Original subtitles

This is the city, Los Angeles, California.

It's made up of industry, education, commerce,

agriculture, research, and recreation,

and it's a living testimonial

to the imagination of 20th century man.

Imagination also turns solid citizens into strange characters.

It's been said that Los Angeles

is the strange character capital of the country.

When their imagination leads them beyond the law,

I move in. I carry a badge.

It was Tuesday, June 8th.

It was cold in Los Angeles.

We were working the day watch out of Robbery Division.

The boss is Captain Howe.

My partner's Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.

After three days of investigation,

we had arrested two men who had held up an importer

and robbed him of merchandise

worth $3,100 on the retail market.

Bill was allergic to feathers.

The stolen merchandise, which we recovered,

consisted of 750 live parakeets.

The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Pick up paper, shave, shower, breakfast,

take out the cans, mail house payment.

What's all that?

- That's it. - What's it?

I knew I'd forgotten something this morning, Joe.

- No water? - I don't need it.

They slide right down the old food chute.

What are they for?

- My allergy. - Feathers?

Since I started on these little dolls,

I can kiss a chicken.

Well, that sounds like fun.

No, no kidding, Joe.

It was that truckload of parakeets

we caught up with yesterday.

Yeah?

When I got home, Herm Sandburg was there.

- You remember Herm, don't you? - Yeah.

So, Herm says they have these new pills.

Boy, they're really great, just great.

- You want proof? - What kind of proof?

Two days ago, I bought a parakeet for the kids.

You've got a bird in the house?

We do. The kids are teaching it to talk.

Is that right?

- Know what he says? - No, what's he say?

"Take your pill, take your pill."

Friday, Gannon. What's your workload like?

How's your court picture?

Well, court's clear, Skipper.

The one thing we've got working is this blonde bandit.

He's got six jobs going on him now.

Nothing definite yet, though.

Turn your folder over to Lightner and Philips.

Let them work on it.

I've got something else for you two,

right up your alley.

A purse snatcher?

Keep reading, Joe. You won't believe it.

You're kidding.

- A purse-snatching dog? - How about that?

A dog that snatches purses. Boy, that's one for the book.

And you're just the two who can handle it.

You did such a good job with those parakeets,

you're now our animal experts.

Yeah, sure.

Busy dog, isn't he? Seven jobs in two weeks?

Better get on it right away.

Yes, sir.

A purse-snatching dog.

That's what the man said, laddie.

You mean Lassie.

8:50 a.m. Bill and I studied all the crime reports.

There were seven victims, all women,

who reported their purses were stolen by a large dog.

The descriptions of the dog varied.

An eighth victim claimed her purse had been snatched

by a large animal of some kind,

but she could not positively state it was a dog.

In each case, the victim had been waiting at a bus stop

when the animal appeared out of nowhere,

grabbed their purse, and disappeared.

North Hollywood Park area.

Yeah, look here.

There's a bus route along here, with a stop here,

here, and here, and two more here on this corner.

Well, that puts a frame on the picture.

- Yeah. - Bill, Joe?

Skipper.

The dog just grabbed another one.

Here's the address. There goes the picture.

- What picture? - It's not even 9:00.

All the other snatches were in the evening

between 5:30 and 7:00.

Business is so good for him,

maybe he's decided to work two shifts.

9:12 a.m. The address of the latest purse-snatching victim

was a flower shop called

The Cry of Sweet Pleasures and Stems of Dear Love.

Ah, the powers of flowers draw you here.

No, ma'am. We're police officers.

Oh, how lovely.

Are you Miss De Leone?

Noradella De Leone was my given name,

my family name,

but I changed it about an hour ago.

It's so contrived, so out of it.

Just call me Agnes Hickey.

Yes, ma'am.

I'm not like some. I dig the fuzz.

After all, you're like the flowers yourselves.

You have to live, too.

Yes, ma'am. Did you report your purse stolen by a dog?

No.

The friendly fuzz in the lovely black and off-white wheels

said he would make a report. That's his thing.

Thing?

Well, we all have a bag,

and in every bag we have a thing.

My bag is flowers.

My thing is to find homes for them.

He said it was a dog. I didn't say that.

Well, who said that?

The friendly fuzz.

Well, now, if you didn't say it was a dog,

why would the officer report that it was?

Who steals my purse steals my heart,

for he is obviously in more need than I,

and my heart goes out to those who need,

for I have no needs, save to be needed.

Well, now, that's a nice gentle philosophy, lady,

and if it's what you feel,

why did you report the theft of your purse?

But I didn't, love.

You see, when the creature made off with it,

I had no bread to pay the bus driver,

and he didn't want to let me ride.

See, collecting fares is his thing.

Well, I felt I should ride now and pay later,

so he called the man to put me off the bus,

and that's when I explained to the friendly fuzz.

