned Inspector Sutton and Zimmerlund to work with us on the case.
Five forty-six p.m. We checked out a tripped car and we left for San Francisco.
It took us a little under ten hours to drive the 405 miles between the two cities.
At four oh three a.m. we stopped in Oakland and put in a call to the San Francisco Police Department.
How much? Yeah just a minute Frank you got a quarter?
Yeah. Thanks.
Here you are.
Two six four please.
Hello this is Joe Friday. Yeah.
You got a message there for me from Charlie Sutton or Jules Zimmerlund?
Hmm? Yeah.
No no we just got in.
Yeah.
Oakland.
What? Just a minute.
You see that street sign up there? Yeah.
Fifth and Poplar.
Fifth and Poplar. Yeah.
No we're coming right over.
When was this?
I see. Well if Charlie calls in tell him we're on the way will you?
Right. Thank you.
Well we're almost too late.
What do you mean? I got a lead?
Sutton and Zimmerlund called in thirty minutes ago. Yeah.
They got the car waiting for the suspects now.
You are listening to Dragnet.
The authentic story of your police force in action.
The address the business officer had given me on the phone was a large garage located at the corner of Union Avenue and Lynch Streets.
When Frank and I got there we met with inspectors Sutton and Zimmerlund.
They told us that when they'd gotten the APB a call had gone out immediately to the officers in the city to be on the lookout for a 1952 blue Plymouth with a dent in the left rear fender and carrying Illinois license plates.
The suspects had parked the car in a no parking zone on O'Farrell Street between Taylor and Mason Streets.
At the peak hour of traffic the car had been towed away from the parking place and left in a garage.
While it was in the garage the information on it had been received from our department and an immediate stakeout was placed on it.
They felt reasonably sure that the suspects would return for the automobile.
They had no reason to think that there might be anything wrong.
The address of the garage had been left so that they might find the car.
All that would be necessary to release it would be the payment of the fine for overtime parking along with the towing and garage fee.
The garage itself was a large building. It provided four stories for parking.
The suspect's car was on the basement level.
We were able to keep watch on it from a small office near the exit ramp.
The attendants were instructed to act as if nothing was wrong when the suspects came in.
Once we knew that they were in the building the entrances and exits would be blocked and they would be taken into custody.
There was nothing to do but wait.
Five thirty a.m. No sign of Colton and Fitzgerald.
Six fifteen a.m. Frank went out and brought back some hot coffee.
Six forty five. Seven a.m.
People began to come into the garage to get their cars but not the two suspects.
The later it became the more difficult it would be for us to take the two men into custody.
If there was going to be any shooting we'd be in a bad position with civilians in the range of fire.
Seven thirty. Eight. Eight oh four a.m.
Somebody coming down there. Yeah.
You see who it is? No. Jules. Yep.
You and Charlie want to cover the other side. Right.
We'll watch it.
We should be able to get a pretty good look at him. Yeah.
You know you're back in time and you're told off the street. What kind of town is this?
They got a sign you should have put in the garage.
You and your smart ideas. You read what you see the sign. Who can tell you?
It's Colton and Fitzgerald. Yeah.
You see Jules and Charlie? Wait a minute. Yeah. Over by the gray murk.
Looks like they're all set. Let's go.
Let's get this crate out of here.
We can have some breakfast with the robbers we got.
You know the cops took their men. They should have been here more than me.
You know I'm sure they're the right thing to do.
Look, you don't have to think. If I wanted somebody for that, you'd still be back east.
You know one of these days you're going to open that mouth a little too wide.
You know what you guys want?
Police officers, you're under arrest.
Run, huh? Get them off, Jules. Get them off, Jules. I'll get them.
Colton, this isn't the way out.
You follow your own back, cop.
The doors are blocked, Colton. You're in here for good.
You're in your own kind of glasses. I'll get out.
Now look, we got you for robbery. Don't make it anymore.
Joe?
Yeah?
He's over in the corner. How about Fitzgerald?
Setting on Zimmerman and Gound. Two of their guns in their lap. On no part of trouble.
Colton doesn't figure it that way. I'll try to get around him.
Now watch yourself.
Keep those people back out of the doorway.
Go on, Frank. I'll cover you.
You come here means come up here.
There's three more, Colton. You're going to get by all of us.
Your partner Quint might not be smart like him.
He ain't not smart and scared.
All right, Colton. I'm coming to you.
You do. You'll be dead when you get here.
Throw down that gun.
Colton?
You see him, Joe?
No.
Take it easy, Joe.
Colton.
How about it?
He's hit. We can't tell how bad. He's still got the gun.
Colton!
You're going to hear me throw that gun out here.
Nothing.
Come on.
Better call an ambulance.
Right.
You never should have taken us.
Better take it easy, Colton. You're hit where it shows.
You never should have taken us.
Two of you, two of us.
You got it wrong, mister.
Huh?
You were outnumbered going in.
The story you have just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
Harvey Ned Fitzgerald and Louis Jeffrey Colton were tried and convicted of kidnapping,
robbery in the first degree, and violation of the Dangerous Weapons Control Act.
They were found guilty and sentenced as prescribed by law.
Kidnapping is punishable by imprisonment for a period of from one to 25 years in the state penitentiary.
Robbery in the first degree by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
Violation of the Dangerous Weapons Control Act by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of not less than five years.
Henry Vincent Peterson was remanded to the authorities of New Jersey for completion of his sentence.
A hold was placed on him by the state of California in the event he is paroled.
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.
Thank you for watching!