November 13, 2025 • 32 mins
Today's Mystery:Joe Friday and Ben Romero investigate teens going wild in a neighborhood, culminating in a small riot in a theater.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: September 6, 1951
Originating from Hollywood
Starring: Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday; Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero; Herb Butterfield
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Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Original Radio Broadcast Date: September 6, 1951
Originating from Hollywood
Starring: Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday; Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero; Herb Butterfield
Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net
Patreon Supporter of the Day: Marla, Patreon supporter since January 2018.
Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.
Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net
Give us a call at 208-991-4783
Follow us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/greatdetectives
Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives
Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet, but
I do want to encourage you. If you are enjoying
the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software.
(00:50):
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 mailing a donation to Adam
Graham peel box one five nine one three. That's peel
box one five nine thirteen, Boise, Idaho eight three seven
(01:10):
one five. And you can also become one of our
ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as two dollars per month.
And I want to welcome Eric as our latest Patreon
supporter at the Shawmus level of four dollars or more
per month. Thanks so much for your support, Eric, And
now from Chamber sixth, nineteen fifty one, here is the
(01:34):
Big seventeen.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The story you were about to hear is true. The
names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a
detective sergeant. You're assigned a juvenile bureau. A series of
crime suddenly starts among teenage children in your city. Robberies, burglaries,
(02:05):
bodily assault that doesn't seem to be any reason for it.
The crime wave grows. Your job stop it.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
you will travel step by step on the side of
the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files,
from beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
the story of your police force in action.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Was Thursday, April tenth, was warm in Los Angeles. We
were working the night watch out of Juvenile Bureau. My
partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Stein. My name
is Friday. It was ten twenty seven pm when I
got to thirteen thirty five Georgia Street, second floor, the squadroom.
Joe got you, Yeah, you're ready, half a minute, all right,
get my coat on here, if you leave a note
(03:11):
for McNamara, Yeah, I set all right, let's hurry. Huh yeah,
same neighborhood we had the trouble Monday night. Uh huh,
sounds like the same gang too. These kids are sure moving.
Go ahead, Yeah, what is it this time movie theater
on West Fremont, small neighborhood house. Oh, they had a
crowd of fifteen to twenty kids in there tonight, mixed
group boys and girls. For no reason at all. They
(03:32):
started to tear the place up. They do much dammage. Well,
I don't know. We can see when we get there,
told me on the phone. In the theater manager tried
to quiet the kids down. Half of us boys piled
all over them. One of them pulled a knife. They
tore up a couple of seats up on the balcony,
moved out into the lobby, smashed mirrors and lamps. They
beat up one of the ashes. I was the little punks.
Where'd you park the car straight back? I'd give a
(03:52):
right arm to know how this thing got started. We've
never had much trouble from the kids in that neighborhood
out there, not till this last month seemed to be going.
It's not getting any better. Burglary's car, theft's wrecking property.
Somebody's going to come out on the short end. If
it keeps up, it's got to happen. Maybe it already has.
When they were ripping up that theater lobby tonight when
kid got hurt. What happened to a fourteen year old
boy and the mix up? He got shoved through a
(04:14):
display case plate glass, cut up pretty bad his eyes.
I'm not sure he'll see again. In police work, the
standard law of cause and effect works like it does
for everything else. When a crime is committed, there's a
cause behind it, there's a reason for it. And when
a group of normally well behaved kids in an average
residential neighborhood start running wild, there's got to be a
(04:36):
reason for that too. A month before, a rash of
auto thefts, petty stealing, and public disturbances had broken out
suddenly in the particular neighborhood. All of the incidents were
traced directly to the teenagers in the area. Why the
kids had suddenly decided to run wild, we didn't know,
But the amount and the nature of the violations kept
getting more serious. Juveniles who had previously been picked up
(04:57):
for petty thefts and placed on probation were now committing
burglar Auto steps in the area had jumped twenty percent.
Misconduct and drunk charges against the teenagers, girls and boys
alike increased by the week. We had a fair idea
what the root of all the trouble was, but so
far we hadn't been able to trace it. Ten forty
five pm we got to the neighborhood movie Theater on
(05:17):
West Fremont. We went inside. The lobby was a shambles.
Two large mirrors had been shattered, lamps and sofas overturned
and broken. The lobby candy counter had been wrecked completely.
The glass showcases were caved in, the popcorn machine was smashed,
the soft drink cooler turned on its side. The last
showing of the feature picture was still going on. We
interviewed the theater manager in the lobby, a mister Clyde Barton.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
They got real foul mouth, one or two of the
girls too, some of the language I wouldn't even use
at a stag party. I got some mad. I grabbed
two of the noisy ones by the neck and told
them to get out.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
That's when it broke loose.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Well what exactly happened.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
The whole crowd of them jumped out of their seats
and piled on me. I fell back down against the
stairs and I started swinging. Tell you a two sides,
and I was scared. I didn't know what to make
of them. Me seemed like a packup of animals wild.
I happened to hit this one kid, and I saw
him pull out a knife and come at me. Didn't
take me too long to get out of there. Kids
are not when a bunch of them like that come
(06:14):
after you, you run.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Yes, sir, you've called for the police as soon as
all this happened.
Speaker 7 (06:17):
You bet I did.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Just as soon as I could get out into the
lobby and into my office, I locked the door. I
could hear him turn the place up outside. Just look
at that smashed up everything inside. I have to have
something like this happen. Look at this candy stand.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Well, how about some of the kids you recognize in
that crowd?
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Ms boarn Oh, say, the last show is ready to break.
Folks are going to be coming out. You want to
step back here into my office. We can talk there
and be out of the way.
Speaker 6 (06:56):
And here we are.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Pull up a chair for yourself if I say thank you.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
I just got the feeling there's something radically wrong going
on with those kids.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
This is the first time you've ever had any trouble
of any real size, Is that right?
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Or once in a while the kids fall around in
the show talking loud, you know, but nothing like this.
Oh let's see Fred, my usher and the way they
missed him up brutal, And that little fourteen year old
they shoved through the glass showcase. It'll be a real
mess if he doesn't pull through.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And I was gonna ask you, sir, about the kids
in that crowd you recognize you haven't known any of
the name.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
Sure thing.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
I made a list of them while you were run
the way over here. I got a half dozen of
little more. That's another thing I can understand.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
You know what's sense when.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
These kids start running wild, no matter what they do,
they don't seem to care if they're recognized or that.
You think if they wanted to raise the devil, they
go over to some other neighborhood, someplace where people didn't
know them.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
They just don't seem to care.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yes, sir, we've had the same report from a couple
of other business people in the neighborhood here. Mister Barton,
you probably have a pretty fair opportunity to watch the
kids around here from time to time. I mean running
theater here, and I sure do.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Most of them are in here once a week anyway,
So all the kids I've known since they were knee pants.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Well, of you, any idea at all what's behind all
this trouble, I mean, any real indication.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Maybe I'm just the suspicious kind, but I've got an idea.
All right here, I'll get that list of names for
you at the same time. Yeah, they are seven names
in all. Every one of those kids was in that
gang tonight. I can give you a hand tracking down
the address and I'll thank you. Huh, there's something else.
(08:36):
Here's what I was talking about.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
What's this, sir?
Speaker 5 (08:40):
And that scramble in the lobby tonight? This little box
fell out of one of the kid's pockets. One of
the ushes picked it up, brought it into me. I
have a look inside.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Ben.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
I don't know too much about it, Sogean, but I
got a hunch. I don't think I made a mistake. Man,
what do you think? No, sir, no mistake.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
It's marijuana. We finished interviewing the theater manager, Clyde Barton,
and then we talked to the usher, a Donald Masters,
who recovered the small box containing the marijuana from the
floor of the lobby. He told us he recognized the
young fellow who dropped the box, but he wasn't sure.
