The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1875-12-04

IFF WHILST BEING REMOVED FROM BALTIMORE tt
TowsoNTowN.-0n Monday afternoon four des
perate men escaped from the custody Of Depu
| ty Sheriff John g. Knight, of this county
whilst being conveyed in hack from thu
Baltimore city jail to the jail at this place
| Their names are Albert Stevins, Jas. Sanford
David Peyton and David Pinkney, the latter
colored. Three of these men had been arrest
ed in the city on the charge of committing Q
number of burgaries and the other (Stevins
| was charged with being common thief Some
weeks ago the prisoners had their cases remov
ed from the city to the Circuit Court for Balti-
more county, and Deputy Sheriff Knight was
| sent in on Monday to convey them thither
| Fer this purpose Mr.. Knight hired hack
which was driven by man named John Burns
and about one o'clock started from the city
| Jail with the men in charge. The prisoners
were handcuffed in pairs-Peyton and the col
ord man together on the front seat, the other
| two on the rear seat. Mr.. Knight sat with the
| two prisoners on the rear seat The driver was
cautioned to look into the hack occasionally to
see if all was right with the party inside
| When the carriage had proceeded as far as
| Friendship avenue, on the York road, in the
village of Waverley, the driver, upon looking
| back, saw that there was terrible struggle 60
| ing on inside, and noticed that one of the men
was holding the officer down. He then heard
cries to "stop" and to 'driye on; y pistol shot
| was fired revolvers were being flourished; the
door of the hack was opened, the four prison
ers burst cut and shutting the door on the
Deputy Sheriff two of the desperadoes Stevins
and Sanford, pointed pistol at the drivers
head and commanded him to drive on, Burns
proceeded few yards and the escaped prison.
ers ran off, closely pursued by the officer. One
Of the party fred at the officer.
Deputy Sheriff Knight says that the affair
occurred at about P. NJ. He was sitting on
the rear seat beside the two prisoners, Stevins
and Sanford, in rather close quarters for five
men. There had been some conversation about
the density of the population, when suddenly
the handouts of the two men on the seat be
side him dropped to the floor, and three re-
volvers were pointed at him in an instant. -
Two of the prisoners were holding the Deputy
Sheriff, who struggled to relieve himself from
them. From his seat beside the two prisoners
handcuffed together on the rear seat he could
not see when they unlocked themselves. AS
soon as they were free they threw themselves
on him, and then released Peyton from the col
cred man on the front seat. One of the pris-
oners, in the excitement of the moment, the
Deputy could net say which, fired a pistol from
the front seat not three feet off, flashing in his
face, and the ball grazing his cheek and strik-
ing the arm OF one OF the prisoners. While
two of the desperadoes held the officer one
opened the door of the carriage and they all
got out. Mr.. Knight decrbes the struggle in
the close quarters of the carriage of the
most desperate character. He followed the es
Gaping prisoners, calling for assistance from
the people of the village, when a second shot
was fred from navy revolver in the hands OF
one of the retreating prisoners twenty yards
distant The shot had no effect. The four des-
peradoes kept the people at bay with their re-
volvers cooked Peyton and the black man
proceeded northwardly, and the black man
soon separated from his companion
Peyton, as he went through Waverley, stole
horse and wagon standing by the roadside
and drove off at rapid rate. Deputy Knight
determined to pursue him the ringleader,
and procuring a gun and horse, overlook the
fugitive one mile north of Waverley. He pre-
sented the gun at the prisoners head and de-
manded his surrender. Peyton said, 81 surren-
der; l only have pistol" Mr.. Knight, who
had dismounted, ordered the prisoner out of
the wagon, the owner Of which then came up
and took possession of the vehicle. Peyton
was taken back to Waverley, and was handed
over to county police officer Lytle, VINO brought
him to Towsontown.
The Deputy Sheriff then turned his attention
to Stevns and Sanford, who had gone south
from the starting point in company. They
were pursued to Greenmount Cemetery, where
all traces of them were lost. Mr.. Knight says
two men, unknown to the residents at Waver-
ley, followed Sanford and Stevin some distance
ahead of any people of the neighborhood, and
rangement at this point. He says further, that
the prisoners had no communication with any
enc after entering the hack at the Baltimore
city jail. He says they must have brought the
loaded revolvers with them. He was unarm-
ed, and did not search the prisoners before they
were placed in his custody, nor afterwards
As to the prisoners freeing themselves from the
handouts, he believes they must have unlock
ed the irens with key. His own key, with
which he had secured them, was in his pocket.
The whole affair was one of the most desper-
ate attempts at escape we have been called up
on to record for some time. Mr.. Knight is an
old and experienced officer and did everything
in his power to prevent the escape of the des-
peradoes but without success.
Some Of the Baltimore papers-particularly
the Evening NeDs-in referring to this matter,
seek to attach blame to Deputy Sheriff knight,
and the NeaoS goes so far as to say that the of
fcsr charge Of the 2Eisoners &c, conspired at
him. About there being conspiracy to get
these Williams off there can be no doubt, but if
there is blame it must be placed where it prop
erly belongs and that is upon the officers of the
city Jail. We are firmly convinced, as also are
a large number of other people, that the whole
conspiracy was planned in that jail, and that
too with the knowledge and assistance Of some
Of the under-strapper officials of that insttu-
ton. And the facts will bear us out in this
conclusion, because if it were not so how could
these Williams have obtained Navy revolvers,
keys for the handouts, red pepper to throw in
the eyes of the officer, (Which, however, was
not used) and other things which men are not
allowed to keep in their possession when con-
fined in jail The NeeoS, in order to screen its
city Jail "bummers," endeavors to place the
blame upon Mr.. Knight, which is very unjust,
to say the least. If he had been Deputy act
ing under sheriff elected by so-called Demo
cratic votes the Neo0s would not have alluded
to him in the manner it did.