Dragnet - Big Odd

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2:24The drug hijackers have been working in your city. They have stolen 14 loaded trucks. They have kidnapped and beaten one of the drivers. There is no clue to their identity. Your job? Get them. It was Wednesday, June 4th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out a robbery detail. My partner's friend Smith, the boss at TV detective's dad, Brown. My name is Friday. We were on the way out from the office and it was 9.47 a.m. and we got to the county hospital. Ward 419. Hi, Mr. Gilmore. Yeah, I know you guys. No sir, we're police officers. It's my partner, Frank Smith. My name is Friday. I do. A couple of stools over there. Drag them up. Sit down. I'll get them. Here you go. Thanks. How do you feel, Mr. Gilmore? I feel rough. I feel like I've ridden 50 miles in the back of a ready-mixed cement truck. Weren't for the pills it'd be giving me. I think I'd go off my rocker.

3:26You want to tell us what happened? Yeah, as much as I can remember. Only goes so far than there's a room full of black. If you'll tell us what you can, please. Yeah. Yesterday, that's when it was. Yesterday morning. I checked in for work. I had a load. I was going to take over to Phoenix. I was supposed to shop off about 10, 10, 15. Did you know what you were carrying? Yeah. I saw the way, though. Some of the stuff they were loading. Views furniture didn't make any difference to me. They load the truck and my old driver. I went across the street. A little coffee place over there. Got in a back and bottle filled and came back. By that time they had the truck loaded. I signed the way below the office and went out and got into the truck. The two guys were waiting for me. They were in the cab of the truck? Yeah. I'm sitting there kind of scrunched down so you couldn't even see them on the outside. As soon as I opened the door, I went on them had a gun pointed at me. Told me to get into the truck like there was nothing wrong. Just start them all around and get the truck away from me. Did they get out of the truck at that time? No. No. They were waiting for me when I got there. They told me to drive away and I did.

4:27I wasn't going to mess around with them having a gun. Yeah. Go ahead. When we drove about three blocks, they told me to pull into an alley just off of Santa Fe. Santa Fe is like you, man. I was on the bike, porous street, between portern and a bright. I see. Like you go ahead. Then they told me to pull into the alley and when I did, they made me get out of the truck, putting me around back and broke the seal and told me to get inside. That's what you did. Officer, if they'd told me to jump off the city hall I'd have gone ahead and done it for that gun pointed at me. Now my car fellow waves are gone around and I'm just going to do just my key to close me. Those guys were mean you could tell. How's that? I'm a kind of a student of phonology. I could tell about those fellows real playing. Student of what? Phenology. You know, bumps on the head. They all mean something. Of course I didn't get a chance to make a good examination of these guys, but I could see it. Real criminal heads. Bumps told me so. One fellow head ahead that was one of the worst I'd ever seen. Yes, sir. His means was mother I could tell. I had a bump right here. You see?

5:27Yeah. His means was mother. Yes, sir. Well what happened after they tied you up? Just left me there. I see. You want to go on? Yeah. They must have drove for about 20 minutes when they stopped holding some sort of a driveway. I figured that. Well, right after they stopped they made a half-you turn and backed up. Backed up this ramp. Steve. And they stopped and took me out of the truck. Blindfolded me and made me get out of the truck. Now this place where they stopped. That's where they unloaded the furniture did they? Yeah. You must have taken it out of there. I heard them something around the truck. It sounded like they were unloading it. Now what they do after they got all the furniture out. Put me back in. Drove out to where you found the truck. After they both climbed into the back, peaked me up. Don't remember much after that. Both of them worked the over. Yeah. Both of them got in their legs. Especially the one who's mean to his mother. He was vicious. He was mean. They kept hitting me with their fists until I just passed out. They remember anything after that until I came to the back of the truck. That's when I called the cops and the guys in the uniform came out. I guess they're the ones who called you.

6:28Yes sir. Is there any way that you might be able to tell us where they took you? Do you mean when they unloaded the furniture? Yes sir. Well, I think maybe I got an idea. I tried to figure out how fast it was driving. And after you've been a driver for a while you get to know. I'd say there was going about 20 miles an hour. We were still in town. My own guess is that they were not all immediate. Must have gone outside of faith and then turned on the Alameda. I remember hearing kids yelling. That probably be Santa Fe high school. Yeah. I guess when I went out Alameda to maybe 43rd or 44th and they turned right. Kind of hard to figure it then. The truck got tied up and trapped. I think it was hard to tell if they were stopping for that or just a light. But I'd say that they were out about Abelone. Maybe they went up the San Pedro. I don't think so. I'd say Abelone. Then they turned left and headed for Hawthorne. Not sure how far they went. But I'd figure maybe around Rosa Cranes and then they turned a couple more times and they stopped and drove up that steep ramp.

