San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-30
Peace Officer in Town to
the North Nemesis to
Those Who Escape the
Clutches of San Antonio
Police-Catches Them on
a Sharp Curve.

tney see clearly their escape from
the grasp of the law. 1t is this fac
tor, veteran sleuths say that has made
San Antonio free, to n vast extent
from crimes that befall other large
centers at the hands of the profess
sional robber, gunmaf or slayer.
And in guarding against the Grim
inal. an officer not on the payrolls
of the city of San Antonio or the
county of Bexar plays a unique, but
highly important part.
This individual is Ed Moeller. city
marshal Of New Braunfels. situated
approximately 80 miles north of this
city. 1t is he, officers say, who has
proven himself the Nemeses of the
evil-doer,. the CRATER. the "humbug, +"
automobile thief and bandit.
He Is Live Wire.
ed MOeller is one of the livest
wires for little town l ever saw"
declared one Of the officials at police
headquarters. recently. "He's on his
toes all the time and is always ready
to go. He is a real, honest-to- good
ness officer and would do credit. with
the knowledge he possesses and the
ability to carry out the law in a city
equally the size Of San Antonio at
any time"
How this officer in a little town.
many miles away, does invaluable SER
vice to the citizens of San Antonio.
while serving the residents of his own
community at the same time, is a tale
that has been hidden away in the
police records for quite a number of
years and was revealed only when a
group of police and detectives were
discussing means and ways of nab
bling crooks.
ats the getaway that counts with
the criminal" said one of the older
! Officers, during the discussion. sand
that's where we've got him blocked. T"
A newspaper reporter was impress
ed with the statement how could the
getaway" after crime had been
staged, be blocked? He was curious
and wanted to know.
well" the veteran detective final
ly said, "it's just like this--but. be-
fore going into detail, I will say there
is an officer up the country little
ways from here ut a place called New
Braunfels. His name is Ed Moeller.
| He's the city marshal and a real one.
He's a great big fellow. with kind
| ly face, a good man and one of the
fastest peace officers I've ever heard
of in small town. It's through him,
largely, that crook can hardly make
clean getaway from San Antonio
after he pulls job.
They Lay Their Plans.
"Now, for instance, say a couple OF
automobile thieves-good ones, just
| here from the East, somewhere. decide
| TO steal good car here and beat it.
| They do the job, say. A good crook
does not want to live in Mexico and
won't live there. The natural thing
for him to do is to beat it northward
| back to the big places, where the
car is lost to view among many thou
sands Of other cars.
"You understand, professional auto
mobile thieves, like other experienced
crooks. dope ont their plan of action.
| They have found out the road to the
north is the best paved one out of
here. They can make faster time and
| reach their destination quicker. That's
the road they'll take. The jobs n
! complete success-but, one thing they
don't figure and that is Ed Moeller.
swell. the first thing we do when
| the theft is reported a few minutes
later, is to spread drag-net of off
| GERS at surrounding towns, say with
! in radius of 30 miles or so. The
| first man so notified is Ed Moeller.
| We tip him off to the car and he'll
do the rest. A little later we'll get
J n telephone call from New Braunfels.
It's from Moeller.
Wise TO the Slickers.
"I've got your men and your
car he will say. Well drive over
there, get the prisoners and the car
and all San Antonio pays him for
the work Of nabbing thieves for us is
thank you, Ed"
How does he 40 it-how does he
catch them?'
"Oh, yes. Well. as soon as Noel
| Ter gets our message, whether it is
| day or night, hot. cold or raining bull
| frogs he will act. Just before you
drive into New Braunfels and over
the bridge there is sharp curve in
the road. Moeller beats it for that
curve the minute he hears from us
handy, he'll arm himself with a shot
gun. With a description of the car,
men or something the crook don't get
| IN lie uOh luht ohN
he's wise to the slickers-they don't
fool him like they do most of the
small town officers. He's onto their
game like hog knows his corn.
"Of course, we get in 'aluable help
from officers Of other points, but. you
understand, Ed Moeller has done so
much for us that we feel he's the man
who put shall not in the phrase.
They shall not pass 1t seems the
crooks head his way every time. think
ing they'll get by-but they fail every
time.
'Moeller is an exceptional officer,
brave and will take chance any time.
This was demonstrated on one occa-
sion, when, after we sent him word to
halt four bad men trying TO escape
from here. he didn't have time to get
n gun. but rushed on the place as he
saw the car approaching and recog-
nized them. Throwing his hand TO
his hip pocket. as though he was
armed. he flashed his badge and
stopped them. He frisked' them quick
~ and disarmed each of them of
loaded sixshooter, though he, himself.
did not have as much as a toy pistol.
"And for the service and the fact
he's always on the job. there is a
feeling among the police and detective
departments here that any time New
Braunhfels is in need of outside help
officers here will crawl out of their
beds at night to give it to them
To Close Stores on Sundays.
Monterey, Mex, March es.-All