Then you didn't register a complaint?

I never complain.

I love.

Yeah, well, there are women who have complained

that a dog snatched their purses.

Just like all creatures,

there are guide dogs and misguided dogs.

Maybe you can help us find this misguided one.

No, love. I must stay here

in The Cry of Sweet Pleasures and Stems of Dear Love.

Well, all we want is a description of the dog.

Well, it had a tail,

but so do ponies, and cows and alligators,

so that's really no help, is it, love?

What about color?

How drab this world would be without color.

Yes, it did have color.

What color, Miss?

Brown, black, and yellow.

How large would you say it was, Miss De Leone?

- Agnes Hickey. - Miss Hickey.

Oh, a size 2.

Size 2 what?

My daughter's a size 2. She's about that high.

Well, now, is that standing on its hind legs?

Not as it was running.

Did it stand on its hind legs to take your purse?

I don't know.

The lovely creature approached, said something,

and when I turned, it was running off with my purse.

It said something?

Of course. It said "Excuse me."

The dog talked?

Yes, love, in its own words, of course.

What words?

Ruff!

10:12 a.m. Bill and I drove back to the office.

This thing's turning into an epidemic.

Two more complaints on the dog.

Yeah, and none of the victims

can seem to agree on a description of the animal.

Captain Howe.

Send her up.

- Another one. - The dog again?

A woman downstairs complaining a wolf stole her purse last night.

Yeah, that's right.

K-R-A-V-I-T-Z, Wanda Kravitz.

Why didn't you report this last night, Mrs. Kravitz,

when it happened?

Well, I was too upset. I was scared to death.

Yes, ma'am.

The way the beast lunged out of the darkness,

he knocked me down.

And me, already with my broken arm.

That's why it happened.

Why what happened, ma'am?

If my right arm wasn't broken,

I'd carry my handbag in it. It's my strong arm.

The wolf would never get that bag away from me.

You sure it was a wolf, Mrs. Kravitz?

I carried the handbag in my left hand.

That's my weak one.

I have arthritis terribly in this one.

You can ask the social worker.

Yes, ma'am.

Miss Schaffer on my case.

I'm on the county welfare, you see.

I told her this morning, but she didn't believe me.

Go on, please.

I told her the wolf took my handbag

with all the money I have in the world.

I'd just cashed my county check, you see.

Yes?

And when I told Miss Schaffer my money was gone,

and I didn't have anything in the house,

she didn't believe it was a wolf.

Miss Schaffer thinks I drink.

Well, I don't drink, officers.

Once, I had a little on my breath.

My arthritis hurt me so much.

Just once. And Miss Schaffer happened by.

Now she thinks I'm a drinker.

She thinks I was drinking last night,

that I drank up my check

and made up a story about the big shaggy wolf.

He took it all, every penny I had in the world.

You believe me, don't you?

We believe you.

We assured Mrs. Kravitz we would do what we could

to substantiate her story.

Bill called the social worker and explained.

Miss Schaffer said she would assist Mrs. Kravitz.

2:15 p.m. Bill and I began to set up appointments

with each of the ten prior victims

of the purse-snatching animal.

Six of them were available that afternoon.

Three did not answer,

and the other victim was out of town.

We left the office to interview

the first of the available six.

Mrs. Emory Downey had been robbed

while waiting for the bus.

She could not identify the size, color,

or breed of the dog who ran off with her purse.

It had knocked her down at the time.

3:45 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Lars Lowell

had been waiting for the bus,

when Mrs. Lowell was attacked by the dog

and her purse stolen at approximately 6:15 p.m.

Yes, I did. I got a very good look at him.

It was an Airedale.

No, Lars! Airedales have curly hair.

He had straight hair.

Well, how big was the animal, Mr. Lowell?

About so gross.

No, Lars, about so!

I saw him. You were crying!

I can see when I'm crying!

Do you remember the color of the dog, Mr. Lowell?

- Yeah, black. - Brown.

Well, Airedales are brown and black.

Could he have been both?

It was not an Airedale.

Cynthia, it was an Airedale!

Don't listen to him, officers.

I know an Airedale when I see one.

To you, all dogs are Airedales.

It was a Collie.

To you, all dogs are Collies!

It was a Collie!

A man knows a dog better than a woman!

I know a Collie when I see one!

Since I was a boy, I have had little dogs...

As I turned, I saw this animal with my purse in his mouth,

leap into a passing automobile.

Was the car driven by a man or a woman, Miss Holmes?

I couldn't tell.

7:50 p.m. Our fourth and fifth interviews

kept us working late.

We had a confusing array of facts

from all five victims we had talked to.

All right, we've got a dog that steals purses.

Now just add up these descriptions.

The dog was big. He was small.

He was medium.

Yeah, I know.

He was brown. He was black.

He was yellow. He was gray.

