The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragnet, brought to you by Chesterfield.
This is the best, Chesterfield, and the time to change today.
You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to burglary detail.
You get a call to meet a fire inspector at a burned out home.
There's reason to believe the fire was started by a burglar.
Your job, investigate.
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 to an actual case, friends tried from official police violence.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
It was Wednesday, November 4th. It was cool in Los Angeles.
We were working the night watch out of burglary detail.
My partner is Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Bernard.
My name is Friday.
We're on our way out from the office. It was 9, 12 p.m. when we got to 2607 West 50th Street.
The scene of the fire.
No signs here. It's been in the back of the house since.
Yeah, that's the way it looks.
Hiya, Joe.
Hi, Tom. You know my partner, Frank, Inspector Stratus from the fire department.
Sure, hi.
Hello, Frank. It's been some time since we worked together, Joe.
Yeah, over a year, hasn't it?
Yeah, about that.
How many have you got for us this time, Inspector?
Easier to show you.
Come on back.
All right.
Most of the damage is in the bedrooms, starting the closet.
It burned through the next room, though. Little girl's bedroom.
Here we are.
Yeah, burned bad, huh?
Could have been a lot worse. Neighbor saw the flames through the window.
Must have seen the right of way. She called us and the engine company got loud before the whole house was gutted.
The place locked when they got here?
Yeah, had to break through the back door to gain entrance.
All right, now where do we fit in?
Well, we're pretty certain the fire was started deliberately.
I was checking. I noticed the window had been tampered with.
Come here, I'll show you what I mean.
See the lock?
Yeah.
Yeah, looks like it was forced, doesn't it?
See here? The screws are pulled right out of the frame.
Yeah.
Glass is cracked, too.
Yeah. Any chance your boys might have done this?
No, I checked that angle. The only place they tried was the back door.
Uh-huh.
Was the window open when you first saw it, Tom?
Yeah, looks like it is now. Raised about an inch.
Right.
Yeah.
See these marks here on the cell?
Uh-huh. Probably made it in the window before, I guess.
Better get the lab out here, I guess.
Yeah, I'll get it.
Form to the front room near the table.
Thank you, sir.
You been able to contact the owner, Tom?
Yeah, he was with his wife and little girl.
He was out here just about the time they had the fire out.
Took away from kiddo, just at this place for the night.
Well, did he know if anything had been stolen?
Didn't ask before he left. He said he'd come back as soon as he could.
You got any ideas?
Well, I'm sure the fire was set.
Maybe a pile of maniacs and thieves trying to cover something.
I'm at the past with my partner, Sergeant Slotty.
How do you do, Sergeant?
How are you, sir? You met Inspector Stratus?
Yes, sir. How are you?
I'll be back as soon as I could.
The wife and daughter are pretty upset.
We understand this, sir.
She didn't think about it tonight, but she will tomorrow.
I'll be in for it.
How's that thing?
About the insurance.
What about the insurance?
Well, I don't have any.
I can hear her now.
She'll be up one side and down the other.
You don't have any fire insurance on the house at all, huh?
That's right.
How about personal property?
No, my wife asked me to take some out.
Maybe I would have, but she wanted me to get it from her brother-in-law.
Maybe I would have, but you never saw such a one-way guy.
Always looking to feather his own mess, you know the kind.
Yeah.
Like I was painting the kid's room, you know.
Think he'd give me a hand or you bet he didn't.
So what happens? They got no insurance.
Now, Mr. Taft, we'd like you to do something for us, if you would.
Sure thing. As long as it doesn't cost me.
It's going to put me in a hole, but good.
Would you check around and see if any personal items are missing here?
You mean stolen?
Yes, sir, that's right.
Do you think someone broke in and stole something inside the fire?
Oh, we're not sure yet. We want you to help us.
Oh, boy, that's all I need.
A fire with no insurance and a rod with no insurance.
My wife's brother-in-law won't ever get off my back and my wife.
Mm-hmm. Would you check for us, then?
Yeah, sure thing.
Thank you.
