Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragnet is brought to you by Chesterfield, made by Liggett and Myers.
First major tobacco company to bring you a complete line of quality cigarettes.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned to robbery detail.
A supermarket in your city has been robbed.
The thief wore a disguise.
You don't know who he is or what he looks like.
Your job, find him.
Today, friends, you hear these three words everywhere.
Chesterfield's for me.
The Chesterfield you smoke today is the best cigarette ever made.
Best for you because Chesterfield gives you proof of highest quality, low nicotine.
The taste you want, the mildness you want.
Chesterfield is best for you because it's tested and approved by 30 years of scientific
tobacco research.
Chesterfield is best for you because it has an established good record with smokers, proven
by test after test.
Yes, friends, the Chesterfield you smoke today is the best cigarette ever made for the taste
you want, the mildness you want.
Join the thousands now changing to Chesterfield.
Always say Chesterfield's for me.
Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime.
For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will
travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official
police violence.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force
in action.
Was Wednesday, August 13th.
It was warm in Los Angeles.
We were working the day watch out of robbery detail.
My partner is Frank Smith, the boss of Chief of Detective Stad Brown.
My name is Friday.
I was on my way into the office and it was 7 58 a.m. when I got to room 27A, robbery.
Morning Frank.
You been in long?
About 10 minutes.
It's gonna be a hot one today, isn't it?
Yeah, that's what the paper says.
Anything in the book?
No.
How about those mugs?
They come in from Barrington?
Yeah, I put them in your box.
Thank you.
Should we take a look at them?
Hey, Frank.
What?
I said did you see the mugs?
Oh, no.
All right.
What's the matter?
Faye, what happened?
Joe, you know me.
You know how I feel about Faye.
So you gotta know I didn't mean anything by it.
You didn't mean anything?
Certainly not.
It's the farthest thing from my mind.
What was?
What she thought I meant.
You know, Joe, sometimes I think Faye just don't understand me.
Well, I don't understand you either on this one.
Oh, that's right.
You weren't there.
No.
I sort of got to thinking to myself you were.
You know how a guy does.
I got to thinking to myself and I got a problem.
You're trying to think your old buddy knows all about it.
Yeah.
So I got to fill you in.
I'll tell you all about it.
Right now?
Yeah.
You see, after dinner last night,
we had those Swedish meatballs that Faye makes so good.
The what?
Meatballs, Swedish ones.
Oh, yeah, I know.
I had those out there.
Yeah, one that are very good.
Excellent.
Well, after dinner last night, we went into the living room,
sat down to watch the television.
I switched on the set and I kind of arranged the pillows
and settled back.
A couple of minutes later, Faye comes in with a box.
One of those big flat ones like dresses come in.
She bought a new dress.
Joe, that's why she fixed the meatballs.
I don't know how this is going to end,
but up to here I must be on Faye's side, I guess.
You are?
Well, I don't understand any of it.
Oh, well, I'll straighten that out.
You see, whenever she wants me to go along with something,
she's already done.
She always makes Swedish meatballs.
Well, I can figure that part out.
What was in the box?
A dress, Joe.
She bought a dress.
Oh, it was a dress?
Yeah.
She opened up the box, she shows it to me.
Told me how she bought it on sale.
Mm-hmm.
You ever notice how every time a woman buys a dress,
it's always on sale?
No, I can't say as I ever have.
Well, believe me, buddy, it always is.
On sale?
On sale.
I don't want you to go through the whole day
with this on your mind,
but if you don't get to the point,
there'll be time for us to sign out.
Oh.
Well, I didn't mean anything by it.
Nothing.
She held the dress up for me to see,
and all I did, I just said, what size is it?
You know how you do.
Wanna look at these mugshots now?
No, wait a minute, I wanna finish.
Ask me what I was mad about.
I wanted to tell you.
I asked her what size the dress was.
She told me it was a 12, a 12.
A 12.
Yeah.
So I just kinda casually mentioned
that when we got married, she wore a nine.
That's all I said, that she wore a nine.
Wanna look at the mugshots now?
No, wait a minute.
Will you help me with this thing?
It's the use of being partners.
If you can't help a little,
we'll look at the mugshots.
When we were married, she wore a nine.
