Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from
Voice to Home. This is your host, Adam Graham. In
a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode
of DRAGONA. But first, I do want to encourage you,
if you are enjoying the podcast, to please follow us
using your favorite podcast software. Today's program is brought you
in part by the financial support of our listeners. You
can support the show on a one time basis by
me lean a donation to Adam Graham pill box one
five nine one three. That's pio box one five nine
thirteen boise Aldohol eight three seven one five, and you
can also become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for
his Little Lass two dollars per month by going to
Patreon dot Great Detectives dot net. Now from July nineteenth,
nineteen fifty one, here is the Big Sophomore.
Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true, only
the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're
a detective sergeant. You're assigned to Juvenile Bureau. Dozens of
petty theft cases are reported in one of the resident
areas in your city. The victims neighborhood businessmen, the suspects,
teenage high school students. Your job stop them.
Speaker 3: Drag Net the documented drama of an actual crime. For
the next thirty minutes, in cooperation of 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.
Speaker 4: In action.
Speaker 5: Was Tuesday, February fourth, was cloudy in Los Angeles. We
were working a night watch out of Juvenile Bureau, assigned
a university division. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss's inspector Bowling.
My name is Friday. We're on the way out from
the office and it was seven thirteen pm when we
got to the corner of South Waverley and Chester Avenue,
the grocery store.
Speaker 6: I guess that's him back there to meet Connor. Yeah,
looks like he's getting ready to close up.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I guess we just about meet it in time.
Speaker 6: Excuse me, sir, Yes, sir, help your gentlemen.
Speaker 4: We're looking for Henry Loomis.
Speaker 5: Yes, sir, that's my name, Police officers, mister Loomis. My
name is Friday. I believe I talk to you on
the phone. Oh yeah, I guess my partner, Sergeant Ramero one.
Speaker 6: If you'd mind waiting a half a minute offices, just
getting a little bookwork straightened out here, today's receipt. I'll
go right in.
Speaker 2: I'll take a better minute.
Speaker 6: Let's see. Yeah, eighty seven forty five.
Speaker 2: Thirty.
Speaker 6: So that's all.
Speaker 2: I hate that.
Speaker 6: Allows a bookwork going to get a girl to come
in and do it one of these days. Let's go
up front here and talk. All right, fine, pull up
a couple of stools there, well as we'll be comfortable. Yes,
thank you. You talk to any of the other merchants
in the neighborhood yet, no, sir, nus yet. We'd like
to find out what you have to tell us.
Speaker 4: First.
Speaker 6: Well, it's one of those high school kids. I can
tell you that, I'm sure of it. I don't want
to sound like an old grouge, but this stealing's gotta stop.
You get quite a bit of business from the high
school trade. Being at the noon hour and then just
after school lets out. Usually have quite a bunch of
them in here around those times. Do you spasically cater
to the high school crowd? I mean, do you deserve
lunch here or anything like that. No, I don't. I
usually get the kids to take their lunch. They come
in and buy soda, water or milk to drink with
their sandwiches. They seem like such a nice class of kids.
I didn't think they were thieves.
Speaker 4: Well, how long has this stealing been going on?
Speaker 6: I might say about ten days, two weeks. It's not
very hot from the get away with it. Fifteen or
twenty kids crowd in here during noon hour. I'm usually
busy up at the counter. It's no great trick for
honey one of them to make off for a couple
of dollars with the merchandise. We'll say this happens just
about every day, every day the kids are in here. Yeah.
I tried playing detective myself for a while, trying to
catch the gilly ones.
Speaker 8: Didn't do much good.
Speaker 6: As long as this stealing's been going on, Miss Lumis,
is every monthy more than just a few dollars worth
of food every day?
Speaker 2: No, that's a funny part.
Speaker 6: Besides, And when I checked back on my inventories, it's
always just about the same amount. A few cans of meat, vegetables, butter,
few loads of bread. It's not so much the value
of this stuff. I just don't like the idea of
some kid making a fool out of it day after day.
Has your case register ever been tampered with, you know,
I mean any money stolen?
Speaker 7: No.
Speaker 6: So that's another thing. I can't understand that a kid's
gonna turn thief. You'd think you'd go after the cash.
Whoever's doing it. They've never tried anything like that here.
Speaker 5: Well, how about some of the other merchants in the neighborhood.
So you mentioned on the phone there were a couple
of others having the same trouble that you are.
