Dragnet - Big Mailman

0:00The story you're about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Fatima cigarettes. Best of all long cigarettes brings you dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a forgery detail. A United States Postal Inspector comes to your office. You'll receive the same complaints he has. Somebody is stealing mail in your city. Your job. Help get him. Friends, compare Fatima with any other king-size cigarette. You'll find a world of difference. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Quality of tobacco. The finest domestic and Turkish varieties. Extra mild, superbly blended. To give you a much different, much better flavor

1:01and aroma. Quality of manufacture. Smooth, round, perfect cigarettes. Rolled in the finest paper money can buy. Manufactured in the newest and most modern of all cigarette factories. Quality. Even to the appearance of the bright, clean, golden yellow package. Carefully wrapped and sealed. To bring you Fatima's rich, fresh, extra mild flavor. So compare Fatima yourself. Today, you'll find Fatima's now cost the same as other long cigarettes. What your first puff will tell you. Oh, that's different. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Buy Fatima. Dragonette. The documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Law Sanctuary Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police vials. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment,

2:06Dragonette is the story of your police force in action. Was Monday, March 3rd. Was raining in Law Sanctuary. We were working the day watch out of forgery detail. My partner's been Romero. The boss is Captain Harry Elliott. My name's Friday. With 7.45 a.m. when I got to room 29. Forgery detail. Hi, Ben. You're coming down out there. Yeah. Look at this coat. It's soaking wet. Is that the same trench coat that English one? Yeah. Every time I had it clean, it seems to soak up the water a little more. Does it leak? Oh no, it just seems to take on a little more water. Please, let me dry. Got something to show you, Joe. Remember that old rain coat of mine used to leak up through the seams over the shoulder? Oh, yeah. Sure. Take a look at this. What do you got there? Pretty neat, huh? Yeah, what is it? A new rain coat. Never know, would you? Small, compact, whole things are doing a big impact of cigarette. Not bad, huh? Yeah. What do you got? Lifeboat is funny. Amy says it's red to full size rain coat size 40 long.

3:09Amy, shall I say? Didn't she try? Oh no, you know how they make something like this. It made out of plastic, so I didn't do it. Just plain coat. Slip right on over your suit just like any other rain coat. I don't know what it'll say. She haven't worn it yet. No, it hasn't started raining. Could I see that? Sure. Real compact, isn't it? Something like this is really practical. Yeah, little package is like catch you carry it around with you all the time. Never take up any room at all. Yeah. What's it look like? Just like that little box, yeah? Same stuff. Plants, parents, you know regular plastic. What could we look at it inside of it? Okay, let's see. We'll hear you. You better go. Yeah, okay. Well, I'm just on Zipper here. Yeah? She was compact, didn't she? Yeah. There you go. Look at you. All folded up nice and neat. Yeah. So, it's lightweight too. Plastic's great, isn't it? Fine, yeah. There we go. Full size rain coat. See, yeah? It fits fine. Never know if full size coat is going to go in and like that little pouch,

4:11there would be no bigger into back a box. Yeah, it's pretty good. You ought to try it on, Joe. Never know you had anything on. Sure is light and that. Yeah, I can see. Now, I would just put it back with the pouch until I'm ready for it. I have to say now. The collar goes up. One fold in like this. Well, no, no, that isn't right. Goes this way. Let's put it down on the table. That'll be better. Yeah, that's better. Now, here we go. Now, we pulled the arms in here. Now, the bottom part comes up this way. Now, we've folded over and again. He's in. Just follow the crease, marks in your home, Joe. Yeah. Now, if you'll have me that little pouch, then oh, yeah. Here you go. Oh, thank you. Now, I guess that's too big. Well, we'll make one more fold, right? Yeah. Well, it's small enough this way, but it's too fat in there.

