Evening star., 1950-03-01
Chase
Continued From First Page.)

of the force since 1912, directed
the police cars. He also found
time to alert Rockville and Hy-
attsville police.
An important link in the chain
of events was Bowen E. Mcdonald,
919 Farragut street NV. Hearing
the police calls on his short wave
radio, he went outside and, seeing
the fleeing suspect, put the police
men on his trail.
The episode began shortly after
2::30 am. when Pvts. James S.
McWhirt and Patrick w. Hanft
of No. 6 precinct were checking
doors in the 1900 block of Georgia
avenue NV. They found the
door open at the Eastern Star
Cafe.
Entering the building, Pvt. Nc
Whirt went to the basement.
There he found man. apparently
raiding the restaurants ice box.
The intruder, later identified as
Fino. had piled chickens. hams,
eggs and canned goods into a
bushel basket, police said.
The man claimed to be an en-
ploye of the restaurant, but was
placed under arrest by Pvt. Nc
Whirt. The policeman was taking
the suspect back to the scout car
when he twisted away and ran.
20 Cars Converge on Area.
The officers drew their guns and
ordered the man to halt. When
he did not, both fired two warn
ing shots into the air and gave
chase,
They were shooting to hit when
the fugitive reached the end of
the alley at Delaf1eld place and
disappeared.
In response to a radio call,
police cars and motorcycles con-
verged on the area from all di-
rections. More than 90 cars and
an undetermined number OF men
criss-c crossed the alleys and streets
in the search.
In his home Mr.. Mcdonald,
a former top sergeant in the
Army, was listening to the COM
motion and the screaming sirens.
He turned on his short-wave radio
and picked up the calls from the
police dispatcher.
Follows Suspect.
IT thought the man might be
hiding near by" Mr.. Mcdonald
said later, so I went to the porch
and hid in the shadows"
When the scout cars started to
give up the search and return to
their regular patrols. Mr.. Nc
Donald saw a man run out of an
alley and onto Farragut street.
Keeping "a respectful distance"
behind. Mr.. Mcdonald followed.
The suspect walked nearly q
block before getting into a parked
sedan and driving away. As the
car turned north. onto Fourteenth
street, Mr.. Mcdonald noted the
license number.
Almost simultaneously, Scout
Car 101 with Pvts. Webster D.
Dawson and Edward j. White of
No. 10 precinct turned the corner.
Mr.. Mcdonald hailed them and
told them what he had seen.
The chase then was on. Pvt.
White later said it was real Dick
Tracy stuff"
While other police cars closed
in from all directions, Scout Car
101 followed the sedan out Four
teenth street to Iowa avenue and
out Iowa to Georgia avenue. It's
siren was wide open and the
speedometer was crowding 10, the
policeman said.
Get Close Four Times.
Four times the scout car was
close enough for Pvt. White to
lean out the right-hand window
and take a shot at the fleeing Sc
dan. None Of the shots took effect.
Turning off Iowa avenue onto
Georgia, the sedan ran through q
part Of a small park and went over
a streetcar loading platform but
kept going.
Kansas avenue comes to q dead
end at Nicholson street. When
the sedan came to the barricade
the suspect tried to turn, but his
car crashed against the stout
timbers. 1t snapped the cable from
a light pole and crashed into q
clay bank.
AS the pursuing police cal
screeched to a stop, the man
jumped out of his car and ram.
Both policemen leaped out, drew
their guns and started firing. Pvt