Evening star., 1946-09-17
Fingerprints on Glasses Led
FB| to Automobile Thieves
By Jerry O'Leory, Jr.

By Jerry
A set Of fngerprints found on a
pair of dark glasses in stolen car
was the clue which led IS Federal
Bureau of Investigation agents and
Maryland policemen to the arrest of
the four Swami brothers for auto
mobile thefts in the Sunday morn
ing raid on their Chapel Hill, Md,
home, it was learned today.
Their capture was the climax of
a two-month- long investigation, and
the quartet, with two more brothers,
had been under 24-hour surveillance
by undercover men for 10 days.
Key men in the apprehension OF
the Swanns-believed to be the
principal members of stolen car
ring which stripped and burned
scores of automobiles from Wash
ington and nearby Maryland in re-
cent months-Were two Prince
Georges County. Md, policemen.
They are Plainclothesmen John Sid
dali and Wilson J. Purdy.
AS Officer Siddal told a Star re-
porter in an exclusive interview to-
day, the raid was worked out with
veteran FBI men after vital evil
dence was uncovered 10 days ago
Fingerprints matching those of
Pennal Swami, 26, were found on a
pair of dark glasses in a 1916 Ford
reported stolen in Washington. In
10 days. he said, Federal and State
Investigators collaborated to amass
evidence which may send the
Swans to prison.
The raid was carefully planned
maneuver. worked out by veteran
Omen who do not take chances
The six brothers-two later were
released-were known to be armed
and their long record of arrests fol-
murder, assault with intent to kill
cuttings and other crimes of VIC.
lence was common knowledge, OF
! ficer Siddel said.
The Swanns-MaXwell, Joseph
Pennal. James, Hercules and Sher.
man-Were in three houses near thu
tavern they own at Chapel Hill
only II miles from Washington. Tht
raiding party rendezvous near tn,
Maryland-District line early SUNDAY
morning and waited until the ne
was complete. The trap was sprung
at $50 I'm.
The raiders entered all three
dwellings simultaneously to protect
| the surprise advantage they had
THE Swans had guns and knives
and they are cunning crew,
Policeman Siddall declared. They
would have fought if had giver
them half a chance"
The care and skill applied to thi.
raid paid off. The Swanns were
taken in their beds at about 5:3s
am. and whisked away for inten.
sive questioning.
-Four of them are charged only
with conspiracy to violate the Ma.
tional Automobile Theft Act. while
two others Hercules and Sherman
were released.
Policeman Siddall said these
charges tell only small part of the
story
THE Swami boys he said, come
from around Clinton, where theil
father. Arthur Swami, still has Q
little farm. There are eight of the
boys and we've had nothing bu,
trouble from them ever since they
were boys.
They are members of what they
called the Black Shirt Gang o.
Charles County until we broke tha
outfit up. The gang always dressed
in black silk shirts and they terror
lied the peace-loving folk arounc
Leonardtown, La Plata and othel
Southern Maryland points
They stole tobacco, they boot
legged. they committed assaults ano
robberies They stole everything
from cattle to automobiles, and dur
ing the war they ran black mar
ket in beef
1--WE know all about them and
we've had them in Jail off and or
all their lives"
So much for the Swans until the
early summer of this year when
police of Washington and the near
by Maryland counties were swamped
with number of complaints from
automobile owners that their cars
were being stolen. Investigators got
nowhere. Then, police began find
ing stripped and burned automobiles
in secluded spots In Southern Mary
land around Cedar Point, Mcrganza
Forestville and other places. Still
there was no clue which pointed out
the culprits.
Washington police noticed that a
large proportion of the cars were
disappearing from the Livingston
road area of Sc. and always the
modus operandi was the same
Stolen one day, recovered in South
ern Maryland with salable acces-
sories missing the next.
AS the summer wore on, the &C
tivities of the gang branched out
to other parts of Washington ano
Maryland. Now the ring was burn
ing the stripped hulks of the cars
they stole. Maryland and Wash
ington police, stalemated, called ir
the FBIs Baltimore Office, and the
G-men sent trained agents to work
on the case.
On August Is. The Star printed 9
story detailing the operations of tn,
gang, telling how they worked ane
even what kind of car they pre-.
ferred to steal Police and FBI mer
doggedly continued working II ane
l6 hours on the case, running dowr
every lead, examining with a fine.
toothed comb the hulks of automo.
biles they continued to find in thu