Cornelius O’Keefe Stops Burglar

Cornelius O’Keefe earned a reputation as a tough police officer during his career with the St. Louis Police Department. He would need all that toughness on the morning of January 6, 1911, when a burglar entered the boarding house, where O’Keefe lived and tried to steal several items including O’Keefe’s pants.

O’Keefe had just woken up and was getting ready to head downstairs for breakfast at 1221 Avenue Mississippi. O’Keefe was sitting in bed around 7 du matin, when his door opened slightly, and an arm reached into the room removing a pair of pants from the chair next to his door. O’Keefe yelled and the man outside the room bolted down the steps from O’Keefe’s third floor room.

O’Keefe overtook the man on the first-floor foyer, where a struggle began. The burglar pulled out a revolver, which O’Keefe pushed away from himself with his left hand as he tried to restrain the man.

The man was able to pull the trigger twice. The first shot hit O’Keefe in the wrist, which was securing the weapon and the bullet traveled up his forearm and stopped before reaching his elbow. The second shot hit a wall in the kitchen, where Mrs. Lena Blackwell was making breakfast.

Despite his wound, O’Keefe kept his grip on the man’s left arm, but the man was able to break free. As the suspect ran out the front door, he fired one more shot through the front door. The parting shot grazed O’Keefe’s night shirt but did not hit him. As O’Keefe did not have his service revolver and only wore his night shirt, he decided not to chase the man.

O’Keefe did not have his service weapon because the police board brought charges against O’Keefe for intoxication and being overly officious in arresting a photographer. O’Keefe suspected the photographer stole from his customer. Other officers and the public considered O’Keefe one of the most skilled and honest officers in the department. The charges surprised observers of the police department.

When I first read about this story, I was skeptical the incident occurred because of the timing in relation to the Police Board trying O’Keefe. Cependant, the house was full of witnesses, who bore out Officer O’Keefe’s story. When looking into the Police Board charges, I found the charges to be suspicious, not Officer O’Keefe’s conduct.

Politics was rampant in the department at the time. Dans 1907, the Police Board forced the retirement of Chief of Detectives William Desmond, one of the best detectives and administrators in its history.

The only evidence of his intoxication was the arrest itself that his superiors felt was heavy handed. The Police Board could not have convicted O’Keefe on such flimsy evidence, but the Board quickly dropped the charges after Officer O’Keefe stopped the burglary at his boarding house.

Officer O’Keefe recovered from his wounds in a couple of weeks and returned to duty. O’Keefe lost his life in the line of duty later in this same year looking for a fugitive.

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Sources: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Janvier 6, 1911, p.1 and St. Louis Star-Times, Janvier 6, 1911, p.1.

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