Jail Time for a Runaway Horse
A man claims he was wrongfully jailed after his horse got out of control on 12th Street, sparking a tense confrontation with police.
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.
O. W. Pleym, who was arrested by the police last Wednesday, charged with being a disorderly person, claims that he was put in jail without cause. He claims that he was breaking a horse for John Burimide and that the animal got beyond his control and jumped on the sidewalk. While riding on Twelfth street near Pacific avenue, two officers attempted to pull him from the horse. The animal began to buck and Pleym fell to the ground, breaking his finger. He claims that he was taken to the police station, refused bail, and was without medical attendance for several hours. Finally the county physician came and dressed the broken finger temporarily. After paying a fine and being released yesterday, Pleym says, he went to Dr. Libby to have the broken finger dressed, and was told that it had not been properly cared for. During his confinement he suffered continually with the pain in the broken finger. John Salater, a brother-in-law of Mr. Pleym, claims that he went to the police station and offered to furnish bail for him and the offer was refused by the officers. Chief Malouey states that the arrest was made on complaint of a number of people, who were afraid the horse would injure someone.
“The animal began to buck and Pleym fell to the ground, breaking his finger. He claims that he was taken to the police station, refused bail, and was without medical attendance for several hours.”
This incident exposes early police practices in Tacoma, where individuals could be held without immediate access to bail or adequate medical care for minor public order offenses—a persistent point of contention in civil rights advocacy today.
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