New-York tribune., 1903-04-05
CAPTURE AND ROB BOY.
HIGHW4YMEN GET SI,400.
In Broad Daylight and Busy Street
They Drag Him 4sCay.

One Of the boldest robberies that has been
committed in this city in recent years was ac-
complished in Centre-st., not far from the
Tornbs soon after 10 a. m. yesterday. Two men
dragged Warren Smith. young bank messeh-
ger into vacant building. where third man
threatened him with a revolver. Then the boy
was bound hand and foot and robbed OF sl'4v'
which belonged 20. his employers.
Smith is fourteen years old and lives at NO
oa4 Sixth-st Brooklyn He has been employed
about a year by Sargent 6 Co. hardware manu-
facturers at Nos 149 and 151 Leonard-st. lie
has been sent to the bank for money frequently.
and he has often carried for his employers larger
sums than that he had yesterday. Yesterday he
was sent to the Mercantile Bank at Broadway
and Dey-st. with an order for S1.3ao in bills
ranging from $40 to 81 and for $50 in currency.
He received the money at the bank about 10
o'clock AS the money bulky. Smith placed
part of II in inside pocket of his coat ana
part IN an inside pocket Of his overcoat-
The boy did not notice anybody following him
as he made his way back toward the hardware
factory He crossed the City Hall Park from
Broadway. went by the rear OF the City Hall and
got into Centre-st- at the new Hall of Records
Then he walked up Centre-st- on the east SIDE
When he was in the block between Worth and
Pearl sts he was seized suddenly from behind
by two men, and he says that one of the men
struck him in the mouth to stop his cry for
helm There was a discoloration of the skin OF
his upper lip later If he had been hit there
Although he says he did make outcry and
struggled to escape the men dragged him into
the vacant building at No. 60 Centre-st. This
building has been unoccupied for some time and
usually has been kept locked Its windows are
80 grimy with dirt that nobody see through
them clearly.
They hurried him TO the rear Of the store, and
there was another man who had an umbrella
in one hand and revolver in the other. The re-
rolver was held in the boys face This scared
him so that he became quiet. Then the men tied
his hands together with handkerchief and his
feet with a towel They searched his pockets
and took the money. They told him to stay in
the store for ten minutes. threatening to Kill
him If he made any outcry sooner, and left
him there bound AS soon they got out he
freed his hands and then united the towel
around his feet. Then he ran to the factory and
told his story Mr.. Sargent.
Mr. Sargent said later that the boy evidently
had been frightened badly and he believed
Smith told the truth He took the boy TO the
police station in Elizabeth-st., where the story
was told over again Word of the robbery was
sent by telephone 10 Police Headquarters. and
Inspector McClusky asked that the boy be taken
there. Mr. Sargent went with the boy, who told
geants McCauley and OFarrell were sent to
make an investigation
Smith had with him sthe handkerchief which,
he said, had been used to tie his hands with. The
detectives accompanied him to the vacant build
ing in Centre-st, and there found the towel
which had been used to bind his feet. They
made inquiries and found two three persons
who had seen the boy dra gged into the building
These persons said they thought the boy and
men Were fooling, and paid little attention 70
them.
Smith gave the detectives descriptions of the
three men concerned in the robbery, but he
could not recognize any pictures in the Rosues
Gallery. Mr.. Sargent said he had confidence il
Smiths integrity.
Inspector McClusky was annoyed greatly by
the robbery and at first said that he could not
believe that 1t could have occurred in Centre
st, at 10 a m- without Encouragement He
said II was peculiar that the boy should have
taken exactly the route he described in going
from the bank TO the factory. Later he said II
was possible for the robbery to have occurred
exactly as the boy described il. He said the
case was particularly annoying, after he haC
been keeping the OF the detective bureau
busy arresting crooks and driving them out
of the city for several days with plan TO make
the streets of the city safe at all hours Of thf
day and night.