Speaker 6: Yes, So there's George Brophy, he's the newspaper distributor. And
there's Collins. He's got the grossy place up the street.
You can talk to them. I gave you their addresses
on the phone. Yes, Just one more thing, missus, lemmit's
about this crowd of high school boys and hang around here.
Any of them in particular, you might suspect as a
matter of fact, there is I certainly can't prove anything,
but I just have a feeling about it.
Speaker 2: I don't like the boy.
Speaker 6: Just one boy said yes, so there may be more
than one that's guilty. But this young fellow I'm.
Speaker 4: Pretty sure of.
Speaker 6: I hear the kids call him Harry, redhead boy, curly,
red hair, tall, a few freckles. Won't be hard to
get his last name if we need it. Uh huh?
Is there anything else you can think of it? We
ought to know you go up the street and talk
to the other two men's Sides and George Broughy and Collins.
They might have something more for you. I think I've
told you about everything.
Speaker 4: All right, mister Lewis. I've got your home phone here.
If we want to contact you later tonight, I'll call you.
There is a.
Speaker 6: Perfectly all right. Here's our card, so you can call
us at that number there anytime.
Speaker 2: I thank you.
Speaker 6: What do you think is behind the whole thing, Sides
and this cheap stealing Nicholin dime stuff.
Speaker 4: I don't know, sir. We'll try and find out for you.
Speaker 6: Just doesn't make sense stealing like that day after day.
I think even the kids know that you can't go
on stealing forever. Yes, sir, A lot of them give
it a try. From the very start.
Speaker 5: The whole pattern of the case and the thief's method
of operation made little or no sense at all. The
thefts had been going on for more than two weeks,
and they'd all taken place in a twelve square block.
In each of the two dozen cases reported to us,
not one of the thefts had been for more than
five dollars, either in cash or merchandise. The thief's scene
of operation included two grocery stores, a drug store, coinboxes
attached to the newsstands in the neighborhood, and a five
and ten cent variety store. With one exception, all of
the cases involved theft of merchandise only. The breaking open
of coin boxes attached to newsstands was the single instance
in which money was taken. The total sum was less
than three dollars and fifty cents. Seven forty PM. Ben
and I left the grocery store and went up the
street to the home of George Brophy. He was the
neighborhood newspaper distributor who operated the coinbox newsstands which had
been broken into.
Speaker 6: Well, I think you can just about count on it, Surge,
and it's one of the kids in the neighborhood doing
all this. Either that or a couple of them are
working together. What makes you so sure about it, mister Brofy, Well,
for one thing, we got more in our share kids
out this way. A lot of them are from poor families,
under privileged, you might say. I guess they figure it's
one way of picking up extra spending, right. I got
nothing against kids myself. If you, Nicholas, they get out
of those boxes, I would prosecute them for that.
Speaker 5: Well, sir, that's not exactly it. The point is they're stealing.
They get away with this small time stuff. They might
figure they're right for something bigger, probably be the best
thing in the world for him. If we can stop
them now and set them on the right dragon sing yeah.
Speaker 6: Put in with you there, surgeon. I don't know how
much it can help you, though. Do you have any
idea at all who it might be is breaking into
the coin box? Well, like I say, I have nothing
against any kid myself, but there is one I'm around
the neighborhood. I've been a little suspicious about a red
headed kid. Once you look like you know, red hair,
freckle face, kind of tall and gangly, typical high school kid.
Oh loomis down to the grocery store. He's been literally
about the same kid too. Well, why do you single
out this red haired boy, mister Broky? Well, oh, excuse me,
a better grad? Yes, hello, oh yeah, Maggie, im for
of them? One are they born? Is that right?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 6: Bar in this morning? For four of them?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Yeah, just a minute alcohol?
Speaker 2: Uh great, yeah, honey, it's real, Maggie Harris. Okay, thanks,
excuse me.
Speaker 6: Friend of my wife's so cat just had four kittens.
Oh I see where were we?
Speaker 9: Oh?
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, but the kid?
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, what do you suspect?
Speaker 6: Well, there's a couple of reasons, Sergeant. Late one night
and I was making my collections, I spotted the boy
hanging around one of the newsstands. Didn't look like I
had any business there at that time of night. He
looked up and saw me coming. He turned and duck
down a side street.
Speaker 4: But do you have any idea where this boy lives,
mister Brothy?