5:11You better watch it there. You're going to tear that little sack. It's funny. I've folded right over the old creases there. Too fat in there. Welcome to just carrying your pocket like that without the pouch. Sure, I'd say. Let them go pocket. No, no, that won't do, Joe. It's just right out. It's kind of springing. Jumping out like a piece of bungee sale, and it seems to. Well, it's still lightweight. And he's in the handle. Sure. Well, easy to carry just like that, anyway. Yeah. Well, made a little pouch, eh. Seems to shame not to be able to use it. Just smoke a pipe. No, you know that. Just say, Greg. Yeah, I'll find some use for it. Probably a hundred things I felt like they'd give you a little pouch like this for it. They could just think of them, I don't know. Yeah, that's right. Right, hey, Romero, you want to step in here for a minute? Right, Cam. These fellas know Inspector Smith, post office department. Sure, how are you? Romero. Good to see you, Leo. How are you doing, Joe? So now, I'm just. Oh, thank you. Inspector Smith's over here on that mail tape case that we've been working on. Oh, yeah. Did you receive those reports we sent over to yesterday?

6:11No, I haven't been to the office yet. Kim straight over here. Burger returned it over to us yesterday afternoon. Ben and I ran it down. Seems to us like it might fit in somewhere here. Miller and Ash and I probably got your reports now. I was just going to call in. You mind filling me on it? Department house over on our Colorado. The lab made a report that theft is part of a mail box, that thing. I mean, somebody stole a master panel off the front of the community mail box at the apartment house. Figured it must have happened sometime during the night. Oh, yeah, I believe we got something on that too. A postman on the route reported it. That's how he's getting into the mail box. It steals the front panel, makes a key for himself, and the man he's in business. My guy like Viraptic could put a key like that to good use, to the great many different mail boxes around town. Yeah, it's the same ammo. We've been on this guy for a long time. He pulled the same thing down in San Diego. It was knocking down about $2,000 a month. Many laid out. Now he's at it again up here in LA. Was you know we've been getting reports of the thefts and the passing of the checks about 10 days ago? Yeah, I know. We've got five checks passed by the same thief according to handwriting analysis. We know it's the same guy.

7:13Talk to the victim and the bank teller. Description of the guy's name is Italian, with what you people have on it. Yeah. It's just one thing we have made a little piece out here. What's that, Joe? Well, he steals a check. How do you know what bank to pass it on? Well, I think we got the answer to that one. Well, let's say the steal is a letter, and we know he doesn't only hit the community mail boxes. Sometimes he goes to a private residence, fishes the letters right out of the mail slots in that case. Yeah, he's got some kind of a gimmick to get down on those slots with it. That's what we figure, Leo. Well, we'll say after he's got a letter with a check in it. Now, it's easy enough for a good forge to put an endorsement on it, but how does he know what branches of bank to pass it on? Well, sometime or other, he's stealing bank statements as well. Maybe he's just lucky. The timing steals a check. There's other mail in the box, too. The bank statements. Well, as far as that goes, I suppose he's stolen more than once from the same party. He could probably get away with bank statements, easy. And that's it. People never seem to report anything missing in the mail until weeks after it's happened. You can't see the same thing. Why, I'm not sure anything's wrong until they wait several days. They don't want to bother them in the case of anything routine, like monthly bank statements.

8:14And in the case of a check, well, sometimes it's from a relative or someone who owes the money and they don't want to embarrass them by writing or calling to find out about it. Well, I suppose in the case of anything like a dividend check, we got a couple of those, Leo. The people who lose them just don't think it's time for them to arrive yet, so they just wait, huh? That's it. And that's why it's been so successful. Plus, the fact that it takes about a week for any kind of check to be processed through a centric clearing at any bank and then to the bank wouldn't necessarily know that anything was wrong at that time. Until the bank receives a complaint from the party who missed the check, they couldn't have any way of knowing that anything was wrong. That's right. Tell them what you were telling me this morning, Leo. Well, you people aren't in it deep enough to know this yet, but this guy's been hitting the same branch bank maybe two, three times in a row. Not here in LA, has he? No, not yet. It looks to us like he's just started up his operations here in town. That's the way he worked at Downing Sandiego. Not easy enough to figure if he got a teller in some bank to go along with him, someone who didn't suspect him, and since the victims reported so late, he could get away with it at least that many times at the same bank. Yeah.