Now, Mark, in here, it takes up my wife's jewelry.
And what she had was in this here box.
Well, you wouldn't touch it, though.
What's that?
I'll open it.
Don't mind.
Well, it's empty. Everything's gone.
Was it pretty expensive?
Well, it didn't cost much, if that's what you mean.
Uh-huh.
Mostly costumes jewelry.
Her watch was in here, though.
She forgot it tonight.
Went over to Cranstar District window shopping,
and I remember her mentioning she left it here.
Do you think anything else is missing in here?
Uh, I don't think so,
unless maybe my wife's clothes from the closet.
And the way that looks, I don't get you to tell much.
What do you think, Tom?
Well, I can give it a preliminary check
while you're going through the rest of the house,
and let you know.
All right, fine.
Well, I'll check the rest of the place for you, sir.
Oh, yes, sir.
All right.
Boy, what a night.
Since I wanted to steal something,
you think a place with that stuff worth lifting.
Now, here's the kids' room.
Oh, look at the mess in here.
I just finished painting last week.
Look at it.
Dolls, books all burned.
Little kid saw that tonight, just cried her eyes out.
I don't know.
Dad, this must have had a head full of rocks.
Yeah.
Christmas ain't far off.
I don't know how, but I'll see to it
she gets dolls and books.
Nice one.
Better than these were.
Wasn't anything in there, you'd think.
All right, let's check the kitchen.
Well, right off, I can see you made it for the radio.
I had a little portable on the shelf right over there.
Wife likes to listen to those daytime programs
while she's working on them.
Something more to plan for Christmas.
What if you have the serial number on the radio by any chance?
Uh-uh.
Never paying any attention to things like that.
Anyway, I got a second hand.
It wasn't worth much.
It played good, though.
Mm-hmm.
I think it's good luck.
You know if there's anything else going.
Yeah, right off hand.
Hey, St. Coles, how about a beer?
Oh, that's stolen, too.
Well, don't like it.
Well, that really does it.
What's that?
That ties it off good.
He stole a ham.
What?
A ham weighed 12 pounds and saving it for Thanksgiving.
And I thought that'd go to some big dinner my wife planned.
Oh, I guess it's all right if you laugh about it, huh?
I was just thinking,
maybe I'll have the last laugh at my wife's brother.
What's that?
He was coming to dinner.
Further examination of the kitchen showed that about 20 cans of food had been taken.
Angus Taft looked through the rest of the house,
but he said he didn't think anything else was missing.
Inspector Tom Strader said he was fairly sure there were no clothes in the closet when it burned.
Men from the crime lab came out and took pictures of the window,
and also of the place of origin of the fire.
A detail from latent prints checked the house.
Frank and I questioned people in the neighborhood,
but none of them had seen or heard anyone around the Taft house before the fire started.
Inspector Strader said he would notify our office of all similar house fires.
The next night we got a report from latent prints.
They said the prints they'd lifted from the Taft home belonged to members of the family.
Ray Pinker sent word over from the crime lab that the marks on the windowsill had been made by a half-inch pry bar.
On November 10th we got another call from Inspector Strader,
and we went out to 2725 West 49th Street.
By 1026 p.m. we had completed our inspection of the burned interior of the house,
and we talked to the owner.
That was pretty much like the last one.
Looks like more damage this time, huh?
Yeah, there's been a report of a fire started in this house.
Same entry, bedroom window.
Still an article just about the same, huh?
I don't get that, Frank.
How's that, Frank?
It's not the stolen.
Not much value to it.
Costume jewelry, clothes, food, portable radio.
You'd think anyone that goes out on a limb like this would try to make it worth his while.
Nothing much we can set the usual sources for.
One thing that might help us we don't have.
What's that, Joe?
Serial numbers.
You know, people could just give us the numbers on their radios.
Other stolen property we'd have something definite to look for.
I know it's a lot to ask, but if they could just do that.
Inspector, what do you estimate the fire ought to be here?
A couple thousand dollars.
Uh-huh.
