The Big Lift

Originally Aired: September 8, 1953

Dragnet #212, "The Big Lift," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith find themselves frustrated by an elusive burglar who has been plaguing Los Angeles for five weeks. Seventeen homes have been stripped of valuables by a thief with a consistent method of operation: punching holes in window screens, jimmying windows, and making off with jewelry between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. When Friday and Smith stop for a meal at a local diner, the talkative proprietor unknowingly lectures the two detectives about how the burglar is running the cops in circles, even as newspapers mock the police department's inability to catch the phantom thief.

Despite exhaustive efforts by the crime lab, multiple detective teams, rolling stakeouts, and communication with law enforcement agencies across the nation, the investigation has produced virtually nothing. The burglar leaves behind only cotton glove fibers and tool marks, but no fingerprints, no physical description, and no workable leads. As Captain Wisdom assigns additional teams and resources to the case, Friday and Smith face mounting pressure to solve a crime that seems unsolvable.