Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Ladies and gentlemen. The story you were about to hear
is true. The names have been changed to protect the
innocent drag men. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a
forgery detail. A group of check passers is working in
(00:28):
your city. They've hit over fifty places of business. You
have no need to their true identity. They're still working
your job.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Stop them. It was Wednesday, July eleventh. It was warm
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
We were working the day watch out of forgery detail.
My partner's Frank Smith, the boss's he detective stab down
when he was signed. We're on our way af from
the office. That was eleven twenty am when we got
to the corner of York Boulevard and Buchanan Street.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You're canon mine, Yeah, I tell me a lut and
claul like see. Todd Dawson is in the back the
ali by count of a lot of cold.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Cereal tag it. Yeah, mister Dawson. Yeah, police officers, I'd
like to talk to you. I'm about to check that's right.
Don't mind if I go ahead with this display. I
like to get it finished. I got enough trouble with
the bosses it is. I don't want to build anymore,
so you're go ahead. This fellow cop too, yes, or
it's this officer Frank Smith.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
My name is Dardy. How do you do, miss Dark?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Sure, hope you can get the guy that gave me
the paper when it stands now, I'm gonna have to
make it up out of my salary.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I don't make that much. I haven't told my wife yet.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
She can scream like an eagle when she finds out
we got a real strict budget.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
S're gonna loss it up. Do you have the check? Yeah,
he's got it right here. Came back from the bank
this morning. The boss gave it to me. Here you go,
pus same as the others. Looks like it. Yeah. Here,
how's that look to you, sir? The display look all right?
(01:59):
Oh yes, sir? You get this mask finished? And sold him?
What he can tell us about the man who gave
me the check? What do you want to know? Well,
what kind of edification did he use? Just about the
whole thing? Driver's license, social Security card, gasoline credit card
that works, the pencil notation on the back of the check,
just his license number.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Let me take a look there. Yeah, yeah, that's it.
I figured sure it'd be good, nice looking fella. Sure,
never going for a paper hanger. And you give us
a description of him.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, sure, ken, I got a good look at him.
This sure ought to sell this stuff. But that's it.
I say, this ought to sell this stuff. This mask
for giving them away.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
When you buy the breakfast food extra quarter and you
get one of these hid things.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Kids, sure go for him.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Uh whole display goes around it, and see the finished
mask goes right there. Makes you look like the cardboard
kids wearing it. You want to go ahead with the
questions when I put it together?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yes, sir, have you ever seen this man before?
Speaker 5 (03:00):
You know?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Churse? He might have been around. We do a pretty
good business, could have been in. I wouldn't have remembered
what he say to you. Just came in and bought
some groceries, mus been about a dollar and a half's worth.
Asked me to cash a check.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
I told him the manager he'd have to okay it,
told him the manager wasn't here, he'd have to wait.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, cay what else gave the okay, I'm not supposed to.
If we do and something goes wrong, we're stuck for it.
I say. The guy told me he didn't have time,
said he was on his lunch hour and he had
to get the groceries home. So I asked him if
he had any identification. He said he did, looked all
right for me, so I checked. Wow, Say would you
hold this mask for me while I get the rubber
(03:36):
band around the top. Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Sure, Now wait till I winded around a couple of times.
We put these things up high, but the kids still
find a way to get him down.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
They're not put together good. They don't last long. Ill
do it. Let's see if this is what goes in
next eyepiece.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Take the eyepiece and put it in inside the mask,
Slip into the notches, y and teen, I said's these?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Did you look at the layer's identification closely?
Speaker 4 (04:09):
How do you mean close? Well, take a good look
at it, good enough to think it was all right
to catch a check.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It looked genuine. Hough if it didn't, I wouldn't have
gone for the money.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I said, was there anything about the lader that'd make
it easier for us to identify him?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
M not that I could see.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
It looked ordinary enough, nothing special about him, nothing that
would stand out. Hold it a minute where you while
I put the ear pieces in.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yes, thanks, I guess it's all there is. Put it
up here on the top.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
That does it.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I'll they look sorry, huh kind of scary.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Sure, hope the boss likes it. Sure, been on my
back since that check came back. Seems like everything I
do is wrong. Be glad when this day is over.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah. Sure do you want to give us that description? Though?
Other man who gave me the chat's right? Sure. I
want to do all I can can to help you.
Think if you catch him, I'll be able to get
the money back.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Well, outside to say, sir, sure it's eighty nine sixty.
It's a lot of money. I hate to lose it.
How much is that eighty nine sixty? Yes, I don't
even want to think about what my wife's gonna say.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
That will be pretty rough. Yes, Or we understand how
old was the man? About twenty seven? Around in there?
About how tall was he? Five nine?
Speaker 4 (05:23):
I guess say, if you do catch him, how do
you go about getting the money back? Well, it's booked
his evidence first, and then I get it back. Well,
it depends on what happens at the trial. It's not
up to us to decide.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Sir, You see the suspect has gotten several other people too.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
If there is anything to recover, they've got a share
of it. And I probably won't get what's coming to me. Well,
we'll serve, but you can be sure of one thing.
What's that suspect.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Will eleven forty six am. We got the complete description
of the suspect and we made arrangements for the victim
to come down to the city Hall and go through
the mud books. The information on the driver's license was
R and I in the Department of Motor Vehicles, and
we found it to be false. The first bad check
(06:05):
had come to our attention on February sixteenth, five months previously.
Between them and the present forgery, the gang had taken
approximately sixty thousand dollars from businessmen in the south Land area.
All attempts had been made to stop them. The checks
cash were all issued for the same amount, ninety one
dollars and ten cents. The checks were drawn on real companies,
but on banks where no account existed. Examination of the
(06:27):
forgeries by the crime lab and by handwriting showed that
the checks themselves were not genuine. The signatures on each
of them varied. The typewriter used to fill in the
paye and the date was different in each instance, as
was the check protector used m O Bulletins carrying pictures
of the checks and lists of the companies that they
were drawn on were gotten out to all supermarkets and
check cashing agencies in the city. None of the precautions
(06:48):
we took did any good. The gang continued to operate.