He said the boy's name was Harold Everson, one of
the names which appeared on the list which the theater manager,
(09:26):
mister Barton, had given us. Half an hour later, Ben
and I located the Everson boys' home was a two
story frame colonial style house in the better than average
section of the area. The boy's father answered the door,
Harold Everson Senior. We told him what we wanted.
Speaker 8 (09:40):
A little late to be making routine calls. Don't you
think people have to get this sleep? Why can't you
let it wait until morning?
Speaker 4 (09:45):
It's not a routine called, mister Everson, like to see
your son. If he's on Harry, What do you have
to see him about? Would you have any idea where
your boy spend his time tonight, sir?
Speaker 8 (09:53):
He said he was going down to the gym, played
a little basketball, and he was going to the library.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
It's a school night. He had studying to do.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
I think maybe you ought to keep a little closer
check on your son, sir. That's not the way we get.
Speaker 8 (10:02):
It, you're getting at I trust my boy. He said,
he's going to the gym and under the library. He's
got no reason to lie about it.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
They had a minor riot at the neighborhood movie down
on West Fremont tonight. Gang of high school kids ran
wild and wrecked the place.
Speaker 7 (10:14):
What's that got to do with Harry?
Speaker 4 (10:15):
A couple of people recognized him among the gang of kids.
They said he did his share of wrecking along the
rest of 'em.
Speaker 8 (10:21):
Couldn't be it's a lie. Harry didn't go to the
show tonight, he told me when he got home. He
even had his books with him. He spent the night
at the library. Oh, I'd like to have.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
You take a look at this, mister Everson. Huh this
box here? Would you recognize this at all?
Speaker 8 (10:36):
Yeah, same kind of box. My stomach pills come in.
Got a little ass condition of my stomach. I take
these pills for it. What's all this have to do
with Harry?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
I'm going to open the box for you, mister Everson.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
I don't get it. What is this stuff?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Someone saw your son drop the box in the lobby
of the theater tonight. The box contains marijuana.
Speaker 8 (10:56):
It's stupid. It couldn't be right. I haven't got that
kind of a boy, I know it is, right.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Do you mind if we talk to your son. Maybe
he can explain it for.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
Us just a minute. I'll get him down here, all right,
have a cheroche.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
One, thank you. Sure a nice place, an Joe. Yeah,
beautiful furniture. There's nothing like period furniture. Never goes out
a day. Be just as much in styled ten years
from now as it is today. We better be sure
and take by Georgia Street Hospital on the way back,
and sure that kid's doing. You know, the one that
was hurt at the show. Oh yeah, this.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Is my boy, Harry.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Officer.
Speaker 8 (11:28):
Harry just told me offices. He doesn't know what this
is all about. He was at the library, like I said.
Speaker 6 (11:32):
Sure, I was there to lay closed. Somebody made a mistake.
I wasn't at the show tonight.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
But Harry, do you know mister Barton, the man who
runs the theater. Yeah, I know at least swear as
you were there tonight. So does one of the iceers.
Oh boy, but the name of Donald Masters, he says,
he knows you pretty well.
Speaker 6 (11:47):
I don't know any Donald Masters.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
You go to the same high school together, son, You're
in the same class.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
I told you, I don't know any Donald Masters.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
What about this, Harry, This box here. Do you recognize this?
Speaker 6 (11:59):
No?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
What's the matters? Huh?
Speaker 7 (12:02):
What is it? Harry? What's wrong with you?
Speaker 6 (12:04):
Nothing? I don't know whose it is. It's not mine.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Was lost in the lobby of the theater tonight. Master
says he saw you drop him.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
He's lying. I hate the kid's guts anyway, he's lying.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
But you said you didn't know him, Son, what's wrong
with you?
Speaker 7 (12:16):
What he's shaking for? Kind of a story you're trying
to tell?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
I didn't mean it? Then, kid got this stuff for me.
I didn't mean to get I didn't mean to dead.
Speaker 8 (12:33):
That's forgetting to look like I'm the dummy of the family.
Take it easy, mister Everson, Harry, you're a liar.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
Kid got the stuff for me, That is the truth.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
I didn't buy it.
Speaker 8 (12:43):
You want him downtown officer, So mister Effson'd like to
have you come down with him.
Speaker 7 (12:47):
We get your clothes on, go back your room, get
your clothes on.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
Okay, dead.
Speaker 8 (12:54):
Trying to believe son using marijuana. I can't tell you
how I feel.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
I'm afraid there's going to be more folks feeling the
same way before this is cleaned up.
Speaker 8 (13:02):
Would be different if Harry didn't have a chance, but
good home, good training boys had the best I could
give it. Yes, wife and I, we never thought we
had a worry in the world as far as Harry
was concerned.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Yes, sir, maybe that's why it happened. Before we left
the Everson house, we checked the boy's room and came
up with another small box full of marijuana, which he'd
hidden back in his closet. Besides Everson and his son Harry,
more than a half a dozen other teenagers who'd had
a part in the theater brawl were rounded up and
taken downtown along with their fathers for interrogation. By the
(13:35):
time we finished our questioning and the teenagers had finished talking,
we had most of the story piece together, a story
that had the parents so amazed that half of them
thought the youngsters were making it up. The pattern was
familiar enough for us to know that they were telling
the truth. Almost two months before, word had gone around
among the teenagers in the neighborhood that marijuana, along with
various stimulating drugs, was to be had easily and in
(13:56):
quantity for anybody who wanted them. Word was passed around
that it was the new thing to do. The smart
thing to do if you wanted to keep up with
the crowd. In questioning the Everson boy, we found that
he seemed to know more about the history and operations
of the narcotics campaign in the neighborhood than the other boys.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Did I know one of the guys who first showed
up with this stuff names Johnny Demring. He's about my age, seventeen.
I used to know him pretty well.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
How do you mean he was the first to show
up with this stuff? Harry? What kind of stuff?
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Marijuana? Some of the other things? You know, yellow jackets, goofballs.
More of the kids go for them than they do
for marijuana.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Do the youngsters know what these goofballs are made of? Sun?
They know what they are.
Speaker 6 (14:32):
It's dope. I guess narcotics. The kids get a big
kick at him. I guess that's all lakes here.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
It's Johnny Demmering. Does he sell the stuff around the neighborhood, Harry.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Yeah, he was the first one. He's got a couple
of other kids selling for him, now, a couple of girls.
They sell a lot for him. Johnny makes pretty good money.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yeah, I guess he does. Where does he get the
stuff from? You know?
Speaker 6 (14:52):
No, I wouldn't know that. Someplace downtown. Johnny knows a guy.
He's never told anybody where he goes to meet the guy.
Nobody ever goes with him.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Was Johnny at the shit with you tonight?
Speaker 6 (15:01):
No, he doesn't hang around with the kids much anymore.
He's getting a little big time. I think he's got
his own car and good looking girlfriend downtown. Says he's
gonna quit school next month.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Where does Johnny live, son, Can you tell us?
Speaker 6 (15:13):
I don't know the address right off. I can check
it in the phone book for you.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
How about the kids Johnny gets to sell us? Can
you give us their name?
Speaker 6 (15:21):
Yeah, okay, I think I can remember who they are.
You gonna bring Johnny in.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
And talk to him, that's the idea. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
I don't know if you're gonna find him right away.
He probably heard about the trouble tonight. And Johnny's a
pretty smart guy. I don't think you'll find him very easy.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
I think we'll find him.
