The Washington times., 1931-04-27
RACKET.EERS
ASSA|LED BY
CRUSADER
Officials Answer Charges Of
Beating Victim, Deny Open
Gambling in First Precinct
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:: Continued From Page y
o gamblers, he declared, and the
gamblers knew that DOuthitt was
- aware Of this and for that reason
= wanted him put on the spot, he
x said.
:, .Gunmen were imported by the
gamblers and police to get rid Of
,r him, he said. Two men, who.
Douthitt declared, were strangers
=. to him, gained entrance to his
/. apartment Saturday night under
the guise of insurance statesmen.
Beaten Over Head
h. Getting in, they assaulted him,
= beating him over the head with
an iron bar and, leaving him for
e. dead. they fled.
Douthitt declared that there are
=, so gambling establishments run
& ming wide open in the First pre-
cinct district, and that precinct
= officials are in on the protection
!. racket.
Major Henry Pratt, chief of po-
., lice, has ordered a searching in
r VeStigation both on the attack and
on Douthitt's charges of wide-open
1. gambling and graft.
Police Make Denial
Douthitt's charges that the beat
ing was engineered by police were
/. characterized by members Of the
department as manufactured
from the whole CLOTH"
Members of the force stationed
=, ut the First precinct, whom
:. DOuthitt declared were his enc
mics, said the charges are the
direct OutgrOwth of personal
venom toward one officer.
= From his bed in Casualty Hos
;, pital today. Douthitt declared he
had no enemies outside of the
First precinct and denied know
ing the men who attacked him in
his apartment in the Portner at
;, Sixteenth and U Streets North
west.
?" Asked if he intended to ex-
2 pose the gambling situation when
: he gets out of the hospital, he
said:
~ 'Tt will only hurt the police
=. department. 1 am too good Q
:, soldier for that" ... ..,. 3
- Commenting on the assertions
( made by Douthitt, members of the
: force at the First precinct declared
= that the only motive behind them
9 is the desire to embarrasS Lieut..
= Frank Varney, who is in command
: IN the absence of Capt. Frank S.
w. Burke.
It was also recalled that on
March 20 the Policemen's AsSocia-
ton went on record excoriating
the Bluecoat and its publisher and
: warned all civic bodies and mer-
chants that the publication had
;, no official backing of the depart
:, ment or that organization. The
resolution incidentally was spon-
Sored by Lieutenant Varney.
Resolution Is Quoted
The resolution, in part, read:
"Be it resolved, That this as
sociatiOn pledges its untiring
support to the merchants and
business men Of the city of
Washington, District Of COIum-
bia, and strongly condemns and
r. CritiCiZeS any attempt on the
part Of any individual or organ
i1ati0n that seeks to diminish
this bond Of friendship by Great
I ing false or erroneous impreS-
SiOnS concerning our aSsOcia-
tiOn."
Owners Were Warned
=: The order also directed the
commanders of precincts to sub
NIT a list each month in which
:. suspected gaming houses and
{" other vice resorts would be listed.
~ This was done by Captain Burke,
- who went further and warned all
:, agents and owners that if arrests
= for violations Of the law were
made in their buildings that they,
too, would be made parties to any
prosecutions.
= Commenting upon Douthitt's
; profeSSed knowledge of vice c0ndi-
:, tionS in the First Precinct, Lieu
= tenant Varney said:
d. eff he has any information
regarding gambling conditions
9<. I'm the First Precinct he has
Z never been in with 1t. AS a
o good citizen it is his duty to
= report law violations.
= Gas far as using him as an
- fnfOrmer in such cases we
:. would be unable to do so as
his testimony would not be
q worth anything to us in court.
'In regard to the charges he
- has made. Consider the source.
have nothing to answer to MIR.
! D0uthitt and If any answering
= is required it will be made to
c, the major and superintendent
of Police"
& Charges Investigated
& 1t was also learned that Dou-
thitt had invited a number of
persons to his apartment Satur-
= day night. Just whether or not
anyone attended has not been
learned.
Mai. Gen. Herbert B. Crosby,
. commissioner in charge Of the
police department, stated tn t
' more than two months ago
charges Of collusion between
First precinct police and gam
hlers had been investigated and
found to be without foundation.
It was also asserted in several