Each of the victims was questioned, but the descriptions of
the suspect that they gave us was different in each instance.
Examination of pictures of known check forgers using the same
method of operation NETTA does nothing. The Stat's office had
made several runs on the information we had, but they
were not able to come up with any new evidence.
George Brett Enough at Sacramento was contacted and he furnished
(07:10):
this a list of possibles. These were all checked out
and several arrests were made clearing up other forgeries, but
our prime suspects were still free and they were still operating. Wednesday,
four fifteen pm, Frank and I came back from Captain
Welsh's office. Well, now we know how.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The skipper feels. Now, can you blame him? No? I
guess not. We're doing all we can.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
If the people who run the stores won't look at
the bulletins, there's nothing we can do whenever breaks are
bound to go with us. Pretty soon they got to start.
Sometimes I get it forgery Friday. Wait just a minute, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Fergie eron, I don't know, I'll think of looking back. Hey,
ferget that, Reggie. No he's not here.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
He's not here right now. Can I take a message
m hm, yes, ma'am. No, he's not working today, Yes, ma'am. Well,
if you give me your number, I'll have him call
when he gets in. All right, that's nine eight, yes, ma'am. No, No,
it's writ in a message book. No, he'll say it,
that's right, yes, ma'am. M No, he'll look at the
(08:11):
book when he comes in. So the first thing, you bet, well,
you're more than welcome, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Bye Traba. No, she just didn't believe that fergie'd get
the message. Yeah, I know. Sometimes face has the same thing.
Chargeant Friday, Yes, that's all high beat money.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
I'm sure you'd be in.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
You know my partner, Frank Smith. Don't you Beatrice Starling.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Yeah, we've been sure.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I'm seeing a long time sit down by. Thanks, there
you go. Well, what can we do for you?
Speaker 5 (08:41):
It's thought i'd drop in and say hello, it's been
a while.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, it has it that. How's it been going pretty good?
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Got myself a job when I got out. Things are
working good for me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
How long has you's been now?
Speaker 5 (08:50):
A year ago last January?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Well, did anyone can do for you?
Speaker 5 (08:54):
No? Might be the other way around.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
What do you mean.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
I never got a chance to tell you, sergeant, how
much I appreciated what you did for me. What you
said in court.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Well, we just told them the truth.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
I know we'd done a lot harder with me if
you hadn't been on my side.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
What's nice of you to think of it that way anyway?
Speaker 5 (09:09):
True, you never get a chance before. And now maybe
there's the way I can pay you back.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
That's not necessary, you know, I know, I know, don't
want to all right, what you got?
Speaker 5 (09:17):
You know how it is when you get out of
jail you need a lot of people in the business.
They all got a deal for you, something to put
your back on your feet.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
No, same thing happened with me. I stayed clear of it,
though you never went near. Well, I'm not gonna conya
a couple of times. Pretty hard. But I'm on the
road and I'm gonna stay there.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh that's good to hear.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Yeah, you get rumbled, you know, things come up.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Uh huh.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
I got one the other day, more than a rumble.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
How about you?
Speaker 5 (09:40):
Right away figured there's the way to pay you back?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, what is it?
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Met a guy in a bar a lot of place
near where I work. Usually after work, I stopped there
and have a beer while I wait for the traffic
to clear up before I go home. One other night,
thought out and started talking a nice looking guy. We
got talking about different things, nothing big, just things. You know,
how you do it? Buyer asking what I did for
a living. Our things were going like that, and he
(10:05):
wanted to know if I'd like to pick up a
few extra bucks.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, he said.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
He wanted me to cash a check for him. I
told him I didn't have the money, didn't make me it.
Evince how small a check was. I didn't have a loop.
Then he sprung it. He didn't want me to cash
it myself, said he wanted me to take it to
the store.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And get it cashed.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Said he'd give me half what the check was for.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, why didn't he do it himself?
Speaker 5 (10:26):
I asked him the same thing. That's when he told me.
Since I heard it, I figured it might be something
for you.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
He said, the check was stolen.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Beatrice Dowling had been convicted of forgery three years before.
She'd been sentenced to the California Institution for Women at Corona, California.
Frank and I had a small part in the investigation
that resulted in their conviction. During the trial, we testified
that her cooperation had aided us in apprehending the rest
of the gang and allowing us to clean up the
entire operation. Since she'd been paroled, we'd lost track of her,
(10:57):
but on those occasions when we talked to a parole officer,
we found that she was living up to all of
the conditions of her release.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Frank and I took her across the street to a
restaurant and we talked further to her.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
That's the sugar, what you said, Yeah, you don't use it?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
No, I don't.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Thanks how about you, mister Smith, No thanks, I'll take
it back too.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Now about this guy, what did you tell him?
Speaker 5 (11:16):
He said, I'd think over the deal. Let him know.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Did you get a chance to see the checks m a.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
Couple m out of a wallet in his coat. I
didn't get a good look at him though, Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
How about the man himself? But you'd you ever seen before? Well?
Speaker 5 (11:26):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
You know why I picked you.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
I've been trying to figure that one myself. The only
thing I can think of it's the bartender there knows
a fellow once he might have give him the words
he got.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Any record that you know?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
The bartender, Yeah, I don't think so. That's the talk big,
But I don't think he's ever done big time.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
He set up anything about meeting the man with.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
A check not definitely suld Hey, m, I'd think it over.
Ask him if I decided to do it with the
offer still be open. Yeah, he said it would, said to.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Look him up at the same bar.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yeah, I could get in.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Touch with him there any special time.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
We didn't name one. I want you to know. I
wasn't even figuring to go through it, but not for
a minute. And he told me the checks were stolen.
