Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-04-05
RICH MERCHANT
NABBED AS FENCE
Chief Storekeeper of ROCkaway,
N. j., Accused of Being Mem
Der of Truck Gang"
WOMAN DETECTIVE GIVES
CLUE LEADING TO ARREST
More Than 81, OOO,O 900 Worth
of Goods Stolen in New
York Wagon Raids.

RoCKAwAY, N. J., April 5.-Joseph
Harris, the leading merchant Of this
town and known throughout the COM
munity for his phi~lanthropies, Is the
recipient today Of assurances of conf
dence in respose to his arrest follow
ing the discovery Of several cases OF
merchandise In his oarriage-house near
his store in Main street.
The merchandise was identified as
loot stolen by the notorious TRUCK
Gang" of Manhattan, a band of or
ganized thieves whose raids have cost
New York merchants more than $1,000
900 a year for several years past. The
Insurance Company Of North America
has paid out $50, 900 since last January
| to clients who have been robbed by
the gang. For several weeks the COM
pany a made settlements at the rate
of $40, 900 weekly.
The authorities say that the Truck
Gang crimes were most battling. A
master mind was credited with being
in control of a perfect organization.
Raids on trucks loaded with merchan-
disc and using New York streets have
been so continuous and unpublished
that many insurance companies finally
refused to underwrite the risks of mer-
chants.
I. ". s. Petersen, a detective, put .
oma on the case as we'll as others
and credits her with supplying the in
formation which directed the search
for the gangs chief in Rockaway.
Joseph Harris appeared in New Jer-
sey twenty-five years ago, a peddler Of
collar buttons. When he opened a
little store in Rockaway eighteen years
g folks said: "Peddler Joe has been
thrifty"
His trade grew because he was al
ways spoken Of as being square," He
now has the handsomest plate-glass
windows in Rockaway, and carries a
stock valued at $3.50, 900.
Rockaway declares that his arrest is
a g%rievous mistake. He lives with his
wife and two daughters in an unpre-
tentious home in Rockaway.
The truck gang, the police say,
~monopolize all the truck raiding in
New York except for a gang of small
imitators. This method is to assign
three men to a job. One was to watch
a truck loaded with merchandise
valued at from 81, 900 to $40, 200 until
the driver halted at a pier or ware
house and left the truck to present his
papers in the office and arrange for
transportation. When the watch
gave the word the second man, the
driver" jumped on the truck and
drove away.
"A third man, the Scout followed
until it was well out of distance, and
then te~lephoned for instructions as to
where the loot was to be unloaded. It
was taken directly to one Of several
fences maintained by the gang in
Manhattan or Brooklyn, or, if danger
Gus. the loot was transferred to an
other truck dispatched from h~eadquar-
tiers before taken to the fence"
The stolen property was known to
nave been distributed through a CEN
trail bureau to the usual channels of
trade.
A dragnet was set over Manhattan
and Brooklyn, but neither the police
nor private detectives were able to
catch any of the gang. Finally a de-
tective learned that trucks laden with
packing cases frequently drove up to
a place in South Third street, Brook
lyn, in the night and ~unloaded, and
that in the day there were shipments
LioLl lH0 place.
Petersen placed his evidence before
the police of the Bedford avenue sta
ton. Detectives Cavanaugh and O'Con-
nor at 8 p. m. March 26 rushed the
doors Of the South Third street build
ing and arrested Isaac RAIDER and Ben
Jamin Reiner after a desperate strug-
gle. RAIDER was committed to jail, but
Reiner, alleged to be a gang leader
and worth $4,000, furnished bail.
Conclusive evidence was not OBJ
tanned. The woman detective went
into the neighborhood, and as a result
of her work Petersen sent men to
Rockaway, N. j., and then, after CON
sulting former Judge Guy L. Fake, of
Rutherford, obtained a warrant for
Joseph Harris on charge of receiving
stolen goods, etc.
Packing cases were found which are
alleged to have been stolen from a
truck belonging to Philip Garfnkel, a
public trucknan of Al Orchard street.
Several New York merchants came
here yesterday and identified their
property. Harris said it had been
shipped to him by an unknown, with
instructions for him to sell the mer-
chandise on commission.