Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-05
JuyeniIeGanq
Broken and Is
CriinlesSoIyed
RineIeoder, Is,
And 3 Arrested;
a Others Hunted


Others Hunted
Police last night said they have
closed the books on 10 cases
ranging from yoking to unau-
thorized use Of an automobile
with the arrest Of four juveniles.
Officers are searching for two
other youngsters and two 23-year-
old men. who they say made up
a gang which has been operating
within the 10th precinct about
q year.
Those under arrest, police said,
have so far admitted II larcenies,
a yoking. 2 pocketbook snatch
ings, two housebreakings. one
case of unauthorized use Of q
car, and one driving permit viola
ton.
A slight, 5-foot-4 15-year-old
provided the brains and initiative
for the offenses. according to
police. AL the gang members are
colored.
The first break in the cases
came with information that the
ringleader had been involved
in stealing a $35 portable radio
from a shop at Eleventh street
and Park road NV.
On Stolen Bicycle.
Officers said the boy was
asked to come to No. 10 Precinct.
He arrived there yesterday after
noon on a stolen bicycle. they
said. Police said that after
lengthy questioning, he impli-
Gated two 17-year-olds. and boys
10. II. IA and Is. and the two
adults.
The ringleader was quoted as
saying he alone took part in all
10 offenses.
One was the yoking of a 16-
year-old boy last month at the
Twin Oaks Playground, Four
teenth and Taylor streets NV.
The victim was beaten by the
15-year-old and robbed Of IS
cents.
Combination" Trick.
Another case attributed to the
youthful ringleader was a COM
bination purse-snatching' and
confidence trick.
Police said the boy approached
o man at Fourteenth and Ran
dolph streets NV. and offered to
sell him the stolen radio. When
the man pulled out his wallet.
1t was snatched from his hand
and the boy ran.
Larcenies ranged from series
of shopliftings at two five-and-
dime stores in the 5000 block OF
Fourteenth street NV. to steal
ing small amounts of cash from
dress shops and frozen custard
stands.
Ice Cream Fiesta.
The six juveniles. police said.
had also been borging themselves
with ice cream after they found
. set OF keys to the Hot Shoppe
commissary in the 1900 block
of .Upshur street NV. ~ ST..
The ringleader, officers said.
was operating on a false Dis
trict drivers permit. Police said
he had gotten 1t by having a
17-year-old girl friend pose as
his sister and affirm that he was
Is years old. #m
Detectives added that the boy,
although smaller than several
gang members, inevitably took
the lions share of the loot. Of
ficers said he comes from a re-
spectacle middle-class home.
He also admitted three shop
fittings at a grocery store at
Thirteenth and Shepherd streets
NV. The total loot was. only
$3.75 in those shopliftings.
Almost Captured Once.
Two months ago, the ring
leader told police, he came close
to being arrested after breaking
into a basement apartment in
the $500 block of Sherman ave-
nue. NV. He managed a fleet
footed escape after a woman
awoke and found him under the
bed-clutching her wallet.
The two adults are believed to
be involved only in the radio
theft. according to Precinct De-
tective Douglas M. Smith and
Leon Lyons.
The two officers-along with
Detective Sergt. Vernon H. Gull
pepper-continued to question
the juveniles in other cases
while preparing to. round up re-
naming members of the gang.
Officers at the No. 10 Precinct
first became aware of the case
when Detective Sergt. John Will
son of the Robbery Squad re-
ceived information on the Is
year-old's part in the radio theft.