He was long-haired, short-haired, curly-haired.

He looked like a Great Dane, a Bloodhound,

a Bulldog, a mongrel, or a wolf.

Or a Collie.

But, Joe, this is impossible.

Nobody agrees even the slightest

on what the animal even looks like.

Where are you going to begin?

Well, one thing's certain.

He's still making off with women's purses.

Beats me. I guess people just don't know one breed from another.

Well, it's pretty tough, isn't it,

when the dog's running off with your money,

to know what breed he is... Or care, for that matter.

Yeah, I know, but how are we going to nail him,

if we can't pin down a definite description of him?

Well, look at it this way. Suppose we did?

There are probably a million dogs in this city that would fit.

You know, I'm getting so that every time I see a dog,

I look the other way.

Hmph.

You used to have one, didn't you?

Old Fred?

Sure, but there was a dog and a half, great old boy.

What happened? Did he die?

Yeah, old age, almost 17 when he passed on.

Never had a dog like him, probably never will again.

Yeah, they can get to you, all right.

Good old Fred.

That's funny you should mention him.

He was part of the family, you know.

Great dog!

What breed was he?

- Fred? - Yeah.

Oh, he was... Well, he was a kind of...

You know, not a big dog,

really, not long hair, not exactly short.

Uh, more like a beagle, maybe or one of those funny dogs

with the long ears, you know?

Get in line.

I just can't pull it up right now.

I know what kind he was.

Sure, you do.

Let's call it a day. Well, we might as well.

There's nothing more we can do here.

I'll finish up these reports and see you in the morning.

- You know, Joe? - Yeah?

- Be just my luck. - What's that?

Probably be nothing but dog acts on TV all night.

Wednesday, June 9th. We checked with Bert Silver,

a theatrical booking agent

who specialized in animal acts.

It was 9:40 a.m.

Yes, boys, I'd say that's possible, very possible.

A dog can be trained to do anything.

I've got a dog act here, Homer Hoover and his Pal.

Homer taught Pal to drive a unicycle.

Imagine a Fox Terrier driving a unicycle?

Isn't that beautiful?

Homer says he can teach him to drive a car.

Only, smart as Pal is,

he'd never pass the written exam for a license.

According to witnesses, the dog's not a Fox Terrier.

Couldn't be Pal anyway.

Him and Homer been playing Australia

for the last two years.

Would you know offhand

any dog that does answer the description?

What description?

He's big, but he's not too big.

He's small, but he's not too small.

We mean, a description of his MO.

MO?

His method of operation.

You know, he grabs a purse, then jumps into a car with it?

Any smart dog can be trained to do that, Sergeant.

Take Rin Tin Tin. There was a brilliant act.

Of course, Rinty would never steal.

Too much class, that fella had.

And offhand, you wouldn't know of a dog around here

who's been trained for a movie maybe to snatch purses?

I know every animal act in California.

I cannot get that one for you.

I can give you a dog who can answer a telephone.

Want me to call and let you hear

a Labrador Retriever on the other end?

No thanks. But what types of dogs

are usually trained for such work, Mr. Silver?

Depends.

There are six different groups of dogs:

the sporting group, non-sporting,

working terriers, and so forth.

In those groups, there are 113 different breeds.

Now, you can probably rule out a couple of groups

and maybe concentrate on the sporting and working dogs.

Setters, Retrievers?

Yeah, Hounds and Terriers and so forth.

Take your Shepherds, Danes, Newfoundlands,

Tibetan Mastiffs, Schnauzers,

or a cross between any of those.

They all work good.

I wonder if you could give us some names

of animal trainers, Mr. Silver.

Sure. It's a short list, 10-12 maybe,

- but it won't do you any good. - Oh, how's that?

Training an animal to steal ladies' purses.

Yes, sir?

Good trainer sure ain't gonna train no dog

to do that for himself or nobody else.

- That right? - Sure!

A good dog man can make a hundred bucks a day

working the movie studios.

- Yeah? - Why bother to steal?

5:30 p.m. We had spent the entire day

talking with animal trainers on Bert Silver's list.

None of them were able to give us anything substantial

that would lead to the animal.

We were getting nowhere.

Thursday, June 10th, 8:06 a.m.

When I checked into the office,

Bill found something in the morning distribution.

The dog had struck again.

The victim claimed she could identify the animal.

She got a photograph of him as he ran away.

We immediately drove over to the victim's apartment.

Miss Dee Staley lived on Magnolia Boulevard.

We arrived at 8:25 a.m.

Oh, yes. About 5:30 last night,

I'd just come out of the camera store,

going to the bus stop, when, all of a sudden,

the dog appeared out of nowhere,

and with one snap of its jaws,

grabbed the purse right off my arm.

Had you reached the bus stop when that happened, Miss Staley?

Just, yes. Would you like some coffee?

