Speaker 1: Welcome to the great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet. But
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Thank you so much for your support. Jerry really appreciate it.
And now, from April twenty six, nineteen fifty one, here
is the Big Saint.
Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true. Under
the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're
a detective sergeant. You're assigned to auto theft detail, A
well organized ring of car thieves begins operations in your sitting.
It's one of the most puzzling cases you've ever encountered.
Your job break it.
Speaker 3: Drag met the document a drama of an actual crime.
While the next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los
Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on
the side of the law through an actual case transcribed
from official police files, from beginning to end, from crime
to punishment. Dragnet is the story of your police force
in action.
Speaker 4: It was Monday, Mail eleventh. It was fair in Los Angeles.
We were working a day watch out of auto theft detail.
My partner's Ben ramerils Captain Stilson, my name is Friday.
Was eight thirty five am when I got to Room forty,
Auto Theft Division Captain's office.
Speaker 5: Morning Friday, Rory, Ahi, Joe, Ben, Let's sit down, thank you.
I was just telling Ramara here and briefing all the
men in the bureau on this thing. That's the reason
I called you two in. Yeah, I get some figures here.
I want to go over with you acause you know
all the percentage of all auto theft recoveries is ninety
six to ninety eight percent on the average, that's normally. Yeah,
and checking the monthly averages the past four months, that
percentages dropped to the low eighties. Quite a drum corner
pocket thinks so too. They want some action on it.
Speaker 6: Well, we've been working on it.
Speaker 5: Absolutely no pattern to the theft, time, location, the method makes
it impossible to stake out on it. Yeah, those are
some of the reasons our percentage is taking such a dive.
I know the problems, we all do, but we got
to break this thing soon.
Speaker 4: A lot of figures were dealing with a well organized bunch.
They know what they're doing.
Speaker 5: And cross checking all the reports. It seems to boil
down to this. In general here is that all the
outstanding thefts are GM cars, Cads, Ponty Acts, Chevy, these oldsmobiles,
all late models, all seem to be in good condition,
low mileage cars.
Speaker 4: In addition to the regular broadcast and teletypes, we got
out a special bullet.
Speaker 5: Ones that's right, all the that'ts realisted license, make, model,
and color been sent to all major cities and border
patrol stations.
Speaker 6: Nothing so far.
Speaker 5: I was checking through the salvage reports, salvage buys. Do
you have the last two months escape in March and April? Yeah,
right here. I know it's the same thing that I've
fit down on San Peterro Street.
Speaker 6: Yeah, let me see.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, this is a composite on the reports for
the past two months.
Speaker 6: That's right.
Speaker 5: This one here Herman Salvage twenty seven to sixteen West
San Pedro. They seem to deal a little heavy on
General Motors card, don't they. Yeah, they do have been
watching the buyers on this place for the past few weeks.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 6: I wanted to make sure it wasn't coincidence.
Speaker 4: It looks like a good place to run down anyway,
you too want to check it out, all right?
Speaker 6: Fine, twenty seven to sixteen West San Pedro. That's it.
If it appears to be okay, it never been out
of line.
Speaker 5: Seems funny they should deal with the top AVY and
GM cars, doesn't it right when our recovery percentage takes
a diet?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Do you have the last salvage report there, Kevin? Yeah,
the last week here you are, thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, here's one for Herman's nineteen forty nine Cadillac. A
little further down Herman's again forty seven. Ole's Yeah, there's
five GM buys on the list. Herman got four out
of five of them.
Speaker 6: Let's find out why.
Speaker 4: From the time an automobile is first manufactured and sold
a constant and the complete record is maintained on that automobile.
His certificate of ownership the pink slip in the state
of California. His certificate of registration a white slip. These
two slips of paper contained the information necessary for the
positive identification of your car. Fact that every motorist knows.
