An armed man walks into Highland Park police station and forces a cell block open.
1. Dragnet - Old Time Radio's "Big Rescue" tracks Friday and Frank Smith through a Los Angeles robbery case that expands into a jailbreak manhunt.
2. Jack Webb is credited as the star, while Frank Smith, Chief of Detectives Thad Brown, and Captain Donahoe keep the investigation moving.
3. The episode asks how two armed robbers from the 814 Club can be identified after three weeks of dead ends and scattered tips.
4. A 814 Club witness says the dark suspect carried a machine gun and the light suspect carried a .45, then heard, "Sit right where you are. This is a stick-up."
5. The robbers make patrons face the bar, dump money onto tables, and wait five minutes before calling police.
6. Friday says the team has checked informants, victims, witnesses, mug shots, and neighborhood canvasses with no usable break.
7. Thad Brown and Captain Donahoe decide the only answer is legwork, so Friday and Frank keep re-checking informants after a 3:45 a.m. logoff.
8. A radio call from Highland Park reports an armed man with a submachine gun forcing an officer to release two prisoners from 6045 York Boulevard.
9. Officer Boyd Hutchins says the gunman asked to see Burton, showed the weapon over the counter, and marched Burton and Kenneth Lechner out of the cell block.
10. Lechner is identified as a pickup on an Oklahoma warrant for murder, which turns the search into a statewide alarm.
11. Roadblocks, depot checks, airport coverage, and canceled days off put more than 3,000 policemen into the hunt.
12. A Saturday report from San Diego about two men trying to rent a boat proves false.
13. Sacramento authorities send Burton's record and mug shots, and Mr. Gilmore identifies Gail Burton as the man who robbed the 814 Club.
14. An informant in San Francisco's Fillmore district links Burton to Kirby Monet, a man who talked about going big and building his own gang.
15. Pictures of Kirby Monet produce a positive identification, giving the field teams a second name and face.
16. Lechner later tells Friday and Frank that Burton and Monet are "roof jobs," that they drove a stolen 1952 Nash four-door, and that they carried a machine gun plus several .45s.
17. He says Burton liked to smoke cigars and brag about looking like Doc Barker, while both men talked about Dillinger and Floyd.
18. Patrol spots Burton and Monet near the bar, and Monet's car rams the police unit as the chase breaks open.
19. A gray 1952 Nash, paint scrapings, and Drusilla Roth's directions to Monet's apartment give the officers a place to watch.
20. The closing minutes read out the statute numbers and penalties tied to robbery, firearm, machine-gun, and assault counts.
