The Big Affair

Originally Aired: November 29, 1951 Dragnet #129, "The Big Affair," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are hunting a dangerous jewelry store bandit who has been terrorizing downtown Los Angeles. The suspect has committed four carefully planned robberies in broad daylight over a two-week period, each time netting over $3,000 in precious stones and rings. What makes this criminal particularly dangerous is his pattern of brutally beating his victims with his gun after obtaining the loot, seemingly without provocation. Friday and Romero interview Mrs. Cecile Gordon, a French war bride who witnessed the latest holdup, along with her husband Robert who translates her testimony. She describes a dark-haired man of average height wearing a blue jacket who viciously attacked the store clerk after the robbery, then struck her when she screamed. Despite having a solid description and method of operation, Friday and Romero struggle to identify their suspect. After two weeks of investigation, checking mug books, running statistics, and issuing all-points bulletins, they finally catch a break when a store manager provides a partial identification: Jack Maynard, a San Quentin parolee with a robbery record who may have been recently released.