7:28You figure they ended up around Rosa Cranes and Abelone. Yeah. I guess that's not much help though. Well, it gives us an idea where to start looking. A couple other things that might help you. What's that? Well, it seems that when we started the backups of ramp, I heard a bump like that back into a car. They didn't hit it hard, but I bet they did hit a car. After that, they pulled the truck forward and stopped and backed up again. This time they scraped it to the side of a house and I could feel it run along the side of the truck. The side of it they might have torn up some of the wood on the house. Yeah. Will that help any? Yeah, sir. We'll have our crime lab check the truck and see if they can come up with anything. Sure hope you can. Oh, you talked to my boss yet? No, sir, but he's been notified we understand. But he's probably sore about it. Well, we wouldn't know about that, but he should understand that it wasn't your fault. He should, but he won't. I know. That right? Yeah. He doesn't understand anything that doesn't go on his way. Spot of a mile off. What's that, sir? His head. All kinds of bumps.

8:33Ten oh six a.m. We continued to question the victim Russell Gilmore. He gave us descriptions of the two men who kidnapped him. He also told us that at one time he heard one of the men call the other by the name Leo. Further, he told us that when the two bandits had taken him from the truck, they placed him in a garage. He was able to feel a wall and he said that he was sure it was a plaster wall and as much as he could feel the studs and the wire holding the plaster. He said that at one time he heard a woman come out of a house and say something to the thieves while he unloaded the truck. He told us that the garage wasn't very large because there was no echo on the sounds that were made in the building. We called the office and got out of supplementary drug gas on the thieves carrying their descriptions. 10.40 a.m. Frank and I left the county hospital and drove over to Central Station. We went up the crime we haven't talked to Ray Pinker. On the right rear fender we found evidence that the truck had hit a car. We looked at some paint chips. We got them here. Looks like a blue car, huh?

9:33Yeah. We checked the paint with a Diser Production Color book. Here I'll show you. We got all the paint catalog by color. Uh-huh. Here. This is the one. Yeah, but Ray, there are a lot of blues here. I can be sure this is it. Well here, you see they got a color patch on each page in the book. Hold on the patch. Oh, this little hole here, huh? We just put this chip with the truck in the hole. I'll let it down. Get this lamp. There. Color matches. Got them the same light. You can see the same paint. Huh. Look at that, Joe. Same. Yeah, see. Well, what do we got out of it, Ray? The car the truck hit was a 1953 Hudson jet. It was a single-tone car. You know, the top color matches the body color. Yeah. You only use this on one color car, unless you got a special order. Uh-huh. Do you find any house paint on the side of the truck? Yeah. Over here. Might be able to do a little better on that for you. Uh-huh. House truck ran into about 36 years old.

10:35Might be a little more than that, but it's right around there. How did you come up with that? Been painted 18 times. Figure once every two years you come out with 36? Yeah. Well, how do we know it's been painted every two years? We don't, Frank. Just guessing. But the layers of paint are pretty even. Might indicate they did it regularly. You know, it didn't let the paint go too far before they redid it. Oh, yeah. Here are the chips of the house paint. Here I put one on one of the microscope. I'm gonna take a look, Joe. Okay. You see okay? I haven't done it. Oh, I just need it. Yeah. Nice, what do you mean? I noticed that the first coat was a cream white. Mm-hmm. And they stuck pretty much to that for the next half dozen paint jobs. And they changed to a bar and red. End of a green and then back to cream white. And that goes on for three layers and then to the blue that's on it now. Yeah, from the red. If we find the house, can you tell us if it's the same one? You shouldn't be too hard. How many are around? Well, how many? Well, 18 coats will be 18 factorial.

11:36That's multiplying 18 times 17 times 16 times 15. So on to times 1. I gotta work that for you. I hope you have. I can't wait with you at all here. Well, look. Works out to 1 and 6 quadrillion, 4123,373,705,728,000 chances of finding its twin. Oh. It's pretty long, huh? Well, if every man, woman and child on the face of the earth owned ten houses as a piece, there wouldn't be another one like it. 1137 AM. We put in a call to late in print. Holland Stahl told us that his crew had gone over the truck early, but it failed to come up with anything. We contacted the stats office and asked them to make a run on the M.O. that the thieves have used. They told us that the results would be ready for us late in the afternoon. We contacted Hit and Run detail, but there'd been no reports that could have been the car that the truck had hit. We went to the office and got a large map of the city, and we drove out to the county hospital to talk to the victim again.

