Rensselaer Democrat, Volume 1, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1898 — Thieves Raid Leopold’s Store. [ARTICLE]

Thieves Raid Leopold’s Store.

4 Last Saturday night about midnight as Bert Goff was passing to an out building in the rear of G. W. Goffs resturant he heard poises in A. Leopold’s store buildmg and on looking in through a window he saw two strange men in the store room and concluded they must be burglars. Returning to the restaurant ae told his father and both securing revolvers went out to capture them. On going to the rear of the store a confederate who stood in the shade of the fence gave them the alarm by whistling and then ran leaving his confederates to take care of themselves as best they *could. As the two burglars catne to the open window where the_\ had entered they were ordered by Mr. Goff to stay inside 4-oe wi«*tjj r outrhthem, then they halted. They started for the front of the store

when Mr. Goff sent Bert to the front,to see that they did not maketheir escape in that direction suspecting however that the burglars had smarted for the front to get them both away from the rear so that they could make a dash out the back way and escape. Before Bert reached the front door one of the thieves had shattered the plate glass in the front door and jumped out and ran for his life toward the river bridge. Bert fired three shots at the man, but without effect. The man inside the store did not attempt to get out and was kept inside until the arrival or night watch Childers who escorted him to the jail. An examination of the clothing store showed that the men were each engaged in selecting a suit of clothes for himself. One suit had been selected and the other was trying to ma,ke his choice from several suits he was examining. After landing the prisoner in jail, the night watch arrested six men who he thought might be implicated but they were all released in the morning. The rock pile was hinted at and they left the city. The prisoner was examined Sunday morning by Squire Burnham and held to the circuit court under SSOO bail which of course he could not give and was sent back to jail. The man gave his name as George Clark and age 34 years. His story is that he met the two men at Monon and that they got him drunk and persuaded him to join them in the raid, which story is not believed as he showed no evidence of having been drunk when arrested.