I thought right away about you, But you might want
the information. I never figured to get.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Mixed up in it. Oh we'll buy it.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
There ain't gonna do about it.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Try to find out where the checks came from. While
you were talking to this guy, did you use the
name at all?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
No?
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Not right out. While we were sitting there, another fellow
come in and talk to him. I heard the other guy.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Called him Cecil. How about this other man? You know him? No?
Never saw him around the bar.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
No, I never did.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Luck for you, there's something I don't understand. If you
stop at this bar all the time, how come I
haven't seen the Cecil before. Looks like he's a regular
customer of the place.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
You don't believe me, do you.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
I'm just trying to get ustraight.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
I told you before. I only go in there about
five thirty. I'm only in the place maybe fifteen minutes,
and I leave. There's a lot of time when people
are coming in and out that I'm not there.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I see.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Listen, I'm trying to give you guys something for free.
You don't want it, don't worry. You're not gonna hurt
my feet.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
No, it's not that. Be Frank and I have been
on the thing for the last four months. Here's been
giving us a lot of trouble.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Yeah, well, it's that I think it's worth anything we're
going to.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Check it out. Does Cecil give you any idea where
he got the checks?
Speaker 5 (13:02):
He said they were stolen payroll checks, all made out
and ready to endorsement.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Well, if they're made out, what about identification?
Speaker 5 (13:07):
He said he had that all. I'd need to put
the checks through you shure you any of it? All?
Just said that he had it already, all.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Right, Be what if you come back to the offs
check through the books for U. See if you can
spot this Cecil.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Oh, sure, I'd be glad to help out.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I get a bill, we can leave it.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
I don't wanna bring this up, sergeant, you know what's
I hope you'll understand. I'm not trying to get out
a line.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I'll go ahead.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Be they know me in this spot, so a cecil
knows me, but it happened. If I want ahead of
the deal, you.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Mean to make the connection for us?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah, line him up, find out how the GA's working,
then you move in and make the pinch.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Well, we can't ask you to do that.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
It's not your idea. And I just figured that it
might be easier all around. You and mister Smith will
be right there as soon as they get the information
and it's up to you.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Well, I'll have to check that with the skipper. We'll
find out what he thinks of The idea might be
pretty dangerous and thought of that too.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Only one thing bothers me, what's that somebody's along the line.
I'm gonna have to tell this joker that I don't
go through the deal. He's gonna find out I'm working
with you when he does be there.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
We returned to the office and made arrangements to meet
Beatrice Dowling. The next day, Frank and I got the
name and description of the bartender at the place where
the Dowling woman said she'd been approached. We ran up
through our and I, but we were not able to
find a record for the man. The next morning, we
met with Captain Wels and told him of the idea.
He agreed that it appeared to be the only way
we had a stopping the suspect. We contacted Miss Dowling
and made arrangements for her to be kept under constant surveillance.
(14:31):
The same day, Thursday, July twelfth, at five twenty pm, she.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Entered the bar.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Frank and I were park down the street in our car.
I'm by it sees the doorway. Well i'll want to
do now is wait? Yeah here, I want a cigarette?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Or I got one? Oh? Some matter? You have a cigarette?
Yeah you got one? I had some right here? Sure
here nice?
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Oh should be glad to get home. Yeah. Yeah. They
and me had a big argument last night that I
demand her now.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I came home.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I guess about seven thirty ound in there. Right after dinner,
I got ready for bed. That's when I saw it.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I should have known right from the start.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Shouldn't know what well Fay fake Swedish meatballs for dinner again?
Right then?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I should have known that's what had happened. You know,
she always figures he'll soften me up so I won't mind.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Or what she buy this time a new bedroom set,
king sized bed, joe mattress springs, a couple of those
new rubber pillars, you know, those bouncy springs.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I took one look at him, and naturally the roof
went off.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
You mean she bought the whole thing? Uh, she refurnished
the whole room. Costs a lot of money to the
That's what I thought. I was pretty sorry about it too,
and we had a few words, and.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I guess that's pretty bad. I got calmed down. She
was asleep, and then I saw the bill.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Couldn't believe it. You wouldn't either, Joe. It wasn't big
at all. All right, Yeah, I sure slept good. I
think I could make it, Joe.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
What's it? You know how I'm always talking about sleeping
for a week there?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well, the when I slept last night, I think I
could make it. You know, something that you'd like to try?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
How we're you gonna have to wait to try and
take a look down there? Huh the bar? Beatrice coming out,
Oh yeah, A couple of guys with her and were
acting kind of funny. I think, yeah, where they' shoving around?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
There was only one reason for that, Yeah, they find
out about us.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Frank and I followed the three people down the street
half a block from the bar.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
They got into a black Holes Mobile sedan and pulled
out into the lane of traffic. We kept them under
surveillance while they grove to the downtown area. We called
communications and got a rolling make on. The car was
registered to a See Some Matter twenty four eighty two
North Alexandria and Hollywood. We requested that Maddox be checked
through r and I, and we found that he'd been
arrested twice before and charges a grand theft, and they'd
served one term at San Quentin and one term at
(17:10):
fulsome penitentiary. At the corner of Broadway in Clay Streets,
the trio pulled into a parking lot and they left
the car.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Frank and I parked our unit and followed him to
a stationary store.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
From the street, we could see Maddox talk to a
salesman while the other man walked up to a display
of typewriters. He took a slip of paper from his
pocket and apparently tried the machine. For the time he
was finished, Maddox had gotten through talking to the clerk
and they used the same piece of paper to try
a check protector. During this operation, Beatrice Dowling stood by
and waited for him. Finally, the three of them left
the store and walked two blocks east to a large market. There,
(17:42):
we saw Maddox hand the Dowling woman an envelope. After that,
she entered the store and came back a few minutes later.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Frank and I were about ten feet from the pair
of checkmen when the woman returned.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
It is hard to go he sand him and came
to a ball and make the squirt half his money
us wherever.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
So let's go Frank, all right, Maddox, hold it up,
poll what's the soul of a police officers?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
You're under arrest for what? Go ahead? Spell out the beef?
