Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-11-05
Thieves Raid Store
Couple Tenorized
Arlington Home
Invaded Man and
Wife Are Bound

What began as coy night
before the television set wound
up as night more terrible than
any make-believe whodunit for
George c. Duval and his wife,
Mildred.
For an hour and half they
were the bound captives OF three
armed men who forced Mr..
TDuval to turn over keys to a
Peoples Drug Store he helps
manage and the combination to
the safe they rifled of $500.
Still shaken by the ordeal, the
slight, mild-mannered 55-year-
old druggist today described
what befell the couple last night
in their home at 2799 North
Washington boulevard, Arling-
ton.
Il had closed the store at 2332
Wisconsin avenue NV. at 8 pm.
and had Just begun relaxing
with the Ed Sullivan show when
l heard knocking" he said.
| Huddled in Doorway
/ Three men were huddled in
the doorway. They had nickel
plated revolverS, and were
dressed in tan trench coats.
gloves and grotesque rubber Hal
loween masks which covered
their faces.
Before could speak, one of
the men pushed, and l pushed
back. Thinking it some kind Of
belated Halloween prank, 1 said,
Look, this is not funny"
! One of the men pushed Mr..
Duval into the living room and
the others followed.
They switched off the tele-
vision set and made me lie face
down in the living room. One
of them went to the kitchen for
my wife, who was fixing dinner,
and made her lie down, beside
me-"
Demand Combination
/ While one man watched, the
other went over the house, top
TO bottom.
Returning to the living room,
they gave Mr.. Duval a pencil
and piece of paper and ordered
him to write REORGANIZATION Of
the store safe.
/ Reading the number aloud.
one of the men said, This mad
better be right. mister, because
Il am leaving one of the men
with you, and If it is wrong, you
and your wife will never get of
that floor"
/ Mr.. Duval took back the pencil
and paper and re-wrote the
combination.
Two of the men. both 6-foot,
ll75-pounders. took Mr.. Duvals
store keys and those to his house
and the couples two cars
Then they ushered MIR. and
Mrs. Duval into the bedroom.
had them lie face down on the
bed. and tapped their ankles with
adhesive tape they had brought
along. To complete the bind
ing of ankles and wrists, they
took two dozen of Mr.. Duval's
ties from the closet.
The two taller men departed.
leaving the Duvals with a man
about feet 8 inches and los
pounds who had Spanish ac-
cent.
Searches for Narcotics
The little man, who like the
others had earlier appeared
cockSure. paced the floor nerv-
ously He asked whether Mr..
Duval had any narcotics in the
house Told there was none, he
nevertheless searched the bath
room medicine cabinet.
"All during this terrible hour
and half. we were paralyzed
with fear" Mr.. Duval said. I'VE
kept wondering whether we
would get out of it alive. Mrs.
Duval was so frightened she
hardly talked
THE little man kept telling us
what would happen II we didn't
cooperate"
At 1915 p. m. the telephone
rang and the little man an.
swered it, yep"
He returned and said to Mr..
Duval;
"You stay here. I'm going to
move your Car so you can't get
away, then I'm going to get
your wife's car out Of the ga.
rage"
Tears Down Telephone
Then he ripped the telephone
off the wall
The Duyals heard the car
driving away. and waited seoniz-
ingly for the sound OF e mans
return. But after 10 minutes,
all still was quiet, and Mr.. Du.
wan began straining al tire
bonds. He freed himself. then his
wife, and went across the street
to call police.
Z Then the police came and
questions began flying
They kept questioning US un.
I'll 3 o'clock. and when they left,
/ could hardly get 10 sleep. It
was awful.
One Arlington policeman told
US he passed the house twice
while we we're tied up. And all
the time the neighbors we're
watching teleyision across the
street" Mr.. Duyal sighed.
Mr. Duval's car was found
abandoned at the Municipal
Wharf In Washington.
Police theorized the bandits
we're the same trio who invaded
the home Of Sam Klein. 2eOI
Dawson avenue. Wheaton. and
took tl,702 October 26. Two OF
the men had Halloween masks
and the third wore a handler
chief.
They forced Mr.. Klein. pfesi-
dent Of District Grocery Stores,
Inc. 10 lie on the floor. They