Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragmits.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned a robbery detail.
In the past five weeks, an unidentified holdup man has robbed 12 drug stores.
He's taken money and narcotics.
There's no lead to who he is or where he is.
Your job, find him.
It was Tuesday, March 16th.
It was warm in Los Angeles.
We were working the day watch out of robbery detail.
My partner is Frank Smith.
The boss is Chief Detective Stad Brown.
My name is Friday.
We were on our way out from the office and it was 9.36 a.m. when we got to the corner
of Hobart Boulevard in Westmoreland, the Tischner drug store.
In the back.
Yeah.
Something you want?
Yes, sir.
We'd like to see Harry Tischner.
Hey, I'm him.
Police officers.
This is Frank Smith.
My name is Friday.
How are you doing, sir?
About the robbery, huh?
Would you like to tell us what happened?
I was robbed.
We'd just like you to tell us how.
Oh, now I'm with you.
Yeah, I'm right with you.
Let's go back and sit down.
You have to tell him the story and time just melts away.
Yes, sir.
Might as well be comfortable while we all fall out.
Yes, sir.
Is this all right here?
Yeah.
Like a phosphate or something?
No, sir.
No, thank you.
Okay.
And let's quit all this fooling around and get down to business.
Want me to tell you about the holdup?
Yes, sir.
We'd like that.
Good, good.
That's just what I'm going to do.
Go ahead.
Aren't you going to take anything down right now?
Anything down right?
Well, yes, sir, as soon as you tell us the story now.
If you'd like to start it.
Well, came in about eight.
That was this morning?
Yes.
Just walked right in the door, came back to the prescription counter, and stood there.
Had this little piece of paper in his hand.
I figured it was from a doctor, you know, to prescribe medicine.
Yes, sir.
Wasn't.
Well, go ahead.
What was it?
No.
Written on there like this.
This is a story about a man who was a doctor.
He was a doctor.
This was a piece of paper, and it was all like this.
This is a stick-up, don't make it a noise.
It was a note, huh?
Just pushed the note across the counter, I didn't have to have anybody push me off a
cliff to know what was going on.
No, sir.
I was being robbed.
Yes, sir, do you want to go ahead?
Well, after he showed me the note he kind of pushed me back into the little room at
the rear of the store.
You know, kind of store place.
Not if he's saying anything to you at all.
Not a word.
with that gun for me to get into the back room, I went.
I see, what happened then?
He pushed me down to the floor and then tied my hands and feet.
What do you use?
You mean to tie me up?
Yes.
Rope?
Oh.
Well, did he bring it into the store with him?
No, sir, he picked it up in household on his way back to the prescription counter.
I see.
Go ahead, please.
Soon as we got the store room, he took off the label and then undid the rope.
He made a loop and put it around my feet.
Next thing I knew, I was all crushed up like a rolled roast ready for the oven.
I see.
I'll say one thing for the guy, though.
What's that?
He's very neat.
I could not.
Yes, sir.
Other officers, the ones in the black and white car, you know.
Yes, sir.
Them.
Yeah, what about them?
Oh, yeah, well, they took the ropes with them.
They said something about taking them to a laboratory.
Mm-hmm.
Well, you can see if you want to, they're very neat.
Yes, sir.
What happened after the bandit tied you up?
Robbed me.
You personally?
Yes, personally and otherwise.
Well, sir, would you please tell us?
Well, first off, he went to the safe and took the tin box out,
opened it right up, and took the money.
Is that all he stole from the cash box?
Yeah.
I had some government bonds in there, but he didn't take those.
Uh-huh.
Guess he knew they wouldn't do him any good.
All right, sir.
He didn't take them.
Took the money, but didn't take the government bonds.
According to what you told the officers this morning,
the thief took a supply of narcotics, too.
Is that correct?
Yes, he got them from the safe, too.
Well, now, after he finished with the safe, what happened?
He left.
He walked out of the place.
He just ambled right out.
During the time he was in the store,
he didn't say anything at all.
Is that right?
Did anybody else come in while he was here?
You mean like a customer?
Yes.
No.
Oh, excuse me.
That might be our office, Mr. Tischner.
We left this number.
