New-York tribune., 1919-12-18
Hundreds of Thousands
Stolen by Official Aid in
the Last Few Months.
Prosecutor Charges
; BluecOats Held:
4 Grand Jury Acts
Charges Made of Organ
lied Collusion; Fur
: Theft Laid to Protection

Following the arrest Of three police
men in Brooklyn, charged with par
ticipation in tho recent series of rob
berries there. District Attorney Harry
Z. Lewis, Of Kings County, announced
yesterday that he had unearthed q
widespread conspiracy between police
men and band of burglars who have
been the terror Of the borough for the
last six months.
Evidence OF the alleged conspiracy
was laid before the special grand jury
by the District Attorney yesterday, and
an investigation Of the connection OF
policemen with the robberes will be
begun by the jury to-day.
Mr.. Lewis said he had evidence which
he thought sufficient to convict at least
SIX policemen of participation in not
less than five recent burglaries in
Brooklyn and Manhattan. The con
spirators. he declared, had formed a
permanent organization. ali their oper-
atoms were carefully planned and they
often invaded the fur and clothing dis
trlcts OF Manhattan, where they had
fences. The losses due to them, he
said, would exceed 100000. SO far
ne declared. no men "higher up" were
involved.
The three patrolmen arrested were
Herman Crause and Peter Rueger. OF
the Atlantic Avenue police station
and Louis !. Hohorst, Of the Liberty
Avenue station, al Of Brooklyn.
Crause and Rucger are said by the
District Attorney to have taken part
IN the robbing Of the fur cstablis sh-
ment of Starobin & Dublin on Novem-
Der so, when $4,000 worth of pelts
were taken from the place Hohorst
it is charged, was captured in the act Of
rifing show case in front Of dry
goods store at 1919 Fulton Street
Suspected Ones Give Evidence
The arrest of Cranse and T:ueger
was ordered by the prosecutor on in-
formation given to him, he says, by
several suspected persons who had
been picked up IN connection With the
robbery OF the Starobin & Dublin place
These were Edwin Werle. Of l03
Charles Street, Manhattan, who ia
charged with being one OF the hold up
men who robbed the Roselle, n. j., bank
several weeks ago; Edward Cannon, Of
9l4 Dean Street, chauffeur: Philip
Brown. of ASS Clinton Street, and
L,
OF Brooklyn.
According TO District Attorney
Lewis, Cannon said he was engaged to
take truck to the Starobin & Dublin
place on the night of the robbery and
there found the two policemen in full
uniform who aided in bringing the
turs out of the establishment to the
truck. The police records, said Mr.
Lewis, show that at the time Of the
robbery Rueger was absent because o!
illness and Crause was officially of
+ duty.
Disposal of Fur Loot
The loot, Cannon relates, was takel
10 secondhand rubber shop conduct
ed BY Singer ut the Ellery Street ad
dress, where the price tags we're re-
moved, and the material then carteo
to place in Manhattan, the location
of which the District Attorney woul,
not disclose. The whole stock was
here disposed Of for $4,000 or this
says Cannon, the policemen and him
self each received $500. and the re-
mainder was split up among Singer
Brown and Wcrle.
Upon the arrest Of the men the fur:
were recovered. Crause had been re
leased by Magistrate McCloskey undel
$4,000 bail, but his rearrest was ordered
/ by the District Attorney on additiona
charges, and both he and Rucger wer,
| held for arralgnment in the County
Court to-day
Hohorsts arrest followed chase b,
patrolman Adam Doerng, who said h,
saw Hohorst pry open showcase an'
! lake from 1t three pairs of knitted
slippers, pair Of corsets and blacl
silk skirt. He was Off duty at G time
but wore his uniform. When searched
the stolen goods were found in hi
rossession. said Doering. At the Gate
Avenue Court Hohorst was held in $500
bail on a charge of larceny and 500
more for having burglary tools in hi
possession.
Crause is forty years old, lives at 43.
Enfield Street, Brooklyn, and has bee,
a policeman for fourteen years. II
connection with his case, District At
| torney Lewis said: eve have abs O
lutte proof that the Starobin & Dubil
Job was planned by Crause, in activ
cooperation with burglars with lon;
Grim NAL records.
owe also have proof that othe
burglaries and larcenies we're committee
In active cooperation with other police
men. The same gang, working wit
the aid and under the protection of po
licemen, has carried out thefts tha
within the last six months run up int
the hundreds of thousands of dollar.
This revelation of conspiracy betwee'
policemen and crooks is not new t
me. ] have had information on thi
intrigue for the last two weeks.
"The arrest of these three men
only the beginning Of my efforts to un
cover all the facts.
Mayor Hylan, i'll a letter to Deput
Police Commissioner William J. Lahe
yesterday, commended him and hi
Attorney in apprehending the police
men accused Of being involved in tn
conspiracy.