How's forgery? Fifth? I don't know. You won't hang it
on me. Don't book it, mister, you'll get shut out
a wrong beef, I won't already have you paid for
it with a bad check.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
The two suspects were taken to the city hall. The
second man was identified as Raymond Johnstone. We checked him
through records and identification. We found that he'd had a
long fellony record. He'd serve sentences in both San Quentin
and Fulsom, and from the record we found that he
was in Fulsom at the time Maddox was serving his turn.
We talked to Johnston for an hour, but he refused
to admit any complicity in the forgeries. Nine to fifteen pm,
(18:42):
officers Ferguson and Reagan went out to the address we've
gotten for Mattox and Frank and I talked to the
suspect in the interrogation room.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I came on Maddox, empty your pocket because we want
you to do I get this stuff back, put it
on the table. You got any enough and you want
will you let us figure that way? Come on on
the table.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
It's a wallet, handkerchief, change, baggage. You got the keys
and that's it.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
All right now? Other coat, pockets, cigarettes, white, some more
change and.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Pocketing stuff inside pockets Too's nothing there you'd be interested in.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Inside pockets. A couple of letters, that's all right. Let's
take a look the true name, Cecil James Maddox. Yeah,
who's this stuff belonged to? I don't know anything about it.
Iriver's license, so security card, oil company, credit card. You
don't belong to you to? They take a good look. Cop,
you see my name on it. We found them in
your pockets. Cleaner must have list all come up at max.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
We got your nailed and you know it. You gotta
show me like these other envelopes here, same thing on
all of them. Now, what'd you get them?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I told you I got a sloppy cleaner. Frank you
want to chang see a friggies bang? Yeah? Sure, you
got me money in the word, A couple of bucks.
Take it out. Sure, I'll give it to you. Keep
it in your hands. Give me the wallet. You find
(20:10):
anything interesting in there, I'll split it. How about these checks?
Would you get them? I forget. You better start remembering, mister.
I'm trying.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It just isn't working on it pretty important that you do.
I think I found them, wlare I don't remember?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
You turn up with five hundred dollars worth of checks
and you don't know where you got them. I haven't
got the slightest die. But what about this receipt? What's
it for? I don't know. It's in your wallet. You
must have put it there. Look at the back. There's
a phone number on them. Maybe that's where I kept it.
No phone number here, and I can't tell you where
I got it. I guess I've been carrying it around
for a long time. Dated a couple of months ago.
It's a long time. Look what are you trying to
prove with this innocent pitch? You know we got your
going in. We're going to make a forgery complaint stick
(20:44):
now while you're trying to make it higher. I don't
think you can trip me for the beef. There's a
couple of officers over at your apartment.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Now, if they come up with the pressure you used
to print up the checks and the identification, you've had it, mister.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
If they find the press right, only one big hole
on the ferry tale. That's so, I haven't got a press.
I don't know where I got those checks. I think
I bought them. You try to take me to court
that kind of evidence, and you will make a front
page of the Dumbest Cop of the Year show.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, Pat's on the new Wait here, Maddox, only one
door and you're in front of that. I'm not going
any place. Just sit still. Yeah, how's it going for?
Not too good? He want cop? How'd you do? When
I talked to Fergie? They went over a Maddick's apartment. Yeah,
I didn't find anything. We went back into the interrogation
(21:25):
room and we talked to the suspect.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
He'd admit nothing. We talked to Raymond Johnstone, but he
refused to cooperate with us. A thorough search was made
of their car, but we failed to turn up anything new.
We contacted the printer who'd made up the receipt blanks.
He checked his records and he was able to give
us the address of the place that had ordered him Officers. Ferguson, Reagan,
Frank and I drove out to the place. It was
a cheap hotel located on the seventh. We checked with
(21:47):
the desk park and showed him the receipt. He told
us the two men answering the descriptions of the suspects
had rented.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
A room two months previously.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
He went on to say that there was a third
man with a pair and that he was in the
room at the time. We asked about luggies in the work,
said that the tree had moved in several large trunks.
We got the room number, and while Ferguson and regancover
the rear of the building, Frank and I went up
to the room down this way right, yeah, yeah, Paul Adley,
(22:21):
Yeah that's right.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
What do you want want to talk to you? I'm
kind of busy right now. What's a police officers? Get
out of there. You got no call to busting here.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
I'm not doing anything wrong do I just try to
keep us out. I just don't like cops running all
over the place.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Where's that door? Go bedroom? But there ain't nothing in
the concerns. You all take a look. You stay out
of there. What's this all about anyway? What are your
cops trying to build about? A frank, take a look
over here, pressing everything. Huh. I do a little printing
for the neighborhood people. There's nothing to concern you.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You do work for the Department of Motor Vehicles too.
What these driver's license planks?
Speaker 2 (22:59):
What are they for? Who tips you? Who told you
about the plant? Who told you?
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Don't make any difference? You bet it does all the
difference in the world. I don't know what they told you,
but I'm not gonna take the beef alone. I'm not
gonna take it along. So yeah, you go back and
tell Cecil and right that they're going with me.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
I'm not going to carry this by myself. You tell
them I will you sure pony deal anyway. I sit
here with the press, all the checks, anything goes wrong,
and the one that stands for it, they're out with
the money. One sided, that's what it is. They get
the kicks. I get to work, one sided. No of
this term. Huh. You're all going to come out, even.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
Cecil James Maddox, Raymond Richard Johnstone, and Paul Milton Hedley
were tried and convicted on eighteen counts of forgery. They
received sentence as prescribed by law. Forgery is punishable by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year,
or by imprisonment for not more than fourteen years in
the state penitentiary.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
You have just heard Dragnet, the authentic story of your
police force in action and starring Jack Webb.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
A presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service
(25:04):
stamping clo
Ladies and gentlemen. The story you were about to hear
is true. The names have been changed to protect the
innocent drag men. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a
forgery detail. A group of check passers is working in
(00:28):
your city. They've hit over fifty places of business. You
have no need to their true identity. They're still working
your job.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Stop them. It was Wednesday, July eleventh. It was warm
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
We were working the day watch out of forgery detail.