OK.
If it is, I'll tell you.
Thank you.
Tischner drugs.
Uh-huh.
Oh, yeah, Mrs. Kent-Wetherly.
Uh-huh.
No, shouldn't be.
Uh-huh.
No, I can't do that.
If you'll have your doctor call me,
I'll make it up and send it over.
Yeah.
No.
No, not without a prescription.
Uh-huh.
OK.
Well, I'll call you when it's ready, then,
and you can send Lanny over.
Right.
Bye, Mrs. Kent-Wetherly.
Huh?
Oh, well, if that's the way you feel, I won't.
Oh, sure.
OK.
Goodbye.
Yeah, I can't imagine why she'd say a thing like that.
Just no reason at all.
Sir?
This is Kent-Wetherly.
Told me when the sun comes over to get the prescription,
not to give him any candy.
Oh, I see.
I usually throw in a liquor shrift, you know.
Uh-huh.
Don't want me to do it.
That's too bad.
Yes, sir.
I wonder if we could go ahead with the description.
Sure.
I guess so.
Well, now, from what you told the investigating officers,
the man's about 35 to 38.
Is that right?
Light in color, 5 feet 10, 175 pounds,
no visible marks or scars. Is that right?
Well, I guess that's pretty close.
Well, if it was anything different,
we'd appreciate you telling us now.
No, not with you.
Because I can't understand why Mrs. Kent-Wetherly
would say a thing like that.
Just a penny liquor shrift.
Little bitty thing.
Yes, sir, we understand.
Like that.
Couldn't hurt anybody.
Yes, sir.
Would you be able to identify the hold-up man
if you saw him again?
Oh, yeah, no trouble.
I'd know him.
Uh-huh.
He'd never say a thing like that.
Sir?
The fellow who robbed me.
What do you mean?
Oh, on the way out, the way I was laying,
I saw him stop right up there with a can in magazines.
Stopped dead in his tracks.
He went over to help himself.
Uh-huh.
Took the top off and helped himself a handful.
Sure must like him.
What was that, sir?
Liquor strips.
Just reached into the jar and took a handful.
After that, he left.
Is that right?
Yeah.
Soon as he put his gloves back on.
What was that?
Couldn't work the top of the jar with the gloves,
so he took them off.
No.
Used his bare hands.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
10.02 AM.
Frank put in a call to Harland Stahl and Layton Fingerprints.
We asked him to come out and go over the glass candy jar.
While we waited for him, Frank and I
checked the list of stolen narcotics
with the drugist Harry Tischner.
We also made arrangements for him to come downtown
and look through the mug books.
When the glass candy jar was checked,
Harland Stahl was able to come up with two partial prints.
They were enough for comparison, but not for identification.
11.15 AM.
Frank and I left the store and spent the rest of the afternoon
checking out the list of names we'd gotten from the stats
office.
Several of the possibles looked good,
but after each one of them was investigated,
we still didn't have a suspect in custody.
Wednesday morning, March 17th, at 8.06 AM,
Frank and I met in the squad room.
Morning, Joe.
Hi.
Tried to call you this morning.
Thought maybe you'd want to stop and have some breakfast.
No, I left the house early.
Uh-huh.
Did you check the book?
Yeah.
Anything?
I'm skipping once doctors.
Well, I figured that'd happen.
Is he in now?
Yeah.
Well, come on.
Let's get it over with.
Come in.
Yeah, that's right.
No, not yet.
I'm going to try and line it up this afternoon.
Yeah, I'll call you back.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, they're here right now.
Bye.
Do you want to see us, Captain?
Yeah, come in.
Sit down.
Going in, I won't tell you who's on my back about this thing,
and you don't give me any excuses, right?
Sure.
Where are you?
Still in front of the first store.
That's how long ago?
Yeah, it's been five weeks.
What do you know about him?
WMA, description, closed.
Match on all the jobs?
Close enough so we know it's the same guy.
OK, what else?
He uses a stolen car to get to the store.
He drives it away.
He isn't too careful to hide the license plate.
We've been able to come up with three out of the five.
Checked the cars out?
Yeah, clean.
Not a print on them.
Nothing else.
