The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-20
MURDER0US ASSAULT
MADE UPON OFFICER JOHN ROCHE
 YESTERDAY BY THREE TRAMPS.

YESTERDAY BY THREE TRAMPS, He Was Attempting to Arrest Them at the
 Time-Attaclked Him With His Own
 Billy-Two of the Gang Arrested, the
 Third Escaped-The Officer Fought
 Plucixily Until Assistance Arrived.
 It was 8 tough crowd that Officer John Roche of the Grand avenue station struck yesterday afternoon on Laurel street. and as result the officer was injured so that he was unable to go on duty last night and he owes 1t to time- ly assistance that he was not laid up for & longer time.
 Officer Roche Is on night duty this summer and was at home at his resi- dence at 27 Laurel street yesterday af- ternoon. He was sitting at window in his front parlor about o'clock when three tramps who had been hanging about Jocelyn Square, which Is nearbys merous pals of beer, which they ob- l ee1AAtCA Ll Slil IlGStID StlOOlly CtdIlt5 uN the street making considerable noise and indecent exposures.
 | The officer saw the tramps and What they were doing and ordered them to desist at once. This angered the trio3 and they began to talk abusfvely t0 l Officer Roche and to call him vilet names One of the men finally told the 1 officer that if he would come out thew | ypnIJIH .Hn D Al ready started to go out and arrest the tramps and he had reached the sideS, walk and placed one of the men undeT arrest when all three struck at him. He pulled his billy and endeavored to, use it, but one of the tramps got be- hind him and held him while another wrested the billy from his hand and struck him a hard blow on the fore- head, cutting the skin and inf1icting al. severe wound. By this time the neigh borhood had become aroused and Pat rick Roche, a brother of John Roche, himself an officer came running to his brothers assistance. Before he could reach the scrimnage, however, the tramp with the billy struck John Roche another blow, this time on top of the head, while another, a big six footer, kicked him in the groin Other men came running up at this juncture and the tramps breaking away started to run up towards State street Two kept on up State street while another hotly pursued by Patrick Roche turned ! into Edwards street.
 1 In front of the engine house on Ed | wards street stood Edward Hermance, Ia fireman. He saw the fugitive tramp coming and stepped out to stop him. The tramp threw the billy, which he 1 had taken from John Roche, at Her. I nance, but missed his mark and was at once grappled by the fireman. who held him until Patrick Roche came up l and placed him under arrest, being as- sisted by John B. Began. a plumber l and son of Btcey Began, whose place of business is nearby.
 | Officers Enright, Lindsley and Riley l followed the two, who ran up State l street, and finally caught one in the meadows. The other kept out of the way of the officers and ran out along the railroad towards North Haven. He had not been captured at a late hour l last night.
 The two who were captured were taken to the Grand avenue station 'house and were sti1l in vicious mood. As they were being put into the patrol wagon the bigger of the two attempted to butt Patrol Driver Grady, who stop ped his game by a neat upper cut that would have stopped train.
 At the station house the men gave their names as Francis J. Cunningham, l twenty-one years of age, of Phi1adel- phia, and Thomas Elkings, thirty years of age of Bridgeport Cunningham is a big fellow, being six feet two inches
 in height, and claims to be a ship car penter. Elkings said that he was aI tailor
 The blow from the billy made bad cut in Officer John Roche'os forehead. I The wound was drawn together with three stitches by Dr. Cahill last eve-
 ming. The blow on the head and the
 kick in the groin also made painful
 bruises. The affair created considera-
 ble excitement on upper State street
 and was the talk of that section of the city last evening. Cunningham and
 Elkings will be tried this morning in the city court on three charges, breach
 of the peace, resisting an officer and indecent exposure.