Speaker 6: No, I can't say I do. He goes at high
school a few blocks up on South Waverley. I know
that it's the same boy that the groceryman had his
eye on. And you said there was a couple of
reasons why he was suspicious of this boy, mister Brothy, yeah,
well this other thing doesn't mean too much. There wasn't
anything really wrong with it. It just seemed a little queer.
Speaker 2: So oh is that well?
Speaker 6: I dropped in at the Safety liquor store down the
street last week. I wanted to pick up a little something.
I saw the same kid in there. He was asking Benny,
the guy who runs the place, if he'd sell him
a fifth of bourbon. I heard the kid saying it
was supposed to be for his father. His father was
sick and couldn't come in. Of course, Benny turned him down.
He wouldn't sell it.
Speaker 2: To the kid.
Speaker 4: And that was the extent of it.
Speaker 6: Now, yeah, that's all. Wasn't anything wrong with it. Kid
didn't insist. I thought it was just a little lot
of lines sending a kid out the liquor. Well, it's
about size of it. How about some of the other
merchants in the neighborhood who have been bothered with these
petty thefts. You know if any of them is suspicious
of this boy. No, I wouldn't know that. Henry Loom
missed out the stories, but you don't want to know. Well,
thanks very much, mister Brophy. If anything else comes up,
you can get us at the number on his card
and here. Oh okay, so fine, if I can help
it all the clear, they sing up. I'd be glad
to do it.
Speaker 4: Well, we'll probably be checking back with you. And thanks again, sir.
Speaker 6: Sure it's funny, the whole thing. I get a big
laugh out of sir. Oh. I mean the friend of
my wife's called up Maggie Harris cat had four kittens.
Speaker 2: Like I told you.
Speaker 6: He got a big laugh out of that. I kept
telling her. She wouldn't believe me, was that, sir? She
thought the cat was a mail.
Speaker 5: The next morning, Ben and I continued checking with various
merchants and residents in the neighborhood where the series of
petty thefts were taking place. We located and questioned one
more shopkeeper who was suspicious of the tall, red haired
boy known as Harry. That afternoon, we went to the
high school on South Waverley Avenue to check on him.
From his first name in his description, he was identified
by the boy's vice principal as Harry Thomas Dunbar. He
was eighteen years old and a sophomore with an average
scholastic record. We were told that Dunbar had left the
grounds about half an hour before with the high school's
basketball team. The group was headed for one of the
local sports pavilions, where the team had one of its
more important games scheduled for that afternoon. Harry Dunbar was
in charge of selling the printed programs for the game.
Ben and I drove out to the sports pavilion and
checked with one of the boys collecting tickets at the door.
He told us we'd find Harry Dunbar inside at the
program stand.
Speaker 6: These high school kids, shure, take your basketball seriously, don't Yeah,
a big turnout.
Speaker 5: Sounds like we're gonna be lucky if we can find
that boy in this crowd. Yeah, you see him anywhere. No,
which side is the program standing supposed to be on? Well,
there's a lot of them along and through here, on
both sides. I guess we better start checking them out.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's stand back down and left.
Speaker 4: You see, right headed?
Speaker 6: Kid?
Speaker 4: Yeah, let's check you.
Speaker 7: A programs dime, complete programs for the game. Ten excuse me, son,
program mister?
Speaker 4: Your name Harry Dunbar. Yeah, that's right. With police officers, Harry,
we'd like to talk to you for a few minutes.
If it's all right.
Speaker 7: Oh well, I can't talk to you now. I'm pretty
busy sell these programs here.
Speaker 6: I suppose we wait a few minutes, son, So you
only have a few left there to say.
Speaker 7: No, I wouldn't do any good waiting and I selly's
I got something else to do.
Speaker 4: It's I'm not gonna take a few minutes of your time, Harry.
We won't keep you along.
Speaker 8: What is it alsin?
Speaker 7: What do you want to talk to me about?
Speaker 5: A few questions for your son, that's all. Can you
step out in the lobby with us for just a minute.
Speaker 8: What's it all about?
Speaker 6: I'd like to know? Well, just soon, not talk about
it out here.
Speaker 7: Oh all right, we can go up this ramp here.
All right, there's a hallway back here runs underneath the stands.
Speaker 8: Won't be so noisy.
Speaker 6: Fine, we won't keep you along. Just a few routine questions,
this sort of do Okay?
Speaker 8: What is it you want to know about?
