Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragmint.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned to robbery detail.
Two masked gunmen have held up a bank in your city.
The victims can't give you a lead to their identity.
Your job, find them.
It was Tuesday, June 3rd.
It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of robbery detail. My partner is Frank Smith, the boss of TV Detective Thad Brown.
My name's Friday.
I was on my way back from the street and it was 8.47 a.m. when I got to the rear of the bank, the manager's office.
I'm not a young woman anymore. I can't take this kind of excitement.
Yes, ma'am. You checked with them?
Yeah. They got the broadcast out right away. Long shot if it pays off.
Yeah. How much of a description.
I hope you're not saying that for my benefit, young man. I gave you all I could.
It was hard to see their faces with those scarves on. Maybe you could have done better, but I couldn't.
We're not trying to say that you didn't do good, ma'am. We understand the handicap that you were under.
I should hope so. Terrible thing. I'm not a young woman anymore.
Yes, ma'am. Now would you tell us just exactly what happened now, right from the beginning?
You mean starting when I come in this morning?
Yes, ma'am. That's right.
Eight o'clock, just like always. That's when I got here.
Uh-huh.
Opened the door with my key and came right on in, a little suspecting what was waiting for me.
I tell you, I was pretty surprised when they popped out at me.
You didn't see them at first, then, huh?
Of course not. You think I would have come in if I'd have seen them?
No, ma'am.
Certainly not. Never would have come in.
When did you first see the two of them?
I came in and locked the door behind me. Rules say you've got to lock the door.
I did, and then I went back to the clothes closet to hang up my coat and umbrella.
I see. Go ahead.
Kind of silly, I guess, carrying an umbrella on a day like this, but I always do. Never know.
Yes, ma'am.
People always kind of smirk at me for carrying one, but...
whenever it rains out of a clear sky, they don't smirk then.
I'm always the center of a crowd. You just betcha.
Yes, ma'am. Would you go ahead with what happened, please?
Well, I hung up my umbrella and my coat, and then I came out the main part of the bank,
right out where those two assassins were.
And that's when you saw them, is that right?
Oh, no. They were cagey.
They waited until I was away from the alarm system. They were real sly.
I see. Go ahead.
I walked out the tables. You know where the deposit slips are, out in the center?
Yes, ma'am.
Out there.
I walked out straight and up.
Really isn't my job, but I didn't have anything else to do,
so I thought I'd maybe just check and see if any of the points needed new nibs.
I like a neat place.
You know, all the slips in the right place, lotters all clean and new. Neat.
Yes, ma'am. I understand.
When did you see the thieves?
As I was straightening up the counter.
That's when they stepped out in the open.
Where were they, ma'am?
Over in the escrow department, hiding behind the desks, I guess.
That's the direction they came from.
I see. Now, what did they say to you?
The big one. He looked at me with his steely eyes and told me to be quiet,
and nothing would happen. He said to be just quiet.
I'm not young anymore, Sergeant.
A thing like that can be a tremendous shock.
Yes, ma'am. Were both of the men together at that time?
I don't understand.
Well, did they both come out from behind the counter?
Oh, yes. The big one had a machine gun, and the other, the little scrawny one, had a pistol.
Are you positive the big one had a machine gun?
Listen, young man. I've seen enough movies and television to know a machine gun when I see it.
Don't you think I don't?
Now, about the pistol. Was it a revolver or an automatic?
What?
Well, look here. Did it look like this, this gun of mine?
No. No, it wasn't like that. It was more the kind you see in movies.
More mean-looking than that. Real mean-looking. Kind of flat-like.
I see. It was an automatic then, huh?
Well, I don't know what it was, but it was real mean.
And furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if there were real bullets in it. Not in the lead.
All right. Now, after they came out from behind the counter, what happened?
They asked me what time the rest of the staff came in.
I told them. Anytime. That seemed to make them happy.
Why do you say that?