Picked up something yesterday.
Should help when we nail them.
What's that?
Most all, listed a couple of partials from a candy jar.
That'll be enough for comparison.
Can't make the suspect on the line.
No, not enough to classify.
What about the narcotics he's taking?
You show up any place?
No, not that we can find.
We've been down all the alleys.
There's nothing there.
Talked to Luca Relli.
Hop squad's got nothing on it.
If none of it's showing up, then it could mean he's using the stuff himself.
That's what we got figured.
How about the stats office?
They spend much more time down there.
They're going to put us to work with the machines.
Performance?
They've given us smiles.
That's about all.
You think they're holding?
No.
Come over here.
Take a look at the map.
The way he's picking the places, he's set up a pretty definite operating schedule.
Here, Dennis Boulevard, Kingsley Drive, Western Adams, Washington, the rest of them.
They're all grouped in this area.
Yeah.
You got to figure he's going to keep working in vicinity until he hits them all.
Then maybe he'll move on to something else.
Might help if we could come up with a reason that he's working there.
Anything he can come up with has got to help.
Yeah, we know.
It's true that he's been using the narcotics himself, it's just a matter of time before we hand this one over to homicide.
He's going to walk into the store, somebody's going to get in trouble.
If he's on an needle, he isn't going to take it.
So it adds up to a big stop.
The past.
Well, if we work the area, it's going to take a lot of men, you know.
We'll get him.
I've talked to Stoner.
He's taking care of all the help you need from here.
There'll be four teams available.
You can call Metro Division for whatever else you need.
All right.
We'll set it up for the night, then.
Check with communications.
Make sure you get to Threeways Working.
Right.
This guy's been pressing his luck for a long time.
I'm bound to run short on it sometime.
Robbery done.
Yeah.
When?
Okay, we'll take care of him.
Looks like you just got partners.
What do you mean?
Your boy just made it 13, drugs are out on Pico.
Yeah.
They don't expect the victim to live.
Frank and I left the office and drove over to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.
We talked with the officer on duty.
He told us that the victim's name was George Raylor.
He owned a small neighborhood drug store at the corner of Pico Boulevard and Vineyard Avenue.
He went on to say that he didn't have all of the particulars of the beating,
but that it had occurred during the commission of a robbery.
We talked to Dr. Sebastian.
He told us that the elderly man was suffering from a fractured skull, broken ribs, and possible internal injuries.
He added that from Raylor's appearance, it looked as if he'd been beaten about the head and shoulders
with a heavy instrument and then kicked in the chest.
We left word to call as soon as he could be questioned, then we drove over to the store on Pico.
Yes, there's something I can do for you.
Police officers.
Oh, how's Mr. Raylor? Have you seen him?
No, we haven't yet.
You heard any things? You gonna be all right?
Well, we don't know that yet.
I sure hope so.
The guy who hit him sure did a job.
Just beat him something awful.
Yeah, we know.
Not enough just hitting him, but then he knocked him down and stomped him.
Awful.
You hear when it happened?
Yeah, I saw the whole thing.
You want to tell us what happened?
You mean for the investigation?
That's right.
Okay.
You want to give us your name first?
Calvin Webster.
You work here in the store, do you, son?
Yeah, that's right.
Sort of a general left hand.
What was that?
Well, you see Mrs. Raylor's his right hand.
I'm the left.
Yeah.
She wasn't here today and not having her hair fixed.
Probably just as good.
All right, Webster.
You want to tell us?
Well, Faw came in about 8.30, right after we opened.
Came in and went back to the prescription counter.
I was going back to tell him that Mr. Raylor would be right out and then he was.
Raylor?
Yeah, he was back checking the stock on vitamin pills.
We do a big business in them.
I have to have a pretty careful watch on the supply.
I wouldn't want to get caught short.
All right, go ahead.
Well, the fellow, the holdup man, you know.
Yeah, go ahead.
Well, he took this little piece of paper out of his coat.
I figured it was a prescription.
It looked like it.
Well, it wasn't.
It turned out to be the note where he said he wanted the money.
Did you see the note?
Well, not so as I can read it.
First I knew there was something wrong when Mr. Raylor started to yell at the guy.
