The Hardware Heist Ends in Betrayal
Two young burglars thought their sailor friend was the perfect fence—until he walked them straight into a police ambush.
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.
Thomas Stevens and Joe Davis, who admitted to burglarizing Adolf Gehri’s hardware store on May 10, were arrested after being betrayed by a sailor they trusted. A few days after the theft, the duo confided in a sailor friend and gave him razors to sell below market price. The sailor was detained in Seattle on suspicion, and Detective Fitzgerald of the Tacoma police interviewed him, securing a promise of immunity in exchange for help. The sailor then arranged to meet the burglars to receive more stolen goods. Detective Fitzgerald intercepted Stevens during the meeting, and Davis was apprehended later that night. Stolen goods, including razors and pocket knives valued at $300, were recovered from Stevens' room on Seventh Street.
“The sailor at once proceeded to Seattle, but was quickly taken in by the police there on suspicion.”
Petty theft and police 'sting' operations remain a fixture of city life, though modern criminal investigations rely less on 'sailor friends' and more on digital evidence and surveillance. The story highlights how precarious the local retail economy was for business owners like Gehri a century ago.
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