Speaker 4: Do you know how mister Loomis Harry runs a grocery
store near the high school.
Speaker 7: Yeah, old man Loomis. I can go down to the
store and eat lunch sometimes.
Speaker 6: Why how about a mister Collins, he runs another store
near the high school.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I know the place.
Speaker 7: Sometimes I go there too, A bunch of the kids
hanging around there during lunchtime.
Speaker 5: We've had quite a few complaints from Collins and Loomis,
some of the other stores in the neighborhood too. We're
checking on some of I'm proud. Maybe you could help
us out, Harry.
Speaker 7: No, I couldn't help you any mister Collins, now old
man Loomis. They don't like us and want to get
us in trouble. I think they're lying, lying about what
about us kids stealing things out of their stores. I
bet they even told you I'm stealing things.
Speaker 6: From him, are you, Harry?
Speaker 8: Of course not. They can't say any of us stole things.
They don't know. They can't prove.
Speaker 6: Anything, do you know with the man that distributes newspapers
and your neighborhood's done and mister Brothy, who mister Brothy,
some of the coin boxes on his newstands have been
broken into. He thought maybe you could tell her something
about that.
Speaker 7: Why me, I don't know any mister Brokey, Well he
knows you, Harry.
Speaker 5: You saw your hanging around one of the news stands
one night. And there's something else you saw you're trying
to buy a bottle of liquor in the neighborhood.
Speaker 4: Is that right?
Speaker 6: We've had three or four reports on your son. What
do you say you want to tell us about it?
Speaker 8: They're crazy. I haven't done anything.
Speaker 4: Well, you've got nothing to worry about, son.
Speaker 7: I will tell you any man they're grabbing, I got him,
all right, hold it.
Speaker 6: Up, son, have gold.
Speaker 8: Let me go, take it easy, MFL. I haven't done anything.
Speaker 7: I haven't now let me go.
Speaker 8: Please, I haven't done anything.
Speaker 6: Why do you try to run away?
Speaker 8: I have to get home.
Speaker 7: I gotta get home right away.
Speaker 4: All right, son, We'll take you there.
Speaker 7: No, you can't go with me. I have to go along.
Speaker 2: Grad.
Speaker 5: We're gonna have to hold on to you, Harry. Either
we take you home or we take you downtown.
Speaker 4: Which is it.
Speaker 7: I tried to tell them I couldn't do everything.
Speaker 8: I tried, but it didn't work out. I can't do everything.
Speaker 4: What do you mean, sir?
Speaker 8: Take me home? Let don't tell you.
Speaker 2: You are in the forgery division of a metropolitan police
department handwriting analysis.
Speaker 6: All right, now write the alphabet and lower case please.
Speaker 2: You are listening to a police officer taking a sample
of a suspect's handwriting. This handwriting sample will be compared
with the forged signature side by side. Two signatures may
often look alike, but closer examination will prove a world
of difference.
Speaker 4: Wednesday, February fifth, four fifteen pm.
Speaker 5: We left the sports pavilion, got in the car and
started to drive our teenage suspect, Harry Dunbar to his home.
On the way, we questioned him about the series of
petty thefts which had been going on in his neighborhood.
We asked him about stealing merchandise from the grocery store
run by mister Loomis. He admitted he was responsible. He
said he'd been stealing things from the store for more
than a month. We asked the boy about the petty
thefts from the grocery store operated by mister Collins.
Speaker 4: Again he told us he was responsible. He also admitted
stealing from the neighborhood.
Speaker 5: Drug store and the variety store, in addition to breaking
into the coin boxes on the self service newstands.
Speaker 6: In each instance, he described his method of operation.
Speaker 5: He estimated that over a period of some four and
a half weeks, he'd stolen approximately fifty.
Speaker 6: Dollars in merchandise and about five dollars in cash.
Speaker 4: We asked him why, he refused to answer, and.
Speaker 6: Must have better reason for doing all this, Harry, why
don't you tell us? We're gonna find out sooner or later.
Speaker 7: Sorry, ul sir, it's the next turn to your left.
Speaker 4: Okay, some matter, Son, You afraid of what your folks
are gonna say.
Speaker 8: No, that's not it.
Speaker 7: I never stole anything in my life till this time.
When I started in, I didn't think of it as stealing.
Something I had to do, that's all.
Speaker 8: I couldn't help it.
Speaker 6: That doesn't make much sense, Harry, What do you mean
you couldn't help it? It's the truth.
