Evening star., 1955-11-19
Others Seized
As HoIdup FoiIs
In Alexandria


market in the 1900 block of Duke
street.
Alexandria Detective Sergt.
Francis johnson said arrest Of
the four may be the answer to
the recent $4,000 holdup at the
Arlington Food Fair and at
least dozen other holdups in
Washington and Northern Vir-
ginia."
Shot once In the left leg and
once in the upper lip was Jesse
Meere. colored, 81, of Route 2.
Alexandra.
| Police recovered more than
$1,000 Of the loot within minutes
after the four men. three Of
them carrying two guns each,
entered the store shortly after
CLOSING and shouted to almost SO
employees: This is a stickup!
Get the hell in the back, and we
mean It'll"
Face. Several Charges
Held. for investigation were:
James Murphy, 26, Route /,
alexandria; Percy Thomas. %,
Iof 2484 South Lowell street Ar
llington: William Boyd, %, Of
Route 2, Alexandria, and Moore.
All are colored.
All will be charged with holdup
and robbery, police said, and
Moore will face additional
charges of felonious assault with
intent to kill.
| The men all wore two sets Of
lclothing-each of a different
color-so they could shed the
outer garments quickly and not
be recognized easily afterward.
police said.
| Police reconstructed the hold
up this way:
Philip Lorie, an employe, was
sweeping the walk outside the
store when the four men pulled
Iup in a 1941 Buick and said,
This is stiekup." They showed
ILorie inside the store. closed the
door and shouted to the other
Iemployes to go to the back of
the store.
Two Of the men lined up the
employees at one end of the
store. while the two others began
scooping money from the eight
cash registers at the front.
/ Hold Guns on Employees
The first two, meanwhile. be-
gan going down the line Of
Iemployes. threatening them with
drawn guns and demanding to
know where the manager was.
At one point during the quick
chain Of events, Thomas E. Null
lican, the manager, appeared
from the rear of the store. One
Iof the holdup men shouted to
him to get back. Mr.. Mullican
turned and ran toward the rear.
He escaped through the door.
| While this was going on, the
two who were questioning the
iemployes. apparently not recog-
nizing Mr.. Mullican as the man
lager. were getting answers Of
II don't know"
When they reached Donald
Parsons, clerk who lives at %
Massey court, Alexandria, Par
sons refused to answer. One Of
the men struck Mr.. Parsons
across the face with his pistol,
put the pistol to Mr.. Parsons
head and threatened to kill him
Iif he didn't reveal where the
manager was.
Police Race to Scene
Meanwhile. police received q
telephone call at 9::35 pm. from
Charles Sims, the produce mani
ager Of the store, who had fed as
the bandits walked in. Calls
quickly went out on the police
radio, and several police cruisers
sped to the scene.
Arriving at about the same
time were Pvts. Earl Caknipe,
Norman Grimm, Robert Lunce-
ford, Eugene Yoakum, Frank
Mason, William Evans, William
Quinn, Byron Segal and 1t.
Lawrence Padgett.
Pvts. Quinn and Lunceford
covered the rear entrance to the
store, while the others converged
on the front. Pvts. Yoakum and
Caknipe approached the front
door.
Running Gun Fight
Moore. they said, opened fire
on Yoakum and Caknipe from
close range. his bullets narrowly
missing both officers. Pvt. Yoa-
KUN knelt and returned the fire.
Moore turned and ran across the
front end Of the store alongside
the plate glass window.
PytS. Yoakum and Caknipe.
still on the outside, ran along
side the window and began firing
through the window at Moore.
Moore was hit and wounded
slightly in the left leg, and one
bullet grazed his upper lip. He
fell sprawling to the floor. Pvt.
Caknipe then kicked in the vim
dow. entered the store and
captured Moore.
During the shooting, the other
three bandits fed through the
back door. Murphy threw up his
hands when Pvt. Quinn, at the
rear entrance, fired once into the
ground.
Capture Other Two
Boyd and Thomas already had
made their getaway through the
rear, shooting the lock of the
door. But Pvt. Evans, who had
arrived at the rear of the store,
began chasing Thomas on foot.
In a matter of minutes, Pvt.
Lunceford and 1t. Padgett heard
Pvt. Evans call for help from a
thicket near Temple Motor Co..
about q hlnck frnY1n the stnrA