Evening star., 1952-02-19
Lure Of Autos,
Pinba|| Blamed
In Boys Thefts
Principal at wilson
Hopes Porents Will
Keep Cars at Home
By George Kennedy

The pinball machines are legal in
Washington" i
Ten boys. seven of them Wood
row Wilson pupils, have been
charged with varying crimes and
their cases turned over to Juvenile
Court.
They were accused in connec-
ton with 10 auto thefts, Is house.
breakings, one petty larceny and
one case of receiving stolen prop
erty. One of II boys previously
held was freed, and the others
were released to the custody of
their parents.
Principal Deplores Cars.
AS for the automobile riding,
DR.. john Brougher, principal of
Woodrow Wilson, situated on Ne
braska avenue N. W., in one of
the most well-to-do sections of
the Capital. wishes that his stu
dents would not drive cars to
school. But there is. not much he
can do about it.
Some parents would cooper
ate" he said, "but others approve
of their children driving to
school,"
School was out a few minutes
after the interview and one of the
students pulled away from the line
Of cars parked around the school
in shiny new $4,000 convertible.
He had girl in the front seat.
The students were buzzing with
talk about the arrests as they left
school. They understood seven
students at Woodrow Wilson had
been arrested but they did not
know the names. What caused
most comment was the statement
of the mother of one of the boys
that they were not kept busy
enough after school.
Aware of Problems.
"Extracur ocular activities?"
said one boy. That's all we have
is extracurricular activities"
DR.. Brougher said the arrests
were no great surprise to him. He
was we'll aware that he had Some /
problem students on his hands.
One of the boys arrested was a |
student at the school at the re-
quest of the probation officers of I
Juvenile Court. The boy lives in
the Western High School district.
DR.. Brougher, who had had |
several talks with the boy, was
impressed with his ability, also
with a report from the court
psychologist.
Il would put him among the
first 20 per cent in this school,"
the principal said. But he did
not succeed in adjusting himself
here. We were aware of the fam /
lily sitaution of one of the other
boys. very difficult one with mu-
tual resentments."
No Ring Leader Found.
The detectives were unanimous
In the opinion that there was no
ring leader. They said the bows
seemed to operate in four groups
with some interchange of mem
bership. They were definitely of
the opinion that the one boy with
a record had not contaminated the
others.
1t. John Ryan. head of the
juvenile squad, said the incidents
were part of a chain of actions in
which one boy stole an automobile
took a group of friends "ioy-
riding" and then dared another to
steal a car for the following night
1t. Ryan said the one picked to
steal the next car would be told:
If you don't do it, you're
chicken"
The boy with the record first
got into trouble two years ago
when a box of jewelry was missed
from his mothers dresser. Police
investigated, the boy confessed
and the jeWelry was recovered.
The boy was IA, the oldest of sew
eral children. The father is an
engineer with the Government.
The father insisted on prosecuting
his son as incorrigible. He was
sent to the Industrial Home
School and is on parole from there
now.
The police of the eighth pre-
clnct were engaged in their great
est manhunt since the pants
burglar" operated in their pre-
cinct, when a mothers suspicion .
about a new television set her son
had brought home broke most of ,
the burglaries they were working
on,
Hunting Burglar, 80.
They were looking for a real
burglar, 39-year-old man, son
OF a Baltimore minister son
who had served time. This bur-
glars flngerprints had been found
in couple of houses that had
been entered and he had beenl.
Identified as the man who pawned
the loot in Baltimore and Rich
mond.
The burglar had nothing to do
with the boys. The boys merely
multiplied the burglarieS in the
9th precinct. When the homes
OF Representative Halleck, Repub-
l1can, of Indiana, and Police Capt.
Otha r. Sanders of the harbor
precinct were entered the police
really went to work. The uni
formed men were put under the
direction of the detectives. They
attempted to spread dragnet
each night over the wide area of
the precinct. If they noticed the
boys who were responsible for the
added burglarieS, they never
stopped them. II
The boys would go to the back '
door OF a house and knock. They {
knocked on Capt. Sanders door Ii
for 10 minutes. He was listeningN