Dragnet: The Big Press - Catching the Cowards

For more than a month, lone women across the western stretches of Los Angeles had been beaten, robbed, and left on the pavement. The attacks came at night, the descriptions were hopelessly vague, and the two men behind it had vanished into the dark each time. Detectives Joe Friday and Ben Romero of the LAPD's Robbery Detail knew they had to stop waiting for a break and manufacture one. With four policewomen from the Juvenile Bureau and a special detail from the Metropolitan Division, they set up a sprawling decoy operation - marked bills, shoulder holsters hidden under street clothes, and patrol cars running silent through residential blocks.The trap held for days without a bite. Then policewoman Nancy Short walked her assigned route on Willoughby and Hudson - and the attackers struck. The victim fought back. She tore a pocket off one assailant's coat and left Friday and Romero holding a driver's licence belonging to 18-year-old George Landon. From Landon's confession, the trail led to his accomplice, Tommy Decker - the one who brought the gun, stole the cars, and did the hitting. Friday and Romero tracked Decker to a garage on South Flower Street. What followed was a chase through the shop floor, a locked locker room, and a gun thrown out in surrender before Decker ran out of places to hide.Episode Quotes"To the police officer, the lowest thief and most cowardly is the purse snatcher who preys on women." - Sergeant Friday"I didn't wanna do it. I didn't wanna do it anytime. He talked me into it." - George Landon"18 years old. What's it prove? ... Sometimes you kinda wonder if it's true - there's no such thing as a bad boy." - Sergeant Friday Special Thanks to our sponsor: Tablet Pharmacy for supporting ThePulseCommunity.ca.You'll find all episodes of The PULSE Community Podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, TikTok and YouTube Podcasts, as well as ThePulseCommunity.ca. Check out Skookum Kid's Stories on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube Podcasts. Sign up for our weekly newsletter of new podcast releases and contests!  #ThePulseCommunity #ThePulsePodcast #Dragnet #RadioArchaeology #ClassicRadio #OldTimeRadio #ParksvilleQualicumBeach #VancouverIsland #JoeFriday #RadioDrama