There are many agencies that work for the protection and
security of your automobile. One of these is the National
Auto Theft Bureau of nationwide clearinghouse. Acting upon information supplied
by the various insurance companies and other allied agencies, this
Bureau forwards all facts and figures concerning the disposition of
motor vehicles on a nationwide basis. Reports are made available
to all law enforcement agencies. One of the pieces of
information put out by the National Auto Theft Bureau is
the Salvage Report, listing all sales and purchases of automobiles that,
for one reason or another may have been relegated to
the junkyard or to the salvage company, a fact that
many motorists may not know. Nine four am Ben and
I checked through the Police Commission and found that the
owner of Hermann Salvage was a Herman Lester. He had
been in business at the same location for six years
and appeared to be a reputable businessman. We drove down
to twenty seven to sixteen West sand Pedro to check
it out. Was an average looking garage with a connecting
salvage yard filled with several hundred smashed up cars of
all makes and models. It was nine thirty two am
when we walked into the garage.
Speaker 5: As a fellow then of shirt, Yeah, I see him.
Speaker 4: Can I help you?
Speaker 7: Gentlemen? Yes?
Speaker 6: Or police officers auto theft detail?
Speaker 7: Oh yes, don't believe I know you fellas. My name
is Lester.
Speaker 6: This is Sergeant Friday. My name is from Merril.
Speaker 4: How I do How are you? Are you the owner here?
Speaker 7: Yeah? That's right.
Speaker 8: Whatever happened to Mac and Donovan used to drop in
once twice a month.
Speaker 6: I haven't seen him for two three weeks now while.
Speaker 4: They're a little busy on a special assignment.
Speaker 7: Oh I see all right?
Speaker 8: If we look around here, Oh you bet make yourselves
right at home. Anything special, No, just looking Okay, Notice
you've been pretty busy. Huh yeah, I had a pretty
good month. Salvage racket's gonna get sour again. Looks like
with the Korean War and all.
Speaker 6: The cutbacks, doesn't seem to have hit you so far.
Speaker 7: Well, no, not so far. Looks like you may tighten
up anytime.
Speaker 5: I noticed from our salvage reports you've been doing a
big business in GM merchandise.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have.
Speaker 8: You know they're starting to build tanks back there now.
We wanted to make sure we wouldn't run short on parts.
Speaker 6: You get a lot of call for GM parts.
Speaker 7: Do you, Oh? Yeah, we sure do.
Speaker 8: In town knows if they need something for a Caddy
or a Buick or any of those cars, that's the
place to come. We kind of built up a reputation
specializing in GMU's park.
Speaker 5: I say, line, if we check your last few buys, fine,
you have a forty nine Cadillac, forty seven old body
Act forty eight, nineteen forty nine Chevrolet.
Speaker 7: Wonder if we might see those, yes.
Speaker 8: Sir, right out in the yard back this way. All
four of them are really beat bad shape. Just breaks
your heart to see beautiful merchandise like that, all smashed up.
Speaker 7: I know what people are thinking of the way they drive.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and you take.
Speaker 8: A new Caddy, one of those new convertibles, really beautiful merchandise.
Speaker 7: Somebody takes one out, rolls it. We pick it up
and tow it down. Here, beautiful car like that, all
rolled up in a ball.
Speaker 6: Georgia Street receiving at probably picked up the red Yeah,
really shamed.
Speaker 7: Here we go. There's a Caddy.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, uh, let's see see uh.
Speaker 7: Old's and the pontiacar on that road there, you see him? Yeah?
Huh And Chevrolet, wasn't.
Speaker 6: It, yes, sir, nineteen forty nine? Yeah, oh yeah, there
she is over there?
Speaker 7: Uh?
Speaker 6: Third card?
Speaker 7: Uh? Maroon?
Speaker 6: Yeah, Marion one?
Speaker 4: Yeah down there.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 6: It's like a graveyard, doesn't sure it does. What do
you do with all these cars? Sprip 'em down for parts?
Speaker 7: Well at least uh four you checking now? Yeah, they're
all total wrecks.
Speaker 6: Nothing much can be done with them except for parts.
Speaker 4: How about that Cadillac down there to Sedan? Uhuh that
one over there? Can't you fix that one up? That
doesn't look beyond repair from here?
Speaker 8: Oh, step around the other side here. You can't see
from where you're standing here. The right side's all stoven.