Speaker 8: You gotta believe me.
Speaker 7: There wasn't anything else I could do.
Speaker 4: What was it then, somebody forcing you to steal?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 7: Can't you just believe me something I had to do, Sergeant?
Can't you let me off? Y'all walk home the rest
of the way. I promise you'll come and see you tomorrow.
Speaker 4: You know we couldn't do that, son.
Speaker 5: You've already admitted stealing from a half a dozen stores
in the neighborhood, breaking into those coin boxes.
Speaker 4: It's gonna have to be straightened out one way or
the other.
Speaker 7: But I can pay them back for what I took.
I got a job up here, back every one of them.
Speaker 5: I believe your son, But there's still a lot of
explaining that's gonna have to be done.
Speaker 6: This is the fifteen hundred blog, Harry. I want to
point out your house for us.
Speaker 7: Huh, can't we fix it up some other way? We
don't have to go to my house?
Speaker 6: Do it something? You face it the better?
Speaker 2: How Aby?
Speaker 8: Keep on going s way down the end of the
block there?
Speaker 4: Well, now, which is it? Sun? There's no houses beyond this,
just that shack down there.
Speaker 6: That's my house.
Speaker 10: Okay, eh, maybe I better go in first see if
everything's all right.
Speaker 4: It'll be all right. We'll come with you.
Speaker 5: Ben and I followed the boy up the stairs and
into the house. From the outside, it looked run down
and badly in need of painting. On the inside, it
still looked in fair condition except for the housekeeping. The
floor of the living room was littered with soil, clothing,
cigarette ashes, dirt, and dust.
Speaker 4: The few pieces of furniture didn't look much better.
Speaker 5: A card table set in one corner was crowded with
dirty dishes and scraps of half eaten food.
Speaker 4: Across the room was.
Speaker 5: A baby in a crib couldn't have been more than
a few months old. Apparently the bedclothes in the crib
hadn't been changed for days. Next to the crib, huddled
in an army cot underneath a few thin blankets, was
a dark haired little girl, maybe two two and a
half years old.
Speaker 4: Her face was thin and pale. She was asleep.
Speaker 5: Through an open door we could see into the next room,
where a woman was lying on a couch. There was
an empty glass and a newly opened bottle of whiskey
on the nightstand.
Speaker 7: She'ld let me come in first off, we'll have chance
to clean up a little kids mess up the house.
Speaker 6: Jerry, got you, Harry.
Speaker 7: That's my mother, rest a little. I guess this is
a baby in the crib named Jerry. Well, that's my
little sister, and a cot to her name's Annie.
Speaker 4: Get your mother out here with your son. Want to
talk to her.
Speaker 7: Don't get mad at her, huh, will you? Mars had
a tough time lay She tries to do her best.
Speaker 4: Does no matter what. The kids here sona they been sick.
Speaker 7: Baby had a cold but I got that mediciner from
the drug store. He seems to be okay. I'm not
so sure about Annie, though she had a bad colt
doesn't seem to be getting over it.
Speaker 6: We won't take a look. Then get your mother up, son, Yeah,
all right, my.
Speaker 8: Get up?
Speaker 4: Wi you?
Speaker 6: What is it? Who'd you bring home with you? A couple?
What do you bring him in? Before close the door? There?
I have to fix up a little My mother will
be right out of us, all right, son, Joe, Yeah,
we better get to a phone right away.
Speaker 4: It looks pretty bad.
Speaker 2: What is it?
Speaker 6: Baby needs a doctor? A little girl here. I hope
she does too, but I'm not sure she's alive.
Speaker 5: An ambulance was called immediately, and Harry Dunbar's to year
old sister Annie and his baby brother were both rushed
to the General Hospital. The mother, identified as Missus Florence Dunbar,
was taken downtown and booked at the main jail on
a drunk charge.
Speaker 4: Six forty five p m. We took the boy, Harry Dunbar,
over to Ben's house.
Speaker 5: We'd put in a call to the General Hospital to
check on his little sister Annie and his infant brother.
Speaker 4: They told us.
Speaker 5: Both the children were suffering from malnutrition. The little girl,
Annie had double pneumonia. Miraculously, the baby seemed to have
been spared. He was sick, but his condition wasn't considered serious.
