The Washington times., 1936-05-09

The machinery of the Metro
politan Police Department swung
swiftly into action. The alarm
was relayed to Precinct three and
A trio of patrolmen were sent
speeding to the locality-Privates
r. C.. Pearce and C. E. Kelly in a
No, 8 emergency car and Private
Harry J. Mcdonald in his own
automobile.
With their forces split, the police
knew the search could be con.
Quoted more efficiently.
The burglars had heard the ap.
proach Of Beach's wagon and when
they kicked in the glass in the side
door Of the store they saw Beach
watching them from his position
half a block up the street. When
they saw Beach leap from his seat
and run into nearby house they
knew no time was to be lost. They
rifled the drug store cash register
Of its contentS-$4-and fled.
Scarcely five minutes had passed
before the two police cars drew
up. Beach described the pair as
best he could and Privates Pearce
and Kelly cruiSed in the vicinity
Of Connecticut Avenue and Seven.
tenth Street, while Private Nc.
Donald proceeded west on Cor.
coran Street toward Eighteenth.
Around the corner of Eighteenth
Street Officer Mcdonald sighted
two colored men. He drove up be.
side them. They acted suspicious
so he decided that he'd take them
to No. 3 for further interrogation,
Obediently, the two suspects
climbed into the front seat, and
Mcdonald drove back to Seven
tenth and @ to call the patrol
wagon from the box at that point.
Officer Mcdonald stepped from
the car, walked around to the box
and, as he put the receiver to his
ear. several shots rang out, stag
gerlng him against the signal box.
He whirled and as he slumped to
the gutter poured four shots in
quick succession from his service
revolver into one of the men, who,
with smoking pistol in hand, was
struggling to follow his compan-
ion through the cars further door.
Hearing the reports of the guns,
Officers Pearce and Kelly fastened
toward Seventeenth and @ Streets,
They found Officer Mcdonald
prone over the curbstone. On the
other side Of the street on the
sidewalk lay a colored man, face
down, bleeding profusely and
breathing with difficulty. The Of
ficers turned the man over on his
back. There, soaked in blood, was
a .38-caliber blue steel pistol.
Both wounded men were taken
to Emergency Hospital. An oper-
alton was Immediately performed
on Officer Mcdonald, and it was
believed that his life could be
saved. But no hope was held out
for the recovery of the gunman.
AS death lowered near, the gun
man identified himself as Albert
Aldridge, 20, alias william Will
llamS, an escaped prisoner from
the Massachusetts State Prison.
The second gunman, Aldridge,
gasped out, was his brother Al
fred, alias Charles johnson. A few
hours later, Aldridge died. He had
paid the penalty for shooting a
man in the back.
Alfred Aldridge, however, was
still at large.
Police uncovered their first clew
in learning that Alfred had at
one time worked in a cafe. There
o Twenty-second st. address was
discovered. Alfred was not to be
found when police visited the
premises, but the landlady re-
called seeing revolverS in the
room he occupied.
Aware that he was q marked
man, Alfred Aldridge avoided his
rooming house until the next day,
Sunday. Seeing no police in the
vicinity, he decided to visit his
rooms. gather his guns and
clothes and leave town. He en-
tered the house and packed fever
1SLlly. he leu as quietly as ne
could.
But nemesis, in the guise Of the
1andlady. pursued him. She trailed
him to the corner of Eighteenth
Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
eyes peeled for a policeman. While
he waited at a street-car loading
platform, she saw a uniformed
guard at the Hurley-Wright Build
ing and, miStaking him for an Of
ficer of the law, appealed to him
to arrest the fugitive.
Even as she told her story to the
guard, however, a street car, bound
for the Union Station approached
and Alfred had clambered aboard.
The guard hurried to phone
and again headquarters was in
action. An emergency automobile
sped from No. 3 precinct. At