9:15If people report missing mail immediately to make it a lot tougher for this issue, then the last name on him's still good, Harvey Fletcher? That's what we're going on here. We've got bulletins out to all the banks carrying that prescription on him, and he changed their list. The WMA average bill, $1,560 pounds, gray eyes, about 32 to 35. Well dressed, carrying a briefcase. Like a personality. That's what we got on him. Oh, there's a little something we picked up yesterday from a bank teller. She told us the man had long sideburns for what it's worth, you might add that. Okay. Don, money has been handwriting his tickets through his file to Leo. They haven't got anything on him. The stats of it hasn't been able to make him on his ammo. Now we know you people are doing everything you can for us. We appreciate it. Yeah, we should do more. That name, Harvey Fletcher. Of the five checks that we've got on the guy, according to handwriting analysis on him, he's only used that name once. The rest of the time he signs the same last name as the page name on the face of the check. And passes himself off as a brother, husband, or some relation to the rightful page.

10:16Yeah, that's what's taking in all those bank tellers, plus a smooth personality. It's cool, collected, all the confidence in the world. Yeah, that's a good thing. And we got one day before yesterday with a little different twist. Is going to help us any, but here's the way he's working it in some cases. Deposit to large check to the victim's account. Then he only takes out a small portion in cash. So does the tellers off even more. Yeah, there's most full of stats, Leo. Let's just copy to the last five checks that we got on the guy. Oh, yeah, thanks, Hank. Myus says they're all in the same handwriting. Is there anything else we can do for you, Leo? We've got all the banks in the area covered. Got bulletins out on them. That's fine. I don't think we've overlooked anything, but told you on it's been alerted. Well, there's latest theft of that mailbox panel. It's too bad we can't localize his operations a little. Leo, didn't you say that if he makes a key, that key would fit any number of boxes in the city, we couldn't put him down to one neighborhood, could we? That's right. That key will work on different mail routes. He probably knows the neighborhood around Alvarado is hot now. He'll leave it alone anyway. It's impossible to stake him out on the actual theft of the mail.

11:18Too bad we can't get to him through one of the banks when he cashes him. Well, your man, Paranard, put together couldn't cover all the banks in LA at one time, but we've been spot checking throughout the city. Hopefully maybe to tab him just by luck. Mike, did a break for one of my bulletins, maybe some colors. I'm not sure yet. That's one of the reasons I came over here this morning, but maybe we've got a little something. What's that? Well, Bank out in Westwood phoned us yesterday. The teller thought she recognized the guy from his description, didn't dawn on her till after the guy left her window. She rushed out in time to get the license number to his car. Maybe it's a break, huh? Yeah, it looks pretty good. The check was drawn on the account of a William E. Scott. And that's the number two victim here in LA. That's right. You've got the poultry staff at this check. I can't. Yeah, I know. Everything seems to fit. This check he passed yesterday out in Westwood was probably stolen at the same time as the first one, or at least it came from this Scott's mailbox that we know. Well, didn't this William Scott report the theft of two checks? I know he didn't do that. Maybe did to you. No, he didn't. Said he couldn't be sure he gets quite a few checks through the mail. Ones a lot of stock gets dividends.

12:18Man, probably doesn't know when they come each month. That's right. He didn't miss the first one till it was way overdue. Might even be others missing. He doesn't know for sure yet. Well, anyway, he's positive on this latest one out in the Westwood that the bank tell our cause. Sure. Soon as the bank manager called him, he knew he had an authorized anybody to cash any of his checks. Yeah, I'm always in the man. Well, that's what's kind of going on it. Looks real good. Smooth operator. Deposit it part of the money. Took the balance and cash. The major switch in his operation was the fact that he didn't go to the victim's regular bank as he did on that first check. Sounds good, don't it? And we kind of think so. That's the reason I came over here this morning. Conway, our handwriting man, thinks it's the same as the guy we're asking. He asked me to check it through Don Myers to be sure. What second your deers on this last one? Now, that's another part of the animal that checks out. You remember on the first check, he forged the victim's name. William Scott, they named it a second party check by signing the phony name. George Scott, passing himself off as a nephew of the victim. Pretty smart. He goes to this victim's regular bank. He doesn't take the chance of being tagged as the payee.

