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Friday - The Dragnet Podcast

Presented by OTRPODS

Friday - The Dragnet Podcast is your ultimate destination for reliving the thrilling world of the classic Dragnet radio show. Step back into the gritty streets of Los Angeles with Sergeant Joe Friday as he brings justice to life through captivating, true-to-form storytelling. This unparalleled collection features beautifully remastered audio, accurate transcriptions, and detailed episode descriptions to give listeners the most authentic Dragnet experience.

Whether you're a longtime fan or a newcomer to old-time radio dramas, this podcast delivers the definitive version of Dragnet, preserving its iconic legacy for generations to come. Experience crime-solving at its finest with meticulous attention to detail, including cast insights for every episode.

245 episodes

  1. The Big Sour

    Jul 3, 2026 · 27 min

    Originally Aired: September 20, 1951 Dragnet #119, "The Big Sour," Sergeant Joe Friday and Detective Ben Romero investigate a brutal home invasion robbery targeting an elderly couple in the Westlake Park area. When Friday arrives at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, he learns that seventy-one-year-old Wendell McClung has been savagely tortured by two armed bandits who invaded his modest home. The thieves burned the soles of his feet and stabbed his hands repeatedly with what appears to be a hat pin, forcing him to reveal where he and his wife Catherine kept their valuable jewelry collection, including a four-carat diamond signet ring. Friday and Romero visit the crime scene and interview Mrs. McClung, who provides limited information since one of the bandits knocked off her glasses during the assault, leaving her nearly blind throughout the ordeal. She recalls that one suspect was called Sam and the other spoke with a distinct Midwestern or Texas accent. The detectives suspect an inside job, as the thieves seemed to know exactly what jewelry the unassuming couple possessed. As the investigation unfolds, a potential lead emerges involving a young magazine salesman who may have witnessed something crucial on the night of the robbery.

  2. The Big Waiter

    Jul 2, 2026 · 28 min

    Originally Aired: September 13, 1951 Dragnet #118, "The Big Waiter," opens with Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero arriving at the Apex Men's Shop on a foggy Los Angeles night. Inside the store's back room, they discover the brutal murder of 64-year-old shopkeeper Joseph Wilford, beaten to death with his arms tied behind his back and a woman's slip knotted around his neck. The victim's wife, Agnes, claims she found the body after returning from a friend's house and reports that several hundred dollars and her husband's engraved wristwatch are missing. However, Friday and Romero's investigation takes a curious turn when they discover a gift-wrapped black lace nightgown with a card signed by the victim himself. As Friday and Romero question Mrs. Wilford, a troubling picture emerges of the couple's unusual marriage. Agnes reluctantly reveals that for ten years, her husband had maintained relationships with numerous young women, sometimes bringing them to the shop while she discreetly left the premises. Despite this arrangement, she insists they never argued about his infidelities. With evidence pointing to both robbery and a crime of passion, Friday and Romero must untangle the victim's complicated personal life to find his killer.

  3. The Big 17

    Jul 1, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: September 6, 1951 Dragnet #117, "The Big 17," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are called to a neighborhood movie theater on West Fremont where a gang of fifteen to twenty teenagers has gone on a rampage. Theater manager Clyde Barton describes how what started as noisy teenagers quickly escalated into violence when he tried to restore order. The kids attacked him, one pulling a knife, then proceeded to tear apart the lobby, smashing mirrors, lamps, and display cases. In the chaos, a 14-year-old boy was shoved through a plate glass showcase and suffered severe eye injuries that may leave him permanently blind. An usher was also beaten in the melee. This incident is just the latest in a month-long crime wave that has Friday and Romero baffled. Previously well-behaved kids in this average residential neighborhood have suddenly turned wild, with auto thefts up 20 percent and charges for burglary, misconduct, and drunkenness mounting weekly. The detectives have a theory about what's driving the violence, but they haven't been able to prove it yet. As Barton provides a list of names and hints at his own suspicions, Friday and Romero begin their investigation to stop the teenage crime spree.