And she just flipped her wig, Joe.
She got real mad, walked out of the room.
Right out of the room.
Yeah.
I guess she thought I meant she was getting fat.
Yeah, yes she did.
Boy, she was mad.
Mm-hmm.
Hot shot, I'll get it.
Let's go, corner of Grandview and Union.
Yeah.
Hold up.
For the time we got to the supermarket,
a broadcast carrying the description of the suspect
had been gotten out to all cars in the city.
A small crowd of people had gathered in front of the store,
and the officers from the radio unit
were attempting to keep them back from the entrance.
An ambulance had been called, and when we got there,
the attendants were giving emergency treatment
to the day manager of the store.
He'd been struck on the left side of the head
just above the ear by the suspect when he was about to die.
The day manager was there,
and he was hit in the head.
We decided to head just above the ear by the suspect
when he'd made his getaway.
The attendant told us that the man was suffering
from a mild concussion.
Frank and I entered the store
and talked to one of the policemen who was there.
He led us back to a small office in the rear of the place
where we met the other two victims.
One was the cashier of the store, Irma Watson.
The other was the man who had the meat concession
in the store, Tom Spence.
We asked him to tell us what happened.
First thing I saw of him was when he parked his car
out in the lot.
The guy was standing right beside the door.
That's right, just standing there calm as could be.
I saw him when I opened up the place.
You want to go ahead?
Well, I unlocked the door and we all came in.
The man did too, just walked right in.
We don't normally let people come in for eight, hardly ever.
But since Gerald was there,
we figured he could take care of the man.
What do you mean Gerald's the man in the ambulance?
Yeah, that's right.
Hold up, fella, give him an awful clout on the head.
Give him concussion.
Concussion to the head.
Tell you something about that too.
What's that, Miss Watson?
I don't really think Gerald's hit that hard.
I think he's just putting on to get sympathy.
Now, Irma, that ain't right.
Not good to say things like that.
Maybe not, but I tell you, you remember,
remember the time he cut his finger when he was moving
the cases of empty soda pop bottles?
Yeah.
Well, you were there, had to rush him to the hospital,
have his hands sewn up.
A lot of foolishness,
piece of adhesive would have taken care of it.
Sympathy, that's what he wants.
Can we go on with what we were talking about?
What happened after he came in the store, please?
Well, I went upstairs and I turned on the lights.
Have to turn them on from up there, officers up there.
That's where I work.
Turn on the lights, then come down to open the safe.
Is that your job to open the safe in the morning?
Yeah.
And she's cashier.
Well, what happened then?
Well, Gerald was going on back to open the delivery door.
I was over in the meat section, kind of straightening up.
Where was the holdup man during this time?
Just kind of strolling around,
looking at the different displays up and down the aisles,
just looking.
Gerald opened up the back door and come back.
Asked the fella if there was something special he was looking for.
Well.
Guy said he wanted to know where the fillet of Ann Chobie's was.
Gerald told him.
The fella went back to get something.
That's what Gerald thought, but we know different now.
Yeah, a lot different.
All right, would you go on, please?
Well, I was upstairs counting the receipts from yesterday,
getting the bank statement ready.
Irma's a cashier.
Yeah.
Yeah, we know that.
Would you go on, please?
Well, first thing, I know the man standing right behind me,
holding this gun, pointed right at me.
You can just bet he like to scare me out of my wits.
Must have been terrible, Irma.
It was.
I just turned around and there he was with this gun,
just about scared me to death.
That's when he asked you for the money, did he?
He didn't ask.
He just told me to put it in a wooden box he had.
Just put it in the box.
What did he say?
What were his exact words?
Well, he just kind of walked over and said,
put the money in the box and don't cause no trouble.
This is a stick-up.
Like that, he said it.
Irma did just what he said.
Yes, sir, I gave him the money, dumped it all in the box,
just like he said.
Then he told me to lay down on the floor.
Just told me to lay down and not to make any noise
or he would come back and kill me.
I think he'd have done it too.
I think he would have, Irma.
That's why I did what he said, flatten the floor.
Did he have the box when he came in?
Yeah, I had it under his arm.
I was down behind the meat counter
and all of a sudden I heard this scream.
That was me.
Yes, ma'am.
I let out a yell and Tom here heard it.
