Two men who disarmed a Seattle policeman and stole his car at gunpoint in April of 1950 were spotted in Pendleton and arrested by local police the next day.
William Archie Miller, 28, and John Boggs, 30, were wanted for armed robbery in Seattle after the holdup of a policeman early in the morning hours of April 13, 1950. The duo held the officer at gunpoint and relieved him of his vehicle, then fled the city. An all-points bulletin was sent out to law enforcement across the Pacific Northwest, and two hours later Pendleton night watchman Tom Fitzgerald recognized the fugitives’ license plate number on a car that entered town from the east.
Fitzgerald followed the car and notified local police officers just as they were changing shifts. Sgt. Arch Campbell and officers Irwin Hood, Cliff Smick and John Powell raced to the Fraternity Club entrance on Main Street. Boggs was still in the car, while Miller was walking a Samoyed dog on the sidewalk.
Rookie cop Smick grabbed Miller around the arms just as the man was reaching for a .45 automatic stuffed into his belt. The gun was loaded and cocked, with a bullet in the chamber and the safety off. Both men were arrested and taken to the city jail, while the dog was taken to a local veterinary clinic for safekeeping.
When their vehicle was searched, police found a veritable arsenal of weapons, ammunition and safecracking equipment — drill, punches, crowbar, sledge hammer, dynamite and caps, battery, wire and ... a banana. According to Police Chief Charles Lemons, bananas are used to seal dynamite powder in the cracks of a safe door before the charge is set off.
The men opposed their extradition to Seattle to face charges, and made a useless attempt at escaping from the jail hours after their arrest by breaking off part of a steam pipe to use as a weapon. During a search before their move to the county jail, a small amount of wire was found on one of the men and confiscated.
Miller’s wife called Pendleton police to claim her car, the expensive new vehicle the men were driving when arrested, and the dog.
Seattle law enforcement were required to take extradition papers to the Washington governor’s office for a signature, then to Salem for Oregon Gov. McKay’s signature, before traveling to Pendleton to claim the prisoners.
No comments:
Post a Comment