Told him to get out of the store.
Ran around the counter and tried to grab him.
He was yelling all the time for me to call the police.
Call the cops. Call the cops.
Like that he yelled at me.
What did you do?
I looked to see if I had a dime.
What?
Well, you see, in the past, Mr. Raylor's had trouble with people making phone calls on a private phone.
So he had one of those little lock things put on it.
You can answer incoming calls, but you can't phone out.
I see.
So I needed a dime to call the cops.
Yeah.
Well, I didn't have one.
Only 75 cents for my lunch, a half and a quarter.
I see.
Well, all this time Mr. Raylor was yelling.
He's yelling and the robbers hitting him.
I didn't know what to do.
Uh-huh.
I thought about running back and trying to help, but Mr. Raylor don't like for nobody to do something different than what he says.
Yeah.
He told me to phone.
Yeah, sure.
Well, then all of a sudden, bang!
A fella hit Mr. Raylor with a gun.
Took it right out of his pocket and hit him on the head.
Next thing Mr. Raylor's on the floor, this fella's stomping him.
Well, I couldn't just stand by no more, so I went back to help.
Too late.
What was that?
It was too late.
Mr. Raylor was on the floor and this guy was pointing a gun at me and was leaving the store.
I didn't see how it would help any to try and stop him.
Was there anybody else in the store at the time?
No, just Mr. Raylor and me.
We just opened up.
Still kind of getting ready for the day.
Did you get a good look at this guy?
Oh, yeah.
I saw him good.
All right, then you'll be able to give us a description.
Yeah, I'll tell you how he looked.
Did you see if he drove a car?
I guess so.
Don't you know for sure?
Well, no, I didn't go out after him.
I figured that it'd take somebody a lot bigger than me to stop him.
Besides, I had to take care of Mr. Raylor.
I see.
Did you see the gun he was using?
Yeah, I got a real good look at it when he was hitting the boss.
That's fine.
What kind of a gun was it?
A pistol, you know, like you see in the movies.
Now, look, son, was it a revolver or an automatic?
I think it was a revolver.
It had a barrel on it.
Short, about that long.
Uh-huh.
We'd like you to come downtown and look at some pictures, if you would.
At the city hall?
That's right.
I'll be glad to help out.
As soon as Mrs. Raylor comes back, I'll go with you.
All right, fine.
I can't leave the store alone, you know.
Uh-huh.
You want to give us the description of the man now?
You bet.
I'm sure if you catch the fella...
So do we.
Is this the same guy I've been reading about in the papers?
That's right.
He's mean, real mean, doing a thing like that to Mr. Raylor.
Yeah, we know.
He's been getting away with it for a long time, hasn't he?
Just like a guy running up a big bill.
That's right, and he'll pay it.
As soon as someone arrived to take care of the drug store,
we took Calvin Webster down to the city hall.
He was shown all of the mug books and pictures of recent parolees.
He was unable to make an identification.
We had him return to his home,
and then Frank and I checked with Dr. Sebastian
over at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.
He told us that the latest victim had been transferred
to the county hospital and was out of the critical stage.
He went on to say, however, that it would be several hours
before we'd be able to talk to him.
We checked with Captain Donahoe and Lieutenant Stoner.
We also contacted officers from Metropolitan Division
and made arrangements for the additional cars that we'd need
in setting up the rolling stakeout.
That night at 7.30 p.m., the plan was put into operation.
Ten undercover cars maintained a watch on the drug stores in the area.
All suspicious vehicles were checked on.
All pedestrians loitering in the vicinity were interrogated.
Our suspect remained free.
Three days went by without result.
The bandit had stopped his operations.
On Sunday, March 21st, Frank and I were driving up Western Avenue
just north of Pico.
What do you think?
I don't know.
Maybe after he had that trouble with the railer,
he might have to call it quits.
It doesn't figure.
Huh?
Guy that's had the brakes he has
is not going to let something like a beating stop him.
Well, I hope you're right.
All units on frequency one, stand by.
All units on frequency one, stand by.
Might be a good one.
Yeah.
Stand by 1J-14.
All units in the vicinity of 1947 Wilton Place,
1-9-4-7 Wilton Place.
