Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about police history with special emphasis on St. Louis police history.
On Christmas Night 1902, two small town, small-time, holdup men blew open the safe of the Union, Missouri Bank. After threatening a few citizens, they made off with over $15,000. The men were relatively safe for a few months until the Pinkerton Detective Agency was called in. The Pinkertons had a nationwide agency, which was the closest thing the United
Around 10 am on Thursday, April 10, 1919, five heavily armed men burst into the Baden Bank. The bandits confronted M.W. Muntzel, the cashier, and demanded access to the vault. They rounded up the four other employees as Muntzel led the group to the vault. The robbers wore colored bandanas to obscure their features. While two of the five men
On November 16, 1877, St. Louis Police Officer John S. White and his partner Officer Heffernan responded to a report of a wanted man tried to pawn stolen merchandise at Wright’s Pawnshop. The man later identified as Frank Rande entered Wright’s Pawnshop at about 9:30 a.m. Wright sent one of his assistants for the police. As Officer White and Heffernan
In 1934, Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd ended his criminal career in an East Liverpool, Ohio corn field after a shoot out with FBI agents and local law enforcement officers. However, in December 1925, he was inmate number 29078 at the Missouri Penitentiary. The 21-year-old Floyd had just been convicted of robbing the Kroeger Grocery and Baking Company main office
On October 16, 1920, Special Officers Preston Anslyn and William A. Moller were following two burglars in the 3800 block of Juanita Avenue during a heavy fog. One or both burglars shot the officers from a gangway as they walked onto the lawn of a house, where they thought the burglars entered. The officers both suffered fatal wounds, which killed
Running a pawn shop has always been a tough business because you constantly have to be on the look out for thieves attempting to pawn their stolen goods in your shop. In the late 19th Century, police detectives worked with pawn shops, as they do today, to try to stop the fencing of goods. In August 1885, future St. Louis
On December 15, 1903, about 2:00 o’clock in the morning, George Harding, the clerk of the Erie Hotel, was busy working in his office. Used to working alone, Harding had relaxed his vigil and didn’t notice three large, hard looking men enter the hotel at Fourth and Clark Streets. His attention was arrested, when the first man entered his office
On November 10, 1924, Mrs. A.W. Stickney was leaving the St. Louis Country Club, when she was approached by two African-American men. The lighter skinned man told Mrs. Stickney to turn over her jewels or he would take them from her. Fearing for her safety, Mrs. Stickney handed the man her jewelry, valued at $17,000.00, and $85.00 in cash. Mrs.
On September 15, 1887, a muscular man stood in the First District Police Court listening to Judge Cady. As he looked out between eyes almost swollen shut and a busted lip, he waited to see if justice would be done. It was as Judge Cady told the beaten man, “$10 fine for disturbing the peace. $100 for resisting arrest. You
During the last week of December 1902, William Rudolph, a recently returned miner to Franklin County, and George Collins robbed the Union Bank in Union, MO. They robbed it overnight, when no one was present by blowing up the safe. Rudolph returned to his parents’ cabin in Stanton, MO. He and his accomplice hid out until the Franklin County Sheriff