My partner's Frank Smith, the boss's he detective stab down
when he was signed. We're on our way af from
the office. That was eleven twenty am when we got
to the corner of York Boulevard and Buchanan Street.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You're canon mine, Yeah, I tell me a lut and
claul like see. Todd Dawson is in the back the
ali by count of a lot of cold.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Cereal tag it. Yeah, mister Dawson. Yeah, police officers, I'd
like to talk to you. I'm about to check that's right.
Don't mind if I go ahead with this display. I
like to get it finished. I got enough trouble with
the bosses it is. I don't want to build anymore,
so you're go ahead. This fellow cop too, yes, or
it's this officer Frank Smith.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
My name is Dardy. How do you do, miss Dark?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Sure, hope you can get the guy that gave me
the paper when it stands now, I'm gonna have to
make it up out of my salary.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I don't make that much. I haven't told my wife yet.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
She can scream like an eagle when she finds out
we got a real strict budget.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
S're gonna loss it up. Do you have the check? Yeah,
he's got it right here. Came back from the bank
this morning. The boss gave it to me. Here you go,
pus same as the others. Looks like it. Yeah. Here,
how's that look to you, sir? The display look all right?
(01:59):
Oh yes, sir? You get this mask finished? And sold him?
What he can tell us about the man who gave
me the check? What do you want to know? Well,
what kind of edification did he use? Just about the
whole thing? Driver's license, social Security card, gasoline credit card
that works, the pencil notation on the back of the check,
just his license number.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Let me take a look there. Yeah, yeah, that's it.
I figured sure it'd be good, nice looking fella. Sure,
never going for a paper hanger. And you give us
a description of him.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, sure, ken, I got a good look at him.
This sure ought to sell this stuff. But that's it.
I say, this ought to sell this stuff. This mask
for giving them away.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
When you buy the breakfast food extra quarter and you
get one of these hid things.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Kids, sure go for him.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Uh whole display goes around it, and see the finished
mask goes right there. Makes you look like the cardboard
kids wearing it. You want to go ahead with the
questions when I put it together?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yes, sir, have you ever seen this man before?
Speaker 5 (03:00):
You know?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Churse? He might have been around. We do a pretty
good business, could have been in. I wouldn't have remembered
what he say to you. Just came in and bought
some groceries, mus been about a dollar and a half's worth.
Asked me to cash a check.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
I told him the manager he'd have to okay it,
told him the manager wasn't here, he'd have to wait.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, cay what else gave the okay, I'm not supposed to.
If we do and something goes wrong, we're stuck for it.
I say. The guy told me he didn't have time,
said he was on his lunch hour and he had
to get the groceries home. So I asked him if
he had any identification. He said he did, looked all
right for me, so I checked. Wow, Say would you
hold this mask for me while I get the rubber
(03:36):
band around the top. Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Sure, Now wait till I winded around a couple of times.
We put these things up high, but the kids still
find a way to get him down.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
They're not put together good. They don't last long. Ill
do it. Let's see if this is what goes in
next eyepiece.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Take the eyepiece and put it in inside the mask,
Slip into the notches, y and teen, I said's these?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Did you look at the layer's identification closely?
Speaker 4 (04:09):
How do you mean close? Well, take a good look
at it, good enough to think it was all right
to catch a check.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
It looked genuine. Hough if it didn't, I wouldn't have
gone for the money.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I said, was there anything about the lader that'd make
it easier for us to identify him?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
M not that I could see.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
It looked ordinary enough, nothing special about him, nothing that
would stand out. Hold it a minute where you while
I put the ear pieces in.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yes, thanks, I guess it's all there is. Put it
up here on the top.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
That does it.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I'll they look sorry, huh kind of scary.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Sure, hope the boss likes it. Sure, been on my
back since that check came back. Seems like everything I
do is wrong. Be glad when this day is over.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah. Sure do you want to give us that description? Though?
Other man who gave me the chat's right? Sure. I
want to do all I can can to help you.
Think if you catch him, I'll be able to get
the money back.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Well, outside to say, sir, sure it's eighty nine sixty.
It's a lot of money. I hate to lose it.
How much is that eighty nine sixty? Yes, I don't
even want to think about what my wife's gonna say.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
That will be pretty rough. Yes, Or we understand how
old was the man? About twenty seven? Around in there?
About how tall was he? Five nine?
Speaker 4 (05:23):
I guess say, if you do catch him, how do
you go about getting the money back? Well, it's booked
his evidence first, and then I get it back. Well,
it depends on what happens at the trial. It's not
up to us to decide.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Sir, You see the suspect has gotten several other people too.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
If there is anything to recover, they've got a share
of it. And I probably won't get what's coming to me. Well,
we'll serve, but you can be sure of one thing.
What's that suspect.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Will eleven forty six am. We got the complete description
of the suspect and we made arrangements for the victim
to come down to the city Hall and go through
the mud books. The information on the driver's license was
R and I in the Department of Motor Vehicles, and
we found it to be false. The first bad check
(06:05):
had come to our attention on February sixteenth, five months previously.
Between them and the present forgery, the gang had taken
approximately sixty thousand dollars from businessmen in the south Land area.
All attempts had been made to stop them. The checks
cash were all issued for the same amount, ninety one
dollars and ten cents. The checks were drawn on real companies,
but on banks where no account existed. Examination of the
(06:27):
forgeries by the crime lab and by handwriting showed that
the checks themselves were not genuine. The signatures on each
of them varied. The typewriter used to fill in the
paye and the date was different in each instance, as
was the check protector used m O Bulletins carrying pictures
of the checks and lists of the companies that they
were drawn on were gotten out to all supermarkets and
check cashing agencies in the city. None of the precautions
(06:48):
we took did any good. The gang continued to operate.