So Gerald, we kind of looked at each other
and then I grabbed the meat cleaver
and started up the stairs.
I didn't know what was wrong,
but I did know Irma was in trouble.
I appreciate that, Tom.
I knew you were in trouble and I came a-running.
Got the stairs, come up the office,
and then I saw him.
He was just coming down.
He still had the gun, did he?
Yeah, had the gun in the box.
I didn't know what was in it at that time,
but I had an idea.
I just hefted the cleaver and started up the stairs.
He stopped when he saw me.
Stopped right in his tracks.
Tom's awful brave.
Yes, ma'am.
So he told me to get out of his way
or else he'd kill me.
The way he was pointing that gun around
kind of believed him.
So I backed down the stairs
and him right behind me.
All the time he had that gun pointed at me.
Where was the manager all this time?
You mean Gerald?
Mm-hmm.
I don't know.
I was upstairs.
No, I saw him.
He was down to the cash register in front.
He saw this guy coming down the stairs
and he ran for the phone to call the police.
A fellow saw him and he took off after Gerald.
I thought he was going to shoot him,
but he didn't.
Just hit him.
Give him a concussion of the head.
He's after sympathy, that's all.
Oh, now, Irma, you're wrong.
I've seen it.
He gave Gerald an offer.
Right along here.
Real hard.
Now, which way did the man go
after he left the store, please?
He ran down that way, down Union.
Uh-huh.
Will you describe the man for us?
Well, he was about the funniest
looking fellow I ever saw.
He was about the funniest
looking fellow I ever saw.
It'd be a little better
if you told us one at a time.
I guess you'd never get it that way.
It'd be a little difficult, sir, yeah.
You go ahead, Irma.
Well, I told the other policeman
he was about the funniest
looking little man I ever saw.
Real little.
Oh, not really.
I think he just kind of hunched over.
Well, he looked little.
But how tall was he?
Oh, about five foot eight.
Maybe nine.
Guess that's about right.
Tell him about the way he was dressed.
Oh, yeah.
He had on this black overcoat
and a hat.
All pulled down over his eyes.
The hat, I mean.
What color was his hair,
do you remember?
Well, what I could see
was it was kind of blonde.
Light colored.
Yeah, that's right.
And he had a mustache.
Yeah, real big.
Looked like the old fashioned kind.
Like the people who were when I was a kid.
You know, handlebar, black.
Real black.
When he left the store,
did you notice if he got into a car?
Yeah, he did.
I saw him run down the street
and jump in one of the cars.
Dark color.
I'm not sure what kind it was.
I think it might have been a Hudson.
Lake model.
I saw that.
I was looking out the side window upstairs
and I saw the same thing.
Did you tell the other officers about it?
I didn't.
Neither did I.
I guess we better get out of broadcast, aren't we?
Did you happen to get the license number of the car?
Yeah, that's where I went to work.
Got it written down right here on my apron.
See?
Numbers ain't too plain,
but you can make them out.
I don't know, sir.
I can't.
You'll have to help me there.
I got it too.
Right here.
I saw him get in the car and I wrote it down.
Uh-huh.
Thank you.
Having the number of the car
is going to make it easier to catch a fella, ain't it?
We should make it a snap
to find out who owns the car and that's the man.
Well, it's not going to be that easy, I'm afraid.
Why?
Both numbers are different.
A supplemental broadcast was gotten out
carrying both the license numbers
that the victims had gotten.
Frank put in a call to DMV
asking him to forward all information on the numbers.
The crime lab crew came out
and went over the place for finger prints
but they were not able to turn up anything that we could use.
We continued to question the butcher and the cashier.
We got a complete description of the thief.
The one outstanding thing that both of them agreed on
was the mustache.
Both said that it was a direct contrast
to the color of the man's hair
and said that it might have been darkened
with shoe polish or some kind of grease.
People in the vicinity were questioned,
but none of them were able to supply us
with any new information.
The injured manager was removed
to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital
for emergency treatment
and then referred to his own doctor.
Frank and I talked to the police
but he only verified the story that we'd gotten
from the other two people in the store.
12.45 PM, we returned to the city hall
and asked the stats office
to start a run on the MO for us.
