Black Sheep Sunday: Robbers Outwit Kokomo Police

Call-Leader, Elwood, Indiana, March 28, 1925, page 1.

ROBBERS OUTWIT KOKOMO POLICE

Holdup Bank, Getting Cash and Liberty Bonds and Make Escape

THREE WITNESSES OF RAID

Kokomo, Ind. March 27 – Police were thrown off the trail of four bandits who held up and robbed the South Kokomo bank of $4,000 in cash and a like amount of Liberty bonds about 1:45 o’clock this afternoon, when the conspicuous blue car used by the bandit to make their escape was found this evening concealed in a slough about five miles southwest of the city.  A farmer reported that he saw the bandits, about seven in number, change to two small cars, a coupe and a sedan.

The bandits entered the bank singly.  While the first was having a $10 changed, the second entered and waited at the cashier’s window.  The third suddenly displayed a gun and ordered A.E. Gorton, cashier; Miss Winifred Dimitt, assistant cashier, and Miss Frances Gorton into the rear room.  Gorton was forced, with a pistol at the back of his head to open the inner vault.  “Speedy,” a small terrier, boldly attacked the burglar’s ankle, and was kicked into the basement.

Stolen From Fort Wayne

The bandits’ car was stolen from Fort Wayne Thursday night, and carried the license plates of a phaeton, belonging to Barrett M. Woodsmall, of Indianapolis, stolen from there on March 11 and found here riddled with bullets Thursday night.

The hold-up was watched by three young men in a drug store across the street from the bank, but they were prevented from calling police because of fear of a stranger who stood in the store and watched them closely.  The alarm was not sounded until the bandits had escaped with the money.

---

This perspective of the Kokomo robbery, which sent my cousin Harry PIERPONT (1902-1934) to prison, was interesting in that it added details not found in other accounts.  The fact that the robber kicked the poor dog, just makes them downright mean.  This article was researched at the Elwood, Indiana Public Library.

Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.