The herald., 1897-08-05
IDENTIFIED BY THEIR VICTIMS
STOLEN PROPERTY FOUND IN
THEIR POSSESSION
One of Them a Well Known Convict.
Masks and Revolvers Discov-
cred in Their Rooms

which have occurred in the city during
the past few weeks are now behind tbs
bars in the city Jail. Their names are
and both are desperate characters. Bas-
sett is an ex-convict, but very little is
known of Williams former record. The
credit of the capture is due to Detectives
| Auble and Bradish, who have been
working on the case for some time.
Reports of holdups have been of fire.
quent occurrence for several weeks past.
In almost every instance the description
| of the two men who have done the work
has been the same. The detectives be-
gan keeping tab on the movements OF
several suspicious characters and be-
came convinced that Basset and Will
liams were the men who were doing th@
work.
Bassett is we'll known at the police
headquarters here. He was captured by
Detectives Auble and Bosqui in 1892 and
convicted of holding up Mrs. Joseph
Workman on Boyle avenue in company
with another desperado named George
forced the lady to take off her diamond
earrings, which were valued at $500.
The men were tried and convicted of the
charge and sent to San Quentin for ten
years each. Bassett was released on
parole in April of this year and returned
to this city.
The detectives felt they had secured
sufficient evidence to justify them in ar
resting the men on Tuesday night. Bas-
sett was found in his room in lodging
house on North Spring street. AS soon
as he saw the officers he remarked:
well, l know what this means" There
was no attempt at resistance and he was
easily handcuffed. A search was made
of the room and several articles which
will be used as strong evidence against
him were found. There was hat that
contained a black mask made out of a
silk handkerchief. Another mask, also
made of handkerchief, was found in
the room.
Williams rooms in a lodging house on
South Spring street but was not found
there He was seen on the street and
followed over to East Los Angeles. The
detectives watched his every movement.
|
Williams went into a street and walked
ahead of the officers until he came to
dark place, which was shaded by some
trees They waited for some minutes
for him to pass out, but he did not re-
appear, evidently waiting, as they think,
to hold them up, not suspecting who
they were Finally Bradish went around
the place and stepped in the light be-
yond the dark spot. A few seconds later
Williams emerged at the end where De-
tective Auble was still in waiting. AS
he did so the officer grabbed him by the
arm. The robber had his hand in his
coat pocket and as Auble grabbed him
said:
Look out I've got my finger on the
trigger"
"Well, you'd better take it off mighty
quick. young fellow" replied Auble, who
is big man.
BY this time Bradish had come up, and
Williams, seeing that he was cornered,
made no attempt at resistance. He was
relieved of big 3S-caliber revolver and
invited to accompany the detectives to
the police station. He was searched
there and some of the property which
had been reported as lost was found in
his pockets. Among the articles was
gold watch belonging to Mrs. Elmer
Burns, Ills South Hope street. Both
men were locked up.
Yesterday afternoo several of the peo-
pie who have recently been robbed were
sent for in order to identify the men.
Those called in were j. w. Elliott,
robbed of Sc or 81 on the night of July
29th at the corner of Tenth and Hope
streets; Frank Savage, the broker from
whom two gold watches were taken al
the point of a revolver on August 1st, and
Jacob Friztelberger. employed at the
Anheuser Busch saloon and Mr.. and
Mrs. Elmer Burns, who were held up
on August I'd.
Mr.. Burns is manager of the Acme
laundry. He was returning home with
his wife from a visit at about IL o'clock
at night when he was held up by two
masked men. They took a silver watch
| from him, but he managed to save SIG in
money which he had in his pocket While
the robbers were engaged with her hus-
| band Mrs. Burns managed to slip some
| valuable rings from her fingers and hid
them in the inside pocket of her cape
hltHoQl ATTRACTING dtlellllOll luuS SdN
ing her jewelry.
| The victims of the highwaymen were
taken into the detectives room and the
two men were brought in. All positively
| identified Williams, but were not so sure
| Of Bassett as one man usually stood
across the street while the other did the
work. Mr. and Mre. Burns, however
were positive that Bassett and Williams
were the two men who held them up.
| Williams is about 25 years old, is S
| feet 8 inches high, and will weigh 140
| He is considerably stopped. His face is
smooth shaven and red, and he has a
keen blue eye set well back in his head
When arrested he wore black sack
suit, black shirt and black soft Fedora
hat
Bassett is 25 years old feet inches
tall and weighs about 1870 pounds. He
also has light blue eyes and is clean
s.haven.
Both men will be brought into court
today.