  4. The Big Crazy

    Jun 30, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: August 30, 1951 Dragnet #116, "The Big Crazy," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero investigate the puzzling disappearance of a 30-year-old woman who has been missing for three months. Ruth Daly comes to homicide detail to report that her twin sister, Bernice Butler, vanished in early March. Ruth explains that she delayed reporting the disappearance because Bernice had done this once before, going to Arizona for a month without telling anyone. However, Ruth's recent visit to Bernice's husband Jimmy has left her deeply unsettled. As she was leaving, he looked at her with a horrible expression and said, "You'd be surprised if I killed her, wouldn't you?" Friday and Romero track down James Butler at the print shop where he works. The thin, blonde husband proves sullen and uncooperative, showing complete indifference to his wife's three-month absence. Butler's hostile demeanor and strange behavior raise immediate red flags. He admits to frequent arguments with Bernice, casually mentioning that he would "beat it out of her" when she got "too fresh." As the detectives press him for answers about his missing wife, Butler's bizarre responses suggest something far more sinister than a simple domestic dispute.

  5. The Big In-Laws

    Jun 29, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: August 23, 1951 Dragnet #115, "The Big In-Laws," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero investigate a sophisticated gang of hijackers operating in Los Angeles. Truckloads of merchandise worth thousands of dollars are vanishing without a trace, and the criminals appear to have a foolproof system. When truck driver Frank Burroughs finally shows up at headquarters to look through mug books, he seems more concerned about his evening plans than helping solve the case. Burroughs recounts his hijacking in detail: while hauling Scotch whiskey to Phoenix, a gunman forced him to wear taped-over welder's goggles and drove him to a remote transfer point where accomplices took over. His story matches the pattern of other hijackings perfectly, perhaps too perfectly. As Friday and Romero press Burroughs for more details, inconsistencies begin to emerge. When asked about previous arrests, Burroughs reluctantly admits to a hijacking conviction from ten years ago in West Virginia. While Ben deals with his own domestic troubles involving overcrowded in-laws and an unhousebroken terrier, the detectives must determine whether Burroughs is simply an unlucky victim or an inside man working with the hijacking ring.

  6. The Big Winchester

    Jun 28, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: August 16, 1951 Dragnet #114, "The Big Winchester," Sergeant Joe Friday is pulled away from his annual physical exam when his partner Ben Romero calls about a suspicious death in the Westlake Park area. An elderly man named Martin Latimer, a 68-year-old retired grocery store owner, has been found dead in his living room with a bullet wound in his chest. At first glance, the scene appears to be a suicide, with a Winchester rifle elaborately wired to a chair and connected by string to the victim's finger, but Officer Harkness from the radio car patrol has his doubts. As Friday and Romero examine the scene, the evidence reveals troubling inconsistencies. The trajectory of the bullet doesn't match the supposed suicide setup. The slug passed through Latimer's body but the bullet hole in the wall is in the wrong location, several feet off from where it should be based on the rifle's position. What initially looked like an elaborate suicide arrangement begins to appear more like a carefully staged murder scene, and Friday and Romero must piece together what really happened.

  7. The Big Screen

    Jun 27, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: August 9, 1951 Dragnet #113, "The Big Screen," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are assigned to Bunko Detail to investigate a growing wave of complaints about dishonest television repairmen who are victimizing customers across Los Angeles. Working in cooperation with the Daily News, Friday and Romero meet with staff writer Jack Cannett, who has been collecting letters from readers detailing how they've been overcharged, billed for unnecessary repairs, and charged for parts never installed. Cannett introduces them to Hank Cotter, a former employee of Kilgore TV Specialists who quit because he couldn't stomach his employer's dishonest practices. Cotter reveals the inner workings of the repair racket: charging nearly five dollars for a nickel's worth of wire, refusing to let customers watch repairs being performed, claiming parts are scarce to justify inflated prices, and even swapping good tubes from customers' new sets with defective ones to fraudulently claim warranty replacements from manufacturers. As Friday and Romero gather evidence on this vicious swindle, they prepare to crack down on the operators who are exploiting customers of this new entertainment medium.

  8. The Big Late Script

    Jun 26, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: July 26, 1951 Dragnet #111, "The Big Late Script," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are called in when prominent businessman Tony Richmond vanishes from his North Hollywood home under suspicious circumstances. While Richmond and his family are watching television, two unidentified men arrive at the front door. A neighbor, Mrs. Sanford, witnesses Richmond being escorted down his front steps by the two men and driven away in a dark sedan, though it's unclear whether he went willingly. The situation takes a darker turn when Richmond's wife Adele receives a threatening phone call demanding twenty thousand dollars for her husband's safe return. Captain Lorman, Friday, and Romero respond to the Richmond home, but they immediately face a critical obstacle. A frightened and desperate Adele Richmond wants to handle the ransom payment herself without police involvement, fearing the abductors are watching and will harm her husband if they discover the authorities are involved. Friday must convince the terrified woman to trust the police while racing against time to find Tony Richmond before the situation becomes deadly.