12:36We asked him to trace his movements while he'd been held prisoner in the back of the truck. He drew a line down Santa Fe Avenue up to Alameda, then over to Avalon Boulevard on 43rd Street. From there, he traced the streets down to Rosecranes Avenue. He drew a circle on the map centered on the intersection of Rosecranes Avenue and Avalon Boulevard. He told us that we find the house we were looking for inside the circle. Before we left him, we made arrangements for the mugshots to be taken to the hospital for him to check for a possible identification of the suspect. 1240 PM. We contacted records and identification division and asked them if they'd had any luck on running an aim leo. They were told that they had three possible spores. The addresses on the packages were not in the area that had been circled by the victim Russell Gilmore. We got in touch with Lieutenant Jack Smires and filled him in on the developments. He called Metro Division and made arrangements for three additional teams of men to work with us in a search of the streets within the circle drawn by the victim. He also contacted the divisional commanders and asked for their cooperation. The men were instructed to find a residence with a steep driveway leading to a detached garage.

13:36The house would have a wooden porch on the right side of the houses that face the street. It would be damaged to the wood on the porch. Also, there was a possibility that a Hudson automobile would be parked either in the driveway or on the street right next to it. The car would have some damage done to it. 515 PM. Frank and I got back to the office from the search area. I'm sure tired. I'm with you. A lot of streets out there. Yeah, a lot of houses on the streets. What are the guys from Metro doing? I'm gonna... I gotta... Robert, Friday. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Just a minute. Let me get there. Yeah. Okay. Hang on to it. We'll be right out. Right. All the Metro boys did some good. Huh? The house. They found it. The address given us on the phone was 1486 Cedar Street down in Compton. It took us 35 minutes to get out there from the city hall. The officers from Metro Division reserves stood by until we got there. We found the house located on Cedar between Dwight Street and Towada Avenue.

14:38It was a one-story frame building with a stucco garage in the rear of the lot. On the left front side of the house was a wooden porch which had been straight by some large object. Several of the tickets in the railing were broken. There's nothing like being in the stands cheering on your favorite team. Game time is your hack to unlocking amazing tickets in just a few taps. It's easy to use and the game time guarantee means you can trust you'll get 100% authentic tickets at the best price. Fees are always included so what you see is what you pay. Take the guesswork out of buying sports tickets with game time. Download the game time app and create an account to start searching for tickets to upcoming games and events. McDonald's is putting value back on the menu. Whether you're craving a big Mac, McNuggets or sausage egg and cheese, MacGridels, make it a meal and save. Your favorite is now your wallet's favorite too. Extra value meals are back. Get a big something extra with a big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets,

15:40fries and a medium Coke all for just $9. Limited time only, promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing. Ba da ba ba ba. On the street in front of the house next door we found a 1953 Hudson jet painted a light blue. There was a dent in the left rear fender. We couldn't tell for certain but the color of the car and the color of the paint on the port seemed to match the chips that we'd seen in the crime lab. While the officers from Metro covered the rear of the building, Frank and I rang the front doorbell. There was no answer. We checked the garage but we found nothing that would tie the house owners in with a robbery kidnapping. The interior walls of the garage were rough wooden studs. Between them we could see chicken wire embedded in plaster. The physical description of the house, the ramp leading to the garage, the garage itself and the car parked on the street matched in every detail the pictures we've been given by the victim. 610 pm. We got the name Conrad Lewis from the mailbox in front of the house and while the officers from Metro checked it with our office, Frank and I went next door to talk with the neighbors. Yeah? What if we could talk to you then? Sure.

16:40Who are you? Well it might be better if we got it in all the port. You ain't coming in here unless I know who and what you are. For police officers. Oh. Yes, ma'am. Here's our identification. Oh yeah. Well come on in. Thank you ma'am. I'm Merdor Richards. It's my partner Sergeant Friday on Frank Smith. Oh, how do you do? How are you, ma'am? You just sit down and I'll turn off the television. Thank you. Tom, I've seen it before a couple of times. I always laugh out of the game though it's funny. Yes ma'am. The great bone to the people's television. This is only 12 inch but I think maybe next year I'll get a bigger one and maybe even color. They got it now you know. It's true color's beautiful. Yes ma'am. Of course I ain't actual seeing it myself. I just read about it you know. Beautiful. Well I'm a great fan. I got it on all day. Right from the early show to the late late show. I understand next week when a station's going to start early early show. No that'll be nice won't it? That's ma'am sure. I wonder if we could ask you a few questions. My certainly you just go right ahead. That car out front is up along to you.

