Arizona republican., 1921-05-30
OFFICERS
 TO WAGE REAL WAR
 ON.BOOzE RUNNERS

All deputy sheriffs and motorcycle officers. their cars and machines, are to be armed immediately with sawed off shot guns loaded with buckshot, Sheriff John Montgomery announced last night. The officers have been instructed to shoot to kill if neces- sary in their efforts to combat whisky runners who are infestlng the county, the sheriff declared Each day, he said. booze" runners take more chances in their efforts to es- cape when pursued by the officers.
 Whisky runners, the sheriff said, not only endanger the lives of aii- travellers on the roads in their efforts to successfully bring their loads or Illicit liquor into the city, but they also violate all rules of the automo- bile and traffic laws as well as the speed laws. In many instances. he said. they have escaped arrest be- cause officers did not dare follow them at the terrific rate of speed at which they were travelling for fear of injuring innocent autoists Or pedes- trians on the streets and highways.
 As an example of this the sheriff pointed out the sensational chase or a whisky runner Saturday night which ended in the destruction Of an innocent mans car and the injury of a woman. Luckily. the accident was not fatal. This whisky runner, the sheriff said refused to stop and ran by the officers, who were posted in a public place to avoid making auto ists afraid of hold-up- When Motorcycle Officer Bell gave chase on his motorcycle, Montgomery said, the whisky runner purposely kept to the left side of the street in order to draw the officer up on his right. This move. the sheriff declared, was made in order that when the motor cycle officer drew up even with the bootlegger's machine tile latter would suddenly swerve to the right and front wheel Such a move, the sheriff said probably would have killed the officer. As 1t was. he said. the whisky runner, seeing he could
 not do this, left his car while it was
 running and it crashed into the on-
 coming Chevrolet.
 Speeders, and other reckless driv-
 CTS not engaged in the traffic of
 whisky. also the sheriff said, are to
 be shown no mercy. If a speeder
 fails to stop at the officers orders.
 he said, they win shoot his tires
 with their sawed-off shotguns. The J0EllIC6 OA tAAG R<oAts AAt 1A4Nf A4@F v advised him that they will begin to give jail sentences to speeders in- stead of fines. A speeder, no matter how much money or influence he has. the sheriff said, will have plenty of time during a 10 or 20 day jail sem tence to think over his offense. A speeder who races down the
 street or road at 50 miles an hour Is guilty of attempted assault with 1 deadly weapon. Sheriff Montgomery 1 declared because a motor driven ve- hicle is a means of deadly assault should it strike another car. Not only does the speeder endanger the lives of all other traffic on the highway but he also endangers his own and that of the motorcycle officer who gives chase. Many speeders have 1 gotten away from the officers. he said, because the latter dared not l give chase on crowded thorough l fare for fear. of injuring some fnno- 1 cent motorist.
 1 Thes sheriff is planning to equir each motorcycle. with an automatic | sawed-off shotgun loaded with buck shot and fastened to the handle barr 1 of the machine in the same manner ! a machine gun is fastened to a miii- 1 tary airplane. The officer will be 1 able with one hand to sight and firs at the tires of the. speeder without chasing him.
 The sheriffs advice to all speed l CTS, reckless drivers and other vfo- 1ators of the law is to stop when ac-
 costed by an officer. The attitude l of most of this class of drivers, he said, toward the law and the officers is one of contempt. Motorists who
 are not violating the law he pointed i out, need not be afraid of being
 held up by officers, for they are l always stationed in a public place
 and nearly always have the numbers
 of the whisky runners car they are 1 awaiting. As a moral to all speed CTS the sheriff pointed out the two fatal accidents in May that were due l to speeding and violation of the traf- fic rules. From now on. he said
 all speeders and law violators neet
 not expect mercy, for none will bs
 forthcoming from the law and ths officers.