The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-03
CRIME WAVE SEEMS
 ID BE SWEEPING
 OVER BIRMINGHAM
Burglaries, HOIdups, Theft of Cars and ShOOtings Keep Police and De
 tectives Busy

! A wave or crime committed by cfIml
 nals who bar none of the different kinds ! of crime, is now sweeping the city, ac- ] cording to authorities at police head
 quarters and detective headquarters | The number of highway robberies and burglaries and crimes of various natures ] reported to the departments are increas-
 inS' daily and the stealing of automobiles l or the use Of car without the owner 5 | consent" the usual offense held against those who are caught, is not omitted from the list, there being several cars re- ported stolen to the police department almost every night
 Between the hours of 6 and 8 o'clock last night two burglaries of homes in the heart of the city were reported. Occu- pants of the home of Mrs. B. w. Sims, Z0l2 Fifteenth avenue, north, frightened away a negro, whom they saw and heard in the rear of the house. The negro
 made his escape by diving through a screen window and left his umbrella and hat at the window, where he entered A Liberty Six automobile, belonging to F. F. Hooper 1417 Fourteenth street, l south, was reported to have been stolen from in front of Southside Baptist church while the occupants were attending serv ices
 C. E. Sailors, a resident of Mt. Pinson, was held up by two unknown white men at Fourth avenue and Twenty fourth street, about o'clock Saturday night and SIP and some other>yaluables were removed from his person. He reported to the officers that two well dressed white men stepped from an alley and jabbed a gun into his side and de- manded his money, after which they or dered him to make a nasty departure. This holdup and attempted robbery preceded the attempted robbery of M D. Thompson, a white man, who was knocked in the head and seriously in- jured, and the robberies took place within a block of each other. Thompson was carried to the Hillman hospital ow- ing to his injuries, and it is thought by
 the officers that the only reason that
 he was not robbed was because the
 highwaymen were frightened away by
 passersby
 These two holdups followed one of the
 most daring holdups committed in the
 city in sometime which happened Satur-
 day afternoon when negro walked into
 a Southside pawnshop, stole a pistol, held
 the shopkeeper up and then shot at the policeman on the beat before he made
 his escape One almost as daring was committed Friday night, when three ne- groeS entered a store on Third avenue occupied by several persons, at Il O'CLOCK at night, held the occupants at bay with pistols while one of the party carried off the cash register.
 The detective and police departments are at work and it is knwon fact that some of the officers nave~been working almost day and night for the past week. but it seems impossible to check the wave of crime regardless of the arrests made
 Tom Smith, a negro, 125 TWenty-fl1ta street, north, was arrested at ms nome yesterday afternoon by Officers BurSe and Richardson and lodged in the city iail on a charge of holding up and roo- ping Earle Washington, negro empioSeu at the Louisville and Nashville stations of s37 early Saturday morning. The TOD bery took place at First avenue anu
 Eighteenth street Will Moore, negro employed at the SIoss furnace in North Birmingham was arrested by the saiilo officers yesterday afternoon ana IS oe ing held at the city jail on charge ol shooting J. w. Perkins, street car con ductor on the Owenton- -Ensley car llne' last Tuesday night.
 Yesterday morning Officers Lee and Burkett were forced to shoot and seri- ousIv wound William Johnson, alias Sam a negro in order to save them selves. according to the officers, the negro having fired upon Officer Burkett several times with a 32-20 rifle. The negro resides at 3904 Alley A, and the officers went to the house to arrest him on a charge of assault and battery on his wife When they reached the house he seeing them. ran out ana into the alley, firing back at the officers Officer Burkett returned the fire and the negro fell, having been shot in the side He was carried to the Hillman hospital in a serious condition. How ever. it is the opinlon of authorities at the hospital that the negro will llve
 Several automobiles were reported to have been stolen from in front of the residences of the owners saturday night.
 In alluding to the wave of crime yes terday, Chief of Police T. J. Shirley said: 'Yes I feel that wave of crime is sweeping over the city and our rec ords show that more crimes are being committed in the city than ever before in it's history"