The victims were asked to go through the mug books
but they were not able to identify
any of the photographs.
Frank and I spent the rest of the day
talking to the other storekeepers
in the vicinity of the robbery.
We asked each of them
if they'd seen anyone loitering in the area,
anyone who looked suspicious.
From each of them, we got the same answer.
None of them could help us
in establishing the identity of the suspect.
The kickback on the lights was a big shock
The kickback on the license number
came in from Sacramento
but when we checked out the information
we were no closer to apprehending the thief.
The next morning, Thursday, August 14th,
Frank and I met in the squad room.
Hi, Joe.
Morning.
How's my old buddy this morning?
I'm all right.
You sound happy.
The problem with Fay straight now?
Oh, yeah, sure.
I got home last night.
Everything's great.
That right.
Hey, we started last night.
What's that?
Fay and me, we're going on a diet.
Both gonna lose a little weight.
Oh, that's nice.
Yeah, lose a little weight.
Anything new in the market, Holder?
No, the stats office should finish the run for us this morning
when you start checking out the possibles.
It's a good thing I wore my walking shoes.
I get it.
Robbery Friday.
Yeah.
No, that's right.
No, that's right.
We'd like to hear it.
Yeah, sure.
All right, we'll be out and see you.
No, right away.
All right, thank you very much.
Bye.
What do you got?
Cashier out at the market, that Irma Watson.
Yeah.
Might have something for us.
What's that?
Who knows who the suspect is.
Frank and I drove out to the market.
We went upstairs to the office in the rear of the store
and met Irma Watson.
She was seated at a desk with a large ledger book
opened in front of her.
I got to thinking it over last night after I got home
about the holdup man.
Yes, ma'am.
There was something about him, the way he acted
and talked made me think I knew who he was,
that I'd seen him someplace before.
Uh-huh.
I laid awake most of the night just thinking about it
and then all of a sudden it came to me,
right out of the air it came to me.
Yes, ma'am.
Go ahead.
Well, I knew where it was that I thought I knew him from.
Where, ma'am?
Right here in the store.
You mean he's a customer?
No, he works for us right here in the store.
That's where I've seen him.
That mustache kind of fooled me for a minute,
but not for long.
I remembered.
What's the man's name?
I didn't remember that.
I won't look this way.
Not last night, but I came down here this morning
and started through the books and came upon it.
Got it right here.
Take a look for yourself.
See?
Right there.
That's Jed Ellsworth?
That's him, I'm sure of it.
Does Ellsworth work here now?
Well, yes and no.
Ma'am?
Well, he does and he doesn't.
He's still got the job, but he ain't working right now.
Got a leave of absence.
He's got ulcers.
Said he wanted to get them taken care of.
Said he had to go out of town and see a specialist.
Get his ulcers fixed.
I see.
When did he leave?
Last week.
See, I got it right here.
Last day he worked was Wednesday, August 6th.
That was the last day.
Do you have his home address?
You just bet.
Got it right here.
Wrote all the information out for you.
Thank you very much.
It's him, I'm sure of it.
All right, Miss Watson, we'll check it out.
Only thing I can't figure out is that mustache.
What's that?
The mustache.
I can't figure out how he could have grown it so fast.
Takes longer than a week to get a mustache like that, doesn't it?
Well, it depends, doesn't it?
On what?
Where you buy it.
Frank and I returned to the office to run the name Jet Ellsworth through the record bureau.
While Frank went through the packages checking the description we'd gotten of the suspect,
I went down to the stats office and picked up the list of possibles that they had for us.
10.26 a.m.
I met Frank back at the R&I counter.
Hi, how's it going?
Good.
How's it going?
Good.
I met Frank back at the R&I counter.
Hi, how's it going?
Looks like we got a live one.
Got a Jet Ellsworth here pretty close to the description.
Record in the East, St. Louis.
Done big time back there, nothing locally, though.
What'd he fall for?
Armed robbery.
You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action.
Meet the Tom Harmons.
You know Tom as Michigan's All-American football star.
Now a top sports announcer.
Mrs. Harmon is the motion picture and television star Elise Knox.
They're typical of people everywhere who are saying,
Chesterfield's for me.
I like regular sized Chesterfields.
Half for years.
They're best for me, at least I think so.
