The Pickpocket of South Third Avenue
A notorious local grifter lands back in jail after a dance invitation turns into an attempted robbery in a downtown Seattle saloon.
Viola McFall, the notorious pickpocket, is again in the toils of the police. This time she is accused of taking $11 from a person by the name of Frank Varnell, last night, in the Oriental saloon, on South Third Avenue and Washington Street. She met Varnell at a variety theater, and invited him to dance. He refused, and she finally induced him to drink. Varnell had $11. The next thing he knew, he felt her hand in his pocket. She pulled it out quickly, but he grabbed it and found the $11. Viola then tried to escape, but Varnell held her until Officer Tripp arrived, when she was taken to police headquarters.
“She pulled it out quickly, but he grabbed it and found the $11.”
Pickpocketing cases in the historic Pioneer Square area reflect the ongoing tensions of high-density urban nightlife. While the 'Oriental Saloon' has long since been lost to time and urban renewal, the street-level struggle between transient populations, the police, and opportunistic crime remains a perennial feature of the downtown experience.
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