Because one of them, the big one, turned to the little one and said,
just like clockwork. That's what he said. Just like clockwork.
I'm going to tell you something. Sort of a clue.
Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir.
These fellows have been planning this a long time.
They knew all about how the bank works. What time everybody comes in and all.
They even knew about the keys. What keys?
The ones to the bank door. They knew who had them.
First thing they wanted to know after they asked about the staff was where my key was.
Do you have a key to the vault?
No, not to the vault itself. Just to the doors in front of it.
You know the bar doors in front of the vault door? Yes, ma'am.
To those. Did you give them in your key?
I didn't have much to say about it. I told you.
I think they might have had real bullets in those guns and I wasn't about to make sure.
Yes, ma'am. After all, I pay my taxes.
Catching those fellows is your job, not mine.
If you want to cash a check, I can take care of you.
But I'm not about to go out and apprehend no thieves.
What happened then? You mean after I gave them the key?
That's right.
They made me get off to one side of the front door and wait for the rest of the staff.
As they'd come in, the hold-up men would make them get into the closet in the rear of the bank,
where I hung my umbrella.
But they let you stay outside, did they?
Oh, yes. They had me right up in front,
where those guns pointed at me every second.
Every second.
I guess they wanted me to act as kind of a decoy.
Well, when the other people who work in the bank came up to the door,
they could look inside and see me standing there.
That way, I guess they thought there wasn't anything wrong.
Came right in, like lambs to the slaughter.
Next thing they knew, there was a gun in their ribs and they was locked up in the closet.
What time did the manager come in?
Poor Mr. Blanton.
He's not well, you know. He's not well at all.
Yes, ma'am. We saw him out front.
Is he all right?
He had an awful attack. Bad heart.
Well, they've taken him to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.
Did they find his pills?
What's that?
His pills.
Mr. Blanton had a special kind of pills he takes when he has an attack.
Some kind of explosive. Always had them with him.
Did the men find him?
Well, I guess they did, or else they had the necessary medication with him.
He's going to be all right. Just needs some rest.
I'm glad of that. Sweet man.
Widower.
What happened when he came in?
Mr. Blanton?
Yes, ma'am.
Well, he was just about pulled right in off the streets.
He just got his key in the door and they practically just yanked him right in.
Right away, wand his key to the vault door.
You have to have both of them in order to open it.
Both of them have to be turned at the same time.
They asked him for his key.
At first, he didn't want to give it to them.
Told them to get out of his bank and to stop the foolishness.
Just like that, he told them.
I thought they were going to shoot him, but they didn't.
I think if it hadn't been for the big one, they would have.
The scrawny one wanted to.
Wanted to kill Mr. Blanton right in cold blood.
But the big one stopped him.
Said to just get on with the job and get out of there.
That's what he said.
To get out of there.
That's when Mr. Blanton passed out.
Cold.
Right on the floor.
Attack.
Do you want to go ahead?
Well, I guess they just about had a fight between themselves over that.
Well, how do you mean?
The big one really read the runt off.
Told him he was stupid for making poor Mr. Blanton pass out.
Said that now they'd have to wait for the combination of the safe.
But I stopped that.
How then?
I gave him the combination.
You told them how to open the safe?
Certainly.
With poor Mr. Blanton laying there on the floor,
all I could think about was them getting out of there.
That's all that was important.
That's when they opened the safe, didn't it?
Yeah.
Went right over to Mr. Blanton and got his key out of his pocket
and unlocked the door.
By then, the lock had switched off and they just opened up the vault
and went in, cleaned it right out, just scooped up the money
and put it in a black bag and left.
First off, of course, they locked me up in the closet with the others.
And then they left.
Who turned in the alarm?
I guess it was Mr. Blanton.
He was laying on the floor where he'd fell.
I guess he came to enough to get to the alarm system and turn it on.
Must have been him.
Wasn't anybody else who could have done it.
During the time the men were in the bank, did you hear them using the names?
I don't think I understand what you mean.