Because of that Chesterfield quality.
That's the way I feel about them, too.
I've always smoked Chesterfields.
Now I go for the king size.
Guess I like a longer smoke.
So whether you smoke regular sized like Elise Knox,
or king sized like Tom Harmon,
enjoy America's most popular two-way cigarette.
Chesterfield's for me.
You hear it everywhere.
The Chesterfield you smoke today is the best cigarette ever made.
For the taste you want, the mildness you want,
join the thousands now changing to Chesterfield.
We sent an immediate request to the authorities in St. Louis asking that they forward all available information on their suspect, Jed Ellsworth.
1.15 p.m. Frank and I drove out to the address we'd been given by the cashier at the supermarket.
It was a one-story Redwood house in the Beverly Glen area.
We rang the front doorbell.
Yes?
Would you like to see Jed Ellsworth?
He's not here.
Well, do you know where we can reach him?
What's this about? He in trouble again?
Ma'am?
Jed in trouble again?
We'd like to talk to him, please.
You cops?
Or police officers.
Uh-huh. Figures.
What's he done this time?
It's just routine. We want to ask him a couple of questions. Where is he?
I don't know.
Well, he lives here, doesn't he?
Yeah, I don't know where he is.
Haven't seen him since day before yesterday.
He's packed up and left. I don't know where he went.
Well, didn't he give you any idea where he was going?
No. He went through my purse, took what money I had, and shoved off.
Don't much matter to me if I never see him again. I'd probably be better off.
I wonder if we could see his things.
You mean where he left?
Yes, ma'am.
Sure. Come on in. You're in his room. I'm about to throw him out.
I don't want him, and I don't think you'll be back for him this time.
Down the hall. This way.
Thank you, ma'am.
What are you after him for?
Well, it'd be a little better if we talked to him.
Sure. It don't matter to me. I'm through with him.
Nothing but trouble with cops since we've been married.
I didn't know he had a record when I met him.
It wasn't until after we got married I found out he was a jailbird.
Right after we got married, the cops started coming around asking questions.
How long have you been married?
Eighteen months. Met him back in St. Louis.
That's been right after he got out of jail. I didn't know what's in.
I wished I'd dead. Wouldn't have nothing to do with him.
Gave me nothing but trouble.
Would you know if he has any people in California?
What could I ever saw? He never talked about them.
Did he drive a car?
Jed? Yes, ma'am.
No, he didn't own one.
Whenever he needed one, he'd go to one of these rental agencies, rent one.
This is his room. Stuff's there on the bed.
Thank you. I'll check it.
I'm gonna throw it all out. Anything there you want, just take it with you.
I don't think that'll be necessary.
Well, the offer's still good. What you don't take, I'll throw out.
Your husband got any close friends at all in town?
Yeah. A couple other bums.
Can you give us their names?
Only one name I know, Larry Jessup.
Jed used to pal around all the time. I think his job at the store took up too much pal time.
That's the reason Jed quit.
I understand your husband had trouble with his stomach, don't I?
Yeah, ulcer.
Was he under the care of a doctor?
All the time taking pills and eating special things.
Got to the point where nothing I cooked was right for the ulcer.
We did nothing but fight all the time.
Miserable 18 months. I'm glad he's gone.
Never see him again. It'll be a week too soon.
Can you give us the doctor's name?
Yeah. It's on one of the bills there.
Got it in with the rest of them.
Reminds me. Can you answer me something?
What's that?
Am I responsible for his bills? The ones he ran over himself without my help?
I got to pay him?
Well, ma'am, that's not a police problem. You better check with a lawyer on that.
A lawyer?
Yes, ma'am.
More expense. Seems like all I do is put out money for him.
Boy, I'm glad he's gone.
Do you have a picture of him?
You mean like a snapshot?
Yes, ma'am.
No. Jed wouldn't let nobody take pictures of him. Said it was bad luck.
Mm-hmm.
He had a mustache, didn't he?
That's a sign of it.
Mrs. Alzhor.
Yeah?
Do you know what's on these dictograph records?
Oh, those are mine. I'm a stenographer. Sometimes I do work at home. Those are mine.
Oh.
Just letters.
That's the one thing he ever did for me.
What's that?