17:41The blue one? Yes ma'am. Yeah that's ma'am. I just got it a few months ago. That's what you hear about huh? The bigger point. About how somebody hit my car? Bigdent. Isn't that what you hear for? No not exactly. Do you know who hit your car? No. I wish I had dead. If I knew I'd sue them. Imagine hitting the car this park right at the curb not leaving a noader or something to say who did it. Persona ran in me. Must be insured wouldn't cost him nothing all he had to do is leave a car. That's ma'am. When was the automobile hit? Yesterday morning. I walked down to the market to do some shopping and get some things for dinner. Pretzels, potatoes, things eat while I watch the TV. When I got back the dent was there. Did it? Well I was gone. Didn't even leave a car. Yes ma'am. Could you tell us who lives next to our tea place? Which side? The left side over there. Well that's Lewis's house. Why are you asking about them? How long have they lived there do you know? I guess it's been about ten years. They moved in right after Congress. That's Mr. Lewis right after he opened up a new store.

18:42For the line of businesses he in. Well he got some kind of a shipping business. Has deals with different stores all over the state. Did you see Mr. Lewis yesterday? Yes. Matter of fact the did he come over like usual at 5.30. Usually come over at that time doesn't he? Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday yeah. You see there's TV show he likes to see. I watch it but his wife don't care for it. She watches something else. So Comrade comes over here. He was here last night. You see him during the day at all? No I didn't. You know where they are tonight? I'm not sure but I think they went to the movies. It seems to me Mrs. Lewis said that her in Conrad was going to a show over in town. That's probably for us I'll get it. I'm adding so. Has anybody come call me this time? Well it's Anderson Joe. I'll be right back. Right. Have you noticed any trucks in the neighborhood lately Mrs. Richards? Oh well I have to think about that for a minute. You don't mean like a guy but you can trust me. No man. Large moving bands. See the others quite a bit. Yeah. Well let me see. Well there were some people who just moved in to a new house down the street.

19:44That was about a month ago. That in the help? Well thank you Mrs. Joe. See you a minute. Yeah. Excuse me please Mrs. Richards. Yeah you go right ahead. Yeah. Anderson ran the name Conrad Lewis to the files. He's been convicted for armed robbery. The record showed that Conrad Lewis had been arrested for suspicion of armed robbery 10 years before. He'd been brought to trial convicted and sent to Sam Quentin. He'd served six years and then he'd been released. He was not on parole at the time. Frank and I parked our car down the street from Lewis's house when we waited for him to return. At 10.57 pm we saw a dark colored Lincoln sedan turn onto the street and swing into the driveway of a Lewis residence. A man and a woman got out of the car and ended the house. Frank and I waited a few minutes and then we walked up the front door and rang the bell. Yeah you Conrad Lewis? Yeah that's right. Who are you? Police officers like talk to you. Sure come on in.

20:44What's this all about? Something wrong? The old attract? Hmm? Attract the old one? No. You mind telling me what this is all about? Can you account for your time since Monday night? Why? Can you? Look I don't know what this is all about and I'm not going to tell you a thing until you let me know what you want. Now what do you want? The answers to those two questions. 12.15 am. It had been only a little over 48 hours since Russell Gilmore had been kidnapped and beaten and we had a suspect in custody. However Lewis refused to admit any complicity in the crime. We talked to him for several hours but he told us nothing. He admitted that he had been arrested before and that he'd served time in San Quentin. However he stuck to his statement that since his release he had done his best to live with the law. With the evidence at hand he was booked at the main jail on a charge of suspicion of violation of Section 211 PC. We obtained the keys to his place of business and Frank and I went out to check it. It was a large wholesale store selling used furniture. A search of the premises failed to turn up any of the stolen merchandise.

