The Mankato free press., 1918-07-05
BOLD THEFT OF AUTO
EASY TO STEAL CARS
Turn the Crank, Jump In, and
Getaway Is Swift
OUT OF TOWN IN HURRY
Thieves Are No Respector Of
Machines; Ford Taken Here
Yesterday

Jumping into Ford car that had
been left standing on Hickory street,
and driving down Front in broad
daylight, two auto thieves escaped
from the city yesterday afternoon in
one of the fboldest auto thefts of this
season. The car was owned by Dav-
id Jewell of Greenland and had been
visited only few moments before it
was taken by Mrs. Jewell and Mrs.
John Willis. Mr. and Mrs. Jewell
and John Willis and wife drove to
The city yesterday from Greenland,
small station just this side of Ely
sian.
The party arrived in Mankato
about noon and parked the machine
on Hickory street, between Front
and Second, just opposite the Western
Union Telegraph company's office.
After dinner, Mrs. Jewell and Mrs.
Willis left the men to do some shop
ping. About three o'clock David Jew
ell and Mr. Willis visited the machine
and found everything as they had left
it. A few minutes later the women
went to the machine and put several
packages in the car. Among these
was a new pair of ladies shoes,
wrapped in paper from the Sample
Shoe store, four boxes of matches,
milk strainer and fly spanker
Two Men Got Into Car.
When the women went to the car
they noticed several men sitting on
the railing near the National Citi-
zens bank. They paid little attention
to the fellows. and after depositing
their parcels, left the car. Jacob
Klein, a tailor who has small shop
just opposite the spot where the Ford
stood, stated that less than three min
utes after the women had left the
machine he saw two fellows approach
the spot where the Ford stood. One
of them left the sidewalk, walked
over and cranked the car. AS he
started away his pal ran and climb
ed i'm the front seat. The car swung
down Hickory on the wro-:s side of
the street and made the turn on the
wrong side of Front, going north in
the direction of the twin cities.
Shortly after the car was gone Mr..
Jewell and Mr. Willis discovered the
loss and Immediately notified the po-
lice department Mr.. Jewell was un-
able to remember the number of the
car or tie engine number and this
made the hunt decidedly more diff
cult for the officers. Word was at
once sent out to lie Sueur, Albert Lea,
Faribault, Waseca and other points to
be on the watch for the car.
AS Mr. Jewell described the car it
was Ford, 1917 model. The left
front fender was slightly bent and
there was slit several inches long
torn in the top of the car. In addi-
ton to the packages placed in the
car there were two coats, one light
rain coat and the other dove col
ored light coat, and one woman's hat.
Description of the Men.
From the description of the men
they were both young and of medi-
um height. One was dark and wore
a brown hat and a dark, probably a
blue serge suit. The other man was
on the opposite side of the street and
it is not known just how he was
dressed. No reports were received
from any points last evening in re-
gard to the car and officers are afraid
the fellows succeeded in getting to the
twin cities with the car. The fact
that the license number was not
known made it difficult matter to
trace. 1t may have been that the
men drove down Front stree 20 Main
and then crossed the bridge into
North Mankato, going south to Sioux
City
Late this afternoon nothing had
been heard of the Jewell car. Officers
believe that the thieves reached some
large city and will probably make
good their getaway with the ma
chine The number of the car it has
been learned is 94222 or 94223.