The Raspberry Bush Manhunt
A teenage jewel peddler leads Everett police on a frantic chase through a private backyard.
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.
Everett—Frank Morris, aged 17, was arrested here today on suspicion of being the boy who killed Policeman Schaeman of Seattle. He was peddling fake jewelry when arrested and had two Seattle business cards in his pockets. A description had been telephoned to the Seattle police, and an answer received says that Morris answers the description of the suspected murderer. While peddling needles and jewelry, Morris stopped at Officer Brightman’s home while the latter was present. Morris had his wrist bandaged, claiming it was lame. The officer unwrapped it and found no sign of injury. While preparing to take Morris to the station, the latter bolted out of the door and ran into another yard, which happened to belong to Officer Williams. Both officers made a search and found Morris in a patch of raspberry bushes. He left a leg sticking out, and they seized it.
“He left a leg sticking out, and they seized it.”
This arrest highlights the high-stakes, hyper-local nature of policing in the early 20th century, where a suspect could be caught in a backyard bush by an off-duty officer. It mirrors the persistent tension in modern cities regarding police-citizen interactions and the often-gritty reality of small-town manhunts.
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