by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Los Angeles is being terrorized by the "rattlesnake bandit", who preys upon young couples, pointlessly beating them up after robbing them (one of his female victims is now permanently blind). Descriptions of the bandit are fragmentary, but Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) have one palpable clue to go on: the criminal is occasionally seen in the company of a blonde female. Though the bandit manages to elude the cops for several nights running, he finally outsmarts himself when he holds up his girlfriend's ex-boss. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of January 4, 1951.
