The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-08-01
STUDENT BY DAY
Thief BY NIGHT.
Earl A. Sargent COnfesseS
to Mother That He Leads
"a Strange Double Life
CANNOT HELP STEALING
University Graduate of High
Aims Victim of Mania to
PurlOin Trivial Articles
Berkeley Office San Francisco Call.
2IIS Center street, July 81.

Berkeley Office San Francisco Gail.
| 21IS Center street. july 81.
Mother, didn't mean To steal any
thing. Something forced me 90 30 1t.
must be crazy"
Such was Earl Archibald SarEent's
confession TO has mother just before the.
Berkeley officers arrived 90 arrest him
last night.
!, By day he was an ambitious student
AT the University OF California: ~
(. night a pIunderer OF. his employer
/. pgoperty-a case. for. psychologists IN
other strange example Of cuai re,Son.
atty.
In spite of a good mother d bach
elCr'S degree and Of his uni: ersity
training, young Sargent leo a Jekyll
and Hyde life. and now h" is fugitive
from justice, for he has twice slipped
through the hands OF the Berkeley DO
lice and gone free.
Where the fugitive has gone no one
kHows The police are not trying to
catch him. His mother fears that he
will kill himself rather than submit to
capture.
MIND GIVES WAY.
Everything about Sargent's life of
late points to a sudden mental derange-
ment as the cause of his duality. His
mother and his neighbOrs bear witness
to the ineXplicable actions of the young
man. He has been acting queerly for
three months. and has not been the rO-
! bust man of former years His seems
to be a case of kleptomania, developed
from being injured on the head while
| playing football with his college team.
/ There is no other way to account for
his strange conduct. The things he
stole were of little use TO himself; they
/ could not be sold and he has not at
tempted to sell them.
Sargent is the man the police have
been watching for a week, because they
suspected him of raiding the house of
Benjamin Dallerup of 1915 Prince street.
! where he has worked at odd hours
as carpenter, earning money to help
him through college. So cunning were
/ his movements that it required the DO
/ lice almost a week to find his home.
/ When Sargent was traced to 1926 Le-
roy avenue preparations were made to
/ apprehend him and search his house.
/ The warrant was read TO him while he
worked in his garden yesterday after
noon, Deputy Marshals Howard and
! Pickett and DalleruD being present.
Search of the house revealed all of the
goods stolen from DalleruD. besides a
number OF things that must have be-
longed to other people.
Among the articles recovered by Dali
/ lerup were three watches. a number of
/ pieces of jewelry, one suit of clothes, a
Knight Templar uniform and many
other garments. A case in which Dale
rup used to hold some valuable Masonic
papers was also found. but the papers
| were missing, though Sargent could
not have had any use for them.
TRIVIAL THEFTS.
The stolen articles were all piled in
I big dry goods boxes in the basement
of Sargents house. The exhibit indi-
Gates that Sargent gathered the articles
| simply to crafty a mania to get some
| thing for nothing, not because he was
a criminal at heart or thought TO en-
rich himself by selling them.
While the search of Sargent's house
was going on Sargent gave the officers
the slip. AS he wore neither coat nor
hat and did not appear alarmed at
their approach the officers neglected to
! set any watch on him, and he escaped.
! The officers laid in wait for him last
night Deputy Marshal Pickett and Of
ficer Reginald Cope were detailed on
the case. and Pickett, chagrined over
the afternoons developments, deter
mined to capture Sargent.
III get him dead or alive" said
! Pickett down town last night
The calculations of the police mis-
carried again, however, as the events
of the night show. Pickett and Cope
saw Sargent going into his house about
10 o'clock, and they prepared to cap
ture him. 1t was all smooth sailing for
them, because Sargent had already
confessed to his mother and agreed to
give himself up without any trouble.
GIVES POLICE SLIP.
When Sargent showed the police into
his room he told them he had decided
to surrender, Pickett and Cope talked
| the matter over with Sargent and his
mother for awhile and then the three
men started for the open. The officers
did not handcuff their prisoner, as they
did not suspect that he would attempt
! to escape.
Sargent was frightened by the blus-
| ter of the officers, however, and as
| soon as he got outside the door he dash
de for liberty. 1t was so dark that Pic
kett and Cope could not use the pistols.
They searched the neighborhood for
while but not finding the prisoner,
returned to tell Mrs. Sargent what had
happened.
My boy would not have run away if
| the officers had not frightened him by
their talk" Mrs. Sargent said to-day.
! They threatened him one time and
placated him the next, and I've no
doubt worked on his mind so that he
lost his senses for the moment. The
L
/ is something wrong with him. I've
noticed it for long time. He
| has been growing weaker all the time
/ lately. 1 am sure he would not have
disgraced himself if he had been sane.
He was hurt in football game once
! and / think this is the result of it.
! When 1 saw him last night he con-
| fessed everything to me. Mother he
said. didn't mean to steal anything.
| Something forced me to do it. ] must
be crazy. If they will give me a show
/ will make myself one of Berkeley's
most respected citizens 1t is a great
blow to me and 1 don't know how it
will all end
Sargent has been a graduate student
at the University of California since
! the beginning of the year. seeking a
masters degree in the college of natur-
al sciences. He was graduated from
! the University Of Oregon last year. but
had also attended Pullman College in
| wyoming and the University of Wash
| 1ngton- Through all his college career
1 tie =.