Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-04-04
BY JOHN NJ. BEoKw1TH
Y DISCUSSING the running down
and capture of Beatty. Martin

TN DISCUSSING the running down
and capture of Beatty, Martin
Il Sundin. McAllister and Johns, the
Monrovia bank robbers 7. IL. Walker,
an assistant general superintendent OF
the Pinkerton detective agency ana one
of the best known criminal operatives
IN the country, said: I'm this case
sheriff w. A. Hammel has taken the
initiative at all times and IT is largely
due to his intelligent direction and dis
cernment that the men who are guilty
of that crime have been arrested ana
more than 40 per cent of the stolen
property recovered.
This remark by Detective Walker LED
to a conversation on the work done by
the sheriff's office in handling criminal
matters in Los Angeles county and a
discussion of the cases, and 1t was re-
called that within the past two years
nearly two score of criminal cases OF
more than ordinary note have been re-
ported to the sheriff and worked to a
successful conclusion under and by MS
direction.
This takes no account of the hun
dreds of petty cases handled within the
same time, and there is no record avail
able to give the detail of all the I'M
portant cases on which the sherin mas
closed his books, but it is believed that
of all the criminal cases handled by
Sheriff Hammel 80 per cent have been
brought to a successful conclusion
from the standpoint of the peace officer
that is the persons guilty of the COM
mission of the crimes have been arrest
ed, convicted and placed in prison.
Captures Many Offenders
A few of such cases picked from the
newspaper scrap heap are as follows:
Harrison Oliver, a seven-time con-
Wet, arrested by the sheriff for grand
larceny and sentenced to prison for
seven years. He stole 1900 POUNDS or
copper wire from the Home Telephone
company.
Davis Whitehead, alias Frank Smith,
a murderer wanted lin Alabama, who
had become lost to all the criminal
officers of the. country. He was tralled
down and arrested by the sheriff's dep
uties and returned to the scene of his
crime. He is now doing ten years In
penitentiary.
G. A. Smith, expert safe blower, who
has done time in San Quentin. He dy>
namited the vault of the State bank
at Burbank He was arrested, con-
yicted and sentenced to San Quentin
for twelve years. G.. w. Moore, jr., his
boy companion in that crime, was sent
to the industrial school at lone for the
remainder of his minority.
It. e. Campbell, Harry Pickell and
Laurence Crabb, during the wave OF
highway robbery which swept over Los
Angeles last winter, held up and
robbed a Chinese gardener near Co
VIVA. They are now doing five years
each in the state prison.
Roy Watson forged and passed
thirty checks and committed more
than a score of burglaries in and
around Hollywood and Colegrove. He
is passing a ffve-year term at Folsom
with a fifteen-year probationary SEN
tence hanging over him.
Gerdine Horton earned good IN
come stealing horses and selling them
to innocent parties. He got away with
about 200 head altogether before he
came into the notice of the sheriff.
He is now retired from business on an
eight-year sentence.
Billy Westfall is also a horse thief.
He found the profession a lucrative
one until he ran fifteen head of horses
off from the Bixby ranch. Sheriff
Hammel trailed him to Big Pine,
brought him back and he was con-