The Big Border

Originally Aired: March 20, 1952

Dragnet #145, "The Big Border," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ed Jacobs hunting two dangerous escaped convicts who have vowed they'll never be taken alive. Andrew Powell and Bertram Selby have broken out of San Quentin and are headed for Los Angeles, armed and desperate. When Friday and Jacobs track down Ruth Thompson, Powell's former fiancée, they interrupt her friend's birthday party with urgent questions. Ruth initially claims she hasn't seen Powell in years, not since she broke off their engagement when he went to prison for armed robbery.

Under Friday's persistent questioning, Ruth finally breaks down and admits the terrifying truth: Powell and Selby showed up at her door that very morning. Threatening her with a knife, they stole money, her dead father's clothes, and his .38 caliber revolver. Ruth's final words to the detectives are chilling—Powell swore the police would never take him alive and promised there would be a fight if they tried. Friday arranges round-the-clock surveillance on Ruth's home and workplace as the manhunt for the armed fugitives intensifies.

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