By the time you figure replaced those side panels and fenders, tram,
we couldn't come out on it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I see now, well I don't know too much
about it, but it'll look good from over there.
Speaker 7: Yeah. That's where we get all the time.
Speaker 8: People want us to pay top prices or stuff we
can't get our money out of. If we could repair them,
fix them up, and re sell them as a complete
autumn and bill would be a lot of money in
this business.
Speaker 6: We do that with some of them, don't you.
Speaker 7: Oh, very few of them.
Speaker 6: I'll tell you.
Speaker 7: That's all we look for. But we don't always get lucky.
Speaker 8: I see, say, hund you boys like to see some
really beautiful merchandise.
Speaker 6: What's that?
Speaker 7: Well, come on back in the shop, all right.
Speaker 6: Kind of a hobby of mine.
Speaker 7: Here's what keeps us busy.
Speaker 8: Plates and pink slips on they we to Sacramento for cancelation.
Speaker 4: H Over this way.
Speaker 7: Here we are.
Speaker 9: Take a look at this baby.
Speaker 7: Yeah, hot rod? Huh oh, not exactly. We don't go
in for that. Kids racing around town.
Speaker 4: Well sure looks like one.
Speaker 7: Yeah, but it's a little better and most of the
kids can throw together. What dot it do?
Speaker 8: We clocked her up at me Rock at one hundred
and twelve last weekend. You know they were coming in
here from all over time.
Speaker 7: I want to see this car, that's all. Yeah. You
ever get up to Murock Dry Lake.
Speaker 4: No, I never do, but that's the place for it.
Running around town and those things can cause a lot
of accidents.
Speaker 7: Those drag races the kids have. Yeah, we don't go
in for that stuff.
Speaker 6: This is strictly scientific as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 7: I like to build them up. See what we can
make them do.
Speaker 8: Cost a lot of money, don't They got fifty four
hundred dollars in this one right now? I'm putting more
into it. My reignition milled heads, twin Wakefields. Let me
start it up for you.
Speaker 7: Okay, hundred twenty horses under there. Yeah sounds good. That's
what at that?
Speaker 8: You want to Yeah, a lot of power in here ahead.
Speaker 7: You want to see it up in the lake?
Speaker 4: You really go al bat.
Speaker 6: It's all made up on a salvage car, every bit
of it.
Speaker 7: Buy a few things new, but most.
Speaker 6: Of it's right out of wrecks like those outside.
Speaker 4: There takes a lot of talent to build up something
like this and scrapped, don't it.
Speaker 8: No, not really, After you've been at it long as
I have, it's not too tough.
Speaker 6: The trick is to get more speed out of them,
and anyone else can't.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we did a good job on this car.
Speaker 8: Oh, if you put your mind to it, you can
do a lot with a wreck car.
Speaker 4: Before we left Herman Salvage, we checked all four of
the GM cars that were listed on the salvage report.
Speaker 6: We made a careful check on all of.
Speaker 4: The cars in the yard and in the garage, paying
special attention to the few cars that were in the
process of being rebuilt by Herman Lester's mechanics. We went
over his records, carefully checking the disposition of all of
his buys for the past several months. Everything was in
the perfect order. We found that in the past three
weeks Lester had taken in ten cars, Eight of them
had been stripped down for parts, and two of them
had been rebuilt and resold. The investigation showed that four
of those cars were GM cars and the two that
were resold were both General Motors. Eleven twenty eight am.
Ben and I drove back to the office and asked
mc and donovan if they'd checked through the two resale
cars to make sure everything was in order as the
reports indicated. We checked through on the remaining eight cars
that were listed by Herman. Lester is broken down for parts.
According to DMV, all plates and pink slips have been
returned to them for cancelation.
Speaker 5: Eleven fifty Am. Well that's it, Joe, Yeah, eight of
the cars check out. Two of those were GMS.
Speaker 4: You know, well that leaves just the two that mcindonovan
are checking.
Speaker 6: Uh. I don't know.
Speaker 5: Everything done there? Looked all right, says Saints Leicester. Wasn't
holding back anything. Well as I could tell cooperative everything
in order. If those two that mcindonovan are working on checkout,
I get it, I'd say, well, it seems to me.