13:19He covers by using that nephew gimmick. Yeah. At this time, he goes to a different branch. Not the regular branch of the victim deals with us in the first case. He simply forged the victim's name and lets it go at that. You mean doing anything in that license, though? Well, asked in a Miller check it out late yesterday afternoon and they're on it now. Need me help? Well, not so far. I'm interested in what Don Myers has to say about the handwriting. I want to be too about now, huh? Give me a call. Thanks, I... Hello, Don. Who is this? This is Elliott. You know what Don's checked that stuff through for Inspector Smith yet? Okay, thanks, Long. No, that's all right. We'll get to him. Don was called out of the office for a minute. That was Sloan. He says he sure Don finished with it. Well, fine. You see, when he'd be back? He just dug down the bad Brown's office for a minute. I'll call him down there for you. That's all right. I don't walk down in myself. I need the exercise. Okay. Go and have a walk on down with you. That's all right. Let's go. All right. You fell asleep back, everyone.

14:21Make sure as soon as I check with mine. All right. Which way is it from here? Hall looks the same from one end to the other. This way, we'll. Huh? This affects you like the federal building does mean. I get it all turned around and apparent. Yeah. Well, the spell is down in San Diego. Got it. Rough going this thing. Yeah, I was talking to McGuire and Orm's be down in just the other day. I guess they were going around the circle. They broke a lot of ground force. Checked out a lot of suspects. Cleared them. Checked out all that stuff that Beret and from CII sent down. Yeah. You know how thorough that guy is. And it figures they've done a lot of leg work. Friday, you say you just talked to him down there? Yeah, that's right, man. Well, and you know about all those bulletins they got on the guy in description, exemplars, or his handwriting. Send them to every police department in the United States. And get a big jump. I'll go get done. That's right. Thanks, John. Right. Yeah, John. Leo Smith, the post office department was waiting to see you. Right, you know, there's just something I would back in the office. Sorry.

15:23Oh, darn. Sorry, we all had duck out for a minute. Oh, that's all right. Said you get a chance to look that sky check over? Yeah, I did. Got a couple of things to show you back in the office. OK, fine. Was Conway positive on this one? Well, he said he thought we had the right man, but he wanted your opinion to be absolutely sure. I couldn't be positive, but I think maybe you're a man. Because a great similarity, but too much pressure on the down strokes. Knees, the ores. It's not too sure. There's a little difference in some of the previous samples we guys hand-writing. I can show you better back to the office kind of few things for you. Think there's a possibility, don't you? Let me put it this way. I won't say it is. I won't say it isn't. Let's pick them up and find out for sure. Here we are. Go ahead, fellas. OK. I've blown those things up here. Call for you, Leo. Three. Oh, thanks, Harry. Excuse me. Smith talking. You did? Uh-huh. We did.

16:24All right. Look, why don't you bring him down a forgery detail here at the city hall? We'll talk to him here. Write it. Write, thanks. Well, it looks like the end of the trail that was asked. And he and Miller picked him up, these are our man, the bit of the forgery. Looks like San Diego did all the work and we get all the luck. Anyway, we got him. You are in the scientific investigation division of a Metropolitan Police Department, the Ballistics Room. You are just heard a test bullet fired from a 38-calibre revolver filed in a possession of a suspect. The test lug is removed from the Ballistics Box and compared with the slug found at the scene of the crime. There they are. Side by side, they look alike. But examination will prove a world of different.

17:26Now, examine a Fatima. Compare it with any other king-sized cigarette. Side by side, they'll look alike. But right away, you'll find there's a world of difference. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. You see Fatima is the quality king-sized cigarette because it contains the finest domestic and Turkish tobacco is superbly blended. And Fatima is extra mild with a much different, much better, flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. So compare Fatima yourself. Fatima is now cost the same as other long cigarettes. But your first pop will tell you, ah, that's different. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Ask your dealer for Fatima. The quality king-sized cigarette. Best of all, long cigarette. Start enjoying Fatima tomorrow.

