The Big Jolt

Originally Aired: October 5, 1952

In Dragnet #172, "The Big Jolt," Detective Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith respond to a call from Adams High School, where a chemistry class has erupted into chaos. Fifteen-year-old Douglas Lambert has sparked a near riot after making crude remarks about a female classmate, provoking a fight with Larry McLean that escalates into classroom-wide mayhem. During the brawl, Lambert throws a bottle of sulfuric acid at McLean, severely burning his face and chest and sending him to the hospital. What makes the incident particularly troubling is that Lambert was once a model student with straight A's who has mysteriously transformed into a troublemaker over the past two months.

When Friday and Smith question the boy, chemistry teacher John Lane suspects Lambert came to class intoxicated. At first Douglas denies drinking, but when Friday threatens to administer a toxometer test, the teenager admits to having a couple of drinks, claiming he has been drinking for years and knows how to handle it. As the detectives prepare to take Douglas downtown for questioning about his alcohol source, the gravity of his actions begins to sink in, leaving Friday and Smith to investigate what has caused such a dramatic change in a formerly promising young student.