Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-02-12
Chief SHEDECK NOW
CLAIMS THE CREDIT
Says Neither Gaines Nor Roberts Had
Anything to Do With the Arrest
Of Salem Burglars.

What was apparently a move to
place themselves in the good graces of
the police committee of the city coun-
Gil with the hope of being later rec
commended for police officers Of Salem,
is believed now to be the reasons why
ex-Officer Gaines and j. w. Roberts
Of South Salem so eagerly claimed dis
tinction as principal informers follow
ing the arrest Of the two men who
were arrested by Chief of Police She
deck and officer Flake recently on the
charge of robbing three Salem homes.
1t developed today that neither
Gaines nor Roberts were instrumental
in bringing about either the detection
or the arrest Of the two alleged bur-
glars, and while both gentlemen claim
the honor of being a leading factor in
apprehending the parties, Chief of Po-
lice Shedeck today declared that he
alone ferreted out the case and made
the arrest.
Gaines Claims Credit.
On tile morning after the arrest was
made, Wilbur Gaines advised a Jour-
nal reporter that he should be given
due credit for being a principal in per-
fecting the plan whereby the arrest Of
the two suspects was made. At that
time he openly requested that his
name be used in connection with the
apprehension and arrest and Chief
Shedeck did not demonstrate. Gaines
declared he assisted Chief Shedeck in
locating the men and aided in furnish
ing the evidence for the arrest.
This is Chief Shedeck's statement
today:
"There was no one assisting me at
the time was apprchending these two
men. l had been keeping close watch
on them for several days prior to the
time l and officer Flake made the ar
rest, Mr.. Gaines only assisted me in
searching the rooms formerly occu-
pied; he took no further part in the
case whatever"
Roberts Is Another Claimant.
j. w, Roberts, of South Salem, has
made the statement that he was the
first ono to discover the real burglars,
having witnessed their entrance to the
Birdsall home, which is located near
his residence.
This is what Chief shedeck says
about Roberts statement:
Roberts may have seen these men
enter the Birdsall home, but want to
say right here that had them under
surveillance two days before they en-
tered the Birdsall residence and not
until the day after the last crime was
committed did | talk with Roberts, and
at that time l had my plans laid to
arrest them
ut Is true, Roberts accompanied me
to the lodging house where the men
were staying and kept watch for a
short time down stairs while inves-
tlgated the quarters, but outside Of
this he neither gave me information
which would lead to new clues nor did
he take any part in the apprehension
or arrest Of the men.
THAT Gaines or Roberts had any.
thing to do with the arrest Of these
men, is all a mistake / did the work
and with the assistance of Officer
Flake landed the men we were after
Why Claim GlOryl
II they are not candidates for a job
on the Salem police force, what incon-
tive prompted them TO be SO anxious
to get in on the case, Is the leading
question now concerning the claims
made by Roberts and Gaines. II is a
fact that Gaines is q candidate for an
office on the force, and his candidacy
Is being supported by Chief shedeck,
but why the chief now claims the en-
tire credit in apprehending the two
burglars and leaves Gaines the meager
credit Of only searching few bed
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