Diamond Heist at the Music Store
An employee is arrested in Oakland for fencing a local woman's diamond earrings stolen from a safe.
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.
Charged with obtaining money under false pretenses, J. E. Caldwell, formerly in the employ of the Tayler-Gardner Music company, was arrested in Oakland, California, yesterday and will be returned to Tacoma at once. It is alleged that Caldwell took a pair of diamond earrings owned by Mrs. J. F. Menzies from the safe of the music store while he was employed there and sold them to a grocer for $50, representing himself to be the owner. The earrings were returned to Mrs. Menzies and the grocer will now appear against Caldwell to get his $50 back.
“The earrings were returned to Mrs. Menzies and the grocer will now appear against Caldwell to get his $50 back.”
Petty theft and pawn-shop schemes were staples of local police reporting in 1909. While the names have changed, the tension between employee access to storefront assets and owner security remains a constant concern for Tacoma's small businesses.
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