The Big Trio

Originally Aired: July 3, 1952

Dragnet #160, "The Big Trio," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith investigate a devastating traffic accident involving four teenagers and an elderly couple. At Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, Friday and Smith learn the grim details: 16-year-old Charles Wheeler took his father's car without permission and convinced three younger children to join him for a joyride. What started as a neighborhood drive escalated into a high-speed chase when Wheeler spotted a police car and decided to outrun it, boasting that he could drive as fast as his father. The result is catastrophic—two 13-year-old girls and a 12-year-old boy suffer horrific injuries, with one girl facing amputation of both legs.

When Mr. Wheeler arrives at the hospital, he refuses to accept his son's responsibility for the accident. Arrogant and defensive, he blames the police for chasing the boy and insists his son is an excellent driver because he taught him himself. As Friday attempts to explain that Charles had no driver's license and endangered lives during a nineteen-mile chase involving eleven police cars, Wheeler's denial and misplaced pride reveal the true cause of the tragedy.