I hope your crime lab, the latent trends, can come up with a lead to give you a foe of something concrete to work with.
We'll be there, Tom.
What do you think, Joe?
Same person?
Well, it might be too early to say,
but the fires are in the same neighborhood.
Similar MO.
Chances are there that it's the same one, yeah.
Uh-huh.
Keeps up.
Somebody's likely to get hurt.
We haven't got too much to go on.
Well, we've got a place to start.
Huh?
We know he's got some matches.
Frank and I questioned the neighbors, but we failed to get any useful information.
latent prints were unable to come up with anything.
The crime lab reported the window had been forced by a one-half inch pry bar.
Within the next three weeks, despite our efforts, six more fires and burglaries occurred.
In each case, the same MO was used.
We had sent teletypes to CII and all points requesting information on any person who had used the same MO.
The staff office made a run.
No one arsonist was checked.
Pawn shops and second-hand stores were notified, but we still had no definite lead as to the identity of the arsonist's burglar.
We started a PIN map to see if a directional trend would develop.
7 p.m. Wednesday, December 2nd.
We were checking the map with Sergeant Rex Olson.
Anything new, Joe?
Well, we've got a few burglaries further west, up in here, but no fire.
How about the MO?
Same. Bedroom window entry, same type articles stolen.
You know, this operator's really a wig.
Take a look at this list of items that have been taken.
Dog food, baby clothes, golf balls, tennis balls, camping equipment, and a phonograph.
That's quite an assortment.
Tennis balls were initialed, I think, by the owner. He said he could identify them.
Details have been set in playground form.
I guess you pretty well covered every angle then.
Yeah, that's right.
The men from Metro and the fire department have been on stakeouts in areas where fires have occurred.
They've run down a lot of leads, but we haven't come up with anything to date.
How about Prince?
Well, how many will give us any positives?
I guess they're switching MOs. I'm going to be thankful for them.
The guy's still out breathing the same air as we do.
Yeah. I know it bothers you, but you're doing your best. You can't ask for more.
If you talk to some of these families that have been burned out, you'll still wish you could.
Yeah, I know how you feel.
The guy isn't satisfied setting one fire in a house. He set as many as six in one place.
Look above red pins.
I'll do it.
Burglary, Olson?
Uh-huh.
What's that address?
1904?
Wet 53.
All right.
Yeah, they're with me now. Yeah.
Burglary, here's the address.
All right. Anything else?
Yeah, another red pin.
We drove out to the address on 50th Street.
Like the other homes hit by the arsonist burglar, it was a small one-story house.
Inspector Strader showed us where five fires had been started.
The main damage was in the rear of the building.
Entry had been made through a bedroom window.
We called the crime lab and laid in print.
The owner, a Mr. Clinton base, arrived and checked for missing property.
He said it was 1027 here.
We called to the living room.
Well, right off hand, I'd say nothing was missing in here.
Well, if possible, he just didn't take a little initial.
Why'd he say that, Sergeant?
Well, no fire was started before.
Now, we found in other homes the burglar usually starts a fire in a room where he takes something.
That's neat.
Elis the base.
Yeah.
First unit missing, you said it was initial.
That's right. I gave it to my wife for her birthday.
It was monogrammed LCB in gold letters.
Wasn't really expensive.
LCB.
And the money that was taken was of too much value.
Why should a person go to the trouble of breaking a house to steal comic books?
It didn't make sense.
And then you said your daughter's name was written on the books.
Yeah. My wife always writes her name, Carol, on them.
You know how kids trade them back and forth.
My daughter takes after her mother and never wants to throw anything away.
I've had over a hundred comic books.
I think there's a lot of junk at which he had taken.
And then just left the house the way it was without setting the fires.
Oh, I see. I understand.
Now about the coins that were taken.
This is the first time that any money has been stolen.
What did he take? About two dollars worth of coins.
Not much to help you there, is there?
Yes, sir, there might be.
They're American coins that can be spent.
Now the fact that they're old may give us a lead if somebody tried to spend them.
Hmm, hmm.
