The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-12-01
Four Armed Robbers Make
Record Daylight Haul in
Brooklyn Street.
OUTLETS SCARE CROWD
Messengers Attacked as
They Leave Car to Enter
Igoe Nail Plant.
TWO ARE HELD BY POLICE
Man in Charge of Messengers
and Brother Tell Conflict
ing Stories.
TWO ARE HELD BY POLICE


Brooklyn street yesterday four armed
highwaymen held up and robbed two
| me ssengers Of Liberty bonds amount
1 ing to S466,000, of which more than
$Ao0.C,0 were negotiable. After firing
sc yeral shots to cover their escape the
! ROBBERS jumped into an automobile
and disappeared. This is the largest
\ holdup that has occurred in New York
in years.
The bonds, in denominations of $1,000
and $4,000, were in cowhide satchel
carried by Austin Young, 20, bond
peth, Queens, and Irving Cohen, 21,
messenger, of 1852 Forty-fourt street,
Brooklyn, both employed by Kean,
Taylor & Co., bond brokers' of Nassau
street. They we're being delivered to
Igoe Brothers, wire nail manufacturers
of 69-73 Metropolitan avenue, Will
/ iamsburg. The holdup occurred in
front of the Igoe factory and was wit
messed by at least dozen persons.
Tony DeGregario, who has charge
of the messenger boys employed by
Kean, Taylor & Co, and his brother,
Joseph. were held by the police last
night after the police announced they
had told conflicting stories in connec-
ton with the holdup.
Telephone Stories Conflict.
The telephone operator at Kean,
rrax.In, O. % ,, nA3r1 talI tha Y,oltCa
Tony had received two telephone mes
sages during the morning. One Of
these, Tony said, was an invitation
from his brother to have dinner at his
brothers house. When the brother
swas questioned, however, no denied
he had telephcned to Tony.
, The brother was fingerprinted at
headquarters and turned out, the police
reported, to be an cx-convict. He was
arrested in a loft at 70 East Tenth
street on the night of July 16, 1919. and
was tried with two other men on a
charge of burglary. He was convicted
! and sentenced to an indeterminate term
! in the penitentiary.
| Tony told the police neither he nor
| his brother ever had been arrested.
When confronted with the brothers
. record he said he meant that he never
| had been arrested for anything more
/ serious than craps shooting and had
lied about the brother to keep him out
| OF trouble.
The De Gregario brothers were locked
up later. charged with acting in concert
to commit assault and robbery. After
, they had been put in cells at Police
! Headquarters. Acting Capt. Carey, COM
manding the Sixteenth Detective Divi-
sion. said the charge had been made in
order that they might be held in custody
According to Young, his firm had pur-
chased the bonds for Igoe Brothers in
1 the open market and had changed them
into large denominations. Only $4,000
were registered. Young and Cohen left
New York at noon and took car across
the williamsburg Bridge. They were
only few feet from the door OF the Igoe
plant when the four bandits rushed them.
drop that bag. you ----!'' one of the
four shouted. pressing the point of his
pistol against Young's body.
bullet Grazes Head.
rXoung struggled until shot was
The bullet grazed his left ear
Ahe let go. The robbers ran down
ppolitan avenue to the corner of
e avenue. where a Ford automo-
was standing. Young and John
h, n platform man employed by
Brothers. pursued them until an
shot was fred. AS the car drove
one of them. standing on the run
board, fred a third shot.
ess than an hour later the police dis
Eered an abandoned automobile. which
as identified as the one used by the
Iandits, at South Second street and Bed
lord avenue, about eight blocks away.
'Thc license plate bore the number
147s5s N. Y, the police announced. and
inside the car was another plate with
the number 25s102 n. Y. The fact that
there were two number plates was re-
! garded as significant by the police. as
. II is a common custom or gangsters 20
carry several numbers in their automo-
blles and change them after each Job.
The numbers are registered In the Of
nce OF the Secretary OF state az be-
longing TO John Ryan, 73 New Cham
bcrs street, and Joseph Quinn, 3i9 East
Thirty-second street. sold 10 Harry
None of these addresses afforded any
clue TO the robbery. and neither Ryan,
Quinn nor Gunphy could be located.
Young was In the habit of visiting
Igoe Brothers factory about once a
week, he said. but never had carried
more than $1,000 In bonds until yester-
day. The police believe the robbers had
inside Information. Two witnesses were
found who had seen man standing
lcross the street from Tgoe Brothers for
pare than an hour preceding tho holdup.
Girl Describes Gunmcu.
sophie ZowyskI was standing at the
pr of her home SO Metropolitan ave-
:, about fifty feet distant, when the
bbery occUfred She and other wit
sscs described the gunmen as medium
IT neatly dressed men, about 25 years
A fifth man was seated at the |
eel OF tho car and had the engine