The Washington times., 1930-03-20
AIR Of MYSTERY
IS DEEPENED
F.. BFFNQU|RY
Continued from Page 4.
,ecial work for District Attorney

Continues from Page H.
special work for District Attorney
Rover. ~
10. Rover and his assistant,
Renal F. Camalier, denied that
Burke had ben detailed Ito cover
the premises near where Crotts
was possibly fatally wounded.
Despite efforts Of police Off
cials to establish a plausible rea.
SON for Detectives Burke and
Gravely, both Of the Third pre-
cinct, being in the vicinity Of First
and U Streets Northwest in the
Eighth precinct early yesterday
morning when CrottS was shot,
conflicting stories continue to
shroud the case with mystery.
On the one hand. Inspector
William S. Shelby and Lieut.. Ed.
y ward j. Kelly declare that Burke
was aiding the detective bureau
in an effort to locate a man be
heved to be an out-of-town
racketeer and that Gravely was
assisting him.
Burke, IN his own defense,
stated that a woman had called
him up and told him that several
policemen, or rather three men
who stated they were policemen,
entered an establishment in which
she was working and tried to
shake her down for $50" In
his report, filed q few hours after
the shooting, Burke and Gravely
failed to make any mention of
racketeering, merely stating they
had q house in the 1900 block
First st. N. W. under obserVa-
ton.
Explanation Delayed
It was not until after the hear
ing held by Inspector Thaddeus
Bean. and several "huddles" be-
tween high police officials that
an explanation was Forthcoming
Shelby stated the place occu-
pied by the girls, Marie Foster and
Frances O'Brien, had been held"
up by two men early last Sunday
morning. On Monday Burke was
notified of the hold=up by one Of
the women. He reported the case
to headquarters, but not to his
own precinct. It was due to a
similar violation of police proce-
dure that Policeman Robert j.
Allen was dismissed from the
force.
Later, according to the explana-
ffHFA n11Fko wat XalIxY ~ ffTA
street and was asked to investI
gate, the theft Of an automobile.
AS luck would have it the ma
chine had been seen by a police
man. who has not been identified,
in front OF the. house on First
Street, Sunday morning about the
time Of the supposed robbery.
Learning this, Burke with
Gravely, left the Third precinct
to plant at the house" and wait
for the possible return of the
holdup men to repeat their stick
Up" Of Sunday night.
HOldup Kept Secret
No report was made Of the
holdup through the regular chan
nelS. Shelby excused this on
the ground that too much pub
hcity might warn the holdup
men that holdup had been COM
n11tted and possibly keep them
from showing up. He intimated
that If racketeers were operating
In the city he wished to know
1t and of course run them down.
In the statements made by
Burke and Gravely, they planted
themselves in the rear of the
house and were approached by
one OF the women, Marie Foster,
who told them that Swortzel, a
Fourth Precinct policeman, Crotts
and another man had tried to
hold them up for $50. It was
then that the two sleuths emerged
from their hiding place, saw. the
three men and Gravely, in an
effort to stop Crotts, shot at him
. lung. = -
The statement made by the girl
said the detectives were driving
by her house slowly and running
out Of the house she stopped
Burke, whom she knew, and
sought his aid. The alleged hold
up men ip the. meanwhile were
waiting across the street., The
other girl, Frances O'Brien de-
clared that she was reading in
a rear room and heard someone
say something about $50. That
Is all she knew Of the facts in
the case, she told police.
Doyle Not Notified
Capt. Robert E. Doyle, Of the
Eighth precinct, knew nothing of
the affair until he arrived at the
station house yesterday morning
and the men in the precinct had
not been informed Of the activi-
ties Of the Third precinct detec-
tives there as is ordinarily done.
Officers at the Fourth precinct
expressed surprise that Swortzel
had been present, declaring that
he had been a man of excellent
habits.
,Swort7el, in q statement, de-
clared he was on his way to the
Eighth precinct station to get a
detail TO- raid the First Street
house when he heard shots. Re
tnrning he stated he was stopped
and placed under arrest.
AS an aftermath Of the shoot
ing, which is as mysterious as the