An officer needs help, coast three.
You got the lens?
Yeah, here you are.
I think it might be our boy.
We'll know in a minute.
An officer needs help.
Of all the calls in the book,
this is the one that no officer wants to get.
Not because of an outdone sense of loyalty to a fellow police officer,
but because it means that somebody has decided
that the police officer is not going to be able to help.
I think that's the problem.
An outdone sense of loyalty to a fellow police officer,
but because it means that somebody has decided
that lawful authority has no meaning for them.
Such a person is an extreme menace to every citizen in the city.
By showing that they have no respect for the competence
of an armed professional officer,
they have also shown that they will not consider
for an instant the life of an unarmed citizen.
By the time we arrived at the scene,
there were 14 police units in attendance.
From one of the officers, we got the story.
You know, I was working the streets,
I got to the liquor store, stopped to see what was going on.
Yeah.
Told the fellow to stop.
Didn't make any difference.
Kept going, huh?
Yeah.
Officer in the car told him to stop, reach out,
and the suspect turned around and fired at the policeman.
How is he?
Flesh wound.
What about the suspect?
Well, he didn't get the chance to fire more than twice.
Got him over there?
Yeah.
Anything from the owner of the liquor store?
Well, just that the suspect tried to hold him up.
He walked in, showed him an oak, the owner went along with it.
Handed over the money, and then the suspect left.
That's it.
Better take a look.
Yeah.
Well, it might be a break.
It's a hard way to get it, isn't it?
Yeah.
I'll take a look.
How about it?
I can't tell for sure.
Huh?
Description doesn't match too good.
Yeah?
No.
I don't think it's our suspect.
You are listening to Dragnet,
the authentic story of your police force in action.
The wounded police officer was taken to Judge Street
Receiving Hospital for treatment.
The suspect was removed to the county morgue.
Pictures were taken, and when they were shown to the victims
of the drug store bandit, they all said he was not the man we were after.
The rolling stakeout continued without result.
During the next week, we answered several 211 calls in drug stores,
and the ammo the thief used eliminated him as our suspect.
Thursday, March 25th, Frank and I checked into the squad room.
How's it going, John?
We're kind of tired.
Yeah.
I'm gonna get this one wrapped up, and I'm gonna try to take a few days off.
Okay.
Robbery Friday.
Yes, that's right.
No, we're handling it.
Who was that?
All right, would you like to give me that address?
All right, yes, I have it.
We'll check it out.
Might be something, yeah.
Thanks for letting us know.
Right.
What was that?
No, if it turns out, we'll let you know.
Right.
Thanks again.
Bye.
What do you got?
A call from a radio unit out in Hollywood.
Yeah.
The answer to 415 this morning.
The woman and her husband were having a brawl.
Uh-huh.
The man had left when the officers got there.
The woman refused to make a complaint.
She placed the original call?
No, it came from one of the neighbors.
Uh-huh.
When the officers were leaving,
the woman said she'd handle the beef herself.
Said she'd take care of her husband,
call him a lousy hold-up man.
Yeah.
She made the statement she could put him in San Quentin
inside of five minutes.
Well, if he's the guy we're looking for,
I don't think we can do it that fast.
No, we sure tried.
We left the office and drove out to the address
I'd gotten on the phone.
It was a small one-story house set well back on the lot.
When we got there, the lights were on.
Frank and I went up the front door and rang the bell.
Yeah.
Miss Kearney?
That's right.
Police officers like to talk to you.
What about?
Might be better if we talk inside.
All right.
This is my partner, Frank Smith.
My name's Friday.
How you do?
Fine.
You alone here in the house?
It's the baby and me.
I see.
Where's your husband?
Look, before I start telling you a lot,
why don't you let me know what this is all about?
We got a report from a radio car
that there was a disturbance here this morning.
Is that right?
Wasn't anything.
Me and Keith had a beef.
Not even worth calling the cops about.
The officer said you made the remark that your husband was a holdup man,
that you could send him to prison.
Is that right?
They talk a lot, don't they?
They listen more, lady.
You want to tell us what you missed?
Yeah.
Well, go ahead.