Each of the victims was questioned, but the descriptions of
the suspect that they gave us was different in each instance.
Examination of pictures of known check forgers using the same
method of operation NETTA does nothing. The Stat's office had
made several runs on the information we had, but they
were not able to come up with any new evidence.
George Brett Enough at Sacramento was contacted and he furnished
(07:10):
this a list of possibles. These were all checked out
and several arrests were made clearing up other forgeries, but
our prime suspects were still free and they were still operating. Wednesday,
four fifteen pm, Frank and I came back from Captain
Welsh's office. Well, now we know how.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The skipper feels. Now, can you blame him? No? I
guess not. We're doing all we can.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
If the people who run the stores won't look at
the bulletins, there's nothing we can do whenever breaks are
bound to go with us. Pretty soon they got to start.
Sometimes I get it forgery Friday. Wait just a minute, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Fergie eron, I don't know, I'll think of looking back. Hey,
ferget that, Reggie. No he's not here.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
He's not here right now. Can I take a message
m hm, yes, ma'am. No, he's not working today, Yes, ma'am. Well,
if you give me your number, I'll have him call
when he gets in. All right, that's nine eight, yes, ma'am. No, No,
it's writ in a message book. No, he'll say it,
that's right, yes, ma'am. M No, he'll look at the
(08:11):
book when he comes in. So the first thing, you bet, well,
you're more than welcome, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Bye Traba. No, she just didn't believe that fergie'd get
the message. Yeah, I know. Sometimes face has the same thing.
Chargeant Friday, Yes, that's all high beat money.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
I'm sure you'd be in.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
You know my partner, Frank Smith. Don't you Beatrice Starling.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Yeah, we've been sure.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
I'm seeing a long time sit down by. Thanks, there
you go. Well, what can we do for you?
Speaker 5 (08:41):
It's thought i'd drop in and say hello, it's been
a while.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, it has it that. How's it been going pretty good?
Speaker 5 (08:46):
Got myself a job when I got out. Things are
working good for me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
How long has you's been now?
Speaker 5 (08:50):
A year ago last January?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Well, did anyone can do for you?
Speaker 5 (08:54):
No? Might be the other way around.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
What do you mean.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
I never got a chance to tell you, sergeant, how
much I appreciated what you did for me. What you
said in court.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Well, we just told them the truth.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
I know we'd done a lot harder with me if
you hadn't been on my side.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
What's nice of you to think of it that way anyway?
Speaker 5 (09:09):
True, you never get a chance before. And now maybe
there's the way I can pay you back.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
That's not necessary, you know, I know, I know, don't
want to all right, what you got?
Speaker 5 (09:17):
You know how it is when you get out of
jail you need a lot of people in the business.
They all got a deal for you, something to put
your back on your feet.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
No, same thing happened with me. I stayed clear of it,
though you never went near. Well, I'm not gonna conya
a couple of times. Pretty hard. But I'm on the
road and I'm gonna stay there.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh that's good to hear.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Yeah, you get rumbled, you know, things come up.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Uh huh.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
I got one the other day, more than a rumble.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
How about you?
Speaker 5 (09:40):
Right away figured there's the way to pay you back?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Well, what is it?
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Met a guy in a bar a lot of place
near where I work. Usually after work, I stopped there
and have a beer while I wait for the traffic
to clear up before I go home. One other night,
thought out and started talking a nice looking guy. We
got talking about different things, nothing big, just things. You know,
how you do it? Buyer asking what I did for
a living. Our things were going like that, and he
(10:05):
wanted to know if I'd like to pick up a
few extra bucks.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, he said.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
He wanted me to cash a check for him. I
told him I didn't have the money, didn't make me it.
Evince how small a check was. I didn't have a loop.
Then he sprung it. He didn't want me to cash
it myself, said he wanted me to take it to
the store.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And get it cashed.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Said he'd give me half what the check was for.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, why didn't he do it himself?
Speaker 5 (10:26):
I asked him the same thing. That's when he told me.
Since I heard it, I figured it might be something
for you.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
He said, the check was stolen.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Beatrice Dowling had been convicted of forgery three years before.
She'd been sentenced to the California Institution for Women at Corona, California.
Frank and I had a small part in the investigation
that resulted in their conviction. During the trial, we testified
that her cooperation had aided us in apprehending the rest
of the gang and allowing us to clean up the
entire operation. Since she'd been paroled, we'd lost track of her,
(10:57):
but on those occasions when we talked to a parole officer,
we found that she was living up to all of
the conditions of her release.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Frank and I took her across the street to a
restaurant and we talked further to her.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
That's the sugar, what you said, Yeah, you don't use it?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
No, I don't.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Thanks how about you, mister Smith, No thanks, I'll take
it back too.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Now about this guy, what did you tell him?
Speaker 5 (11:16):
He said, I'd think over the deal. Let him know.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Did you get a chance to see the checks m a.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
Couple m out of a wallet in his coat. I
didn't get a good look at him though, Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
How about the man himself? But you'd you ever seen before? Well?
Speaker 5 (11:26):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
You know why I picked you.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
I've been trying to figure that one myself. The only
thing I can think of it's the bartender there knows
a fellow once he might have give him the words
he got.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Any record that you know?
Speaker 5 (11:36):
The bartender, Yeah, I don't think so. That's the talk big,
But I don't think he's ever done big time.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
He set up anything about meeting the man with.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
A check not definitely suld Hey, m, I'd think it over.
Ask him if I decided to do it with the
offer still be open. Yeah, he said it would, said to.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Look him up at the same bar.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Yeah, I could get in.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Touch with him there any special time.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
We didn't name one. I want you to know. I
wasn't even figuring to go through it, but not for
a minute. And he told me the checks were stolen.
I thought right away about you, But you might want
the information. I never figured to get.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Mixed up in it. Oh we'll buy it.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
There ain't gonna do about it.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Try to find out where the checks came from. While
you were talking to this guy, did you use the
name at all?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
No?