Speaker 6 (15:36):
Nobody knows much about him. He never talks about what
he's doing, never tells anybody anything. Pretty smart guy.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
He told you how smart was that? Complete statements were
taken from each of the youngsters we'd brought in for questioning,
and then in practically all cases they were released into
the custody of their parents pending action by the juvenile court.
With the information we had at hand, it took us
the better part of Ford to round up everybody involved
in the narcotics distribution system which had been set up
(16:04):
among the teenagers in the neighborhood by seventeen year old
Johnny Demering. As for the Demuring Boy himself, he couldn't
be found. We checked with his family, his relatives, as friends,
all his known associates. We got out a want for him.
Then we checked the car that he owned through DMV.
We got out a want for that. No sign of
the boy. Narcotics Detail gave us a hand and got
(16:24):
their informants busy trying to track down the source of
the dope for which the Demmuring Boy had been the
only neighborhood distributor. We knew it went far beyond him.
It reached to the same vicious men who make their
money off the hopeless adult drug addict, the same vicious
men who today are trying to build a new market
for their wares among the young people of this country. Tuesday,
(16:44):
April twenty ninth, two thirty pm. Again right, June Bureau
Meril Oh, yeah, Briddy, Yeah, huh, that's try what's his name? Yeah, yeah, okay,
right away, right, but it's ready from narcotics. They figured
they got our man, the Demmuring Boy, No, the guy
(17:05):
who pushed his stuff to Demmering. His name is Jock o'harris.
They found him in a Kunty hospital this morning. Somebody
got a hold of him two nights ago and gave
him a good work and over. We're lucky, we're making
What do you mean, he's not supposed to last out
the day. Two thirty five pm, Ben and I left
the office and went immediately to the Katie Hospital where
we were allowed to briefly interview the narcotics suspect, Jock o'harris.
(17:29):
He was in a critical condition with a fracture of
the skull. He gave us a statement in the form
of a dying declaration. He admitted being the contact man
for seventeen year old Johnny Demmering, and he admitted also
that he had kept the boy supplied with enough narcotics
to keep the neighborhood teenage demand for the stuff fully satisfied,
Sae like.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
A good kid. Never thought he turned?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
What do you mean, Jocko, how he turned?
Speaker 7 (17:52):
Why do you think I'm here?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
You mean he's the one who worked over? Yeah? Where
is he, Jocko? Do you know?
Speaker 9 (17:57):
No?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Do you know where he's staying? Do you have any idea?
You all?
Speaker 6 (18:01):
No?
Speaker 7 (18:02):
Still all my stuff?
Speaker 6 (18:04):
Every outs?
Speaker 4 (18:05):
What was it? Heroin? Yeah? Listen, Yeah, get him fast.
Speaker 7 (18:14):
He's got enough junk to start a war.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
You're in a cruiser car of a metropolitan police department.
You receive a routine radio car.
Speaker 9 (18:32):
All units attention, All units pick up and hold for investigation.
The following vehicle nineteen forty eight Ford, two door Sedan, black,
white side wall tires.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
There are many cars that fit this description. You listen
for more facts.
Speaker 9 (18:46):
This car will have extensive damage to write front end
license number nine Robert nine seven oh seven in the
seven column nine Robert nine seven o seven.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Now you can pin it down to one.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Wednesday, April thirtieth, nine am. The hunt for seventeen year
old Johnny Demmering was intensified, to our knowledge, because of
the information we'd gained from narcotics peddler Jocko Harris. The
teenage youngster had a large store of high grade heroine,
which we knew because of his inexperience he was unaccustomed
to dealing with. In his hands, the narcotics immediately became
(19:31):
a lethal weapon. We knew that Johnny Demering had only
one market to deal in, only one type of customer.
He was acquainted with the teenager in previous transactions. We
knew that the youngsters received only a low grade type
of narcotic, highly deluded. We knew that if Demmring succeeded
in dispensing the highly concentrated store that he had on hand,
and the juvenile customers he served tried it on themselves,
(19:52):
it would very likely result in death. Three pm Wednesday,
Despite all our efforts, Johnny Demmering and the store of
high greade narcotics which he'd hijacked from Jock o'hrris were
still missing. Wednesday twelve noon, we began rechecking every one
of the possible sources that might lead us to the suspect.
One of them was the boy's mother, Missus Francis Demmering.
We talked to her at work. She was employed as
(20:14):
a motograph operator in the mailing department of a large
downtown department store.
Speaker 10 (20:20):
Not since the last time you talked to me, sarje
and I haven't heard a word from my boy, nothing
at all.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Have you heard anything? Well, yes, ma'am, in a way,
they've got an idea. There's still somewhere in the city.
That's why we figured we'd come back and talk to
you again. Have you been in touch with your relatives
in town recently, Miss Demmering, I mean knows that Johnny
might possibly contact.
Speaker 6 (20:38):
Yeah, there's just my sister and my mother.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Yes, ra'am.
Speaker 10 (20:41):
I guess it just wasn't to be right from the start.
Johnny's father ran away, you know. Tried my best after
that never seemed to be enough. I suppose there's no
getting away from it. A boy needs a father. Try
all you want, they still need a father, some kind
of discipline.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
How about the relatives you have out of town, Miss Demmering,
any word from them? And all about john.
Speaker 10 (21:00):
No, sergeant nothing.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Would you excuse me? Please? This run here is finished.
I have to get it.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Off the machine.
Speaker 10 (21:08):
Yes, terrible thing, Johnny getting mixed up in all this
seems no matter how you try, it's never enough, never enough.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Do you have any idea at all where Johnny would
most likely go in down if he didn't want to
be seen, missus demmering.
Speaker 11 (21:21):
We'd go.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
No, I wouldn't know that, Sergeant. First place, Johnny's never
really been in trouble before.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
How about Johnny's school friends, ma'am. Would there be any
one of them he might possibly contact in a gym?
None that I haven't told you about before.
Speaker 10 (21:33):
I don't think Evelyn, she's the only one I suppose
Johnny go to if he needed help if he was
in trouble.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
That's his girlfriend at the high school, isn't it, Evelyn maxiwmell.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
Yes, that's right, sweet girl.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
How about a girlfriend Johnny was supposed to have downtown somewhere,
missus demming? Would you know anything about her? Nothing? Really?
Speaker 6 (21:48):
No name was Betty.
Speaker 11 (21:49):
I think you.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Have no idea where she lived downtown?
Speaker 6 (21:51):
No, I don't, Sergeant.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Well, all right, ma'am, thank you very much, appreciate it
if you'd notify us if you hear anything about your
son at all.
Speaker 10 (21:58):
All right, sergeant, thank you. Tomorrow's Johnny's birthday. You know
I meant to tell you always expect Johnny home on
his birthday. Seems no matter where he is, how he's
tied up with his school or sports or something, Johnny
always makes it home for his birthday.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
I wonder how it'll be tomorrow. He's never missed once,
not once. Well, if he shows up, I guess you
can count on one thing, ma'am. What's that he's going
to have to miss next year? Two pm, Ben and
I picked up a glass of milk and a hot
dog for lunch, and then we continued making a check
of Johnny Demmering's closest friends. Next in line after his
(22:32):
mother was Demering's high school girlfriend, Evelyn Maxford. Relocated her
at her home. A tall, attractive brunette, nicely dressed and
well mannered, she seemed unusually nervous as we interviewed her.
Speaker 11 (22:43):
I haven't heard a word, Sergeant. I know tomorrow's his birthday.
His mother's expecting him home. I know he won't come though,
sure of that?
Speaker 4 (22:49):
Are you sure, miss Well? I just know That's all
I'd like to ask you again. Yes, Are you sure
you haven't heard from Johnny Demmering recently in the past
two days or so?
Speaker 11 (22:58):
No, that's what I told you. Don't you believe me?
