Dragnet: The Hunt for the Badge Bandit

For two months, a predator had been working the darkened parks and canyon roads of Los Angeles — a stocky, blonde man who flashed a badge, then turned on his victims with his fists. Fifteen robberies. Fifteen assaults. Sergeants Joe Friday and Ben Romero of the LAPD were hunting a ghost: the Badge Bandit, Charles Kirby, a man the department knew by description but couldn’t catch. When the trail finally closed in a canyon road confrontation, Kirby rammed their vehicle and vanished into the brush, leaving both detectives hospitalized. Friday walked out in two days. Romero stayed ten. Back on duty, Friday was assigned to a decoy operation — parked on Mulholland Drive in the small hours with Policewoman Dorothy River, waiting for Kirby to take the bait. He did. The arrest came quickly, quietly — until the system stumbled.  Episode Quotes“There’s only one way a guy like that ever quits.” — Captain Steed“You can’t work if you don’t eat.” — Mrs. FridaySpecial Thanks to Our Sponsor Tablet Pharmacy.You'll find all episodes of The PULSE 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.ca.#ThePulseCommunity #ThePulsePodcast #Dragnet #RadioArchaeology #ClassicRadio #OldTimeRadio #ParksvilleQualicumBeach #VancouverIsland #JoeFriday #BadgeBandit