Well, do they call each other by name at any time?
Not that I heard. Is it important?
Well, it'd help.
I didn't hear a news any, but if worse comes to worse,
I can do something about it.
Yes, ma'am.
I've got a couple for him.
We obtained a complete description of the holdup pair
and a supplemental broadcast was put out.
The crime lab crew came out to the scene
and went over the premises for physical evidence.
From their investigation, we found that the bandits
had made their entrance through a rear window.
They'd sawed through the steel bars and broken the glass.
From there, they'd come in and apparently had waited
for the employees to arrive.
We'd ascertained from the cashier that both men had worn gloves
so there was no chance of getting any fingerprints.
In the dirt on the alley pavement, Lee Jones was able to find
several good impressions of footprints.
These were photographed and booked as evidence.
Because of their placement, it was more than likely
that they belonged to the thieves.
Also in the alley, he found several broken hacksaw blades.
These were booked.
Their numbers noted and a request sent to the manufacturer
for the name of the store that had sold them.
The other employees of the bank were questioned
and they verified the story and the description
that we'd gotten from the cashier.
The stats office started a run on the MOUs
and the victims were taken downtown
and asked to go through the mud books.
They were not able to give us an identification of the bandits.
That afternoon at 3.47 p.m.,
Frank and I met back in the squad room.
Hi.
How'd the stats office do?
Well, I got the list right here, 18 possible.
Yeah, any of them look good?
A couple.
Skipper around?
No, he went over to the inspector's office.
Anything special?
Well, I wanted to check with him
on who's gonna work with us on this thing.
Well, he left word.
Murph and Gaffney are with us.
We can use Prinkey and Stromwell if we need them.
Was Murph around?
No, he went down to R&I.
He had a hunch this might tie in
with the heist they worked on last month.
Same M.O., figured he might as well check it out.
Well, as soon as he gets back,
maybe he'll give us a hand with this list, huh?
Yeah.
How about the bank manager?
Any word there?
I called Georgia Street, talked with Dr. Sebastian.
He said Blanton has been released to his own doctor.
What kind of conditions is he in?
Should be able to talk to him tonight.
Guess it was a pretty bad attack.
Sebastian said he was in rough shape.
Well, let's check out.
We can tag Murph in the hall.
Is Gaffney with him?
He was.
All right, let's go.
You wanna sign us out?
Yeah.
I got it.
Robbery Friday.
Yeah, he's here.
Just a minute.
For you, Frank.
Okay.
You wanna take care of the book?
Yeah.
Who is it?
He didn't say, he just wanted to talk to you.
Oh.
It's best, Biggie.
Yeah, that's right.
Huh?
Yeah, sure we can.
Yes sir, we can right away.
You wanna give me that address?
Yes sir.
Okay, thank you, I have it.
Yeah, right away.
Goodbye.
Blanton's doctor.
Yeah.
Says he wants to see us right away.
Yeah, what about?
Well, Blanton says he remembers that when the thieves
left the bank, a customer came up to the door.
Yeah.
He heard the big one tell the other one
to take off his mask.
The customer got a good look at both of them.
We're gonna see if he can get it back.
We left the office immediately and drove over
to the bank manager's home.
We talked with his doctor and we obtained permission
to ask a few questions.
Blanton told us that as the two thieves had left the bank,
a woman passer by had noticed the bank manager's keys
still in the front door lock.
She'd stopped and knocked at the door
to notify someone in the bank about the keys.