Kind of a long shot, isn't it?
Yes, sir, maybe.
But this person hasn't given us much choice.
Now do you hope he could give us the dates on the coins?
Well, I can't, but my wife may be able to.
They belong to her.
Like I told you, she never gives her anything.
Mm-hmm.
She got them from an aunt a couple, three weeks ago.
I told her that since they were old, they might be worth more than just the regular value.
Yes, sir.
She took them to some shop, you know, where they handle old money.
Man, I told her they weren't in demand, only worth a nickel, dime, whatever it was.
I knew she'd change her cigarettes one day, but she wouldn't give them to me.
Anything else hangs on her.
Well, you see the junk around here.
What did you get those dates for?
Well, I tried, but like I said, if the person that did this had just forgot about the fire part
and carted off some of the other junk, he'd have been doing me a big favor.
Oh, sir, but they don't have that in mind.
What do you mean?
To help anybody.
We got the description and the dates of the coins from Mrs. Bates.
All officers were given the information.
From our pin map, we figured our suspect might live near Cimarron Street in Vernon Avenue.
We spent several days contacting all the businesses in that vicinity
and gave each owner a complete description of the coins.
We asked them to get the license number or address of any person that might pass them
and to call us right away.
In the meantime, Lacey French sent word from the window ledge at the home of the last burglary in fire
that they had lifted several clean prints.
Five days went by.
Monday, December 7th.
A store owner called us regarding the coins.
Frank and I drove out to the corner of Cimarron Street in 43rd Place,
a small neighborhood variety store.
Good morning. Can I help you?
Please, doctor.
Are you out?
Yes, ma'am. We went to see you the other day.
Oh, well, just a moment till I get my glasses on.
I'm trying on the new glasses on just before you put them on.
I don't see much without them anymore.
Oh, here and I remember you.
You came in about the hour of morning.
Yes, ma'am. That's right. We got you called.
Well, it's a good thing I had my glasses on about an hour ago.
What do you mean, ma'am?
When I got those coins. Otherwise, maybe I wouldn't have noticed.
Then you took in some money and opened the description we gave you, didn't you?
A face customer this morning, I guess maybe that's why I took the picture and noticed.
I'll call the number on the card you gave me right away.
That was very cooperative of you, ma'am.
I only do my duty as I see it.
You managed to uphold and arm as a citizen, I feel.
It's my job to help you.
Anyway, I can.
Yes, ma'am. Now, what if we might see the coins?
Okay, Deski. I'll get them for you.
Thank you.
When I saw the thing without all his money, like you told me about, I just hid them in the register.
Oh, no. I popped them into this jelly bag. I keep punies in it, too.
Maybe I'd better dump them out on the floor.
Oh, that's fine.
I wouldn't want you to slip your fingers.
It's easier to get blood poisoning.
You got that list, thanks. Yes, ma'am.
Thank you.
Here you go.
Are those the ones you're looking for?
Just a minute, ma'am. I'll get them.
Yes, ma'am.
Oh, how wonderful.
That gives me a real fine feeling.
Like I've been a good deed for the day.
Well, you have, ma'am.
Now, maybe you can help us even more and tell us about the person that gave you these.
Deski, Deski, I can.
But there's something I don't quite understand.
What's that, ma'am?
I thought you could easily generally look for real bad men.
No, not always.
What?
That's what seems wrong.
The person I got these from couldn't be the one you want.
Why do you say that?
It was a little girl about nine years old.
Evelyn Cooley, the owner, told us that when the little girl had left,
she'd followed her to a house about three blocks away.
We gave her a receipt for the coins and drove over to 2216 West 43rd Place,
the address he'd given us.
Frank drove past the house slowly and we saw a 1940 Plymouth sedan parked in the driveway.
On the second trip, I got the license number of the vehicle.
We called the office and they sent out another team to stake out the place.
We went back to the office and called DMV.
They gave us the name Lyndon Granger as the legal owner.
We checked the name through R&I and found that he had five arrests for burglary as a juvenile.