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Do you know why? We're so anxious to locate Johnny,
Miss Matxman, Well, I think so.
Speaker 11 (23:03):
It's about the narcotics business. You say Johnny had a
hand in it, he was selling those things to the kids.
I still don't believe it myself.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
It's a lot more than that the way it stands now,
Miss Maxon, what do you mean. Well, when he was
at school, Johnny was kept supplied with narcotics by a
man named Jock o' Harris. He's what we call a pusher,
kind of an in between supply man and a narcotics train. Well,
two nights ago Johnny caught up with this Harris. He
beat him up badly enough to send him to the
hospital with a fractured skull. And then Johnny stole everybody
in narcotics that Harris had in his room, some of
(23:32):
the strongest stuff you can buy on the market. That's
why we want Johnny, Miss Maxley.
Speaker 11 (23:37):
I don't think I understand. What does it mean?
Speaker 4 (23:39):
It means that most of the teenage kids Johnny's been
supplying stuff to have been getting fairly weak grades in narcotics.
If he gets some of this stuff to them and
the kids start taking it, it might prove too strong
for him. They take too much of it. It could
kill him out right. Now, you see what we're up against.
We've got to find that boy. We got to find
him soon.
Speaker 11 (23:58):
Couldn't you talk to his mother? Maybe she could tell you.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Something we already have. Man, she couldn't tell us anything.
That's why we halfway depended on you.
Speaker 11 (24:05):
Why do they have to put it in my lap?
Why does it have to be me? I like Johnny
for a while, I don't know what to think.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Now, well, have you heard from a miss Maxford? Now,
there's no reason to be afraid. You'd probably feel a
lot worse if something happened to one of the high
school kids, wouldn't you that?
Speaker 11 (24:21):
I got a call from him yesterday. Johnny wouldn't tell
me where he was. I asked him, but he wouldn't
tell me.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
What else did he say?
Speaker 11 (24:27):
He knows everybody's looking for He doesn't know about the
stuff that he stole. Oh, I'm sure that he doesn't
know what it could do.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Did he make any dates with you? Did he want
to see you?
Speaker 11 (24:36):
Yes, he wants to see me. He wants me to
meet him tonight.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Where excuse me? Yes? Go ahead?
Speaker 11 (24:44):
Hello, Yes, I don't know. I don't really what seven
o'clock A right, yes, yes, I'll meet him, A right goodbye.
That was Johnny just then. He wanted to make sure
I was going to meet him tonight. When at seven
o'clock tonight, right near Westlake Park, which side the west side, Sergeant,
(25:05):
we hope to god it's not true.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
What's it the.
Speaker 11 (25:08):
Narcotics he stole from that man? He said they were powerful?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Yes we did.
Speaker 11 (25:12):
Johnny's been taking them for two days.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Six forty five pm, Together with two other men from
Juvenile Bureau, Hurst and Tye, we drove near the appointed
spot along the lake in Westlake Park where Evelyn Maxford's
meeting with a teenage suspect, Johnny Demmering was to take place.
We staked out at a reasonable distance and Miss Maxford
went ahead to the meeting spot. As far as we
could see, there was no sign of Demmering. Somebody on
(25:37):
the opposite side of the lake was playing a phonograph.
The music came over faintly across the water. We watched
the Maxford girl cross the long stretch of grass down
to the lake. She approached the shore, We saw her
stop and look down.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Show let's go, come on, yo.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
We ran all away as fast as we could get there.
When we got close enough, we found out the reason
for the scream. He was lying face up on the ground,
near the edge of a small clump of trees, close
to the water. It was a good looking boy, dark hair,
good build. Took only one look and you knew right
away he was too young to be dead. You could
argue for a week, but you wouldn't change it. He
was dead. The girl stood over him, her face in
(26:16):
her hands, crying. No marks on the body, Joe, none
at all. It must be it. Huh, an overdose. That's
the way it looks to me. We better get her
out of here, hadn't we. Yeah, Miss Maxford, come on, Miss.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
Maxford, it's starch.
Speaker 11 (26:32):
It's all right. It's all right now.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
We'll have one of the other men drive you home.
We can take care of whatever has to be done here.
Speaker 11 (26:37):
It was a good boy, It was smart. How do
you ever get started such a thing? Could you ever
make such a mistake?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
At He's got the best excuse in the world, miss, Yes,
he was seventeen.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
The star you have just heard was true. The names
were changed to protect the innocent.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
On May second, a coroner's inquest was held at the
County Morgue Hall of Justice, City and County of Los Angeles,
State of California in a moment the results of that inquest.
At the inquest, the coroner's jury ruled that seventeen year
(27:23):
old John Andrew Demering had administered himself an overdose of
narcotics and thus had taken his own life. All others
involved in the juvenile narcotics ring, a total of eight
persons were tried and convicted under the State Narcotics Act.
They received sentences as prescribed by law and are now
serving their terms in the state penitentiary. You have just
(27:52):
heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files.
Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police W. H. Parker,
Los Angeles Police Department.
Speaker 7 (28:03):
Stay tuned for Color Spy next on NBC.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Welcome Back. This episode portrays something really interesting that we
might struggle to relate to, and that is the degree
to which that the people in this neighborhood are just
utterly shocked as a seemingly nice neighborhood with good kids
and good parents went wrong and seemingly out of nowhere.
(28:38):
It's a tragedy, but it feels almost like a sudden disasters.
You know, the families are shocked. Jock o'harris was obviously
shocked at giving a kid with big ideas drugs didn't
go well. And of course the only reason that Johnny
didn't cause a bunch of kids to old was that
(29:01):
he himself.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Oh deed.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Today, I think our culture has changed, and there are
some crimes that might shock us apps depending on where
we lived and how we viewed that area, but we
don't really have that same shock about many of the
things described in this episode. Well, listener comments and feedback now,
(29:28):
and we have a couple of from a listener who
changes as user name on Spotify frequently, but we'll go
with it, Doctor who Done It, who commented on a
couple of episodes of Dragnet, and we start with the
(29:50):
big sophomore listener rites to think this is based on
real life events as heart wrenching. Honestly feel guilt because
in the first ten minutes I was thinking, lock them up.
You never know what it's like until you walk in
their shoes. Very true. And then on the begin laws
(30:13):
rights of all the crimes against the mother in law,
this is not the one I was expecting. I don't
condone the crime, but I understand the criminal. Thanks so much,
appreciate your comments. Now it is time to thank our
Patreon supporter of the day, and I want to go
ahead and thank Marla, Patreon supporter since January twenty eighteen,
(30:35):
currently supporting the podcast at the shawmus level of four
dollars or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Marla,
and that will do it for today. If you're enjoying
the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software
and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever
you download it from. We'll be back next Thursday with
(30:58):
another episode of Dragnat. Join us back here tomorrow for
yours truly, Johnny, all are aware.
Speaker 9 (31:07):
Coming in?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Well, it's about time, Paul.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
I began to think you got yourself another board.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I think the company has thinking on a couple of
steps investigators, but I managed to convince the press and you.
Speaker 9 (31:19):
Can handle it.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
Which one particular.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
One of our clients, Nina's John welcome.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Oh, I get it. One of the chances somebody getting hurt.
You don't want your own man to take any chances.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Okay, I'll go.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Anything eighteen.
Speaker 9 (31:36):
Do you think Mama time down in New York?
Speaker 4 (31:37):
That's right.
Speaker 8 (31:38):
I'm thinking if we send you down up, you send.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Anyone else and another thing, what that There'll be a
nice scene. And I think expencumented this man.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Welcome Ali, Oh my wife two thousand dollars, three thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Well, well, a long time since I've seen 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, Radio Detectives, and check us out on Instagram, Instagram,
dot com, slash Great Detectives from Boise, Idaho. This is
(32:21):
your host, Adam Graham.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Sign and off.
