Trio caught here

Clarke County Attorney Ward Reynoldson said one and possibly all of the three young men recently arrested here have been linked to recent teen age gang depredations in Des Moines. This was part of the information received during a six hour grilling by Reynoldson and county officers Sheriff Buck Likes and Deputy Phil Estell.

The three were arrested in Clarke County State Bank by Estell. The men were wrapping coins taken in northern Missouri burglaries, and were planning on exchanging them for currency.

The three young men confessed to robberies in at least fourteen northern Missouri towns during the few days before they were arrested in Osceola. The most recent was the same morning at Cameron, Missouri which had netted them in excess of $500.

Their last trip to Missouri prior to the three day raid was when they broke into a Missouri liquor store, stole a quantity of liquor and peddled it to a bootlegger in Des Moines.

One of the men had lived in Osceola for about four months and had gone with an Osceola girl during that time. Another was employed by a Ward Township farmer, so both men were not totally unfamiliar with this country.

The trio were turned over to Des Moines police facing possible charges from three sources-Des Moines stolen car charges; northern Missouri, breaking, entering and larceny; and federal charges of transporting a stolen auto across state lines. County Attorney Reynoldson’s opinion was that initial jurisdiction rested with Des Moines. – 1953.