We called Laiton Prince and asked him to check the fingerprints found at the house on 50th Street.
1037 AM.
When are they going to call?
Soon as they have time to check them thoroughly, I guess.
I was just thinking, Joe, what happens if things are isn't our boy?
Well, I think it's kind of easy to figure, don't you?
Huh? Sure.
Find out where the girl got the coins.
Yeah, I was thinking about that. You know what that should mean.
Mm-hmm. More footwork.
I'm telling you, Joe, I haven't put on so many miles since I worked traffic.
You don't have to tell me.
What do you mean?
All these miles you're talking about.
Oh, yeah. I was with you, remember?
Yeah.
I know, Joe, but after all, I'm carrying a few more pounds than you are.
That is correct. It makes a big difference.
You know how it is when you go deer hunting?
Don't you think? I don't. I never go.
Well, when you're carrying a rifle...
Never carry one.
Well, when you go deer hunting and you do carry a rifle, you start out in the morning, the rifle doesn't weigh much at all.
It doesn't.
Well, at least it doesn't feel so heavy, but along the end of the day, to handle a few pounds feels like 20.
Mm-hmm.
That's the way it is with the extra pounds I carry around.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Burglary Friday.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I see.
On to them.
Mm.
Good.
Right. Thank you.
Right, Mr. Prince?
Yeah.
Granger's Prince.
Uh-huh.
They made him on the last job.
The fact that Granger's Prince tied him in with the last fire burglary was enough to get a complaint, but we wanted an airtight case.
We decided to follow the suspect that night.
Another team was set out to relieve the stake out of his home.
When Granger left the house at 8 or 9 p.m., Frank and I were behind him.
The other team remained at the house.
We followed them for about an hour.
9 or 13 p.m.
Oh, thanks, Joe.
Stick with him.
All right.
We better take him away from home before he ends up writing a flier on our story, huh?
Yeah.
He's going down.
I'll pull over.
Jack, can you see him?
Yeah.
He looks like another twitch in his operation.
Big one from that car.
Yeah.
Why'd he take it, could you see?
Blanket or a robe at some point.
Come on, let's get him.
All right.
All right, Granger, don't put it in here.
Pull his off.
I'm gonna run for it.
All right.
He's gonna hit that car.
Come on.
Get out of the car, Granger.
Come on, move.
What?
Come on, get out.
Fast.
Hands over your head.
Right there.
Keep your hands up.
Did you say Bruce Austin?
Yeah.
Get your hands behind your back now.
Oh, I didn't hear you too good.
I wouldn't have taken off if I'd known you were copped.
That's the truth.
If I was you, I'd believe that.
Is that so?
Well, I'm just gonna feel terrible if you guys don't believe me.
Well, now, that's too bad.
Huh?
We don't.
We questioned Granger, but he refused to admit any knowledge of the burglaries or the fires.
We met the other two months' stakeout, and they took him into custody while we went in to talk to his wife.
We identified our straws, and she told us to come in.
Shut up, Austin.
Be quiet.
Don't worry about him.
He won't bite.
Dogs are no good for anything except for eating sleep.
Oh, I didn't take him with him tonight.
What's that, ma'am?
No, I was gonna go out just about every night and take the dog with him.
Not tonight.
He's not on my feet every minute.
Is anybody else in this house beside you?
Huh?
Are you alone here?
Yeah, except for that man.
Why?
Well, you don't mind if we look around, do you?
Did you believe me?
Yeah, yeah.
Shoot, you have to.
I ain't hiding.
Nobody go ahead.
I'll take a look.
Come on.
You want to sit down with Granger?
Why?
You gonna be here first, girl?
There's a few things we have to ask you.
Oh, shut up watching.
What do you want to ask?
What kind of work does your husband do?
He's a window watcher.
Who is his employer?
Nobody.
But does he work for a business concern of any kind?
You mean like a store?
That's right.
Yeah, but he watches windows for people, too.
You know the house?
Mm-hmm.
So, ma'am, I found this on the dresser in the bedroom.