After Ben's wife fed him dinner, eighteen year old Harry
Dunbar sat out and told us the story. Three months before,
his father had deserted the family. His mother had made
a pretense at supporting Harry and the two babies and
then gave it up in favor of drinking. The whole
burden of keeping the family alive was pile on the
youngster's shoulders. Besides school, he had three odd jobs that
he worked at to earn enough money to pay the rent,
the gas and light bill, food and general necessities. It
wasn't enough, so he had to take the stealing. His
mother wouldn't work, but at the same time she wouldn't
let the boy apply for charity. He slept at Ben's
house that night, and the next morning at juvenile bureau,
he gave us.
Speaker 4: The rest of the story.
Speaker 8: I guess it's got too much for me. I don't know.
Speaker 7: I could sneak to food and medicine from the stores,
all right, but couldn't seem to get enough money together
the rent bill and all that kids need clothes too.
Speaker 6: Oh, why wouldn't your mother let you apply for help
son some of the local charity.
Speaker 8: Well, I'd never go for that office.
Speaker 7: She get mad when I talked about it, said she
had too much pride to take charity.
Speaker 4: Did your mother know that you were stealing the food
and medicine that you used to bring home?
Speaker 7: I don't know, I guess so I wouldn't be so
mad at her. But every time I got some money
together to pay bills, she want me to buy whiskey
for She begged so much I couldn't say no.
Speaker 5: We're having your mother brought over from the main jail, Harry.
We'd like to find out if we can't locate your father.
We want to check outside Ben, see if they brought him.
It's done borrow ver yet? Yeah, okay, thank you.
Speaker 8: How about the kids off, sir.
Speaker 6: Annie and the baby? How they doing?
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 4: I checked the hospital, Harry. The doctor's gonna call as
soon as he can.
Speaker 7: I should have known better, poor little kids. I could
take care of myself, but they had to depend on her.
She'd only stopped drinking.
Speaker 4: Go right, in Miss Dunbar.
Speaker 6: Harry.
Speaker 11: You all right, son, what they've been doing to you?
Speaker 8: I'm all right. Don't hang on me like that.
Speaker 11: I was worried about you, Harry, You and the kids.
I'm sorry they got sick.
Speaker 6: I didn't know.
Speaker 11: It's just bad luck, Harry.
Speaker 6: We got to stick together, you and Me's a cherry.
Sit down John. You know, hospital call they took the
message outside.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 8: The hospital loss her? About Annie the baby?
Speaker 6: Yeah, i'd write, son, about your little sister Annie.
Speaker 4: What about her?
Speaker 7: What the doctor say?
Speaker 6: Well, it's not good, Harry. The doctor called him said Annie,
he had pneumonia.
Speaker 8: Pneumonia, she'ld be all right though, to take care of her.
Speaker 6: Well, it's not that way, son, I mean the doctor said,
oh look, you tell her.
Speaker 4: What is it?
Speaker 8: What about Anne?
Speaker 6: We got a right to know.
Speaker 8: She's my little girl, Sergeant. You can tell me.
Speaker 5: You want to sit down, Harry, Yes, sir, Annie died
ten minutes ago.
Speaker 4: The doctor's tried. They couldn't help.
Speaker 7: Annie did.
Speaker 6: That's right, son, She's only a little kid.
Speaker 11: She's only two years old, Harry, Harry's son, Poor little Lannie.
I need have to be her my own little girl,
my own little Lannie.
Speaker 6: Be good to me. Son.
Speaker 11: I don't know how I can stand it.
Speaker 6: My own little girl Annie GOTSI.
Speaker 11: No, Harry, I need you. I need your more than ever. Son,
Be good to me.
Speaker 6: We have to stick together now. We gotta love one
another all No I need Harry, He's all I got.
I'm just Son. It's so hard.
Speaker 11: Sometimes everything's against us. Lord, don't he knows. I've tried.
We've got to try to be happy, to stay together
and love one another.
Speaker 6: Lord don't even know. Harry.
Speaker 11: Don't blame me, Son, We've got to try to be happy.
Speaker 7: I blame you.
Speaker 8: Anybody blame me. You killed it, poor little kid.
Speaker 7: You killed any carry it. I will say it while
you did it, the whole terrible thing.
Speaker 2: Annie's dead.
Speaker 4: You did it.
Speaker 8: Don't you know what it means?
Speaker 4: So don't hurt all right, Harry, take it easy.
Speaker 8: You know it too, don't you.