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Not right out. While we were sitting there, another fellow
come in and talk to him. I heard the other guy.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Called him Cecil. How about this other man? You know him? No?
Never saw him around the bar.
Speaker 5 (12:23):
No, I never did.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Luck for you, there's something I don't understand. If you
stop at this bar all the time, how come I
haven't seen the Cecil before. Looks like he's a regular
customer of the place.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
You don't believe me, do you.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
I'm just trying to get ustraight.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
I told you before. I only go in there about
five thirty. I'm only in the place maybe fifteen minutes,
and I leave. There's a lot of time when people
are coming in and out that I'm not there.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I see.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Listen, I'm trying to give you guys something for free.
You don't want it, don't worry. You're not gonna hurt
my feet.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
No, it's not that. Be Frank and I have been
on the thing for the last four months. Here's been
giving us a lot of trouble.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Yeah, well, it's that I think it's worth anything we're
going to.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Check it out. Does Cecil give you any idea where
he got the checks?
Speaker 5 (13:02):
He said they were stolen payroll checks, all made out
and ready to endorsement.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Well, if they're made out, what about identification?
Speaker 5 (13:07):
He said he had that all. I'd need to put
the checks through you shure you any of it? All?
Just said that he had it already, all.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Right, Be what if you come back to the offs
check through the books for U. See if you can
spot this Cecil.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Oh, sure, I'd be glad to help out.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I get a bill, we can leave it.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
I don't wanna bring this up, sergeant, you know what's
I hope you'll understand. I'm not trying to get out
a line.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I'll go ahead.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Be they know me in this spot, so a cecil
knows me, but it happened. If I want ahead of
the deal, you.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Mean to make the connection for us?
Speaker 5 (13:35):
Yeah, line him up, find out how the GA's working,
then you move in and make the pinch.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Well, we can't ask you to do that.
Speaker 5 (13:40):
It's not your idea. And I just figured that it
might be easier all around. You and mister Smith will
be right there as soon as they get the information
and it's up to you.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Well, I'll have to check that with the skipper. We'll
find out what he thinks of The idea might be
pretty dangerous and thought of that too.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Only one thing bothers me, what's that somebody's along the line.
I'm gonna have to tell this joker that I don't
go through the deal. He's gonna find out I'm working
with you when he does be there.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
We returned to the office and made arrangements to meet
Beatrice Dowling. The next day, Frank and I got the
name and description of the bartender at the place where
the Dowling woman said she'd been approached. We ran up
through our and I, but we were not able to
find a record for the man. The next morning, we
met with Captain Wels and told him of the idea.
He agreed that it appeared to be the only way
we had a stopping the suspect. We contacted Miss Dowling
and made arrangements for her to be kept under constant surveillance.
(14:31):
The same day, Thursday, July twelfth, at five twenty pm, she.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Entered the bar.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Frank and I were park down the street in our car.
I'm by it sees the doorway. Well i'll want to
do now is wait? Yeah here, I want a cigarette?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Or I got one? Oh? Some matter? You have a cigarette?
Yeah you got one? I had some right here? Sure
here nice?
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Oh should be glad to get home. Yeah. Yeah. They
and me had a big argument last night that I
demand her now.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I came home.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I guess about seven thirty ound in there. Right after dinner,
I got ready for bed. That's when I saw it.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I should have known right from the start.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Shouldn't know what well Fay fake Swedish meatballs for dinner again?
Right then?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I should have known that's what had happened. You know,
she always figures he'll soften me up so I won't mind.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Or what she buy this time a new bedroom set,
king sized bed, joe mattress springs, a couple of those
new rubber pillars, you know, those bouncy springs.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
I took one look at him, and naturally the roof
went off.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
You mean she bought the whole thing? Uh, she refurnished
the whole room. Costs a lot of money to the
That's what I thought. I was pretty sorry about it too,
and we had a few words, and.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I guess that's pretty bad. I got calmed down. She
was asleep, and then I saw the bill.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Couldn't believe it. You wouldn't either, Joe. It wasn't big
at all. All right, Yeah, I sure slept good. I
think I could make it, Joe.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
What's it? You know how I'm always talking about sleeping
for a week there?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well, the when I slept last night, I think I
could make it. You know, something that you'd like to try?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
How we're you gonna have to wait to try and
take a look down there? Huh the bar? Beatrice coming out,
Oh yeah, A couple of guys with her and were
acting kind of funny. I think, yeah, where they' shoving around?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
There was only one reason for that, Yeah, they find
out about us.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Frank and I followed the three people down the street
half a block from the bar.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
They got into a black Holes Mobile sedan and pulled
out into the lane of traffic. We kept them under
surveillance while they grove to the downtown area. We called
communications and got a rolling make on. The car was
registered to a See Some Matter twenty four eighty two
North Alexandria and Hollywood. We requested that Maddox be checked
through r and I, and we found that he'd been
arrested twice before and charges a grand theft, and they'd
served one term at San Quentin and one term at
(17:10):
fulsome penitentiary. At the corner of Broadway in Clay Streets,
the trio pulled into a parking lot and they left
the car.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Frank and I parked our unit and followed him to
a stationary store.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
From the street, we could see Maddox talk to a
salesman while the other man walked up to a display
of typewriters. He took a slip of paper from his
pocket and apparently tried the machine. For the time he
was finished, Maddox had gotten through talking to the clerk
and they used the same piece of paper to try
a check protector. During this operation, Beatrice Dowling stood by
and waited for him. Finally, the three of them left
the store and walked two blocks east to a large market. There,
(17:42):
we saw Maddox hand the Dowling woman an envelope. After that,
she entered the store and came back a few minutes later.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Frank and I were about ten feet from the pair
of checkmen when the woman returned.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
It is hard to go he sand him and came
to a ball and make the squirt half his money
us wherever.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
So let's go Frank, all right, Maddox, hold it up,
poll what's the soul of a police officers?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
You're under arrest for what? Go ahead? Spell out the beef?