Made that box for records. Real big thing. Took him all day to make it.
Just a plain, simple wooden box.
You'd have thought it was a Taj Mahal. The only thing he ever did for me.
I see. Your husband get many phone calls here?
No. Not until you notice. Larry'd call once in a while. I told you, they was real pally.
Yes, ma'am.
Do you ever hear any of the conversations by any chance?
Just on this end.
You know what they were talking about?
Not too good. They used to get real secret. You know, low voices.
They were planning something, though. I don't know what it was, but they were planning something.
This fellow, Jessup, he drive a car?
Yeah.
You know what kind?
Yeah. New Hudson.
We got the address of the suspect's friend and we drove back to the city hall.
We made arrangements for a stakeout to be placed on the house in addition to asking Mrs. Ellsworth to call us in the event that she heard from her husband.
We ran the name Lawrence Jessup through R&I and we came up with a criminal record for him that listed several arrests for burglary and auto theft.
According to his package, he'd never been convicted in California.
We sent a teletype up to George Brereton, C.I.I. in Sacramento, asking for further information on the man.
Four-fifty p.m. Frank and I left the office and drove out to the address given us by the suspect's wife.
It was a large boarding house in the Hollywood Hills area. We talked to the landlady.
She told us Jessup wasn't in, but that she expected him by six p.m.
We asked if she'd ever seen a man answering Jed Ellsworth's description.
She said that such a man was a frequent visitor in Jessup's room.
Five p.m. Frank and I and the company of the landlady checked the room.
We found nothing to tie Jessup in with the robbery. We waited for him.
Five-fifty-eight p.m. He came up the stairs and opened the door.
What are you guys doing here?
Police officers. It's Frank Smith. My name's Friday.
I still want to know what you're doing here.
Got a couple of questions we want to ask you, Jessup.
Go ahead. I got nothing to hide. Ask.
Where's Jed Ellsworth?
I don't know. I haven't seen him in a couple of days. Why?
I understand you two are pretty good friends.
We're friends. The guy's off his rocker.
How do you mean that?
What I said. He only got out of the can a couple of years ago.
Right away he's doing his best to get back in.
Is that right?
Sure. A couple of days ago he called. Said he had to see me right away.
Had a big idea for both of us to make a lot of money.
Yeah?
Well, I don't want to have to work all my life, so I told him I'd listen.
He laid out this big deal where he could knock off a supermarket.
Told me he had it all planned, how it'd all work out real good. Couldn't miss.
Mm-hmm.
I told him I didn't want no part of it. I could sure use the dough, yeah,
but not take a chance on going to jail for it.
I already got a record. I had enough to do with cops to last me the rest of my life.
Been lucky the last couple of times. It didn't fall, but I don't want to press.
I'm punching a clock now, and that's where it's going to be. I told him that.
Did you say he was going to go ahead with the job?
No, I just said I was crazy not to pick up some easy money.
You heard from him since then?
Yeah, I saw him yesterday. He came over in the morning.
Told me to forget all about the market job. Said he realized it was wrong.
Asked me to drive him out to Pomona.
What for, did he say?
Yeah, he said he'd walked out on Hazel. That's his wife.
Yeah, we know.
Said he left her and was going to Pomona. Had a job out there.
You'd drive him?
Yeah, to a motel there. I can show it to you if you want.
Is he still there?
I don't know as far as I know he is. That's where I left him.
Sitting out there counting his money.
What money?
He told me he drew all the dough out of his and Hazel's account.
Said she wasn't going to get any of it. Must have had about 4,000 bucks.
You know what bank he had the money in?
No, he didn't say. I didn't know him and Hazel had that much.
Of course, she works pretty hard. Thrifty, you know.
Jed always said she was stingy. A lot of money.
Yeah, they had it in this wooden box, all stacked in there real neat. Hard to believe.
What's that?
About the box. Jed's about the laziest guy I ever knew.
Last one to work with his hands. Sure proud of it though.
Said he made the box himself.
Larry, Jessup, Frank and I drove out to the motel in Pomona.
We checked with the manager but found that the suspect had checked out that morning.
Fortunately, the room had not been cleaned yet and we went over it.
On a shelf in a closet we found the wooden box that Jessup had spoken of.
