Burglar Nabbed After Jewelry Store Heist
A bold thief who robbed a jewelry store of $400 in goods was apprehended in Seattle after a sharp-eyed witness spotted him breaking the glass.
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.
The jewelry store of Mr. C. M. Nesbury was robbed on Monday night of tools and goods valued at over $400. The burglar gained an entrance through a pane of glass, which he broke out. He was seen in the act of breaking the glass by Mr. Osborne, who was passing along on the opposite side of the street. When the thief saw him, he ran away, but it appears that after disposing of the articles he got from the store, some of which he buried in the sawdust in the rear of a building on Washington Street, some in a bag at his lodging house, and concealing the rest on his person, he was caught by Officer Thorndike in the act of stealing a trunk. He was subsequently arrested. He resisted the officer desperately, but Thorndike was more than a match for him and finally succeeded in lodging him in jail. He was brought before Justice Scott yesterday, and after a hearing was committed to await the action of the next grand jury.
“He resisted the officer desperately, but Thorndike was more than a match for him and finally succeeded in lodging him in jail.”
Petty theft and storefront break-ins remain a persistent issue in downtown Seattle, though today’s security technology and policing strategies have evolved significantly since the 1870s. The quick identification of the suspect by a vigilant neighbor mirrors modern efforts to foster community-led public safety.
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