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet, but
I do want to encourage you. If you are enjoying
the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software.
(00:50):
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 mailing a donation to Adam
Graham peel box one five nine one three. That's peel
box one five nine thirteen, Boise, Idaho eight three seven
(01:10):
one five. And you can also become one of our
ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as two dollars per month.
And I want to welcome Eric as our latest Patreon
supporter at the Shawmus level of four dollars or more
per month. Thanks so much for your support, Eric, And
now from Chamber sixth, nineteen fifty one, here is the
(01:34):
Big seventeen.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The story you were about to hear is true. The
names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a
detective sergeant. You're assigned a juvenile bureau. A series of
crime suddenly starts among teenage children in your city. Robberies, burglaries,
(02:05):
bodily assault that doesn't seem to be any reason for it.
The crime wave grows. Your job stop it.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
you will travel step by step on the side of
the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files,
from beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
the story of your police force in action.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Was Thursday, April tenth, was warm in Los Angeles. We
were working the night watch out of Juvenile Bureau. My
partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Stein. My name
is Friday. It was ten twenty seven pm when I
got to thirteen thirty five Georgia Street, second floor, the squadroom.
Joe got you, Yeah, you're ready, half a minute, all right,
get my coat on here, if you leave a note
(03:11):
for McNamara, Yeah, I set all right, let's hurry. Huh yeah,
same neighborhood we had the trouble Monday night. Uh huh,
sounds like the same gang too. These kids are sure moving.
Go ahead, Yeah, what is it this time movie theater
on West Fremont, small neighborhood house. Oh, they had a
crowd of fifteen to twenty kids in there tonight, mixed
group boys and girls. For no reason at all. They
(03:32):
started to tear the place up. They do much dammage. Well,
I don't know. We can see when we get there,
told me on the phone. In the theater manager tried
to quiet the kids down. Half of us boys piled
all over them. One of them pulled a knife. They
tore up a couple of seats up on the balcony,
moved out into the lobby, smashed mirrors and lamps. They
beat up one of the ashes. I was the little punks.
Where'd you park the car straight back? I'd give a
(03:52):
right arm to know how this thing got started. We've
never had much trouble from the kids in that neighborhood
out there, not till this last month seemed to be going.
It's not getting any better. Burglary's car, theft's wrecking property.
Somebody's going to come out on the short end. If
it keeps up, it's got to happen. Maybe it already has.
When they were ripping up that theater lobby tonight when
kid got hurt. What happened to a fourteen year old
boy and the mix up? He got shoved through a
(04:14):
display case plate glass, cut up pretty bad his eyes.
I'm not sure he'll see again. In police work, the
standard law of cause and effect works like it does
for everything else. When a crime is committed, there's a
cause behind it, there's a reason for it. And when
a group of normally well behaved kids in an average
residential neighborhood start running wild, there's got to be a
(04:36):
reason for that too. A month before, a rash of
auto thefts, petty stealing, and public disturbances had broken out
suddenly in the particular neighborhood. All of the incidents were
traced directly to the teenagers in the area. Why the
kids had suddenly decided to run wild, we didn't know,
But the amount and the nature of the violations kept
getting more serious. Juveniles who had previously been picked up
(04:57):
for petty thefts and placed on probation were now committing
burglar Auto steps in the area had jumped twenty percent.
Misconduct and drunk charges against the teenagers, girls and boys
alike increased by the week. We had a fair idea
what the root of all the trouble was, but so
far we hadn't been able to trace it. Ten forty
five pm we got to the neighborhood movie Theater on
(05:17):
West Fremont. We went inside. The lobby was a shambles.
Two large mirrors had been shattered, lamps and sofas overturned
and broken. The lobby candy counter had been wrecked completely.
The glass showcases were caved in, the popcorn machine was smashed,
the soft drink cooler turned on its side. The last
showing of the feature picture was still going on. We
interviewed the theater manager in the lobby, a mister Clyde Barton.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
They got real foul mouth, one or two of the
girls too, some of the language I wouldn't even use
at a stag party. I got some mad. I grabbed
two of the noisy ones by the neck and told
them to get out.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
That's when it broke loose.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Well what exactly happened.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
The whole crowd of them jumped out of their seats
and piled on me. I fell back down against the
stairs and I started swinging. Tell you a two sides,
and I was scared. I didn't know what to make
of them. Me seemed like a packup of animals wild.
I happened to hit this one kid, and I saw
him pull out a knife and come at me. Didn't
take me too long to get out of there. Kids
are not when a bunch of them like that come
(06:14):
after you, you run.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Yes, sir, you've called for the police as soon as
all this happened.
Speaker 7 (06:17):
You bet I did.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Just as soon as I could get out into the
lobby and into my office, I locked the door. I
could hear him turn the place up outside. Just look
at that smashed up everything inside. I have to have
something like this happen. Look at this candy stand.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Well, how about some of the kids you recognize in
that crowd?
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Ms boarn Oh, say, the last show is ready to break.
Folks are going to be coming out. You want to
step back here into my office. We can talk there
and be out of the way.
Speaker 6 (06:56):
And here we are.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
Pull up a chair for yourself if I say thank you.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
I just got the feeling there's something radically wrong going
on with those kids.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
This is the first time you've ever had any trouble
of any real size, Is that right?
Speaker 6 (07:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:09):
Or once in a while the kids fall around in
the show talking loud, you know, but nothing like this.
Oh let's see Fred, my usher and the way they
missed him up brutal, And that little fourteen year old
they shoved through the glass showcase. It'll be a real
mess if he doesn't pull through.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
And I was gonna ask you, sir, about the kids
in that crowd you recognize you haven't known any of
the name.
Speaker 6 (07:29):
Sure thing.
Speaker 5 (07:30):
I made a list of them while you were run
the way over here. I got a half dozen of
little more. That's another thing I can understand.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
You know what's sense when.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
These kids start running wild, no matter what they do,
they don't seem to care if they're recognized or that.
You think if they wanted to raise the devil, they
go over to some other neighborhood, someplace where people didn't
know them.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
They just don't seem to care.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yes, sir, we've had the same report from a couple
of other business people in the neighborhood here. Mister Barton,
you probably have a pretty fair opportunity to watch the
kids around here from time to time. I mean running
theater here, and I sure do.
Speaker 5 (08:01):
Most of them are in here once a week anyway,
So all the kids I've known since they were knee pants.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Well, of you, any idea at all what's behind all
this trouble, I mean, any real indication.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Maybe I'm just the suspicious kind, but I've got an idea.
All right here, I'll get that list of names for
you at the same time. Yeah, they are seven names
in all. Every one of those kids was in that
gang tonight. I can give you a hand tracking down
the address and I'll thank you. Huh, there's something else.
(08:36):
Here's what I was talking about.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
What's this, sir?
Speaker 5 (08:40):
And that scramble in the lobby tonight? This little box
fell out of one of the kid's pockets. One of
the ushes picked it up, brought it into me. I
have a look inside.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Ben.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
I don't know too much about it, Sogean, but I
got a hunch. I don't think I made a mistake. Man,
what do you think? No, sir, no mistake.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
It's marijuana. We finished interviewing the theater manager, Clyde Barton,
and then we talked to the usher, a Donald Masters,
who recovered the small box containing the marijuana from the
floor of the lobby. He told us he recognized the
young fellow who dropped the box, but he wasn't sure.
