The Big Drills

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