  9. The Big Sophomore

    Jun 25, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: July 19, 1951 Dragnet #110, "The Big Sophomore," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero assigned to Juvenile Bureau, investigating a puzzling series of petty thefts plaguing neighborhood merchants near a local high school. Grocery store owner Henry Loomis reports that for nearly two weeks, merchandise has been disappearing during the lunch hour rush when high school students crowd his store. The thefts follow a strange pattern: always small amounts, never more than a few dollars worth of canned goods, bread, and butter, and curiously, the cash register is never touched. Loomis suspects a red-haired boy named Harry who hangs around with the other students, though he admits he has no proof. As Friday and Romero expand their investigation, they discover the problem extends throughout a twelve-square block area. Two dozen similar cases have been reported involving two grocery stores, a drug store, newsstands, and a variety store. Newspaper distributor George Brophy, whose coin boxes have been broken into for small change, believes underprivileged neighborhood kids are responsible. The detectives face the challenge of determining who's behind this peculiar crime spree and, more importantly, understanding why anyone would risk getting caught for such meager gains.

  10. The Big Set-Up

    Jun 24, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: July 12, 1951 Dragnet #109, "The Big Set-Up," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero face mounting pressure as a sophisticated burglary ring continues to terrorize wealthy Los Angeles homeowners. In just three months, the gang has stolen over $100,000 in furs and jewelry from fashionable residences, and despite working every angle—stakeouts, informants, and stolen property alerts—the detectives have virtually nothing to show for their efforts. The latest hit netted the thieves nearly $12,000, and Captain Wisdom makes it clear that city hall, the victims, and their insurance companies are demanding results. The three masked thieves leave behind the same modus operandi at every scene but remain frustratingly unidentifiable. Over coffee at city hall, Friday and Romero present their boss with a breakthrough theory. After carefully comparing victim statements, they've discovered a pattern: every victim appeared at upscale public venues wearing expensive furs and jewelry just days before being burglarized. The detectives believe a finger man is staking out these restaurants and nightclubs, identifying wealthy marks and tipping off the gang about when to strike. With a list of six establishments in hand, Friday and Romero prepare to set their trap for the elusive criminals.

  11. The Big Love

    Apr 6, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: July 5, 1951 Dragnet #108, "The Big Love," begins when Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero investigate the mysterious disappearance of Barbara Gorman and her two-year-old daughter Nancy. The woman and child vanished from their Westlake district home five days earlier without explanation, leaving behind only a few missing clothes and no note. When her husband Philip Gorman filed the missing report, he claimed to know no reason for their departure and denied any marital problems. The case goes cold until a neighborhood watchdog named John Pearson calls in with troubling information: Mrs. Gorman had been carrying on a six-month affair with a man named Ralph Kane who lives in Pearson's neighborhood. The investigation takes a darker turn when Friday and Romero discover that Kane disappeared the night after Mrs. Gorman vanished, seen loading suitcases into his car late Friday evening. Kane hasn't been seen since and failed to show up for his job as a printer with no explanation. As the detectives dig deeper, they begin to suspect that Philip Gorman may have known more about his wife's affair than he initially let on, raising questions about what really happened to the missing mother and child.

  12. The Big Cliff

    Apr 5, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: June 28, 1951 Dragnet #107, "The Big Cliff," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero investigate the mysterious death of Gertrude Turner, an elderly woman found dead on the floor of her shabby hotel room. Her husband, Mr. Turner, discovered her body when he woke up one morning and reached across the bed to find her gone. He found her lying on the floor beside the bed, ice cold, with a slight bruise on her forehead. With no apparent cause of death and no doctor in attendance, Friday and Romero must wait for the coroner's autopsy results while they question the grieving widower. As Friday gently interviews the devastated Mr. Turner, a portrait emerges of a seemingly happy couple who had only been married less than a year. The elderly newlyweds had moved to Los Angeles from Indiana just months earlier and were looking forward to celebrating Gertrude's upcoming name day. Turner insists his wife had no enemies, no health problems beyond occasional headaches, and no reason to take her own life. The investigation hinges on discovering what really happened in that hotel room during the night.