As she did, the two holdup men had taken off their masks
passed directly in front of her. We asked Blanton if he knew the woman, but he said
that he'd never seen her before. We asked if it was possible that she might be a
customer of his bank. He said it was possible that he'd just never seen her
before. He gave us a description and we started to check with the bank
employees in the hopes that one of them could identify her. None of them could. We
got out a supplemental bulletin asking that the woman be picked up. In the
meantime, officers Murphy and Rafferty had checked out the list of possible
that the staff office had come up with. All of the names on the list either had
alibis or could establish that they were not near the bank when it was robbed. We
checked all F.I. cards filed in the area without result. Frank and I checked out
of the office at 12 18 a.m. and went home to get some sleep. The next day, Wednesday, June
3rd, Frank was waiting for me when I got to work. Don't sit down, we got a call to
make. Yeah? Marie Logan called. You remember the rental car agent out in the
valley? Oh yeah, she gave us a hand on the identity of that young fellow that knocked
over the liquor store out at Tilden and Maffle, wasn't it? That door. What's she got?
Might be nothing, but we ought to check it out. Says there's a woman who hangs
around the local bars mooching drinks, never got a dime. Yeah? She came in to see
Marie yesterday afternoon, wanted to rent a car to drive to New York. Where do we
fit in? She wanted to pay in advance. Offered Marie brand new hundred dollar bills.
From the statement we'd gotten from the bank, we knew that in the $34,000 the thieves
had taken, there were several thousand dollars in one hundred dollar bills. Frank
and I signed out of the office and drove out to the San Fernando Valley. At the
corner of Valley Heart Boulevard and Dickens, we found Marie Logan's rental
agency. There was a line of late model cars in front of the lot, and at the rear
we found a small wooden building. Frank knocked at the door and we waited. Yeah, oh hi, it's you.
Hello, Miss Logan. Miss Logan. Hi Sergeant, Miss Smith. Come on in. Thank you. Thanks very much.
Sure hope I haven't brought you guys out here in a while, goose chase. Hope it works out.
All right, you want to fill us in? This woman named Betty Gallick hangs around the
bars in the neighborhood, spends her time catching drinks, real bum. Why do you
figure we might be interested? Couple of times she's come in to rent a car just to
use around town. First two times I was stuck. How do you mean? Checks. She'd pay the
deposit with a check, then when she brought the car back she'd pay the bill by
check. Check it bounced. Then when I'd call her she'd come in and pick it up and give me
the cash to cover it. That was the only reason I didn't turn it over to you, she always
paid up. Now this time she had the cash though. Yeah, came in wanted a new Lincoln
to drive in New York. She dressed like always, cheap cotton dress, cloth coat,
even had the imitation leather purse. Kind of supposed to look like real
leather but as soon as you get inside 10 feet you know what isn't. You know what I mean?
That kind. Well anyway when she asked for the car, I thought I couldn't let her
have it, said I've been stung too many times before. So right off she said she
wanted to pay cash. That's when she opens his crummy purse and the door almost fell
out. Must have had a couple of thousand dollars in there, maybe more. Well you said
something on the phone about hundred dollar bills. Yeah, she pulled out a couple
of them to show me she could pay cash. I asked her what she got him. What'd you say
to that? Said it wasn't any of my business. Told me as long as she had the money and a
driver's license I should ought to rent her the car. I thought I ought to check with you first.
You got an address on this gallic woman? Yeah, after I called this morning I checked
through the records, got her home address and the driver's license number. She got any
friends you know her? Just about on every bar stool where she hung out.
I mean anyone special. Oh I don't know, I saw her a couple of times with the same guy in
the place down at the corner. Hot day there, sometimes you go down there for a beer.
Well I've seen her there with this one guy a couple of times. You know who he is?
No, not his name. I've seen the two of them drive away together a couple of times. He's got a
flashy convertible, guess he drove it out here. Well how do you mean? Of course, got a New
York license plate. Oh, excuse me. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. Logan Rantle service. Yeah, uh-huh.
Yeah, I know her. Yeah. You sure about that? Sure. Okay. Thanks. Goodbye. That tears it.
What's wrong? There was a rental agency in Hollywood called to ask me about Betty
Gallic, things she gave me as a reference. Came into their place and rented a car
from them, paid cash for it. Was she there now? No, she left for New York this morning.