Speaker 7: She did it, her whiskey and her drinking and laying around,
not even caring about the kids. I try to tell you, Mam,
at least you could have done take care of the kids,
see that, all right? You had to drink.
Speaker 8: It wouldn't work. You had to lay around.
Speaker 7: Don't you understand. I couldn't do it all.
Speaker 2: I tried.
Speaker 7: I couldn't do it all. You had to go on
drinking later.
Speaker 11: Watch any DoD Please don't say that I'm gonna love
each other. I wouldn't hurt any You know your mother
never do that. You know what you're saying, Harry, I'm
your mother.
Speaker 6: No, I've tried to be a good mother.
Speaker 11: You don't mean what you're saying.
Speaker 8: I never have to see you again.
Speaker 11: Harry, Please don't go. He wouldn't believe me.
Speaker 6: Sergeant.
Speaker 11: Lord knows I've tried. It's not easy, your husband deserting
you the way Charlie did, three kids on your hands.
Speaker 6: What can I do? Yes, I ought to understand.
Speaker 7: I tried.
Speaker 6: Lord.
Speaker 11: No, it's the best anybody can do. Just try and
hope for the best.
Speaker 6: Yes, ma'am, I only got one question, Yes, how.
Speaker 4: Hard did you try?
Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true, only the
names were changed to protect the innocent. On April twenty,
third trial was held in Municipal Court, City and County
of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment the
results of that trial, eighteen year old Harold Dunbar was
filed on in Juvenile Court. After the hearing, the court
directed that the two Dunbar children be placed in a
foster home. Missus Dunbar was permanently deprived of the custody
of her children.
Speaker 3: You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases
from official fire technical advice comes from the Office of
Chief of Police W. H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
Speaker 6: Stay tuned for a countras By next over NBC.
Speaker 1: Just raise some serious real life questions and certainly for
the time would have exposed lesteners and given awareness to
some of the issues that were going on with juveniles
that juvenile divisions had to deal with. The mother was
far too real list. I was just thinking that because
of Dragonet's true tolized storytelling, it often captured some of
the sort of psychological functions that we talk about today
and were not necessarily all as understood and categorized, and
certainly did it, I think better than some of the
more heightened dramas did. The one thing that this episode
does highlight is that the job of the police often
becomes more than solving crimes, and certainly that often happens
in the juvenile division cases. And you'll see this with
a lot of Dragnet episodes, both radio and television. There's
a crime that they're concerned about, but it was relatively
minor compared to the underlying issues, and that so often
does turn out to be the case issues at home,
where issues at home and the misconduct of adults becomes
a far bigger concern than whatever crime there was, and
it's a very different sort of case and approach with
the young man spending the night in Romero's house. Well,
now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day,
and I want to go ahead and thank Denise, Patreon
supporter since March, currently supporting the podcast at the Detective
Sergeant level of seven dollars and fourteen cents or more
per month. Thanks so much for your support, Denise, and
that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast,
please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And if
you're enjoying the podcast on YouTube, be sure to like
the video, subscribe to the channel, and mark the notification bell.
We'll be back next Thursday with another episode of dragonat
but join us back here tomorrow for yours truly, Johnny
Dahl are flip time.
Speaker 9: I've called and Rip. If you don't do something about
my loss of the Cape Star, you call.
Speaker 2: The police, Well, sure of course.
Speaker 9: I might have known you would, so they'll tell the papers.
More publicity for you in that lousy insurance business.
Speaker 1: For Hilly.
Speaker 2: I always notify the police.
Speaker 9: You know what that means. It means reporters, photographers, cops
half the time falling all over themselves when I get in.
If you're somebody else, and I don't mean the cops.
If you don't get out, I'll cancel every policy I
have with you. My own. The house is the cars,
this old tom everything here, you take it, Johnny Hash.
Speaker 2: Sure, Hello, not all.
Speaker 9: Didn't you hear what I said?
Speaker 2: Miss Sad? Johnny Dollar?
Speaker 9: Johnny, So we got you. Well, now we'll have some
actions because you'll come out here right away.
Speaker 6: Won't you.
Speaker 2: Well, that depends.
Speaker 9: I don't know what to do. James Starr, Emerald gone
and Rip so busy, Gat leaves off, and Johnny you
have to complete. Well, look, honey, I'll be waiting for you.
Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime.
Send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net.
Follow us on Twitter at Radio detectives and check us
out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash Great detectives from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.