  13. The Big Run

    Apr 4, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: June 21, 1951 Dragnet #106, "The Big Run," Friday and his partner Ben Romero are called away from a quiet Saturday evening to investigate a brutal hit-and-run accident at Los Feliz Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue. Two elderly women have been struck down in a well-lit crosswalk by a driver traveling at high speed. The victims are thrown dozens of feet from the point of impact and rushed to Georgia Street Hospital in critical condition. When Friday and Romero arrive at the scene, uniformed officers have already begun collecting evidence—fragments of headlight glass and chrome—but there are no skid marks, indicating the driver never even attempted to stop. The detectives interview witness Richard Mortigan, who operates a nearby nursery and saw the entire incident unfold. Mortigan describes a dark-colored Ford sedan, possibly driven by a young blonde man around eighteen or nineteen years old, racing through the intersection without slowing down. With only these meager clues and the physical evidence from the scene, Friday and Romero must track down the callous driver who left two women fighting for their lives on a Los Angeles street.

  14. The Big Building

    Apr 3, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: June 14, 1951 Dragnet #105, "The Big Building," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero investigate the puzzling disappearance of Louise Marston, a wealthy society woman who vanished over two months ago. Her husband, Dr. Marston, a dentist, filed the missing person report only after her regular letters from New York suddenly stopped arriving. As Friday and Romero interview the doctor in his office while he works on a dental crown, they learn that Louise left following an argument at their country club. Dr. Marston explains he wasn't initially concerned since she sent letters twice weekly to both him and their son Stanley at military school, but now those letters have ceased entirely. The case takes a darker turn when Dr. Marston reveals that Louise inherited a fortune from her aunt and that he had recently signed over eighty thousand dollars in bonds to her just before her disappearance. He hints at possible involvement by Louise's stepfather, who has always coveted her money. As Friday and Romero dig deeper into the circumstances surrounding the missing woman and those valuable bonds, they must determine whether this is simply a domestic dispute or something far more sinister.

  15. The Big Imposter

    Apr 2, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: June 7, 1951 Dragnet #104, "The Big Imposter," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are assigned to missing persons detail when 10-year-old Jimmy Sherman vanishes from his home in a remote section of Los Angeles. The boy was last seen Monday evening hiking up the hill behind his house by neighbor Mrs. Keller, and now two days and two nights have passed without a trace. Jimmy lives with his 68-year-old grandfather Oscar Sherman, a wheelchair-bound man suffering from arthritis who is Jimmy's only living relative after the boy's parents were killed in an auto wreck years earlier. As Friday and Romero interview the desperate grandfather in his backyard, Oscar insists something terrible has happened to his grandson. Jimmy had no reason to run away - he just bought two collie puppies with his savings and was devoted to his grandfather. The case takes an ominous turn when the search party discovers a pair of blue jeans near the upper reservoir in Allegian Park, exactly where Jimmy was known to hike. With dragging equipment being prepared to search the water for a body, Friday must determine whether this is a tragic accident or something more sinister.

  16. The Big Bindle

    Apr 1, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: May 31, 1951 Dragnet #103, "The Big Bindle," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are called to investigate a sophisticated heroin distribution ring operating out of an unlikely location. When they interrogate Monty Wilkins, a user arrested the previous night with seven caps of high-grade heroin, they discover that top-quality narcotics have been flooding Los Angeles from what appears to be an Eastern operation. Wilkins reluctantly reveals that he's been buying from a street-level dealer who mentioned names like Kirk and Smith, and claims the operation is running out of the Plaza Royal Hotel, one of the city's most fashionable establishments. The detectives bring their findings to Captain Kearney, explaining that for seven months they've been tracking this distribution center through arrested users carrying unusually pure heroin, unlike the typical Mexican product common to the Southwest. With Wilkins' information confirming their theory that the operation is based in the downtown metropolitan area, Friday and Romero propose an undercover strategy to infiltrate the Plaza Royal and break the ring from the inside.

  17. The Big Mailman

    Mar 31, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: May 24, 1951 Dragnet #102, "The Big Mailman," Sergeant Joe Friday and Detective Ben Romero are working the day watch out of forgery detail when U.S. Postal Inspector Smith arrives at their office with a pressing problem. Someone is systematically stealing mail throughout Los Angeles, and the thief's sophisticated operation has already netted him an estimated two thousand dollars a month when he was operating in San Diego. Now he's brought his operation north. The investigation reveals a clever criminal who steals master panels from community mailboxes to create his own keys, giving him access to multiple locations. He targets checks in the mail, but the detectives face a puzzling question: how does the thief know which bank branches to cash the stolen checks at? Friday and Romero begin piecing together the mail thief's methods, discovering he also raids private mail slots using some kind of special tool and may be stealing bank statements along with checks to gather the information he needs. As Captain Harry Elliott coordinates between the police department and postal inspectors, the team works to understand the full scope of this mail fraud operation and track down a criminal who has proven both resourceful and dangerous.

