The herald., 1897-08-13
DUPED MANY
Tricks of an Ex=EmpIoye
of the Court House
Y.P. RIVERA AGAIN IN TROUBLE
COLLECTED SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR
A MYTHICAL WIDOW
And Converted the Money to His Own
Use-Forged the Endorsement
of County Clerk Newlin

and small politician, is in serious trouble
with three criminal chargesagainst him,
any one of which IS sufficient to keep
him in Jail for some time. He is at
present sojourning in the city jail, await
ing his examination on the charges.
Rivera is Spanish born, and comes OF
good family. He formerly occupied a
position in one of the departments al
the court house a clerk. Since leaving
there he has been in trouble most Of the
time He was always borrowing OF his
friends wher he was able, and when he
could not, did not object to appropriatirg z
articles without the owners consent
For this habit he was arrested several
times on charges of petty larceny, but
hitherto his people have come to the
rescue and the proceedings have been
stopped.
Recently Rivera loomed UP as phi
lanthropist. He started out with sub
scription list to raise money for poor
widow living on Boyle Heights, whom
he said had recently lost her husband
who was killed in a sewer. He told such
plausible story and gave such touch
ing description of the widow s necessity
that it was easy collecting money for
her assistance, even in these hard times
In addition to the story Rivera showed
letter which purported to be written
by County Clerk Newlin authorizing him
to make collections. The letter was
written on office paper, and bore every
evidence of being genuine. The sub
scription list was appended to letter
supposed to be written by the widow in
which an appeal for assistance was
made. A copy of the letter said to
come from the widow reads as follows:
Gentlemen and Friends-I am the
widow of William Jackson. He was
killed Friday in sewer, smothered 10
DEATH and now l am in a state of ask
ing charity to you. I have three small
girls two boys too small to work. and
in my condition I cannot work, so please
subscribe to help me. Believe me yours
respectfully. MRS. WIN. JACKSON.
The following is a copy of the letter
which was shown as having come from
Mr.. Newlin authorizing Rivera to col
lect moneys and urging liberal contribu-
tions:
LOS ANGELES, Cal, Aug. 9 1897
Gentlemen-This is to certify that Mr.
Rivera has been authorized by us to
collect all donations for this poor lady,
or (widow). Please donate something.
Yours respectfully
T. E, NEWLIN
Thus equipped, Rivera made bold to
commence his work right in the court
house. The first man he went to was
County Assessor Theodore Summerland
He told a pitiful story Of the Widows
condition and showed his credentials
Mr.. SUNNI merlard was easily "touched,"
and headed the list with a dollar sub
scription, paying the morey at the time.
Emboldened by his first success, Rivera
visited other county officials and soon
had a generous sprinkling of them on
the list, amongst whom We're Tax Col
lector Merwin and Recorder HoGgman.
When he had canvassed the court
house thoroughly Rivera branched out
TO broader fields, and visited a rumber
of the leading merchants and business
men of the city, many of whom eubscrib-
ed anywhere from one to two and half
dollars. He made one visit, however.
which resulted. in his undoing. This
was paid at the Vache wine house, cor
rer of Commercial and Los Angeles
streets. He told the oft repeated story
of the poor widow whose husband had
just died, leaving her in destitute cir
cumstances. Mr.. Sentous knew Rivera
and declined to contribute. He turned
away to answer a telephone, leaving a
number of bills which had been laid
out for collection on the desk in plain
sight. The instant his back was turn
ed Rivera picked these up, ard shortly
afterward left the store.
He lost no time in starting out to col
lect the bills. One of these was paid by
check Rivera took this and presented
1t at DR.. Heinzeman's drug store. where
upon telling a plausible story, he got II
cashed. He tried. to collect several
other bills, but without success. The
theft of the bills was soon discovered.
and when the check came in the police
were notified and Rivera arrested.
AS soon as it was learned Of the
young mans actions in this transaction
an investigation was started in re
gard to the subscription list when
he had been so industriously circulating
The matter was placed in the hands of
Officer Fowler, and his inquiries yes
terday resulted in the full truth of the
matter coming out. that Mrs William
jackson was none other than a mythical
character, ard that the moneys collected
Rivera had applied to his own use.
AT first when questioned Rivera claim
ed that the letters had been handed to
him by woman on Boyle Heights but
he finally weakened and admitted his
guilt to the officers. and confessed to
having forged, Mr.. Newln's name to the
letter of Endorsement which was found
upon his person wher searched at the
police station. This was taken to Mr..
Newlin, who pronounced it a forgery
and promptly swore to warrant in
Justice Young's court charging Rivera
with that crime.
Another complaint has been filed
against him for obtaining money by
false pretenses. There is still another
against Rivera for petty larceny which
was sworn out by l.. B. Winston Of 534
South Broadway. He alleges that
Rivera stole bicycle from him on July
6th. He was arraigned in court several
Gays ago, and his examination on the
charge set for September I.
The subscription list which Rivera
circulated showed contributions amount
Ing to SAG. If all the parties who have
Deen fieeced would prosecute the young
e. = l. NJ r..