Lester told us everything everything we ask him. Anyway, I
don't think you don't there.
Speaker 4: If you did, I got an ID who might be
able to tell us. Somebody's been left out in the
cold here.
Speaker 6: What are you getting there?
Speaker 7: Well?
Speaker 4: No, if Herman's been able to buy up all GM cars,
what are the other salvage dealers been doing about it
that it's all.
Speaker 6: Let's check his competition.
Speaker 4: Twelve forty pm we drove back down to West.
Speaker 6: San Pedro Street.
Speaker 4: We picked out a group of salvage companies in the
immediate neighborhood close to Herman's thirty two over nine West
San Pedro John's wrecking Yard.
Speaker 6: We introduced ourselves and started to talk with the owner
of John Bacon.
Speaker 4: A routine check was made of his establishment, and as
far as we could tell, everything appeared to be okay.
Speaker 6: And that's all you made, just that won by that's it.
Nineteen forty six Ford, we're dying a slow death.
Speaker 10: Business pretty bad, huh. I've never seen it worse, at
least as far as we're concerned. How do you account
for that, mister Bacon?
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 10: Everything, I guess. Business is bad all over at the moment.
Scrap metal situations in the state of flux the present time.
Speaker 5: And looking around mister began, we noticed you don't have
much in the way a General Motors die. Is that
because of GM going into war production, any cutback would
eventually affect you, fellas, wouldn't they?
Speaker 6: No, No, not at all.
Speaker 10: Cutback would sure, But there's no tremendous cartoon one right
at the present time. Just still turn out a lot
of automobiles back there.
Speaker 6: Well, then, what's your problem?
Speaker 10: We're being out bid right up and down the line
by the same outfit.
Speaker 6: Who's that company by the name of Herman.
Speaker 10: Salvage just up the street there, go out to buy
a piece of merchandise there, boys just won't let's get
near it.
Speaker 6: They paying more than you do, huh, more than.
Speaker 10: We can the sergeant, I unestly don't see how they're
coming out on some of their deals.
Speaker 6: It's that much out of line now, it certainly is.
Speaker 10: You know, whenever there's anything available, all the salvage companies
get their bid in.
Speaker 6: Well, Herman simply out bids all of us. Yeah, it
makes it kind of rough.
Speaker 10: I'm not the only one Pete larking up the street,
old man, huh, Henry next door all of us. I
don't know what we can do about it. Herman seems
to be doing all right, no matter what he pays
for his cars. Anemost can figure it out. Just judge
him from the number of cars he out bids us
on the number he rebuilds. I just can't see how
he's coming out. But he is uh figure, he's laying
odds on a big shortage. That's what all of us think.
He's laying in the stock files at the ENDEA sure
what else could have think?
Speaker 4: We continued our check on all salvage dealers, both in
the neighborhood of Herman Lester's place and throughout the city.
Seemed to be a fact well known to most dealers
that Herman was outbidding all of them on any and
all GM automobiles. The only possible explanation was that he
must be trying to lay in a large stockpile of
this particular make of car. Three point thirty five PM,
we received word from Sergeants Mack and Donovan that they
had checked out the two remaining cars listed in Herman's books.
The resales ben was right. They checked out with no discrepancy.
During the next ten days, the investigation continued. The theft
of late model GM cars continued, with few recoveries. Suspects
were arrested. In question, we could find no connection that
might lead us to an organized ring of car thieves
that might be responsible for the lack of GM car recoveries.
The salvag's reports showed no change in Herman's buying technique.
Apparently he was still dealing heavy on the one particular
make of car. Thursday, May twenty fifth, we received a
teletype from DMV listing all the salvage by transfers, and
making our usual daily check of this teletype, we noticed
a nineteen forty nine Cadillac engine number five nine eight
seven seven four one five. It had been resold from
salvage to a used car lot.
Speaker 5: That's the place right up the block. Yeah, I say,
same cad we saw in Herman salvage.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's funny, isn't it the one in particular that
I asked him about? You remember, Yeah, I remember you
thought it could be fixed up. He said, No, it's
only been a little over two weeks ago, hadn't it.
