Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-01-12
BURGLARIES.
Attempt to Rob the East
Side Bank.
A SAFE ROKEN OPEN
A Neat Markets Sausage Disap
pears-A Trunk Found With
Contents Gone.


burglar has been heard from very FIRE
quently. Scarcely night has passed
that he has not been in several places
and as the new year has progressed
his depredations have become more
and more frequent, until it has become
common thing to expect nearly {
column OF the papers every morning
devoted to nothing else than his ex
ploits. With all OF these petit burg
a ries, it has been matter of wonder
ment that some bank has not attracted
the attention of the members of this
numerous thieving fraternity. As i
in answer to the queries as tt
why they had not turned theil
attention to the banks, al
attempt was made shortly before
midnight Tuesday night to burglarize
the East Los Angeles Bank. Officer
w. j. Richardson who was on that
beat whilst passing the bank and in
the full glare of the electric light was
commanded to ''hold up" This
made Richardson draw his gun, but
he was too late as the scoundrel fred
at him and then ran away. He gave
chase and when he reached the rear
of the bank building another man ap-
peared and started to follow his COM
rade's example. The two thieves
fired over their shoulders as they ran,
and it is wonder that the officer was
not killed. Richardson also fred
four shots at the fugitives as they
ran, and one OF the men was seen to
stagger after the first shot.
The man fired one shot
each, and the officer two
at each of them as they ran in oppo-
site directions. Richardson then
thought that the robbers only wished
to hold him up, and had no idea that
an attempt had been made to rob the
bank. He first went to the rear and
soon discovered that some one had
tried to enter the building from that
point. Thoroughly alarmed, he now
blew his police whistle and started to
search further, but could not find
anything, and after reporting the
matter at headquarters he thought no
more about it. When Capt. Fletcher
made his appearance yesterday morn
ing, the facts as above stated were
told him and he Immediately
proceeded to the scene. The
bank people We're notified and
it almost frightened the cashier
to death when told that there was
possibly no cash there. When
Fletcher entered the building he no.
ticed the hole which the robbers had
sawed into the bank floor, and also
the tools, which embraced a full
burglars kit. There were two steel
drills, one saw, one brace, three
chiselled bits, one jimmy two feet
long, male OF the best OF steel, and
one four-foot crowbar. These tools
Fletcher took possession of and con-
veyed with him to the police station.
1t was found that nothing further had
been interfered with, as the robbers
were evidently n-tabout to commence
work when surprised by the officer.
The thieves had broken metal gratc
and so gained acce~- TO the cellar OF
the building. They ntd then bored a
number OF holes through one of the
flooring boards, and intended to creep
through the hole thus formed and
then proceed to business. There is
no clue to the perpetrators OF this last
job. The police think, however, that
this is the same gang which has been
operating in this city for the past six
weeks. The smallness of the hole in
the floor of the bank leads the officers
to believe that there were two men
and one boy, the latter being the one
who entered through the floor.
Captain Fletcher thinks he can
locate the burglars, as they were
rather careless and left several small
articles in the shape of mementoes
behind them. The boy, who is sup
posed to have been with the party, is
described as dressed in overalls and
SLOUGH hat. The bank will offer a
reward for the discovery Of the rob-
bers. Officer Richardson says it is
the narowest escape he ever had, as
the thieves, when they fired, were
not more than six feet from him.
Mr.. Uri Embody, the cashier,
stated to a HERALD representative
that there was no possible chance of
the burglars being able to effect an
entrance in one night. He stated that
the safe was the latest improved
burglar-proof, time-lock safe, which
was received from the East last J June
The vault has fire proof double walls,
and had every door in the house been
open the safe crackers would not
have been able to reach the till in one
night. The safe contained over $72,
900 in cash and negotiable securities.