The Wells-Fargo Frame-Up
A detective agency is caught attempting to bribe a driver to falsely implicate two men in a $2,000 express heist.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The damage suit of J. R. McIntyre and William P. Stewart, of Tacoma, against the Wells-Fargo Express Company, Thiel's Detective Agency, and M. C. Sullivan, for $50,000 damages each for false imprisonment, was on trial in the state circuit court today. McIntyre was Wells-Fargo's agent at Tacoma and Stewart was his cashier. In March last, a package containing $2,000 was shipped from Tacoma to Everett, but when the treasure-box reached Seattle the package was missing. Sullivan subsequently arrested McIntyre and Stewart. They were held in jail five days and then released. Then they brought suit for damages. The evidence today showed that detectives tried to bribe the driver of the express wagon to swear that McIntyre and Stewart were guilty.
“The evidence today showed that detectives tried to bribe the driver of the express wagon to swear that McIntyre and Stewart were guilty.”
Corporate detective agencies and private security firms operating with little oversight often engaged in heavy-handed tactics to solve petty losses. The distrust between the public and private police remains a recurring theme in the history of Puget Sound law enforcement.
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