Police baffled in craps game robbery

The click of the dice at a home on Winesap Road near Freewater was interrupted when masked men broke in on a craps game in April 1947 and got away scot-free with a reported $10,000 in cash and jewelry.

A group of men was engaged in a bit of gambling on April 27, 1947, at a home about three miles from Freewater when four men wearing masks and G.I. coveralls entered the house at around 11 p.m., held up the gamblers, tied them up and took all the money and jewelry they could get from their victims. The robbers then stationed themselves just outside the house being used for the game and held up other gamblers as they arrived.

When Hodie Timmons and Dick Craver, operators of the Pastime tavern in Freewater, arrived on the scene they were held up as well. The holdup gang got quite a haul from the Pastime duo, including a diamond ring valued at $1,000. Timmons and Craver also were persuaded to give out the combination for the Pastime’s safe, and two of the gang stood guard over the prisoners while the other two went into town and emptied the safe of another $2,500 in cash.

Upon returning to their prisoners, which by now numbered between 20 and 40, the robbers let the air out of one tire on each of the assembled cars and then escaped into the night. The victims of the holdup took a few minutes to escape from their bonds, with the help of the women on the scene  — who were not tied up or harmed in any way — but were unable to even determine which way the masked men had gone.

None of the holdup victims were able to describe their attackers. When any of the gamblers had tried to get a good look at one of the robbers, he would get a good rap on the head with the butt of a revolver and warned to keep their eyes elsewhere, “or else.” No one was seriously injured during the holdup, though the gamblers were treated rather roughly and most ended up with bumps and bruises.

Local law enforcement could find no leads to the identity of the holdup gang, whose final take was between $5,000 and $7,000 in cash and around $3,000 in jewelry.