  18. The Big Blast

    Mar 30, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: May 17, 1951 Dragnet #101, "The Big Blast," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Ben Romero investigate a brutal shotgun murder on a sweltering July night in Los Angeles. The victim is Josephine Stevens, a young mother who was blasted through a screen door while lying in bed. The only witness is her terrified seven-year-old son, Charlie, who tells Friday about hearing someone cutting the screen before the fatal shots rang out. The boy's grandmother provides comfort as detectives work to piece together who would want to kill Josephine and why. Friday and Romero's investigation leads them to the victim's estranged husband, Keith Stevens, who has a troubled past and a contentious custody battle over young Charlie. As they interview suspects and check alibis, the detectives discover that Stevens has been keeping company with questionable associates, including a man named Carl Walters. The case grows more complex as Friday uncovers a web of lies, jealousy, and desperation surrounding the custody dispute. With methodical police work, Friday pursues the truth behind this vicious crime while young Charlie struggles to understand why someone would hurt his mother.

  19. The Big Drills

    Mar 29, 2026 · 28 min

    Originally Aired: May 10, 1951 Dragnet #100, "The Big Drills," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are working burglary detail, chasing a highly skilled gang of safe crackers who have hit thirty-seven Wilson Brothers grocery stores over the past eighteen weeks, netting over $100,000. Despite assigning 252 officers to stakeouts across the city, the burglars always seem to know which markets aren't covered. Their method is consistent and professional: they pry open doors, cut burglar alarm wires, drill the safes cleanly, and disappear without a trace. When Friday arrives at the latest crime scene at Melrose and Green, the evidence is frustratingly familiar—metal shavings, cloth particles, empty pop bottles—until Detective Rubbles discovers torn checks and a fishing license in the bathroom drain bearing the name Charles W. Royal. The discovery of the fishing license offers Friday and Romero their first promising lead in months. Royal turns out to be a former employee of the burglarized store who was transferred to another Wilson Brothers location six months earlier—a location that was also hit by the gang. The detectives place Royal under surveillance, hoping they've finally found the inside connection that would explain how the burglars always know which stores to target. Captain Wisdom and the entire burglary detail are desperate for a break in this case that has stumped local police, the sheriff's office, and even the parole department.

  20. The Big Casing

    Mar 28, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: May 3, 1951 Dragnet #99, "The Big Casing," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero respond to a shooting at the Kelsey apartment hotel. They find Marie Robertson dead from a gunshot wound to the right temple, with her husband Andrew claiming it was suicide. According to Andrew, the couple had been arguing while Marie prepared dinner. He says she grabbed his Army .45 automatic from a nightstand, backed into the kitchen, and shot herself to end their dispute. However, Friday and Romero quickly notice troubling details at the scene that contradict the suicide story, including the suspicious position of the spent cartridge casing and the body's location. As the crime lab processes the scene, Friday and Romero interview Ted Carlton, a neighbor who lives upstairs in apartment 212. Carlton paints a disturbing picture of the Robertsons' volatile marriage, describing Andy's terrible temper and frequent arguments. He reveals that Marie once told him she feared Andy might kill her during one of his rages. The detectives must piece together the physical evidence and witness statements to determine whether Marie Robertson really took her own life or if her husband's story is an elaborate cover for murder.

  21. The Big Saint

    Mar 27, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: April 26, 1951 Dragnet #98, "The Big Saint," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are assigned to auto theft detail to investigate a troubling pattern. Over the past four months, the recovery rate for stolen vehicles has plummeted from the normal 96-98 percent down to the low 80s, and the pressure is on from headquarters to break the case. The detectives notice that all the outstanding thefts involve late-model General Motors cars in excellent condition, suggesting they're dealing with a sophisticated, well-organized ring of professional thieves. Following up on salvage reports, Friday and Romero focus their attention on Herman Salvage at 2716 West San Pedro Street. The operation appears legitimate on the surface, owned by Herman Lester for six years with no prior violations. However, one detail stands out: Herman's business has purchased an unusually high number of wrecked GM vehicles, four out of the last five salvage buys. When the detectives visit the salvage yard to inspect the recently acquired cars, they begin to piece together the puzzle of where the stolen vehicles might be ending up.

