The Big Brain

Originally Aired: September 28, 1952

Dragnet #171, "The Big Brain," opens on a rainy Los Angeles night as Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith respond to a disturbing call: a man has been found locked in the trunk of a car, badly beaten and suffering from shock. The victim is the tenth in a series of violent kidnappings where suspects steal cars, abduct the owners at gunpoint, and lock them in trunks while committing armed robberies around the city. Pharmacist Carl Moore discovered the victim after hearing muffled sounds coming from the trunk while walking home from his drugstore.

At Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, Friday and Smith interview the shaken victim, who describes being stopped at a traffic light when two men entered his car. One pulled a gun—the victim recalls it looking like a cannon—and forced him into the backseat. When he pleaded to be released, promising not to report the crime, one suspect struck him. The detectives know they're racing against time; while none of the victims have been killed yet, they fear it's only a matter of time before this violent crime spree turns deadly.