New-York tribune., 1921-05-29
Police Open Fire i'm Sixth
Avenue on Gang Said
to Have Obtain e d
100000 by Forgery
Operated Among
A Score of Banks
Looted Tobacco Mems
Letters of Ren1ittances
and Copied Signatures

Police and operatives Of the Pin
Nrton Detective Agency yesterday
yutured 8 gang of alleged forgers
after running fight on Sixth Avenue
i the neighborhood of Eighteenth
strset. 1t is estimated that within the
last year the gang has defrauded bank
ing houses in Manhattan and New JeS-
,ey Of nearly 100000.
The men arrested are: Alexander
Yahoney, twenty y-eight years old. who
gsre his address as 1854 Walworth
Street, Brooklyn; John Noble, thirty
one years old, of 744 Greenwich Street,
and Terry Pellegrino, twenty-six
ysars old, of % Bedford Street.
The three are charged with forgery
ind larceny and will be arraigned be
fore magistrate to-day. Later it was
said they also would be taken into the
Federal court on charge of stealing
from authorized mail repositories. All
three have long police records, the
police say.
Letter Boxes Rifed.
Inspector John Coughlin, of the De-
tsctive Bureau, and William Wagner,
superintendent Of the Pinkerton
agency, said they could not recall any
recent forgers who could compare in
skill and technique with the three men
under arrest.
According to the police, checks we're
stolen from letter boxes belonging to
tobacco dealers. The men would then,
! Is said, get blank checks from the
banks on which these checks were
drawn and forge the signatures of
those they had stolen.
Aahoney is said to be the leader.
According to records at Police Head
quarters, he is listed as Mabonev
aiias Blake, alias Murphy. 1t is said
mat ne was arrested in 1913 and served
term on Blackwell's Island for grand
hreeny. In 1915 he was again SEN
enced foE, burglary. in 1916 records
snow he began a term of three Years
sad eight months for forgery. His ef-
forts on that occasion are said to have
Seen directed against the Yorkville
savings Bank, by means of a check to
Rhich the signature of F. S. Goldman
had been forged.
Known as Free-Hand Forger
he Is what is known as free-hand
llOrger, the police say. He does not
nave to resort TO the strong light and
aase glass or tissue paper copying
sonSriVances, but can, with little
ms'Mce, duplicate signature by look
about three months ago, when COM
pants from banks began coming to
,a.i I'm, the Plnkertons, after an exami-
s;Sa9 sas.9h -. OF t4e alleged forged checks. de-
~ otaea that The forgeries were the work
.s.ai ~ mishoney' whom they had investi-
gated previously.
vooa aaey r, located Mahoney at the Holly
rsas oUa p motel on Twenty-eighth Street,
inc ' 70 + curtin Avenue, where he was liv-
,Ss s p; n.Ih woman. For three months
tse,. .hkertons followed him and found.
i say that he had improved greatly
so,,I5 uiS unlawful employment. They
sss;u sou not, however, get any evidence
70 come in. -'N'-'' ~ Il u Il &c"
Eiuded the Detectives.
Mahoney would leave the hotel in the
morning morning and go to the subway. He
r ~Iuld sit in the subway station any-
siefe from five minutes to three hours
~ ~ make sure he was not being followed.
- - MS appointment with Noble were
~, ~ noon he would be there at 10
o'clock and wait.
AT AT noon, the Pinkertons say, Noble
'oulo appear and the two would get on
s,.t:. : stain. They would get off at the next
eaton and take different trains, meet
mls again at another station. In this
-'Grher mn they threw off their pursuers.
~ me rlrkertons, it was said, learned
saa mss Aahoney and his two companions
Ssle dealing exclusively with tobacco
5S,e1chants. According to them, Ma
soney would rob the letter box of a
s'saf dealer. In the mail would be
(continusd on page thrse)