Yeah right, Well, still doesn't prove anything.
Speaker 6: Here we are, Jakes. This is the place. Yeah, there's
a cad in the front line right down there. Huh.
I don't see anyone around you? No, I don't. Well,
I guess it's hard to check the engine number anyway.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'll get the hood really right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, there we go.
Speaker 4: Yeah, engines had a good steam clean let's say five.
Speaker 7: Nine eight.
Speaker 4: Seven seven four one five.
Speaker 6: That's it. I'man sure did a nice job, only didn't Yeah,
almost looks too good. It just a minute.
Speaker 5: Yeah, body cereal doesn't match, doesn't correspond with the engine model.
Speaker 4: It's a forty nine. Body could be a late forty nine.
But it's a definite switch in there.
Speaker 6: I'm sure it is. That's funny.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look at this right side here.
Speaker 6: This was the bad side, wasn't it. Yeah?
Speaker 4: Try it looks like it's been rolled out to you.
Speaker 6: No, there's no feathering, no orange peel. Either.
Speaker 5: That's the best repaying job I've ever seen. Or it's
never been in an accident.
Speaker 6: We'll take a look underneath. Want to move your feet there?
Speaker 7: All right?
Speaker 6: Anything?
Speaker 4: No? Nothing, There's not a seam or a joint under there,
no welding marks of any kind. This car has never
been in a smashup. The engine number checks, the body doesn't.
And this is the one herman couldn't fix up.
Speaker 6: That's what he said. Maybe he changed his mind or
he lied.
Speaker 7: You are listening to Dragnet from beginning to end.
Speaker 3: Dragnet is the authentic story of your police force and action.
Speaker 4: Nineteen forty nine Cadillac engine number five nine eight seven
seven four one and checking out this automobile, Ben and
I had found that the engine number corresponded with the
salvage report.
Speaker 6: Concerning Herman Lester's place.
Speaker 4: The one big item that did not jibe was the
fact that the engine was now mounted in a different
body than when the car left the factory, a fact
that had to be accounted for in complete detail. When
we had checked this automobile on the eleventh of May
at Herman Salvage yard, both engine and body numbers corresponded.
In taking a close look at the car, it was
obvious that the body had not been repaired in any way.
It was clear that this particular car had not been
in any kind of collision. We went back to the
rear of the lot and asked one of the salesmen
not to sell the car without informing us. When we
got back to the office, we started rechecking all of
the auto theft reports. We found five stolen Cadillacts, but
all the body styles and models were different, with the
exception of one, a nineteen forty nine Cadillac sedan reported
stolen on May fourteenth. It was registered in the name
of William Brown l. We checked his home and found
that he was at work. It was a superintendent for
the northm Manya and Van lines. We drove over and
picked him up and took him to Jac's carl out
on Vermont Avenue.
Speaker 5: This is the car, mister Brown. Now, well, it's just
like mine, but I don't think it's the one. Are
you're sure?
Speaker 4: For one?
Speaker 6: Thing is a different color? My car was maroon. You
wanna step over here, mister Brownew sure you know, if
you'll look very closely here on the door edging and
on the gym uh huh right here.
Speaker 4: See this is the one place sometimes they miss with
a spray gun if they're gonna repaint.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, there's a faint trace of red under the
blue paint. There. Looks like it could be maroon, doesn't he?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 6: It does it that this car has been repainted. It
was maroon.
Speaker 5: Well, mine didn't have these kind of seat covers. Let's see,
same kind of upholstery I had though underneath there.
Speaker 6: I don't know, mister Brown.
Speaker 4: Now there might be something other than the color and
the upholstery that you'd know your own car buy never
gave it much thought. Well, there's usually some little identifying
markt some kind I know that on my car the
limbs and the right headlight got broken and I had
to replace it with one that didn't match.
Speaker 6: Something like that. You see Could I look inside them? Minute? Sure?
Speaker 5: All right here on it the speedometer, there was a
thumbprint pressed in at the factory.
Speaker 6: It was pretty deep. No, it's not there now.
