Friday - The Dragnet Podcast

A three-day-old newborn is abducted from a hospital nursery during a rain-soaked night, triggering a frantic citywide search. With no ransom demand and no physical evidence, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero sift through false leads, anonymous tips, and mounting public pressure as the hours tick by. The investigation finally leads to a quiet neighborhood baptism—and a grieving woman driven...

A young woman begins receiving anonymous letters and phone calls threatening her with death for attending a small neighborhood church. As Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero investigate what appears to be the work of a religious fanatic, the case grows darker when the woman reports a violent attack inside the church itself. But inconsistencies, forensic evidence, and subtle behavioral clues lead th...

A gang of seasoned narcotics dealers moves into Los Angeles with $100,000 worth of heroin, confident their international-tested methods will keep them untouchable. When a wary middlewoman alerts police to a proposed introduction, Sergeant Joe Friday goes undercover as a buyer to infiltrate the operation. As the deal escalates through late-night meetings, escalating demands, and mounting suspicion,...

For nearly a decade, an elderly woman known only as “Grandma” quietly bleeds Los Angeles merchants with forged checks—working just three months a year and never raising suspicion. As Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero revisit the case during her tenth season of operation, a single mistake finally cracks her flawless routine. When a stolen charge plate leads detectives to a respec...

When a fashionable Hollywood woman is robbed while under medical “treatment,” Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero uncover a dangerous con man posing as a psychiatrist. Operating a sham medical college and selling phony degrees, the suspect uses hypnosis and drugs to prey on wealthy patients—leaving one woman dead and others stripped of their valuables. The investigation exposes a...

A masked bandit’s robbery spree turns deadly when grocery clerk Bert Matthews is gunned down without warning. Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero chase a killer who slips in and out of Los Angeles using taxi cabs as his getaway — a method that leads them straight into a tangled partnership between two young men, one a nervous hold-up artist and the other a cab driver with a .38 that&rsq...

A wealthy warehouse owner makes a stunning proposition: he wants his wife murdered—and he’s willing to pay for it. When a nervous acquaintance reports the plot, Sergeant Joe Friday goes undercover as a hired killer to draw out every detail. What follows is a tense psychological game as Friday gains the suspect’s trust, uncovers the murder plan step-by-step, and races the clock to...

A quiet Los Angeles neighborhood becomes the hunting ground for a pair of burglars stripping entire homes of their furniture while families are away. With no solid leads and a city full of moving vans, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero set a trap: a network of decoy houses baited to draw the thieves out. When the suspects finally take the hook, the result is a tense takedown that exposes a husban...

A quiet family bakery becomes the scene of a cold-blooded holdup when a gunman shoots the owner and his daughter without provocation. With two victims fighting for their lives, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero chase a suspect whose alibi crumbles fast. But when an anonymous letter arrives—packed with inside details only the real gunman could know—the case flips on its head. The hunt...

An elderly couple vanishes from their quiet Los Angeles neighborhood without a trace. Dirty dishes on the table, an empty garage, and a half-full bottle of cyanide in the basement point toward something far worse than a simple disappearance. As Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero unravel the lies of a smooth-faced nephew with too many alibis, the truth leads to a cold-blooded plan, a forged trail o...

A smooth-talking check forger is bleeding small neighborhood shops one twenty-dollar bill at a time—and leaving nothing but bad paper behind. Assigned to forgery detail, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero follow a trail of phony paychecks, frightened shopkeepers, and a double life built on lies, closing in on a man who swears he’ll never go back to Folsom. The closer they get, the more...

When a highway patrol officer suddenly vanishes during his early morning shift, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero join forces with the Sheriff's Department and the State Highway Patrol to uncover what happened. The abandoned squad car, the trail of fresh black paint, and a suspiciously repainted Plymouth sedan point toward a dangerous fugitive on the run. As the investigation stretches from Los A...

A young lawyer’s office is found drenched in green paint—law books ruined, furniture destroyed, and no clear motive. Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero follow the trail through neighborhood schools, pranks, and burned palm trees, eventually uncovering a troubled teenage boy with a dangerous compulsion for lies and destruction. The investigation leads to a stark lesson in parental negle...

