The Joyride of a Lifetime on the Puyallup Line
A young man who 'borrowed' a streetcar from the barns and navigated it nine miles into the countryside now faces serious felony charges.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney A. O. Burmeister has at last fixed upon the charge to be preferred against Arthur M. Tanksley, the young man who recently stole a street car from the barns of the T. R. P. company and ran it nine miles along the Tacoma-Puyallup Short Line. The charge is contained in section 1555 of Pierce's code of Washington, and makes it unlawful for any person to wilfully use the rolling stock of any railway when life may be endangered. He will be arraigned soon on the new charge.
“The charge is contained in section 1555 of Pierce's code of Washington, and makes it unlawful for any person to wilfully use the rolling stock of any railway when life may be endangered.”
Before modern transit security, streetcars were occasionally commandeered in acts of grand larceny or reckless 'joyriding.' The legal response underscores how essential these railways were to public safety at the turn of the century.
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