He said the boy's name was Harold Everson, one of
the names which appeared on the list which the theater manager,
(09:26):
mister Barton, had given us. Half an hour later, Ben
and I located the Everson boys' home was a two
story frame colonial style house in the better than average
section of the area. The boy's father answered the door,
Harold Everson Senior. We told him what we wanted.
Speaker 8 (09:40):
A little late to be making routine calls. Don't you
think people have to get this sleep? Why can't you
let it wait until morning?
Speaker 4 (09:45):
It's not a routine called, mister Everson, like to see
your son. If he's on Harry, What do you have
to see him about? Would you have any idea where
your boy spend his time tonight, sir?
Speaker 8 (09:53):
He said he was going down to the gym, played
a little basketball, and he was going to the library.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
It's a school night. He had studying to do.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
I think maybe you ought to keep a little closer
check on your son, sir. That's not the way we get.
Speaker 8 (10:02):
It, you're getting at I trust my boy. He said,
he's going to the gym and under the library. He's
got no reason to lie about it.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
They had a minor riot at the neighborhood movie down
on West Fremont tonight. Gang of high school kids ran
wild and wrecked the place.
Speaker 7 (10:14):
What's that got to do with Harry?
Speaker 4 (10:15):
A couple of people recognized him among the gang of kids.
They said he did his share of wrecking along the
rest of 'em.
Speaker 8 (10:21):
Couldn't be it's a lie. Harry didn't go to the
show tonight, he told me when he got home. He
even had his books with him. He spent the night
at the library. Oh, I'd like to have.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
You take a look at this, mister Everson. Huh this
box here? Would you recognize this at all?
Speaker 8 (10:36):
Yeah, same kind of box. My stomach pills come in.
Got a little ass condition of my stomach. I take
these pills for it. What's all this have to do
with Harry?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
I'm going to open the box for you, mister Everson.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
I don't get it. What is this stuff?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Someone saw your son drop the box in the lobby
of the theater tonight. The box contains marijuana.
Speaker 8 (10:56):
It's stupid. It couldn't be right. I haven't got that
kind of a boy, I know it is, right.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Do you mind if we talk to your son. Maybe
he can explain it for.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
Us just a minute. I'll get him down here, all right,
have a cheroche.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
One, thank you. Sure a nice place, an Joe. Yeah,
beautiful furniture. There's nothing like period furniture. Never goes out
a day. Be just as much in styled ten years
from now as it is today. We better be sure
and take by Georgia Street Hospital on the way back,
and sure that kid's doing. You know, the one that
was hurt at the show. Oh yeah, this.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Is my boy, Harry.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Officer.
Speaker 8 (11:28):
Harry just told me offices. He doesn't know what this
is all about. He was at the library, like I said.
Speaker 6 (11:32):
Sure, I was there to lay closed. Somebody made a mistake.
I wasn't at the show tonight.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
But Harry, do you know mister Barton, the man who
runs the theater. Yeah, I know at least swear as
you were there tonight. So does one of the iceers.
Oh boy, but the name of Donald Masters, he says,
he knows you pretty well.
Speaker 6 (11:47):
I don't know any Donald Masters.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
You go to the same high school together, son, You're
in the same class.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
I told you, I don't know any Donald Masters.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
What about this, Harry, This box here. Do you recognize this?
Speaker 6 (11:59):
No?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
What's the matters? Huh?
Speaker 7 (12:02):
What is it? Harry? What's wrong with you?
Speaker 6 (12:04):
Nothing? I don't know whose it is. It's not mine.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Was lost in the lobby of the theater tonight. Master
says he saw you drop him.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
He's lying. I hate the kid's guts anyway, he's lying.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
But you said you didn't know him, Son, what's wrong
with you?
Speaker 7 (12:16):
What he's shaking for? Kind of a story you're trying
to tell?
Speaker 6 (12:23):
I didn't mean it? Then, kid got this stuff for me.
I didn't mean to get I didn't mean to dead.
Speaker 8 (12:33):
That's forgetting to look like I'm the dummy of the family.
Take it easy, mister Everson, Harry, you're a liar.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
Kid got the stuff for me, That is the truth.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
I didn't buy it.
Speaker 8 (12:43):
You want him downtown officer, So mister Effson'd like to
have you come down with him.
Speaker 7 (12:47):
We get your clothes on, go back your room, get
your clothes on.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
Okay, dead.
Speaker 8 (12:54):
Trying to believe son using marijuana. I can't tell you
how I feel.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
I'm afraid there's going to be more folks feeling the
same way before this is cleaned up.
Speaker 8 (13:02):
Would be different if Harry didn't have a chance, but
good home, good training boys had the best I could
give it. Yes, wife and I, we never thought we
had a worry in the world as far as Harry
was concerned.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Yes, sir, maybe that's why it happened. Before we left
the Everson house, we checked the boy's room and came
up with another small box full of marijuana, which he'd
hidden back in his closet. Besides Everson and his son Harry,
more than a half a dozen other teenagers who'd had
a part in the theater brawl were rounded up and
taken downtown along with their fathers for interrogation. By the
(13:35):
time we finished our questioning and the teenagers had finished talking,
we had most of the story piece together, a story
that had the parents so amazed that half of them
thought the youngsters were making it up. The pattern was
familiar enough for us to know that they were telling
the truth. Almost two months before, word had gone around
among the teenagers in the neighborhood that marijuana, along with
various stimulating drugs, was to be had easily and in
(13:56):
quantity for anybody who wanted them. Word was passed around
that it was the new thing to do. The smart
thing to do if you wanted to keep up with
the crowd. In questioning the Everson boy, we found that
he seemed to know more about the history and operations
of the narcotics campaign in the neighborhood than the other boys.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Did I know one of the guys who first showed
up with this stuff names Johnny Demring. He's about my age, seventeen.
I used to know him pretty well.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
How do you mean he was the first to show
up with this stuff? Harry? What kind of stuff?
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Marijuana? Some of the other things? You know, yellow jackets, goofballs.
More of the kids go for them than they do
for marijuana.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Do the youngsters know what these goofballs are made of? Sun?
They know what they are.
Speaker 6 (14:32):
It's dope. I guess narcotics. The kids get a big
kick at him. I guess that's all lakes here.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
It's Johnny Demmering. Does he sell the stuff around the neighborhood, Harry.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Yeah, he was the first one. He's got a couple
of other kids selling for him, now, a couple of girls.
They sell a lot for him. Johnny makes pretty good money.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Yeah, I guess he does. Where does he get the
stuff from? You know?
Speaker 6 (14:52):
No, I wouldn't know that. Someplace downtown. Johnny knows a guy.
He's never told anybody where he goes to meet the guy.
Nobody ever goes with him.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Was Johnny at the shit with you tonight?
Speaker 6 (15:01):
No, he doesn't hang around with the kids much anymore.
He's getting a little big time. I think he's got
his own car and good looking girlfriend downtown. Says he's
gonna quit school next month.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Where does Johnny live, son, Can you tell us?
Speaker 6 (15:13):
I don't know the address right off. I can check
it in the phone book for you.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
How about the kids Johnny gets to sell us? Can
you give us their name?
Speaker 6 (15:21):
Yeah, okay, I think I can remember who they are.
You gonna bring Johnny in.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
And talk to him, that's the idea. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
I don't know if you're gonna find him right away.
He probably heard about the trouble tonight. And Johnny's a
pretty smart guy. I don't think you'll find him very easy.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
I think we'll find him.
Speaker 6 (15:36):
Nobody knows much about him. He never talks about what
he's doing, never tells anybody anything. Pretty smart guy.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
He told you how smart was that? Complete statements were
taken from each of the youngsters we'd brought in for questioning,
and then in practically all cases they were released into
the custody of their parents pending action by the juvenile court.
