Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-05-14

William Dombrofski, p, of No.
Grove street. arrested Wednesday
night, confessed to the police Thurs
day morning that he is the man who
has had them all at sea ever since
November Is last by a series of 1nys-
FERROUS burglaries. which began on that
date with the cracking of the safe at
the grocery store Of r. F. Smith in the
May building,
Although caught Just when he had
prepared to set out to burglarize the
Mohican company store. as he said, he
was a stubborn customer under ex-
animation and it was not till after long
questioning during Thursday morning
that the full confession was obtained
including the admission that he also
cracked the safes at the stores of the
Manhattan Co. on March IL, the United
Cigar Stores Co. on March l6, and the
T. A, Wells Co. on March %.
The discovery by Henry B. Lewis
Of the head Of a sledge hammer and
two large chisels hidden in an alley
way off Myers court on Wednesday
afternoon furnished the clew that led
to the arrest Of Dombrofsl1i, and the
capture Of the burglar came about in
the way that it had often been pre-
dicted It would be accomplished, viz:
that If he only kept at his operations
long enough he would finally make
some slip that would bring the police
on his ulLnGIIO Trail.
When Mr.. Lewis, who was formerly
a policeman, saw the tools suitable for
burglar use and such as had been used
in the safe cracking operations here,
he notified Captain George Linton, The
tools were hidden near the blacksmith
shop of William Blackburn, from
which tools used in the burglaries have
been stolen.
Sergeant John H. Kane was posted
to keep watch around the place where
the hammer head and chisels We're and
about o'clock Wednesday evening his
watch was rewarded when he saw q
man come with pocket light which
he began to flash around looking for
the tools. In g. minute the policeman
had his hands on the stranger, who
proved to be Dombrofsld, and he was
taken to the police station and locked
up on the charge of having burglars
tools,
During the night he was questioned
by Captain d. J. Twomey and also
through the morning by Chief Linton,
Sergeant Kane and Captain TWomey,
as a result of which the police state
that full confession has been OBJ
tanned from him.
He also admitted that he was the
man who was seen on Broadway early
one morning acting IN q suspicious
manner and who was chased and fired
at by Policeman Henry Fenton, At
that time he escaped up over Union
street, but dropped In his flight g. buns
die that contained q long knotted rope,
This series of burglaries has offered
one of the toughest problems that the
local police have had to solve for a
long time. The burglar left no clue
and took only money, carefully avoid
ing any unusual coins that might be
traced to him Ii he were found and
he displayed such an acquaintance with
the buildings where he worked that it
seemed as If he must be a local man,
while on the other hand his methods
indicated something of an experienced
hand at the business.
From the amount of work that he did
in chiseling and breaking the safes
open. the supposition at the time OF
the breaks was that there must be
more than one man at the Jobs, but
Dombrofskl claims that he worked
alone, although when he first made his
confessions he tried to impiicate an
other man.
Dotnbrofsh was a clerk for R. r
Smith for some time before he robbed
the safe there, but was not in his en-