The Great Tacoma Auto Heist
A mechanic attempts a high-speed repossession of a Winton touring car, triggering a cross-city chase between Tacoma and Seattle.
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.
Believing they had the right to seize leased property with delinquent payments, J. W. Gilmore, an automobile mechanic, and a companion took a $4,500 Winton touring car from the Acme Garage at 1216 Tacoma Avenue and sped toward Seattle. The garage night watchman witnessed the departure and sped after them, watching the pair drop down the Eleventh Street hill. C. S. Barstow, manager of the garage, swore out warrants and pursued the suspects with officers. Two carloads of officers armed with 'John Doe' warrants eventually overtook the Winton in Seattle. Gilmore was arrested while his companion slipped away in the darkness. The Winton broke down during the return trip. Gilmore claims he was ordered by his Seattle employer to seize the car, and he has retained an attorney to fight the case before Judge Arntson.
“The night watchman heard them depart and sped after them, in time to see them drop down the Eleventh Street hill.”
In an era when automobiles were high-status assets, the legal ambiguity of repossession caused real drama. The chase down the Eleventh Street hill captures a vanished, reckless moment in Tacoma's early automotive history.
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