With the information we had at hand, it took us
the better part of Ford to round up everybody involved
in the narcotics distribution system which had been set up
(16:04):
among the teenagers in the neighborhood by seventeen year old
Johnny Demering. As for the Demuring Boy himself, he couldn't
be found. We checked with his family, his relatives, as friends,
all his known associates. We got out a want for him.
Then we checked the car that he owned through DMV.
We got out a want for that. No sign of
the boy. Narcotics Detail gave us a hand and got
(16:24):
their informants busy trying to track down the source of
the dope for which the Demmuring Boy had been the
only neighborhood distributor. We knew it went far beyond him.
It reached to the same vicious men who make their
money off the hopeless adult drug addict, the same vicious
men who today are trying to build a new market
for their wares among the young people of this country. Tuesday,
(16:44):
April twenty ninth, two thirty pm. Again right, June Bureau
Meril Oh, yeah, Briddy, Yeah, huh, that's try what's his name? Yeah, yeah, okay,
right away, right, but it's ready from narcotics. They figured
they got our man, the Demmuring Boy, No, the guy
(17:05):
who pushed his stuff to Demmering. His name is Jock o'harris.
They found him in a Kunty hospital this morning. Somebody
got a hold of him two nights ago and gave
him a good work and over. We're lucky, we're making
What do you mean, he's not supposed to last out
the day. Two thirty five pm, Ben and I left
the office and went immediately to the Katie Hospital where
we were allowed to briefly interview the narcotics suspect, Jock o'harris.
(17:29):
He was in a critical condition with a fracture of
the skull. He gave us a statement in the form
of a dying declaration. He admitted being the contact man
for seventeen year old Johnny Demmering, and he admitted also
that he had kept the boy supplied with enough narcotics
to keep the neighborhood teenage demand for the stuff fully satisfied,
Sae like.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
A good kid. Never thought he turned?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
What do you mean, Jocko, how he turned?
Speaker 7 (17:52):
Why do you think I'm here?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
You mean he's the one who worked over? Yeah? Where
is he, Jocko? Do you know?
Speaker 9 (17:57):
No?
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Do you know where he's staying? Do you have any idea?
You all?
Speaker 6 (18:01):
No?
Speaker 7 (18:02):
Still all my stuff?
Speaker 6 (18:04):
Every outs?
Speaker 4 (18:05):
What was it? Heroin? Yeah? Listen, Yeah, get him fast.
Speaker 7 (18:14):
He's got enough junk to start a war.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
You're in a cruiser car of a metropolitan police department.
You receive a routine radio car.
Speaker 9 (18:32):
All units attention, All units pick up and hold for investigation.
The following vehicle nineteen forty eight Ford, two door Sedan, black,
white side wall tires.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
There are many cars that fit this description. You listen
for more facts.
Speaker 9 (18:46):
This car will have extensive damage to write front end
license number nine Robert nine seven oh seven in the
seven column nine Robert nine seven o seven.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Now you can pin it down to one.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Wednesday, April thirtieth, nine am. The hunt for seventeen year
old Johnny Demmering was intensified, to our knowledge, because of
the information we'd gained from narcotics peddler Jocko Harris. The
teenage youngster had a large store of high grade heroine,
which we knew because of his inexperience he was unaccustomed
to dealing with. In his hands, the narcotics immediately became
(19:31):
a lethal weapon. We knew that Johnny Demering had only
one market to deal in, only one type of customer.
He was acquainted with the teenager in previous transactions. We
knew that the youngsters received only a low grade type
of narcotic, highly deluded. We knew that if Demmring succeeded
in dispensing the highly concentrated store that he had on hand,
and the juvenile customers he served tried it on themselves,
(19:52):
it would very likely result in death. Three pm Wednesday,
Despite all our efforts, Johnny Demmering and the store of
high greade narcotics which he'd hijacked from Jock o'hrris were
still missing. Wednesday twelve noon, we began rechecking every one
of the possible sources that might lead us to the suspect.
One of them was the boy's mother, Missus Francis Demmering.
We talked to her at work. She was employed as
(20:14):
a motograph operator in the mailing department of a large
downtown department store.
Speaker 10 (20:20):
Not since the last time you talked to me, sarje
and I haven't heard a word from my boy, nothing
at all.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Have you heard anything? Well, yes, ma'am, in a way,
they've got an idea. There's still somewhere in the city.
That's why we figured we'd come back and talk to
you again. Have you been in touch with your relatives
in town recently, Miss Demmering, I mean knows that Johnny
might possibly contact.
Speaker 6 (20:38):
Yeah, there's just my sister and my mother.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Yes, ra'am.
Speaker 10 (20:41):
I guess it just wasn't to be right from the start.
Johnny's father ran away, you know. Tried my best after
that never seemed to be enough. I suppose there's no
getting away from it. A boy needs a father. Try
all you want, they still need a father, some kind
of discipline.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
How about the relatives you have out of town, Miss Demmering,
any word from them? And all about john.
Speaker 10 (21:00):
No, sergeant nothing.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Would you excuse me? Please? This run here is finished.
I have to get it.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Off the machine.
Speaker 10 (21:08):
Yes, terrible thing, Johnny getting mixed up in all this
seems no matter how you try, it's never enough, never enough.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Do you have any idea at all where Johnny would
most likely go in down if he didn't want to
be seen, missus demmering.
Speaker 11 (21:21):
We'd go.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
No, I wouldn't know that, Sergeant. First place, Johnny's never
really been in trouble before.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
How about Johnny's school friends, ma'am. Would there be any
one of them he might possibly contact in a gym?
None that I haven't told you about before.
Speaker 10 (21:33):
I don't think Evelyn, she's the only one I suppose
Johnny go to if he needed help if he was
in trouble.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
That's his girlfriend at the high school, isn't it, Evelyn maxiwmell.
Speaker 6 (21:40):
Yes, that's right, sweet girl.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
How about a girlfriend Johnny was supposed to have downtown somewhere,
missus demming? Would you know anything about her? Nothing? Really?
Speaker 6 (21:48):
No name was Betty.
Speaker 11 (21:49):
I think you.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Have no idea where she lived downtown?
Speaker 6 (21:51):
No, I don't, Sergeant.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Well, all right, ma'am, thank you very much, appreciate it
if you'd notify us if you hear anything about your
son at all.
Speaker 10 (21:58):
All right, sergeant, thank you. Tomorrow's Johnny's birthday. You know
I meant to tell you always expect Johnny home on
his birthday. Seems no matter where he is, how he's
tied up with his school or sports or something, Johnny
always makes it home for his birthday.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
I wonder how it'll be tomorrow. He's never missed once,
not once. Well, if he shows up, I guess you
can count on one thing, ma'am. What's that he's going
to have to miss next year? Two pm, Ben and
I picked up a glass of milk and a hot
dog for lunch, and then we continued making a check
of Johnny Demmering's closest friends. Next in line after his
(22:32):
mother was Demering's high school girlfriend, Evelyn Maxford. Relocated her
at her home. A tall, attractive brunette, nicely dressed and
well mannered, she seemed unusually nervous as we interviewed her.
Speaker 11 (22:43):
I haven't heard a word, Sergeant. I know tomorrow's his birthday.
His mother's expecting him home. I know he won't come though,
sure of that?
Speaker 4 (22:49):
Are you sure, miss Well? I just know That's all
I'd like to ask you again. Yes, Are you sure
you haven't heard from Johnny Demmering recently in the past
two days or so?
Speaker 11 (22:58):
No, that's what I told you. Don't you believe me?
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Do you know why? We're so anxious to locate Johnny,
Miss Matxman, Well, I think so.
Speaker 11 (23:03):
It's about the narcotics business. You say Johnny had a
hand in it, he was selling those things to the kids.
