Bookkeeper Accused of Embezzlement and Threatening Life
T. P. Peterson of the Pacific Manufacturing Company alleges his bookkeeper not only embezzled funds but returned at night to alter ledger pages and threaten the owner.
Charges have been brought by T. P. Peterson of the Pacific Manufacturing Company, located at Puyallup Avenue and East D Street, against his bookkeeper, J. E. Ritscher. Peterson alleges that Ritscher appropriated $39.26 for his own use. After his initial arrest, it is claimed Ritscher returned to the office at 11 p.m., removed the sheet from the loose-leaf ledger to hide the embezzlement, and told the night watchman he intended to go to Peterson's house and shoot him. Ritscher is now facing both embezzlement and assault-related charges, which are set to be heard before Judge Griffin in June.
“Ritscher went down to the office, about 11 o'clock at night, took the sheet from the loose-leaf ledger... and fixed it up to suit the occasion.”
While the dollar amount of the embezzlement seems small today, the story highlights the era's reliance on physical paper ledgers and the high stakes of personal business disputes. It serves as a reminder of how labor-management conflicts often turned into criminal dramas in the unregulated atmosphere of early Tacoma businesses.
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