We contacted the rental agency that had leased the car to Betty Gallic. From them we got a
description of the car and the license number. We put out a local and an all-points bulletin on
the vehicle. We got in touch with the New York authorities and asked them to be on the lookout
for the car. We got the Gallic woman's address from the rental agency and we checked out her
house. We found nothing to give us any indications to where she might have gone,
but we did find a silk scarf similar to the one described by the victims as having been worn by
the holdup men. We checked with the neighbors, but none of them could tell us where Betty Gallic
had gone. Two days went by while we followed down every lead that turned up. The information from
the crime lab was checked out, but it led us nowhere. The serial numbers on the hacksaw blade
did come back, but when we talked to the store owner, he was unable to tell us who had bought
them. Saturday at 12 noon a meeting was held in the offices of Thad Brown. Members of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation were there. They had agents working on the case, but they hadn't
been able to come up with any more information than we'd gotten. 2 14 p.m. Frank and I got back to the
office. That chief was sure mad. Well, do you blame him? We haven't got very much. Well, seems like
every time we do get a lead worth anything, it goes to nothing. It's got to end in some place. I got it. Robbery Friday.
Yeah. We did? No, we went. Yeah, right. No, I'll be right down to pick it up. Yeah, thanks. Bye.
Now it's communications. They just got a wire from Chicago. Yeah. They picked up the Gallic woman.
Betty Gallic had been picked up south of Chicago and held in answer to our communication. However, when she
was picked up, she was in the company of two other women. They were identified as her sisters. We made
arrangements to talk to her by long distance telephone. As soon as we started to ask her
questions regarding the bank robbery, she admitted being the driver of the getaway car. She told us
that the theft had been planned by a man she knew only as Dean. She was unable to tell us any more
about him. She went on to say that she'd met him in a bar in the valley along with the other two
men. She identified these two men as Richard and Matt. She was unable to give us their last names
or tell us any more about them. She did say, however, that Matt was from New York and that as far as she
knew, he was there at the time. She went on to say that he was not with the trio when the bank was
held up. We questioned her further, but she was unable to give us any additional information on
the three men. She did, however, tell us that they had stayed at a motel located on Sepulveda
Boulevard. She gave us the name and the approximate location. She was detained pending extradition in
Chicago. Saturday evening, Frank and I drove out to the motel that the Gallic woman had mentioned.
We rang the bell and waited. Yeah, lights on. We got no vacancies. Police officers,
we want to ask you some questions. What about? A couple of men who stayed here. Anybody in this
place who's got trouble with the cops has to get out. You tell me who they are and I'll throw them
right at you. I don't want no trouble. Now who are you looking for? One of them's tall, the other's
short. Name Dean and Richard. What about the last name? We haven't got that. I don't need it. I
know who you mean. Yeah. Sure. Dean Franklin, Dick Norton, a couple of no good. They ain't here no more.
You know where they are? I'm not sure. I think maybe I got an address in my desk. Come on in.
Thank you. I'm Jim Allison. Well, it's Frank Smith. My name's Friday. What have the boys done? Just
routine. We want to talk to them. You won't tell me, huh? Well, it'd be better if we talked to them
about it. I have it your own way. I don't want to get mixed up in anything. Those boys got them
themselves a bucket of trouble. I want no part of it. While I was here, they paid their rent,
didn't cause much trouble. That's all I was interested in. As long as they didn't cause any
trouble. Yes, sir. How long ago did they leave? I guess about a week ago. I got it in the book,
so I can check it for you if you want. Yes, sir. We'd like to have the information. Sure,
I'll get it for you. Do you have any visitors while they were here? A couple of guys come around in the
morning. That's about it, though. Look like bill collectors. The boys never let them inside. Used
to talk on the porch. Three of them move out at the same time? No. Matt left a couple of days
before. Said he was going back east. I think he had some kind of a job back there. There wasn't
a real chummy, you know. Kind of kept to themselves. All right, sir. Would you see if you got that
address where they might be? Oh, sure. Forgot all about it. It's in the desk, I think. Always
running in this kind of thing with a motel. Yes, sir. What's that? Wrong people renting rooms.