Speaker 4: I don't forget that the car has been repainted. It
might have been covered up.
Speaker 5: Oh, this was clear down of the metal apparently when
they were installing the instruments at the factory.
Speaker 6: Of the panel wasn't dry yet.
Speaker 5: Not there now, They couldn't have covered it up unless
they made a special point of it.
Speaker 4: Well, sometimes that's done. Car thieves are kind of clever.
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, gentlemen. I don't think this is my car.
I don't think. I don't wish it was, but it's not.
Speaker 5: Can you think of just one other thing? Maybe just
one mark of identifications?
Speaker 6: All we need? Oh, even these tires aren't. Man.
Speaker 5: I had whiteside walls who could have been switched. They
were pretty new. Wait a minute, I think I remember something.
There's no rip up there.
Speaker 6: What's that, sir? I just thought of something.
Speaker 5: The boys down in the office gave me a Saint
Christopher metal you know, the large metal kind you're supposed
to bolt to your dashboard. Yes, I didn't want to
put it on, so I carried it around with me
in the car. There was a rip up there and
the inner lining of the top, but she there's no
rep in this. Let me see, how about it?
Speaker 6: Yeah? Yeah, I can feel it. Does it feel like
a metal can get my pocket knife on it? What
do you think they replaced the cloth up there? I
don't know. Yeah, yeah, here, Eh does this sit mister Brodow?
That's it.
Speaker 5: Look on the back there, my name's engraved on it.
You see, Yes, sir, well, I sure didn't think this
was my car. I never would have known it.
Speaker 4: That's what the guys figured who stole it. The nineteen
forty nine Cadillac was taken to the police garage and
a complete and thorough check was made. The car, with
the exception of the engine, was positively identified as the
property of William Brown l. This definitely implicated Herman Lester
and showed his salvage operations to be illegitimate. He had
obviously been buying one particular make of salvage automobile outbidding
all his competitors to do so. When he would buy
a piece of wrecked equipment, an exact duplicate would be
stolen to match it. He would then dispose of the
engine from the stolen vehicle and replace it with a
Salvage engine. With this system of operation, Herman Salvage had
been enjoying a lucrative business which accounted for a great
percentage of the stolen cars that we hadn't been able
to recover. Seven to twenty five pm May twenty fifth,
we drove out to pick up Herman Lesker. His home
address was listed as eighty six twenty five Wonderland Drive.
It was up in the Law Canyon District, a heavily
wooded section of Los Angeles.
Speaker 5: Pretty nice place up in there, which you can see
of it through the trees.
Speaker 6: Let's go.
Speaker 5: Look at that, Joe Ye looks like a fifty olds
everything there but the engine, no plates.
Speaker 6: I didn't notice that from the street. Did You never
could have seen it from down there.
Speaker 5: It looks like a garage back up in there. Done there,
perfect spot. You can't see any of this from the
street with all those trees. Butt He fancy layout for
a home garage, good side.
Speaker 6: You know somebody's working up in there.
Speaker 9: Yeah, come on, hi, there brings your fellows right up here.
Won't have a little talk with you.
Speaker 6: Well, you're bet come on in the house, have a
cold beer. Huh No, this would be all right, Joe.
Uh you got a hot sheet?
Speaker 5: Yeah right here, kind of call me by surprise you're
working out in the garage. Yeah, that figures lest year
at these plates are from a stolen car.
Speaker 6: You sure that's why you remember?
Speaker 4: A forty nine Cadillac We looked at down at your
place a couple of weeks ago. Not sure, forty nine cat,
that's right? Whatever became of that car?
Speaker 6: Oh? No, I remember? Yeah?
Speaker 5: I sold that car to Jake's O Run Vermont. Thought
you told us you couldn't fix it up.
Speaker 7: I don't remember. You're sure you don't mean some other.
Speaker 4: Car now, No, it's the same one, you know, the
one we mean?
Speaker 6: How about it?
Speaker 7: How about what?
Speaker 6: That was a stolen car?
Speaker 5: Lester and you, knowing not the stolen car out there
in the yard, didn't what's that hoistander?