  22. The Big Speech

    Mar 26, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: April 19, 1951 Dragnet #97, "The Big Speech," Sergeant Joe Friday receives a telegram at home inviting him to speak about police work at his old high school, but the pleasant request is quickly overshadowed by urgent police business. Friday and his partner Ben Romero are called to investigate a vicious robbery at a doctor's office on Georgia Street. A narcotics addict they've been tracking for seven weeks has escalated his crimes dramatically, pistol-whipping fifty-five-year-old Dr. Gannon and leaving him in critical condition with a fractured jaw, seven missing teeth, and possible blindness in one eye. The young thief made off with a substantial haul of morphine, codeine, and other narcotics. Working with Sergeant Ed Hall from Narcotics Division, Friday and Romero pursue their only lead: a stolen car connected to the robbery. However, the investigation takes a puzzling turn when they discover the car's owner, Irving Adams, is actually a narcotics user himself who has been sitting in county jail for over a week. The detectives head to the jail's interview room to question Adams about why his wife reported the car stolen from him when he couldn't possibly have been driving it.

  23. The Big Threat

    Mar 25, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: April 12, 1951 Dragnet #96, "The Big Threat," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero investigate a puzzling case after Dr. Hart reports that his patient, Lewis Butler, was beaten and robbed of over $800. When the detectives arrive at Butler's accordion studio, they encounter a frightened middle-aged businessman sporting bandages and facial swelling who adamantly refuses to cooperate. Butler insists he wants to forget the entire incident and won't press charges, despite the severity of his injuries and the substantial loss. His evasive behavior and obvious fear suggest something more sinister is at play. Friday and Romero face mounting frustration as Butler dodges their questions and repeatedly asks them to leave. The investigation takes a darker turn when Friday reveals that half a dozen people in the neighborhood have been similarly victimized in recent weeks. Despite Friday's warnings that cooperating with criminals through silence will only lead to further blackmail and violence, Butler remains terrified, admitting he knows the identity of his attackers but fears for his family's safety. The detectives must find a way to break through Butler's wall of fear before the holdup men strike again.

  24. The Big Friend

    Mar 24, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: April 5, 1951 Dragnet #95, "The Big Friend," begins with a desperate phone call to Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero. Leonard Gray reports that his wife has been murdered in their home at 1627 Oxford Place. When the detectives arrive on the rainy Los Angeles night, they find Mrs. Gray's body on the dining room floor, showing signs of a struggle with a deep gash on her forehead and a broken vase nearby. Gray tells them he had been out drinking with his best friend and neighbor, Earl Anderson, after work. The two men stopped at their usual bar before Anderson drove them both home around six-thirty. Gray explains that when they arrived at his house, his wife Hazel was mildly upset about his lateness but more concerned about their car, which had mysteriously had the air let out of its back tires. Gray says he went to the garage to check on the problem, and when he returned, his wife was dead. Most troubling is Gray's claim that his best friend Earl Anderson, who lives just two houses down, is accusing him of the murder. Friday and Romero begin methodically investigating the scene while the crime lab is called in.

  25. The Big Ben

    Mar 23, 2026 · 28 min

    Originally Aired: March 15, 1951 Dragnet #92, "The Big Ben," Sergeants Joe Friday and Ben Romero investigate a brutal early morning robbery on Commercial Street. The victim, Harvey Kimbrough, a department store employee, stops to help what appears to be a stranded motorist around 5 a.m. on his way to work. Instead of finding someone in distress, Kimbrough is confronted by an armed man who pulls him from his vehicle at gunpoint, steals his wallet containing fourteen dollars, viciously strikes him in the face, and drives off with his 1948 blue Dodge sedan. A second vehicle, a late model two-tone green Chevrolet, follows as the getaway car. Friday and Romero begin their methodical investigation by interviewing Kimbrough at the Stacy Hollywood department store, then tracking down Sidney Ferguson, the good Samaritan who discovered the injured victim on the roadside and came to his assistance. As the detectives piece together witness statements and gather details about the suspect and stolen vehicles, they work to build their case and track down the violent criminal who left his victim bleeding on a deserted street.