We got no way of checking on them. Seems like whenever somebody's got trouble, they pick a
motel to have it and never ends. Yeah, here it is. They left this in case I got any mail for them,
sir. Just to send it on. Here you are. Thank you. It's a place out in West Los Angeles. Thank you
very much, sir. Glad to help out. You can't tell me what this is about, huh? No, sir. It's police
business. You figure you're gonna have any trouble with them? Well, it's hard to say. It'll depend on
how they want it. Well, if I was you, I'd take it easy picking them up. Why? Because I know
Franklin's got a gun. We obtained the license number and the description of the car that the
suspects had driven. It was a late model convertible with New York license plate. Before we left the
motel, we called R&I and checked the names Dean Franklin and Richard Norton. We found that both
of them had long felony records. We talked to Captain Donahoe and had two more teams of men
sent out from the office to meet us at the address that we'd gotten from the motel manager. From what
we knew of the two men, taking them into custody would be difficult. Frank and I left the motel and
drove out to the address in West Los Angeles. It was a one-story wooden building set well back on a
weed-filled lot. A late model car was in the driveway. Ten minutes after we got there, officers
Murphy, Rafferty, Meade, and Leitner met us. Murphy had brought two sawed-off shotguns loaded with
double-aught buck and several tear gas grenades. The only chance we had of taking the men without
bloodshed was to use the one element on our side. Surprise. Murphy and Rafferty went around to the
street at the back of the house and Leitner took the other. When all of us were in position,
Frank and I prepared to move up to the front door. You all set? Just a minute. All right, let's go.
I don't see anything. No, I might have seen it. You better take it easy. All right.
Let's make it for the porch. Yeah. Come on. You okay? Yeah. All right, now I'll take the door.
When we get inside, you go to the left, I'll handle the right side. Right. How about it?
Nothing. Place is empty. We searched the house, but we found no trace of the suspects. From the
clothing in the closets, we figured that they had not moved out. And going over the house,
we found a machine gun hidden in one of the bedrooms. The cartridge clip was loaded and
the gun was ready for use. We pulled the clip, called the office and told them where we were,
and then we settled down to wait for the suspects to return. Murphy and Rafferty covered the rear
approaches to the house. Meade and Leitner were in cars parked down the street, and Frank and I
waited in the front room. At 10 46 p.m., the phone in the house rang three times and then it stopped.
We waited for Franklin and Norton to come back. 11 p.m., 11 30. It's cold in the house. Midnight,
12 30, the phone rang again. 12 45. From down the street, we were at a car approach.
Joe? Yeah. You see anything? Just a minute, pull that curtain back. It's a Ford sedan coming down
this way. Pulled into the driveway. It's them. Just the two of them? As I can tell you. They're
getting out of the car. Yeah. How about Leitner and Meade? Yeah, they see them. They're starting to get out of
the car down there. Better cover the door. They're coming in. Police officer, stand still.
Frank, Frank, Frank. All of them. Meade, Leitner, he's coming at you. All of them. Bring on Frank. All right, Frank, let's turn around. How'd you get to us? Who told you? Put your hands behind you. Who told you we were here?
Somebody had to tell you. You'd never have got us without somebody tipping you. It was that lush Betty,
wasn't it? It was her that told you. All right, outside. Come on, move. Had to be her. She was the only one that knew. Had to be her.
You'd never have made it without her. You're wrong. We'd have made it. Come on. The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On November 14th, trial was held in
Department 92, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles.
Dean Roger Franklin, Richard Henry Norton, and Betty Elaine Gellick were tried and convicted of robbery in the first degree. Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a period of from five years to life.
Further investigation showed that Matthew Arthur Ross had no part or knowledge of the crime.
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.
The
the
Hump, hump, hump, hump, hump, hump.