18:26In the routine solution of the case, the police officer has always benefited by the legwork of his fellow officers. In this case, the men of the San Diego Police Department in conjunction with the post office department had done most of the spade work and the actual apprehension of the suspect appeared to be almost too easy on RNs. Even though Ben and I hadn't participated in the physical arrest of the suspect, we felt the same ratification for the speedy solution of the case as did the postal authority. Monday, March 3rd, 3.27 p.m., Miller and Ashton of the post office department brought the suspect in for questioning. The prisoner was turned over to Inspector Leo Smith. Ben and I sat in on the interrogation. Carveglicia, that's your coup name. Yes, sir, it is. You say you've never been arrested before? No, sir, I never have. You know we're going to check that out. Yes, sir. All right, now let's go over it again. In the same way, that's up to you, we want the truth. I told you the truth.

19:27You asked me questions about stealing mail, about Borgie checks. You said I was down in San Diego. Well, it's not true. None of it's true. Have you ever stolen from the mail? No, sir, I never have. I know that's a pretty serious offense. What makes you think forging isn't? That what you're trying to say? No, I'm not. I didn't say that, but this was the first time I've ever done anything like this. I didn't even think about the consequences. Should have thought about it. I went to last time you were in San Diego. I've never been here. Don't even know for sure where it is. How long have you been in Los Angeles? About three months now. Where's your home? Akron, Ohio. How old do you say you were? 25. What have you been doing since you got out here? Just death. Nothing. Can't find a job. Well, how you've been getting by? How you've been living? Been staying out at YMCA. Hope's freed, I guess, of this. What have you been doing for money? Well, my folks gave me a little when I left Akron. For I'd have a job by now, I didn't want to write home for anymore, so when I found that check,

20:28I figured I could get away with it. I needed money and I cast it. Where did you say you found it? Well, let's create out that way. Was it a second negative? Is that the high set? Well, it rocks you in it. What were you doing out there? Well, I was answering an ad in the class if I had time to find a job. I had to park the car down the street from the place. On my way back, I found this check on the sidewalk. I had a bank on the corner. Where'd you get the car? It's my father's. The car's registered in your name with California plates. How do you explain that? Well, the folks told me when I got to California, I'd go right to the authorities and register the car. I was going to stay, so I wouldn't get in any trouble. That's where part of my money went. You got anything else you want to tell us? Well, I did it. I admit that. Well, I want to make it up somehow. The check was for $57. I gave the man that arrested me 50 of it, and I spent $7. Yeah, that's all on the record. I did wrong. I'll pay the $7 back.

21:29You can take that up with the judge, Gleason. Friday, the mario you want to step outside with me in a minute. Yeah, right. Gleason, you wait here with that officer. Yes, sir. What do you think? He's telling the truth. He's not the one we want. How about you, Joe? Yeah, I'll go along with them. Next three of us. Monday, month, 3rd, 5 p.m. We went in and checked with Don Myers. In carefully going over exemplars of Carver Gleason's handwriting, he had definitely eliminated him as our suspect. Carver Gleason remained in custody awaiting trial. Three months went by. During this time, the burgueries and forgeries continued. Suspects were picked up, checked out, and released. We got nowhere. Tuesday, July 12. He received a communication from Chief Adam Jensen of the San Diego Police Department, who stated he was forwarding a radio Graham from Chief John W. Polesign of the Milwaukee Wisconsin Police Department. The radio grab from Chief Polesign stated that his handwriting man

22:29in Milwaukee had identified the suspect's handwriting as listed in one of the San Diego bulletins as belonging to Philip E. Holloway. Holloway was arrested two years previous on a reckless driving charge. The physical description of the man matched closely with the one that we'd received and the suspect known to us as Harvey Fletcher. May further stated that although he was at one time a resident of Milwaukee, they had nothing further on him. It was just an outside chance, but we decided that an all probability this could be the suspect's true name, Philip E. Holloway. This information was forwarded to the postal authorities. Then I started to check through our channels to determine the whereabouts of the suspect. Philip E. Holloway was a possible alien of Harvey Fletcher. Well, that's it, Joe. Nothing in any of the phone books, yeah. Covered everything I can think of, our record, sheriff's record, nothing from CII, utility company. Yeah, well, maybe Smith found something on him. We haven't got anything here. Thank God, give him a call, aren't you? Yeah, I'd like to know. What's the exact same 664?