Speaker 4: They go?
Speaker 7: Joe?
Speaker 6: All right, lest you're holding done?
Speaker 4: Get stop it.
Speaker 7: All right?
Speaker 6: I get I don't get the cuff, Joe.
Speaker 4: Come on, get up on your feet, all right, Come
on on your feet, stand still rough one.
Speaker 5: Huh yeah, come on, Lester, let's go.
Speaker 7: Did you find out who took you off?
Speaker 6: Saint Christopher?
Speaker 2: The story you just heard was true, only the names
were changed to protect the innocent.
Speaker 3: On August fifteenth, trial was held in Superior Court, Department
eighty two, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
In a moment the results of that trial, Hermann W.
Lester was tried and convicted on three counts of grand
theft auto and two counts of grand theft money, all
sentences to run consecutively. Grand theft auto was punishable by
imprisonment for a term of one to five years, grand
theft money by a term of one to ten years.
The suspect was also filed on by federal authorities for
violation of the Diary Act. You have just heard Dragnet
a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice
comes from the Office of Chief of Police W. H. Parker,
Los Angeles Police Department.
Speaker 2: For rot your Dragon questions transcribe for Los Angeles, Stay
tuned for Conversty and next over many NBC stations.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. This is a reason I love revisiting Dragnet.
Now there are those episodes which are all time great
episodes that you remember, but then there are those quirky,
interesting programs that you kind of forget. Because there were
more than three hundred original broadcast of Dragnet, and this
is one of those, and there's so much alike about this.
We get a different type of crime in this sort
of auto theft mixing with a junkyard, and there are
some really interesting details in the investigation and how they
solve this. I also want to say, from a technical standpoint,
I love the sound effects work on that engine at
the junkyard. They must have brought in a special engine
or special piece of equipment to record that and make
that come alive through the sound effect. Probably not quite
the same as a car engine of the same sort,
because I have to imagine that it would have been
way too loud to even hear any of the dialogue
or to sound good over radio. This one was surprising too,
because of all the episodes to end with a suspect
violently resisting, you would not have thought this one. But
again it shows that while violent confrontations and arrest are
not nearly as typical as many other programs would lead
you to believe. It still does happen, and it can
happen unexpectedly because a lot of people just do not
want to go to jail. And another nice thing about
Dragnet is that because it uses real locations, it just
adds another dimension to the series. I found myself curious
about Laurel Kenyon and the way, of course it's described
in nineteen fifty one, and I was curious how it
looks today, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that
it's still a very nice and quiet neighborhood, but with
a lot of history in the entertainment industry. And according
to some of the articles I read, you still do
see some wildlife in the neighborhood. While there had been
a lot of developments of big, new expensive homes, there's
a lot of history with the entertainment industry, and you
still will find, you know, ramshackle cabins and tutor homes
up in that area. And I think, actually, if there
were a play, I'm not a person who dreams of
moving to la and I don't think that would be
the best thing in the world. For me, but if
I had to move to LA, I think I would
want to move to the Laurel Canyon area because looking
at the pictures reminded me of a lot of places
and neighborhoods I've seen around Idaho and very similar. I
think probably the main difference is about six or seven
hundred thousand dollars per house. Regardless, it was fun to
look into and if you want to see some of
the endscape, you can do a Google Images search. For me,
it's probably as close as I'll get to living in La.
Now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day,
and I want to go ahead and thank Laura, Patreon
supporter since June twenty twenty, currently supporting the podcast at
the Detective Sergeant level of seven dollars and fourteen cents
or more per month. Thank you so much for your support, Laura,
and that will actually do it for today. If you're
enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software.
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all those great things that help YouTube channels to grow.
Dragnet will return a week from next Thursday. Coming in
two weeks, we will be cross posting the series Cloak
and Dagger from the new podcast series The Great Adventurers
of Old Time Radio. And you can hear the premiere
of the Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio one week
from Sunday. And we have a fantastic week of encore
presentations for your listening pleasure, ready to roll starting tomorrow,
but from Boise, Idaho. This is your host, Adam Graham.
Sign and off.