How's forgery? Fifth? I don't know. You won't hang it
on me. Don't book it, mister, you'll get shut out
a wrong beef, I won't already have you paid for
it with a bad check.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
The two suspects were taken to the city hall. The
second man was identified as Raymond Johnstone. We checked him
through records and identification. We found that he'd had a
long fellony record. He'd serve sentences in both San Quentin
and Fulsom, and from the record we found that he
was in Fulsom at the time Maddox was serving his turn.
We talked to Johnston for an hour, but he refused
to admit any complicity in the forgeries. Nine to fifteen pm,
(18:42):
officers Ferguson and Reagan went out to the address we've
gotten for Mattox and Frank and I talked to the
suspect in the interrogation room.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I came on Maddox, empty your pocket because we want
you to do I get this stuff back, put it
on the table. You got any enough and you want
will you let us figure that way? Come on on
the table.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
It's a wallet, handkerchief, change, baggage. You got the keys
and that's it.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
All right now? Other coat, pockets, cigarettes, white, some more
change and.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Pocketing stuff inside pockets Too's nothing there you'd be interested in.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Inside pockets. A couple of letters, that's all right. Let's
take a look the true name, Cecil James Maddox. Yeah,
who's this stuff belonged to? I don't know anything about it.
Iriver's license, so security card, oil company, credit card. You
don't belong to you to? They take a good look. Cop,
you see my name on it. We found them in
your pockets. Cleaner must have list all come up at max.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
We got your nailed and you know it. You gotta
show me like these other envelopes here, same thing on
all of them. Now, what'd you get them?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I told you I got a sloppy cleaner. Frank you
want to chang see a friggies bang? Yeah? Sure, you
got me money in the word, A couple of bucks.
Take it out. Sure, I'll give it to you. Keep
it in your hands. Give me the wallet. You find
(20:10):
anything interesting in there, I'll split it. How about these checks?
Would you get them? I forget. You better start remembering, mister.
I'm trying.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It just isn't working on it pretty important that you do.
I think I found them, wlare I don't remember?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
You turn up with five hundred dollars worth of checks
and you don't know where you got them. I haven't
got the slightest die. But what about this receipt? What's
it for? I don't know. It's in your wallet. You
must have put it there. Look at the back. There's
a phone number on them. Maybe that's where I kept it.
No phone number here, and I can't tell you where
I got it. I guess I've been carrying it around
for a long time. Dated a couple of months ago.
It's a long time. Look what are you trying to
prove with this innocent pitch? You know we got your
going in. We're going to make a forgery complaint stick
(20:44):
now while you're trying to make it higher. I don't
think you can trip me for the beef. There's a
couple of officers over at your apartment.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Now, if they come up with the pressure you used
to print up the checks and the identification, you've had it, mister.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
If they find the press right, only one big hole
on the ferry tale. That's so, I haven't got a press.
I don't know where I got those checks. I think
I bought them. You try to take me to court
that kind of evidence, and you will make a front
page of the Dumbest Cop of the Year show.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, Pat's on the new Wait here, Maddox, only one
door and you're in front of that. I'm not going
any place. Just sit still. Yeah, how's it going for?
Not too good? He want cop? How'd you do? When
I talked to Fergie? They went over a Maddick's apartment. Yeah,
I didn't find anything. We went back into the interrogation
(21:25):
room and we talked to the suspect.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
He'd admit nothing. We talked to Raymond Johnstone, but he
refused to cooperate with us. A thorough search was made
of their car, but we failed to turn up anything new.
We contacted the printer who'd made up the receipt blanks.
He checked his records and he was able to give
us the address of the place that had ordered him Officers. Ferguson, Reagan,
Frank and I drove out to the place. It was
a cheap hotel located on the seventh. We checked with
(21:47):
the desk park and showed him the receipt. He told
us the two men answering the descriptions of the suspects
had rented.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
A room two months previously.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
He went on to say that there was a third
man with a pair and that he was in the
room at the time. We asked about luggies in the work,
said that the tree had moved in several large trunks.
We got the room number, and while Ferguson and regancover
the rear of the building, Frank and I went up
to the room down this way right, yeah, yeah, Paul Adley,
(22:21):
Yeah that's right.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
What do you want want to talk to you? I'm
kind of busy right now. What's a police officers? Get
out of there. You got no call to busting here.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
I'm not doing anything wrong do I just try to
keep us out. I just don't like cops running all
over the place.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Where's that door? Go bedroom? But there ain't nothing in
the concerns. You all take a look. You stay out
of there. What's this all about anyway? What are your
cops trying to build about? A frank, take a look
over here, pressing everything. Huh. I do a little printing
for the neighborhood people. There's nothing to concern you.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You do work for the Department of Motor Vehicles too.
What these driver's license planks?
Speaker 2 (22:59):
What are they for? Who tips you? Who told you
about the plant? Who told you?
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Don't make any difference? You bet it does all the
difference in the world. I don't know what they told you,
but I'm not gonna take the beef alone. I'm not
gonna take it along. So yeah, you go back and
tell Cecil and right that they're going with me.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
I'm not going to carry this by myself. You tell
them I will you sure pony deal anyway. I sit
here with the press, all the checks, anything goes wrong,
and the one that stands for it, they're out with
the money. One sided, that's what it is. They get
the kicks. I get to work, one sided. No of
this term. Huh. You're all going to come out, even.
Speaker 6 (23:35):
Cecil James Maddox, Raymond Richard Johnstone, and Paul Milton Hedley
were tried and convicted on eighteen counts of forgery. They
received sentence as prescribed by law. Forgery is punishable by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year,
or by imprisonment for not more than fourteen years in
the state penitentiary.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
You have just heard Dragnet, the authentic story of your
police force in action and starring Jack Webb.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
A presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service
(25:04):
stamping clo
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