You go back and tell the little boys in the play suits
they're wrong on this one.
Is that so?
Yeah, because I meant nothing.
Nothing at all.
Pretty serious thing to say without a reason, though, isn't it?
This morning I had a reason.
Why, don't you want to tell us what it was?
I don't see why not.
You cops start nosing around.
You'll find out anyway.
I got trouble with my old man.
What kind of trouble?
He's out with other women.
Didn't come home last night.
We had a beef about it.
The cops were called and they used their big ears.
You guys made the trip out here for nothing.
Now beat it.
Now look what you've done.
He's playing fine.
And you come in, you know he's a big stink.
You got him all upset.
I'll get him.
Hey, here we are, fella.
Hey.
No reason to cry.
What's your husband's full name?
Keith J. Kearney.
How long have you lived in Los Angeles?
A little over six weeks.
Where are you from?
Idaho.
Your husband ever been in trouble with the police before?
Keith's got a hard time not being in trouble with anybody.
Has he ever been arrested?
I don't know.
How long have you been married?
Seven years.
And you don't know if he's ever been arrested?
No, I don't.
You got a picture of your husband?
You mean that you can have?
We'd like to take a look at it, yeah.
Not a luck.
I haven't got one.
Does he work?
Nothing can help it.
Doesn't hold a job of any kind, huh?
No.
Keith's a professional avoider.
He doesn't like anything steady.
Beginning to look like he means me, too.
What's he do with his time?
Nothing.
Just lives it.
Is he here in the evening?
If he was, it wouldn't have been the beef this morning, and you wouldn't be asking a
lot of questions.
I don't know what you're trying to get me to say, but I can't go along with you.
If you've got a problem with Keith, then talk to him.
Leave me out of it.
I'll get it.
You know where your husband is now?
No.
You don't have any idea, huh?
Not the least.
There you are, little fella.
Here is your keys.
Does your husband drive a car?
Yeah.
What kind is it?
41 Plymouth.
When do you expect your husband back?
When he walks in the door.
All right, Mrs. Kearney, I think that'll do it.
Sorry about that.
I'm going to go.
I'm going to go.
Mrs. Kearney, I think that'll do it.
Sorry if we've caused you any trouble.
You haven't, you nut.
All right, let's go, Frank.
Okay.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Better check on the husband, huh?
Yeah.
Wait a minute.
Get a good look at those keys that the baby was playing with.
Oh, why?
Plastic tag on them had a license number.
Yeah.
And it was a car that was used in the drug store.
Frank and I went back to the car and drove around the block, parking up the street from
the Kearney residence.
We called the name of the man and his wife into R&I, but there was no record on either
one of them.
Because of the remark made by his wife and the finding of the car keys, it was decided
to stake out on the house and wait for the husband to return.
7.30 p.m., 8.30, 9.00 p.m.
The lights in the house went out, but there was still no sign of Keith Kearney.
10, 10.30.
We called the office and told them we'd wait it out.
10.45 p.m.
Joe.
Yeah.
Let's see what kind it is.
Looks like a Plymouth.
No.
Checks out, huh?
Yeah.
Let's take him.
All right, Kearney, hold it up.
Watch it, Joe.
Give it up, Kearney.
Keep away from me, cop!
He's trying to make his house.
Yeah.
Kearney, you're not going to make the front porch.
Don't give your family any more trouble than they got.
Now throw down that gun.
All right, let's give it back to him.
He's down, Joe.
Come on.
Kearney.
Kearney.
Careful.
Come on, Kearney, throw that gun away.
You hear me?
Looks like he's hurt bad.
Yeah.
How about it?
He'll live.
Call an ambulance.
Right.
Did you kill him?
Did you kill him?
No, ma'am.
He's dead.
You killed him.
He'll be all right.
Don't lie to me.
Poor Kate, you didn't give him a chance.
Not fair.
He didn't even have a chance.
You saw it all, lady.
Yeah, and it wasn't even a fair fight.
Never is when you pull a gun.
Keith Jaris Kearney was tried and convicted on nine counts of robbery in the first degree
and received sentence as prescribed by law.
Robbery in the first degree is punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than
five years.
The Dragnet is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.