When $10,000 in hospital narcotics vanishes and an intern is left unconscious, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero launch a citywide manhunt for the thieves. The trail leads to a desperate addict and, ultimately, to a small-time Hollywood actor chasing fame—an ambitious man willing to risk everything for fast money and a shot at the spotlight. Originally aired: August 10, 1950.  Cast: Ja...

Description: When a young boy returns home from a late movie, he discovers his mother brutally murdered. With a savage knife attack, no signs of forced entry, and a neighborhood that swears they heard nothing, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero soon uncover a disturbing trail of jealousy, obsession, and emotional collapse. Their only solid clue: fingerprints on the murder weapon—and a myster...

After four months on the run, the “Gentleman Bandit” Frank Chaney resurfaces—ruthless as ever. When a daring daylight bank robbery leaves another victim injured, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero race against time to hunt him down before he kills again. Following a desperate trail through Los Angeles and down to the docks of San Pedro, the chase ends in a deadly confrontation ab...

When a finance company robbery leaves a bystander dead and a police officer critically wounded, Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero are called to help San Diego authorities track down the ruthless killers. The investigation leads them to an ex-con known as the “Gentleman Bandit,” Frank Chaney—recently paroled after 18 years behind bars. As the detectives follow a trail of old part...

A desperate man holds Los Angeles City Hall hostage with a homemade bomb, demanding his brother’s release from jail. Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero have less than an hour to defuse the situation—literally. As tension mounts and the clock ticks toward disaster, the detectives must outthink a man with nothing left to lose. Originally aired: July 13, 1950. Cast: Jack Webb, Barton Yarb...

A notorious criminal escapes justice—and Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero are back on the hunt. When an informant turns up murdered, the trail points toward a violent holdup man named George Barlow. With leads going cold and pressure mounting, the detectives navigate a maze of false names, barroom brawls, and ruthless accomplices to bring a dangerous man to justice. Originally aired: March...

After seven months, a paroled murderess, Annie Marie Johnson, loses contact with the parole office. When her parole officer becomes suspicious and enlists the help of the police, they investigate her living arrangements with a couple who are supposedly sick and residing in sanitariums. As the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that Annie has forged signatures and may be involved in a possible...

A police officer is shot and killed, leading Sergeant Joe Friday to investigate the case. As they pursue a suspect, Jake Carver, who is recently out of Folsom Penitentiary, the detectives set up a plan to gather evidence against him. Carver is suspected in a series of crimes, including the shooting of a drugstore owner in San Pedro. With clever tactics, they lure information out of Carver, leading...

Sergeant Friday and his team are on the trail of the notorious confidence man, Gentleman Wallace, who has returned to Los Angeles and has resumed his swindling operations. Wallace's latest scheme involves writing letters demanding payment of debts from deceased persons, and swindling their grieving families. After an extensive surveillance and investigative effort, Wallace is finally apprehended a...

A wave of robberies and assaults has plagued Los Angeles, with the victims describing the assailant as a tall, beautiful woman. Detectives Joe Friday and Ben Romero investigate the latest case of a truck driver who was robbed, assaulted, and shot by the woman. As the investigation unfolds, they uncover the true identity of the perpetrator, who has been impersonating a woman to commit these crimes....

Two small girls go missing, and Sergeant Joe Friday and Ben Romero are called in to investigate. As the search gets underway, disturbing evidence is discovered, and the detectives find themselves on the trail of a potential suspect in their own neighborhood. When the bodies of the missing girls are found, the investigation intensifies, leading to the arrest and conviction of Claude Willis Jimerson...

Sergeant Joe Friday and his team are determined to apprehend Pacific Coast narcotics trafficker Arthur Z. Belmont. As they work to set up a meeting with Belmont, his trusted friend Floyd Ketchel becomes their lead. With a plan in place, they aim to catch Belmont in the act. However, the operation takes an unexpected turn, leading to a dramatic conclusion. The relentless pursuit of justice and the...