23:30Yeah, I know. Yeah, a 664. Hello, Inspector Smith, please. How's that? Oh, I see. No, that's all right, thank you. On his way over here, he left five minutes ago. I sure hope he's got something. Joe? Ben? All right, we'll go. Take a maybe we'll run it down. Good. How'd you do it to the postal service? Yeah. I didn't figure it out. Well, we didn't think he'd stay put long enough to have a permanent address. We just been on the move, but we got the last known address, all right? We received mail there two days ago. You want to check with Don Myers? He's been working with those exemplars, Milwaukee Sennis. I just did, calling about 15 minutes ago. Oh, we just got back from Marna. What do you say this time? He and Conway agree all the way to this trip, yeah? Always, I'm in. Together with the postal authorities, Ben and I helped him the 24-hour surveillance placed on the suspect, Philippi Holloway. Our findings disclosed that he was living in a modest apartment house and he was employed by a local vacuum cleaner company as a door-to-door salesman. This type of occupation would enable anyone to have suspicion for access to any and all

24:33types of home mailboxes. The first three days of the surveillance failed to disclose any further than criminating evidence. Thursday, July 17th, fifth day of the 24-hour surveillance, 2.30 pm. Holloway came out of his apartment building, got into his car and drove approximately four miles to the Echo Park residential district. The park's car got out and went up the steps of a small apartment house. Together with Inspector Leo Smith, Ben and I followed him. You want to pull up your business as good? Yeah, all right. He's going for that mailbox, isn't he? Yeah. He's got the key. He's opening the panel. Not a worry in the world. Broad daylight. Look at that. He's got all the letters out of the box. Got them in his pocket. And his way back to his car. Leo, there's a bag right up there on the sunset, see? Okay, let's stay with him. How's it look, Joe? You can see up ahead there. Is he pulling up? Wait a minute.

25:33All right, let's go. All right. Better pull up here. I look at that. Just like it was blue printed. Right in the bank. Come on. Yeah. Joe, you see him? There he is. Second window. Let's get in line right behind, Larry. Yes, sir, man, I hope you're. Yeah, it's fine. I wonder if he can pass the check for me. Yes, sir, we can go if you want. Okay, you can see this is one of my mother's checks. I guess I can catch it all right for it. Do you have any good information? I'm sorry, I don't. I'll say I have this envelope of checks with mail being collected. I think that's all right. I told you like this, sir. He doesn't want it anyway, miss. Just hold that check for us. Please, post it in the spectrum. Yes, sir. I think you're pardoned. I believe you're making a mistake, you know.

26:34There's no mistake. Come on, step over here. Take him down. I don't understand all this. That key you used over there on Backstreet Street. That's the one you made from that panel. You stole over on Alvarado about four months ago? You know about that, huh? Yeah, we do. I did all right for one of them, eh? That key angle's a pretty good one, isn't it? There's no lock in the world I can't make it key for. We got one in mind, you might have trouble with. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. I'll start your work. The story you've just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On October 15th, Trial with Heldin' United States District Court State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. And now here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you. Friends, all of us on Drag Netter convinced that Fatima is the best of all long cigarettes. We think you're like him as much as we do. But the only way you can tell is the biopack of Fatima's and compare them with any other King's side cigarette.

27:39Aside by side they'll look alike. But in Fatima's the difference is quality. Quality that gives you extra maleness. A much better flavor in aroma. Compare Fatima. You'll agree Fatima is the best of all long cigarettes. The suspect, Philip L. Wood Holloway, was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to 10 years in the federal penitentiary. Five years of his sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation. One of the conditions being that he make restitution of the stolen money. Ladies and gentlemen, accidents of all types kill more persons from one to 35 years of age than does any single disease. America's homes and children can best be kept safe. If every father, mother and child develops the personal responsibility to know and observe home safety rules. Make home safety a family affair. Be careful. The life you saved may be your own.

28:46You 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. Fatima cigarettes, rest of all long cigarettes is brought to dragnet portions transcribed from Los Angeles. Stay tuned for Carters by next to the Most NBC Station.