I made plenty.

- No, no, thank you. - No, thanks.

Now, you said you got a photograph of the dog.

Is that right, Miss Staley?

That's right. You see, I had my purse in my right hand

and the camera in the left.

I don't know what possessed me to do it,

but I snapped a picture of the dog carrying off my purse.

- Do you have the picture? - Oh, yes.

Now, I warn you, you're not going to like this photo.

We won't, huh?

It'll embarrass you.

It's a police dog.

10:28 a.m. Dee Staley had given us one solid lead.

The dog was a German Shepherd, commonly called a police dog.

We asked for the cooperation

of the Department of Animal Regulation.

Officer Leo Center was assigned to assist us.

He, like all Animal Regulation officers,

was familiar with most of the dogs in his area.

He said there were a dozen German Shepherds.

We checked them all out.

Friday, June 11th, 9:15 a.m..

We reported negative results to the captain.

Two more women had been victimized by the dog.

Captain Howe agreed we should try a stakeout in the area.

He assigned three teams, each consisting of

two detectives and one policewoman.

Dorothy Miller would work with us.

All right, we'll start at 4:45 this afternoon

and work until 7:00 p.m.

Now, you ladies will be in plain clothes,

carrying large purses.

You'll all have your stations.

Yes, sir.

Any questions?

Yes. How about this dog?

Is he vicious? I mean, does he bite?

Only purses.

4:50 p.m. We began the stakeout.

With each passing bus,

we moved one block down the street to try again.

At 6:00 p.m., we called it off.

We tried again for two hours the following morning,

and three hours the evening of the 13th.

The dog had better luck than we did.

He had robbed another victim

five blocks from where we were.

How many days have you been staking out on that dog bit?

Four, Skipper.

I figure five, I was going to pull the plug.

Can't tie up all that manpower any longer, Joe.

Well, as long as you figured five,

why not throw in that extra day?

You ever sell used cars, Joe?

Okay, you can have Miller and one team,

but I've gotta keep the other fellas on their own folders.

Right, thanks.

Thanks.

I don't have an allergy.

Not even to dogs?

Wednesday, June 16th.

We started our stakeout at Lankershim and Cahuenga.

4:30 p.m. We had been at it since 3:20 with no results.

The dog had not struck in the past six days.

Help, help, help! A mountain lion is loose!

Go! And he stole my purse!

Did you see him? Look!

1K80, a 484PS, 4000 block on Lankershim,

'66 Chevelle, metallic blue, Lincoln Queen Ocean 413,

vehicle heading south on Lankershim Plaza!

We are in pursuit!

1K80, 1K80!

Suspect vehicle now heading west on Valleyheart.

Any unit, intercept.

All right, climb out there!

You're under arrest for robbery.

Come on, move. Get your hands up on that car.

Hurry up!

He's clean.

Joe?

No wonder every victim had a different description.

8:10 p.m. The suspect's name was Ingo Burry.

He was advised of his rights and agreed to talk to us.

His only concern appeared to be for the welfare of his dogs.

We assured him they would be properly cared for.

You'll see they get took care of good,

won't you, Sergeant?

I mean, it's not them who went bad.

It was me.

Yeah, we'll do that.

Look, I'm sorry.

I really am sorry,

but, well, it cost an awful lot to feed them.

See, they eat the finest meat.

I like to serve it. Two of them anyway.

How's that?

Duke and Big Boy, they're veterans.

They served in Vietnam.

- Army dogs, are they? - That's right.

I was in the service myself, 22 years.

I, uh, I'm going to prison, I guess, huh?

The court'll decide that, Burry.

I suppose I'll have to stand on another charge now, huh?

What's that?

Stealing government dogs.

The four dogs found in the suspect's station wagon

were impounded at the animal shelter,

pending word from the Army Canine Corps.

Tuesday, June 19th, 4:48 p.m.

Well, the Army checked on the dogs.

- Yeah? - They don't want them all.

- They're only interested in two. - Oh, why's that?

Well, first off, seems that once they train a dog for guard duty,

they can't be untrained too well for civilian life again.

Well, Burry did.

That's just it.

The two dogs hadn't gone through military training yet.

Burry stole them before they went through.

Oh, I see.

And you say the army only wants two of them, huh?

Yeah, the Shepherd and the Doberman.

Who do the other two belong to?

Turns out Burry got them from the pound.

Yeah.

They were gonna hold them at the shelter

till they found a good home for them.

What do you mean, were gonna hold 'em?

Well, like I told you, our dog died six months ago,

so I took the Collie.

Figure he'll be great to bring in the morning paper.

And I took the other one.

Only I'm going to have to break him of a bad habit.

The suspect was found guilty

on five counts of grand theft.

Each count of grand theft is punishable by imprisonment

in the county jail for not more than one year,

or in the state prison for not more than ten years.