21:47While Frank went through the stock rooms I checked the business ledger. Nothing back there either Joe. Not you do. Well according to these Lewis does a big shipping business. That's what the woman next door told us. She's a shipman set to Oakland regular. Books tell what they were. Yeah. Right here. He's been sending large lots of used stuff to a place on MacArthur Boulevard. There's a whole list of it here. Tables, living in sets, TV sets. Better get in touch with the police up there and have him check this place out. Yeah. Without that stolen property we're not going to have a very good case against him. You got the address of the place up north? Yeah. Let's go back to the office and get a call in. Right. Sure. I'll pick him up with the answers. I'm not afraid don't we might be in trouble. Yeah. I think he's obviously going to throw the whole thing out. Third, he June 5th, 8.20am. We put in a call to Captain of Inspector Tony Boldger in Oakland and asked him to check on the recipient of the furniture shipping from Lewis. We also gave him as detailed description of the stolen merchandise as we were able to obtain. In the meantime Lewis had been admitted to bail and was released. Third, the 11.15pm.

22:48Frank and I got back to the office from checking a lead on one of the suspects who'd driven the truck. I got it. Robert Friday. Yeah. Yes it is. All right. Tony Boldger from Oakland. Let's hope we called it. Yeah. Yeah Tony. Yeah. But what do you say? Well that's a way to look from here. What? Yeah right. Okay thank you. How about it? When you talk to the man who bought this stuff he's clean. How about the merchandise itself? It's all stolen. 11.20pm. We got in touch with Lieutenant Smires and filled him in on the new developments. After we talked to him we contacted officers Max Herman and Ed Benson. The main arrangements to meet them at the house on the Seasur Street. It took us less than half an hour to get out the company. The other officers were there by the time we arrived. While they covered the back door Frank and I went up to the front. I think he knows it's us. I don't know.

23:48Try it again. The car's in the driveway. We know he's in there. What happened? Sounds like somebody's coming out. Yeah? What are you doing out here? Aren't you guys ever going to get on like that? We're not going to talk. I got a choice. What are you having? I'll let you come on in. You want to go through the house again? It won't be necessary. Yeah. I'm glad of that. What's it about this time? Same as before. Maybe you better spell it for me. We can go that route if that's all you want. Go ahead I like fairy tale. All right we've got a report from the victim who was robbing kid now. He was able to give us a description of this house. Of your garage and the whole setup. You've been on a spike again. You see him? We took a sample of the paint from your front porch. It matches paint found on a truck that was hijacked. A lot of houses in LA. Not painted like this one. You think you're going to send me to the joint with a batch of paint? It's going to help. Look, cop, you know I've been the rounds. I've seen enough trouble to know it's rough to get a conviction with circumstantial evidence. That's all you've got with me. Nothing more. Now why don't you go home and I'll just forget you were here tonight. We got the plan. What? We got the plan. They moved in on it. The man you saw was stolen in front of you too.

24:48We'll get the test for you. You know we got your coat and I'll cut it out. That's the way it hangs. That's the way. All right, I'll get my coat and go. Just point it out. We'll get it for you. In the closet. Never mind. You didn't make it a point of it all. Outside. He's in his car. Yeah, come on. He's heading down toward Rosecranes. Better hit the sign. Right. He's turning on the Rosecranes. Take a look. I got him. See him? Wait a minute. Yeah, up ahead there. Try a shot. Better not. Too many people are out. Can't you close in on him? I think we're fooling up. Making a turn. Yeah. Stay with him. Hang on.

25:49Put that in, Frank. He's in trouble, Joe. Come on. Well, let's get him out of there. Yeah. Yeah, that door is back. Damn it, I'll give you a hand. There. Can you get him? Better call an ambulance. The motor's in his lap. Still alive. It looks like it. Can you help me here? Yeah, I'll be there. All right. Come on, let's put him down here. Yeah. All right, take it easy, Rose. I'll call the ambulance, right? Take it easy, Rose. We sent for a doctor. All right. Didn't see the sign. I didn't know a street didn't go through. A lot of us eat breakfast. A lot of us eat breakfast. I didn't make it if I stayed off the street. You'd never got me if I stayed off the street. I just turned the car and... All of a sudden I was on a dead end. I've saved you wrong, Mr. Huh? You've been there a long time.

26:56Conrad Austin Lewis and his Confederates were apprehended and brought to trial on 11 counts of Grand Theft Auto and one count of kidnapping. They were found guilty and sentenced as prescribed by law. Grand Theft Auto is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not less than one, nor more than ten years. Kidnapping is punishable by imprisonment for a term of from one to twenty-five years in the state penitentiary. Dragnet is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.

28:07The United States Armed Forces Radio Service. The United States Armed Forces Radio Service.