Hey, what are you doing with my perfume?
It belonged to you.
Well, you took it out of my room, didn't you?
What did you do with it?
I found it in the bathroom.
Oh, I see.
My husband.
Did he say where he got it?
Yeah, all night market.
How about these initials here?
LCB.
Oh, sure.
That's where I got the keys.
You said they were closing them up.
Your husband goes out every night, doesn't he?
Yeah.
Has he brought everything home from this same market?
Why do you ask?
Just tell us, has he?
Yeah.
What?
Something wrong?
Did we do something?
What other things?
Nothing.
What about the
things your husband has brought home?
I thought there was something wrong, but he said he got them at the market.
Did he steal them?
We think he did, yeah.
Makes sense.
Seems to, don't it?
I was thinking of the perfume.
I thought it was funny to spend money like that.
He doesn't think that much, does he?
What's that?
He thinks more of that dog than he does of me.
What?
He gave me the perfume and the next day he put most of it on fortune.
How's that?
The dog.
He put most of the perfume on the dog.
He got fortunes to smell it.
Look at that car.
It's pretty, isn't it?
All jewels.
But he didn't steal lots, not for his dog.
What else did he bring home?
Food, clothes, magazines, all kinds of things.
What other things?
Food we ate.
Other stuff.
I don't know if it's here.
Some of it's in the garage.
Do you want to show us?
All right.
I'll show you.
I'll show you.
I'll show you.
I'll show you.
I'll show you.
I'll show you.
I'll show you.
I'll show you.
Thank you.
Come on.
Comey.
Comear.
Come on.
Is he soft or do we need help?
You do have to leave.
Come on.
We'll go and get him.
Come on.
Back the door.
Please come and get this guy!
One, two, three!
Go!
Okay.
Come on!
Quick!
Come on.
Come on!
Come on!
Take me to her!
Go!
Come on.
Come on!
Go!
We'll go and get her!
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
I'll hang on a minute.
Yeah, I'll get it.
You still have those coins?
No, I sent a neighbor girl to the store for me today.
That was the only money I had to spend them.
Right from left side.
Right.
Comic book.
What was that name, Joe?
Hell.
Yeah, it's right down the line.
This camping equipment, is there something you got at that market too?
Yeah, I guess so. You never bought anything I can remember.
Danny Reed, he never take me camping.
Do you know what's in this box?
No.
Do you know where the key is for the lock?
No, I guess it happened.
I'll give you that hammer.
Yeah.
You gonna break the lock?
Yeah.
There you are.
Clock, watches, costume, jewelry.
Yeah, tennis ball, couple of coins, half dollar.
You mean my husband stole all these things?
Yeah, I've seen some, Miss Danger, but that's not the worst of it.
Oh, no.
In several of the homes, we think he set fires.
That mean I'm guilty too?
No, ma'am, not necessarily.
Not if you didn't know about it.
I didn't know. He never told me.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not about him, and it's not to me.
Mm-hmm.
You come in here and say my husband's a thief.
You know, not like this. That's not easy to take.
Well, there's one other thing, Miss Danger.
What?
Not easy to say.
The story you've just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On March 9th, trial was held in Department 98,
Superior Court of the State of California,
in and for the County of Los Angeles.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
Lyndon Frederick Granger was tried and convicted of burglary
on the first degree, five counts, and of arson, four counts.
He received sentence as prescribed by law.
Burglary on the first degree is punishable by imprisonment
for a period of not less than five years.
Arson is punishable by imprisonment for a period
of from two to 20 years in the state penitentiary.
You have dropped her 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 Frans Brasher.
Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Walter Sande,
Jack Kruse, and the Chief of Police,
and the Chief of Police, and the Chief of Police,
and the Chief of Police, and the Chief of Police,
and the Chief of Police, and the Chief of Police,
and the Chief of Police, and the Chief of Police,
Kid Lierman, Officer Ben Alexander, Walter Sande,
Jack Kruse, and Virginia Gregg.
Script by John Robinson, Earl Shlay.
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.