I still don't believe it myself.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
It's a lot more than that the way it stands now,
Miss Maxon, what do you mean. Well, when he was
at school, Johnny was kept supplied with narcotics by a
man named Jock o' Harris. He's what we call a pusher,
kind of an in between supply man and a narcotics train. Well,
two nights ago Johnny caught up with this Harris. He
beat him up badly enough to send him to the
hospital with a fractured skull. And then Johnny stole everybody
in narcotics that Harris had in his room, some of
(23:32):
the strongest stuff you can buy on the market. That's
why we want Johnny, Miss Maxley.
Speaker 11 (23:37):
I don't think I understand. What does it mean?
Speaker 4 (23:39):
It means that most of the teenage kids Johnny's been
supplying stuff to have been getting fairly weak grades in narcotics.
If he gets some of this stuff to them and
the kids start taking it, it might prove too strong
for him. They take too much of it. It could
kill him out right. Now, you see what we're up against.
We've got to find that boy. We got to find
him soon.
Speaker 11 (23:58):
Couldn't you talk to his mother? Maybe she could tell you.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Something we already have. Man, she couldn't tell us anything.
That's why we halfway depended on you.
Speaker 11 (24:05):
Why do they have to put it in my lap?
Why does it have to be me? I like Johnny
for a while, I don't know what to think.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Now, well, have you heard from a miss Maxford? Now,
there's no reason to be afraid. You'd probably feel a
lot worse if something happened to one of the high
school kids, wouldn't you that?
Speaker 11 (24:21):
I got a call from him yesterday. Johnny wouldn't tell
me where he was. I asked him, but he wouldn't
tell me.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
What else did he say?
Speaker 11 (24:27):
He knows everybody's looking for He doesn't know about the
stuff that he stole. Oh, I'm sure that he doesn't
know what it could do.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Did he make any dates with you? Did he want
to see you?
Speaker 11 (24:36):
Yes, he wants to see me. He wants me to
meet him tonight.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Where excuse me? Yes? Go ahead?
Speaker 11 (24:44):
Hello, Yes, I don't know. I don't really what seven
o'clock A right, yes, yes, I'll meet him, A right goodbye.
That was Johnny just then. He wanted to make sure
I was going to meet him tonight. When at seven
o'clock tonight, right near Westlake Park, which side the west side, Sergeant,
(25:05):
we hope to god it's not true.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
What's it the.
Speaker 11 (25:08):
Narcotics he stole from that man? He said they were powerful?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Yes we did.
Speaker 11 (25:12):
Johnny's been taking them for two days.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Six forty five pm, Together with two other men from
Juvenile Bureau, Hurst and Tye, we drove near the appointed
spot along the lake in Westlake Park where Evelyn Maxford's
meeting with a teenage suspect, Johnny Demmering was to take place.
We staked out at a reasonable distance and Miss Maxford
went ahead to the meeting spot. As far as we
could see, there was no sign of Demmering. Somebody on
(25:37):
the opposite side of the lake was playing a phonograph.
The music came over faintly across the water. We watched
the Maxford girl cross the long stretch of grass down
to the lake. She approached the shore, We saw her
stop and look down.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Show let's go, come on, yo.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
We ran all away as fast as we could get there.
When we got close enough, we found out the reason
for the scream. He was lying face up on the ground,
near the edge of a small clump of trees, close
to the water. It was a good looking boy, dark hair,
good build. Took only one look and you knew right
away he was too young to be dead. You could
argue for a week, but you wouldn't change it. He
was dead. The girl stood over him, her face in
(26:16):
her hands, crying. No marks on the body, Joe, none
at all. It must be it. Huh, an overdose. That's
the way it looks to me. We better get her
out of here, hadn't we. Yeah, Miss Maxford, come on, Miss.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
Maxford, it's starch.
Speaker 11 (26:32):
It's all right. It's all right now.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
We'll have one of the other men drive you home.
We can take care of whatever has to be done here.
Speaker 11 (26:37):
It was a good boy, It was smart. How do
you ever get started such a thing? Could you ever
make such a mistake?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
At He's got the best excuse in the world, miss, Yes,
he was seventeen.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
The star you have just heard was true. The names
were changed to protect the innocent.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
On May second, a coroner's inquest was held at the
County Morgue Hall of Justice, City and County of Los Angeles,
State of California in a moment the results of that inquest.
At the inquest, the coroner's jury ruled that seventeen year
(27:23):
old John Andrew Demering had administered himself an overdose of
narcotics and thus had taken his own life. All others
involved in the juvenile narcotics ring, a total of eight
persons were tried and convicted under the State Narcotics Act.
They received sentences as prescribed by law and are now
serving their terms in the state penitentiary. You have just
(27:52):
heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files.
Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police W. H. Parker,
Los Angeles Police Department.
Speaker 7 (28:03):
Stay tuned for Color Spy next on NBC.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Welcome Back. This episode portrays something really interesting that we
might struggle to relate to, and that is the degree
to which that the people in this neighborhood are just
utterly shocked as a seemingly nice neighborhood with good kids
and good parents went wrong and seemingly out of nowhere.
(28:38):
It's a tragedy, but it feels almost like a sudden disasters.
You know, the families are shocked. Jock o'harris was obviously
shocked at giving a kid with big ideas drugs didn't
go well. And of course the only reason that Johnny
didn't cause a bunch of kids to old was that
(29:01):
he himself.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Oh deed.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Today, I think our culture has changed, and there are
some crimes that might shock us apps depending on where
we lived and how we viewed that area, but we
don't really have that same shock about many of the
things described in this episode. Well, listener comments and feedback now,
(29:28):
and we have a couple of from a listener who
changes as user name on Spotify frequently, but we'll go
with it, Doctor who Done It, who commented on a
couple of episodes of Dragnet, and we start with the
(29:50):
big sophomore listener rites to think this is based on
real life events as heart wrenching. Honestly feel guilt because
in the first ten minutes I was thinking, lock them up.
You never know what it's like until you walk in
their shoes. Very true. And then on the begin laws
(30:13):
rights of all the crimes against the mother in law,
this is not the one I was expecting. I don't
condone the crime, but I understand the criminal. Thanks so much,
appreciate your comments. Now it is time to thank our
Patreon supporter of the day, and I want to go
ahead and thank Marla, Patreon supporter since January twenty eighteen,
(30:35):
currently supporting the podcast at the shawmus level of four
dollars or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Marla,
and that will do it for today. If you're enjoying
the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software
and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever
you download it from. We'll be back next Thursday with
(30:58):
another episode of Dragnat. Join us back here tomorrow for
yours truly, Johnny, all are aware.
Speaker 9 (31:07):
Coming in?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Well, it's about time, Paul.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
I began to think you got yourself another board.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I think the company has thinking on a couple of
steps investigators, but I managed to convince the press and you.
Speaker 9 (31:19):
Can handle it.
Speaker 6 (31:20):
Which one particular.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
One of our clients, Nina's John welcome.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Oh, I get it. One of the chances somebody getting hurt.
You don't want your own man to take any chances.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Okay, I'll go.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Anything eighteen.
Speaker 9 (31:36):
Do you think Mama time down in New York?
Speaker 4 (31:37):
That's right.
Speaker 8 (31:38):
I'm thinking if we send you down up, you send.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Anyone else and another thing, what that There'll be a
nice scene. And I think expencumented this man.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Welcome Ali, Oh my wife two thousand dollars, three thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Well, well, a long time since I've seen 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, Radio Detectives, and check us out on Instagram, Instagram,
dot com, slash Great Detectives from Boise, Idaho. This is
(32:21):
your host, Adam Graham.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Sign and off.
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