A High-Wire Heist at Ninth and Commerce
Budding criminals scaled a twelve-foot transom to loot a hardware store, only to ignore a massive, unlocked safe in favor of a handful of change.
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.
Burglars entered the hardware store of the Fuller-Knatvold company, on the corner of Ninth and Commerce street, last night and escaped with about $5 in change and a silver watch from the cash register. Evidently satisfied with their haul, the thieves passed a large safe in which there was a considerable sum, although the door might have been easily swung open, as for some reason it was left unlocked. The burglars entered the store from the front, in plain view from the street, by climbing through an open transom 12 feet from the pavement. How they managed to get through a 10-inch opening without breaking the windows is a puzzle to the hardware people. After getting inside, the intruders took the cash register to a back room, where it was broken open. Judging from the manner in which the register was twisted and torn, the burglars were youngsters and amateurs. No other goods were molested, although several drawers of expensive cutlery were open to the thieves.
“How they managed to get through a 10-inch opening without breaking the windows is a puzzle to the hardware people.”
The intersection of Ninth and Commerce remains a core transit and commerce hub in downtown Tacoma. Today’s sophisticated security systems stand in sharp contrast to this story of amateur thieves who, in their haste, missed a fortune left behind in an unlocked safe.
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