Dragnet - Old Time Radio · theaterofthemind-otr.com

The Big Lens - Dragnet | 12/14/1954 (Ep278)

·26 min·2 clips

A woman recounts how a man with a knife forced his way into her car and threatened to stab her.

This episode follows Detectives Joe Friday and Frank Smith investigating the kidnapping and robbery of a woman named Gwen Alston. The victim was carjacked by two men, beaten, and robbed before the suspects crashed her vehicle and fled. Detectives Friday and Smith methodically pursue the case with few initial leads beyond the victim's limited description. Their first tangible clue is a container of corneal contact lenses found in the backseat of the victim's impounded car. The lenses are traced through the manufacturer, the Stimpson Company, to an optician who fitted them for a man named John L. Roberts. Roberts provides the detectives with the name of his actual patient, Robert Briarton, who becomes their initial suspect. Briarton owns a brown suede jacket matching the victim's description and confirms he owns corneal lenses, but he claims an alibi supported by his wife. Briarton's wife, Anna, reveals her younger brother, Gordon Hedig, had borrowed the suede jacket the previous night. The investigation shifts to Hedig, a high school student with a prior police record. Hedig is brought in for questioning but maintains he was at a movie theater alone, offering a defiant and uncooperative attitude. The victim, Gwen Alston, positively identifies Gordon Hedig in a lineup as the man who assaulted her in the backseat of her car. A search of field interview cards reveals Hedig was stopped with another teenager, John Burko, on the night of the crime. A notation on Burko's card states his right thumb was bandaged, matching a detail the victim recalled about the driver. Gwen Alston identifies Burko from a mug shot as the second suspect. Detectives arrest John Burko at his boarding house, where he immediately implicates Hedig upon learning of his capture. Burko expresses contempt for Hedig, specifically criticizing him for beating the woman and then supposedly confessing. The episode concludes by stating both Gordon Hedig and John Burko were tried and convicted for first-degree robbery and kidnapping. The tone is procedural and documentary, characterized by a matter-of-fact narration and realistic police dialogue. Listeners who enjoy classic radio drama, true crime procedurals, or meticulously plotted police investigations will appreciate this episode. Those seeking fast-paced action or character-driven storytelling might find the methodical pace too slow.

As heard by us

A brisk police procedural that turns ordinary detail into the whole point.

This Dragnet entry follows Friday and Smith from Georgia Street Hospital to the trail of the corneal lenses, and it keeps moving with the series' familiar procedural discipline.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play for a no-frills Dragnet case built on questions and evidence.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Dragnet - Old Time Radio