Policewomen Break Up Theft Ring in 1919

The Tuesday Evening, February 18, 1919, utgave av St. Louis Post-Dispatch detailed the arrest of two men and two women for the theft of numerous luxury items. Aware that a shoplifting ring was working a couple of the local jewelry stores, St. Louis Police Department assigned several undercover police women to follow the suspects. Their work resulted in the arrests of the four conspirators.

St. Louis Police arrested the main suspect on January 15, 1919. She took a necklace from Sourenfeld’s Jewelry Store at 1003 Olive Street (a vacant lot today). The woman, Mrs. Louise Pfeiffer, identified herself as “Mrs. Martin”. She gave her address as 4926 Enright Avenue. After a warrant was issued, detectives found out no one by that name lived at the address. The police women were assigned to the case.

They quickly picked up on Mrs. Martin’s trail. The female detectives followed her and another woman, Mrs. Alice Hayner. Etter å ha observert dem stjele i flere uker og følge dem hjem, uidentifisert politi kvinnene var i stand til å skaffe warrants for Mrs. Pfieffer bolig, 4265En Manchester Avenue, og Mrs. Hayner residens i 1100 blokk av Union Boulevard.

Politiet fant en sobel pels verdt $1,050 dollar ($25,000 i dag) på Mrs. Pfeiffer bolig. Politiet fant også lastet terninger og opium røyke utstyr. Mrs. Hayner hadde flere stykker av stjålet smykker på henne hjem. Mrs. Hayner and her husband were also stealing electricity for their home. Politiet tok begge ektemenn og koner i varetekt.

Både kvinner forsøkt å hevde sine ektemenn kjøpte dem elementene. However, Mr. Pfeiffer var en lov school graduate, som aldri hadde en praksis. I stedet, han likte “å hyppige biljardsalonger i Sentrum” St. Louis. Mr. Hayner var en kaffeselger.

I don’t know if they served any time but the arrests and subsequent publicity cost both Mrs. Hayner og Mrs Pfeiffer deres ekteskap. When Mrs. Hayner falt av i andre etasje veranda av leiligheten hennes på Eichelberger Street i 1945 after the bannister gave way, she was a 64 år gammel skilt.

Når Mr. Pfeiffer i dette 1953, Han er gift med en annen dame og stue i Baden-området. What happened to Louise Pfeiffer is unknown.

Mens politi kvinner var sjelden før den moderne tid, they were effective. William F. Hayes ble drept i linjen av plikt i februar 1919. Hans enke, Nona Hayes, ville bli en vellykket politi kvinne i sin egen rett etter hans død.

Hva overrasket deg mest om denne artikkelen? Visste du at politi kvinner spilt en så viktig rolle i tidlig 1900-tall? You can leave a comment or ask a question about this post on my Facebook-side eller Twitter-profil.

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