Evening star., 1949-06-05

West Virginia Prison
fugitives Are Retaken.
Continued From First Page).
vile. and which had been aban-
doned along the river bank In
Belpre.
One Shot I'm Shoulder.
Another Of those captured after
less than q day and q half of
uncertain freedom was shot In
the shoulder by an Ohio State
highway patrolman after he was
spotted walking along g highway
in nearby Powhatan. He was
identified as william Mike Ables,
34-year-old lifer.
Holley starcher. q kidnaper,
was captured with him.
A combination Of hunger pangs
and the alertness of q country
storekeeper sent the other four
back to the 83-year-old peniten-
tiary.
They were Dennis p. Taylor,
81; Jack Heeney, ~: Donald
Wurster, %. and Charles p. Ross.
20.
They had made their way east
ward about 10 miles to the farm
ing section near Glen Easton.
w. Va.
Taylor, still in prison garb, went |
to a small grocery operated by
Floyd Fritzman and his 22-year-
old wife.
The other three hid in the woods
nearby.
Store Owner Suspicious.
Proprietor Floyd Fritzman was
promptly suspicious, both Of the
customers garb and the fact he
ordered more groceries than three
men could eat"
MIR. Fritzman started asking en-
barrassing questions and Taylor
turned and fed. Mr.. Fritzman told
prison authorities he shot at the
convict five times with revolver
but missed. The storekeeper then
grabbed O shotgun, overlook the
fugitive and held him at bay until
Mrs. Fritzman could summon
guards who already were in the
neighborhood.
A search of the woods soon
flushed out Taylor's three COM
panions. /
State Police said they believed
a fifth man was hiding In the
same area.
Inquiry Continues.
AS hundreds of law enforcement
officers continued their hunb
through the mountains and f1at-
lands near the river, full investi-
CATION continued into the break
from the supposedly escape
proof" section Of the prison.
Ohio Highway Patrolman r. A.
,Jackmas said he and Patrolman
q. A. Peddicord were cruising on
Ohio Route z near Powhatan at
midday when alerted by q resi-
dent of the area that a "suspi-
cious character" had been seen on
the road. s
They soon came in sight Of him,
the policeman related. It turned
out to be Ables, dressed in, white
clothing. instead Of the usual blue
denim garb.
At sight of the patrol car. easily
recognizable by the siren on top.
Ables jumped down over an en-
bankment onto the parallel rail-
road tracks and started to run.
Pattolmen Jackmas said both
he and Patrolman Peddicord
started firing their pistols, after
shouts to halt had been ignored.
Convict Surrenders.
While the other policeman kept
up the fire, Patrolman Jackmas
said he got q rifle and started
giving chase on foot. When Ables
saw the rife, he threw up his
hands and surrendered.
Attracted by the shots. other
officers were arriving. This COM
motion flushed out Starcher. who
was waiting in the bushes over
an embankment.
Starcher fed into lumber YARD
but was quickly recaptured.
The prisoner was treated at
Bellaire, Ohio. for a broken collar
bone. Arrangements were made
to return both men to Mounds
vile, where their four colleagues
already had been returned to cells. i
Patrolman Jackmus quoted
Ables that he and Starcher paired
of together when the gang broke
up after climbing through the
window of the prison about $3.50
am. yesterday.
They sat or dozed in a fringe
of woods within sight Of the prison
all day yesterday, Ables related.
About 1880 last night, the
story continued. the two men
LOST.
hILLF0LD. ladys. black; zippsr 'eomDsrt.