, 1892-07-28
SYSTEMATIC THIEF.
William MaCGrOtty as a Society
Man.
Robbed Nearly Everybody He Met.
Finally Run to Earth In Los


Robbed Nearly Everybody He Met
Finally Run to Earth i'm Los
AngeIes-SOmewhat known In
San Francisco.
Los ANGELES, July %. - About six
months ago a rather well dressed, lantern
jawed individual named William Mac
Grotty arrived here. The first thing he
did was to call on Chief of Police Glass and
produce a card on which it was stated that
he represented a San Francisco paper in a
reportorial capacity.
To further insure his standing with the
chief he confdentially told him that his
father was the first chief of police of San
Francisco. He then tried to make friends
with the local reporters, but was not very
successful. He got little work from the
Herald directing circulars and acting as
messenger boy. Being good dancer and
glib talker he soon formed the acquaint-
ance Of large number of young ladies of
good families.
1t has since been learned that whenev-
er he visited any residence he kept his eyes
open for anything of value he could get his
hands on. The victims for some reason
said nothing and MacGrotty escaped arrest
until this afternoon,
While visiting the family of J. L. Black
man at East Los Angeles, he waited until
Mr.. Blackman was away from home and
then invited his wife and daughter to
dancing school. As soon as they were in
the hall he excused himself on the ground
of pressing work, but returned in time to
escort the ladies home. The next morning
Mrs. Blackman discovered that the house
had been robbed. A trunk had been forced
open and gold watch and a silver mount.
eo pistol extracted. The chief of police
was notified and job was put up to trap
this culprit. He was led to believe the
family would be out of town and an officer
was secreted near the house. MacGrotty
soon appeared and boldly entered the
house by means of a key that had been
placed in its usual hiding place by Black
man. He soon came out and the officer ar
rested him. On his person were a diamond
pin and several marked coins belonging to
Blackman, also a pawn ticket for the
stolen watch. The thief confessed every
thing and told where the pistolwas hidden.
Over twenty-five pictures of young ladies
were found among his effects. 1t is be-
ieYed many of them or their parents have
been Systematically robbed. He was re-
Gently seen dressed in a Woman's clothes
had been warned away. When arrested he
did not seem at all put out, and coolly told
the officers that his friends among the pol
'.ticians and newspaper men would see him
out of the scrape. Chief Glass has looked
up his record to some extent, tracing him
back to Denver, where he posed as
newspaper man working the black
mail racket. He is not over %.
It is supposed he was born and raised
in Washington d. c., and comes of a re-
So = - 5rislIniiy.s Az Denver he had row
with a man named Abernethy over a
young woman named Nellie Hayes, alias
Ella Richardson, who kept a fashionable
massage establishment MacGrotty final
ly ran off with the young woman, and they
we're married in Golden, Col, in June, 1891.
She soon deserted him, when he attempted
suicide. He then went to Salt Lake, where
he got into trouble, and thence to San
Francisco, where he committed several
small robberies. Papers found show that
he secured a divorce on the 14th Of last
Catcher