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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 21 |
| 1909 | 36 |
59 stories matching prison
- The Sheriff’s Son and the Jailbreak
A quick-thinking schoolboy foils a planned escape at the Vancouver county jail.
- The Great Jailbreak on the Waterfront
Two young prisoners pried their way out of a city jail with nothing but a table leg and help from friends on the outside.
- The Man Who Wasn't: Tacoma’s Mysterious 'John Doe' and the Burglary That Never Was
Police Chief Fackler returns from Everett with a prisoner who fits the description of a local thief, but lacks the evidence to prove it. A tale of mistaken identity and urban anxiety in early 20th-century Tacoma.
- Housekeeper Faces Years in Prison Over Forged Check
A Spokane woman, pressed into service as a housekeeper for a local millionaire, finds herself sentenced to years in prison for a modest $54 forgery.
- The Scholar Who Became a Burglar
A University of Washington athlete turns to a life of crime, only to be processed into prison by a former classmate.
- Violence Erupts at Walla Walla Penitentiary Jute Mill
A violent confrontation among prisoners leaves one man hospitalized after a stabbing incident behind the walls.
- Tacoma Moves to Protect Youth from Adult Jails
Local reformists push the county for a separate facility to keep children away from the influence of 'coarser' criminal prisoners.
- A Crippled Prisoner’s Wild Dash at the Flyer Dock
A United States prisoner slips his handcuffs and leads a deputy marshal on a frantic footrace through the railyards.
- The City's Woodpile Punishment
Tacoma’s city council introduces a new mandatory labor program for prisoners, forcing them to supply city hall’s heat.
- The Jailbreak at the County Courthouse
A prisoner awaiting trial vanishes from the Pierce County jail while under the watch of guards, witnessed by curious onlookers from the courthouse windows.
- The Great Tugboat Escape
A United States marshal is left stranded on the wharf while his prisoner escapes aboard a government tug to Port Townsend.
- The Science of 'Degeneracy' in the Courtroom
Tacoma experts describe the dubious medical pseudoscience used to argue insanity and 'degeneracy' in high-stakes murder trials.
- The Sheriff and the Accused
A local man wins a legal victory against extradition, only to surrender voluntarily to the sheriff waiting in the courtroom.
- A Grocery Clerk Stole a Streetcar and Made a Run for Puyallup
James M. Tankisley took a Tacoma Railway & Power repair car out of the company barns at midnight and got as far as the Puyallup road before the law caught up. By the next afternoon he had pleaded guilty, and by night he was in the county prison waiting for the March jury.
- The Deportation of a Local Philosopher
After three months in jail, a 'man of mystery' is fined $31 and ordered to leave the United States forever.
- The Prisoner Who Might Be a Duke
A mysterious Austrian locked up in Tacoma declines to deny that he is the missing Duke John of Austria — and two visiting Austrian officials only deepen the rumor.
- The California Building Murder Case
New evidence links an Italian suspect to a murder, as local authorities prepare for an upcoming trial.
- Portland Bank Bandit Arrested in Tacoma
A bartender named Charles Wells was quietly taken into custody by local authorities and spirited away to Portland to face robbery charges.
- Judge Overrules Jury in Controversial Assault Case
Despite a guilty verdict for assault with a deadly weapon, the judge intends to sentence the defendant for a minor charge.
- Legislative Crackdown on 'Bar-Check' Fraud
A new proposal in the state house seeks to hold saloon-keepers accountable for cashing checks for intoxicated patrons, a practice contributing to high forgery rates.
- Drugged and Held at Sea for Seven Weeks, an Engineer Reappears in Tacoma
T. A. Cox, part-owner of an Arizona mining company, says he was drugged with a lemonade in San Francisco and held prisoner aboard an unknown ship before being put ashore at Des Moines — then walked to Tacoma without a cent.
- The Jailhouse Mimic
A soft-hearted jailer is driven to madness by what he assumes is a distressed feline, only to find a prankster in a cell.
- Nine-Year-Old Boy Sent to Industrial Home
A child is removed from his foster home after the county attorney labels his lack of supervision as 'criminal tendencies.'
- A Case of Bad Checks and Regret
M. O. Sinderude is sentenced to prison after passing a worthless check at a local business, citing intoxication as his defense.
- An Umbrella, A Locked Door, and a Young Girl's Ordeal
A teenager finds herself an unwilling prisoner in a Pacific Avenue hotel room after a chance meeting on a streetcar leads to an alleged theft and coercion.