It was a duplicate of the one that we'd seen at the suspect's home.
We told the manager we were taking it with us and asked her to notify us in the event Ellsworth returned.
We asked if he had a car when he left.
The manager told us he didn't but that he had asked for the name of some automobile rental agencies in Pomona.
Jessup and I went out to our car and waited for Frank to come back from the suspect's room.
Sure looks like he pulled a robbery, huh?
It seems to fit him real good, doesn't it?
Joe? Yeah? Look at this. Found it under the bed.
Phony black mustache.
We checked with the automobile rental agencies in the area.
None of them had seen a man answering the suspect's description.
We asked them to call us if such a man did come in.
We drove by Ellsworth's house and picked up the wooden box that he'd made for his wife's dictograph records.
Both of the containers were taken to the crime lab for comparison.
We drove to the market that had been held up.
All three of the victims were shown the false mustache that we'd found in the motel.
All three said it was identical with the one that the holdup man had worn.
After his investigation, Lee Jones said that the two wooden boxes were cut off from the motel.
Lee Jones said that the two wooden boxes were cut from the same piece of three-ply wood.
Paint particles on the wood matched.
The nails used were made by the same machine.
The box we found at the motel was shown to both the butcher and the cashier.
They said that it was the same one that the thief had carried.
A local and an APB were put out on the suspect asking him to be picked up for suspicion of robbery.
For the next three days, the surveillance on the suspect's house was maintained.
All of Mrs. Ellsworth's activities were observed.
On the 20th of August, 17, we got a call that the suspect's wife had left the house carrying a suitcase.
The officers on stakeout followed her to the subway terminal in downtown Los Angeles.
We met them there. Mrs. Ellsworth walked down to the landing and appeared to be waiting.
Frank and I took over the surveillance.
We waited. 9.30 p.m. 10. 10.15. 10.18 p.m.
Joe.
Yeah, I see him.
Looks like the description.
Yeah, he's going toward his wife.
All right, let's let him get together.
Yeah.
Come on.
He sees us.
Jed, Jed, get out of here.
Come on, right.
All right, Ellsworth, hold it up.
Police officers.
Come on, drop the gun, Ellsworth.
You're not going to get out of here.
Let's give it back to him.
He's down. Come on.
He's hurt.
I'll get an ambulance.
Right.
He's dead. Did you kill him?
No, we've sent for an ambulance.
I didn't want him to get hurt. I didn't want him to get hurt.
Why didn't you call us when you heard from him?
I don't know. I don't know.
He said if I met him he'd give me some money so I could pay the bills we owed.
He was going to give me some money.
I was going to call you after I got the money.
I was going to call.
Yeah, sure you were.
It's a chance to get out from under, get even.
He didn't care when we were together.
I was the one who worried about it.
He never cared. He never paid a bill.
Don't worry, he's going to pay this one.
The story you've just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On January 17th, trial was held in Department 97, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
Now here is our star, Jack Webb.
Thank you, George Fenomen.
You know, the Chesterfield you smoke today is the best cigarette ever made and best for you.
Now that's a fact.
And to my way of thinking, it's the very reason for you to change to Chesterfield.
Try them either way, regular or king size.
If you try them, I think you'll say with all of us, Chesterfield's for me.
Jed Warren Ellsworth was tried and convicted of robbery in the first degree and received sentence as prescribed by law.
Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of from five years to life.
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.
Technical advisors, Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brasher.
Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Ralph Moody, June Whitley.
Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schuman.
Hal Gibney speaking.
Watch an entirely different Dragnet case history each week on your local NBC television station.
Please check your newspapers for the day and time.
Chesterfield has brought you Dragnet transcribed from Los Angeles.
Filter tip smokers, this is it. L and M filters.
The one filter tip cigarette with plenty of good taste, much more flavor, much less nicotine, and effective filtration.
Only the L and M filter contains the miracle product alpha cellulose, the purest material for filtering cigarette smoke.
Yes, this is it. As Helen Hayes puts it, L and M filters are just what the doctor ordered.
Buy L and M filters, the distinguished monogram cigarette.
L and M filters, America's highest quality and best filter tip cigarette.
Music by John Cameron Swayze.
Hear Rocky Fortune following John Cameron Swayze and the news on the NBC Radio Network.