STORE ROBBERS

 

STORE ROBBERS

A House to let. —Storerooms for Plunder. —Making their Keys. — Packing the merchandise by Express Wagon. — Through the Skylight. —Selling by sample. —The Jewelry Store—The “Note Racket. "—Guarding the Keys.

THE men who rob stores, either by day or night, do not belong to any distinct class of criminals. Store-robbing may be resorted to by any man or body of men, whose experience in other criminal undertakings has given them that courage, foresight, and knowledge essential for such undertakings. Nonetheless, however, their work must be performed as carefully and systematically as any other, to obtain success and profitable reward.

The risks to be assumed, and the dangers to be overcome are also much greater than in any other branches of criminal practice. The stores that are usually considered worth the effort to enter are found upon the principal business streets of the city, whose avenues are brilliantly lighted and patrolled by police officers whose presence is considered a synonym for safety.

A thorough knowledge of the approaches to the building, a careful watch upon all persons connected with the store, and a strict espionage upon the movements of the patrolmen, are the first requisites for successful work, and even when these have been put into operation, the main features of the robbery have not been attempted, and success is far from being assured.

Let me give some practical hints of the movements of these thieves, a study of which on the part of our merchants and businesspeople may save them from serious and irreparable losses in the future. Safety can be as successfully conserved by laying bare the movements and modes of operation of the thief, by tracing him to his hiding place and securing his imprisonment after his offenses have been committed. Acting upon this opinion, I will describe the modus operandi of the store robbers, as far as they have become known to me, in the hope that these relations may be of service to those who are made their victims.

When robbers know what they are doing, they work in teams of two to four for fast operations and to keep an eye on the police. The first thing to do upon arriving in a large town or city is to select the place upon which they design to work. This operation involves every care and precaution; before choosing a store to rob, they learn everything about the business and people involved.

Their next move is to discover a house to let, and they prefer to secure one as close to the scene of their contemplated operations as possible. The most polite and suave of their number is usually selected as the spokesman and negotiator, who introduces himself to the owner of the premises as a stranger from a distance, who designs locating in the city, and intends to send for his wife and children when he has secured a home for their habitation. His story is straightforward and plausible; his appearance inspires confidence, and paying a month's rent in advance, he receives the key to the house, with a view of preparing it for the reception of his family. At the expiration of a few days, this man again calls upon done landlord, and showing him a telegram which may be either genuine or bogus, purporting to have been sent by the wife of the burglar, and which contains the intelligence that she cannot come at present, owing to the serious illness of some of the children, which prevents their being moved at this time. This prevents the landlord from getting suspicious if the house is empty. The burglar then informs the landlord that he will keep the house for the month for which he has paid his rent, hoping by that time that his wife will be able to come, as agreed upon.

The landlord is satisfied with this explanation and will not bother the tenant. As a result, the thieves now have a secure storeroom for their stolen goods for a month, and the first phase of the operation is done.

Not more than one place is entered under any circumstances during a single night, and this rule is adhered to strenuously, however great the temptation may be.

They waste no time getting to work after finding their target and learning how to reach it. All robbers in this class prefer to do an entrance from the rear, as it is considered far safer than the front. A brace and bit and a couple of ordinary “jimmies” are all the tools needed for this purpose, and a door or window is speedily opened, and the passage into the store gained.

Not finding a rear entrance, however, the thieves do not hesitate to enter by the front, although the danger and difficulty of such a proceeding is increased. In the first place they try to fit a key to the front door from their own stock in trade, or the use of a skeleton. Should this prove a failure, they bend their efforts toward obtaining an impression from the genuine key in use by the owners of the premises. Initially, this would appear to be a challenging task. The thieves typically wait for the store to open, then follow the clerk inside. One of them states that he is in a great hurry to get some small articles which are kept in stock, and the clerk, to be accommodating, lays his keys down on the counter or desk, and proceeds to wait upon his customer. If they are laid upon the counter, the confederate obtains an impression of them in a moment, with the lump of wax which he carries in his pocket, handy for the purpose, and the question is settled at once. Sometimes, however, the clerk places his keys on the desk in the office, and to get them there, is not so easy a matter. The thief is prepared with an expedient, however, and the confederate politely asks permission to address a few letters, which he is anxious to mail as soon as possible. This innocent request is usually granted readily, and with his impression wax already, he conducts the work in the twinkling of an eye. The next step is to obtain a blank key and then replicate it. Having overcome this obstacle to their admittance, the thieves are now ready for work.

In doing their entrance and removing their plunder from the store, the thieves are guided entirely by circumstances. They sometimes begin early evening, at midnight or even dawn.

If they are compelled to work in the store from the front, thieves are exceedingly cautious in their every action. Awaiting a favorable opportunity, when the coast is clear, two of the gang will quickly and noiselessly enter, and at once lock the door upon the inside. Selecting their plunder from the most valuable stock in the store, they pack the goods carefully for removal and then await developments from the outside. When they are ready to come out, they put a small piece of white paper under the front door, to inform the “crow "—as the outside watcher is called—that they have finished their work and are anxious to leave. This “crow “is constantly on the alert and never approaches the door until he has found the police officer or security guard. If there is no danger of the speedy return of the patrol officer the signal is given, the door is opened, and they prepare to remove their plunder.

If the goods can be taken away early in the evening or in daylight in the morning, one of the gang engages in an express wagon, which, by paying a fair price, secures the privilege of driving himself. If, however, the goods cannot be taken until near midnight. A public hack is necessary for this purpose. One of the thieves “fixes” the driver and takes his place upon the box and is thus prepared to act for the best interests of his “pals.” As soon as the streets are deserted, the “crow “gives the signal, the hack is driven up to the front of the store, the goods are brought out and deposited therein, and in a twinkling, they are all driving away from the spot. Very often, however, loads of goods are taken away in a single night from the same store, and  the hack returns with as much safety, as though the errand of its occupants was a perfectly safe and legitimate one.

Where entrance is obtained from the rear, the thieves feel safer, and although they may have longer work, they infinitely prefer that method of operation. Their point of attack is the back door, and they succeed without much difficulty in turning the lock, either with a skeleton key, or with the nippers if the key has been left in the lock, which is usually the case. On most rear doors, however, they find that a bar has been placed across the opening, which holds the two doors tightly in position, this obstacle is easily overcome, and with their brace and bit they set to work. An "extension bit" is used by some burglars to drill a hole in a door, big enough for an arm. The burglar then thrusts his arm through the hole thus made, and the bar is lifted and removed without the least difficulty or delay. In case, however, that they have the ordinary tools, they use a one-inch bit, and bore a succession of holes close together, in this wise.

And thus, though longer in its operation, the same result is achieved.

There are other modes of entry into stores where it is found that there is a vacant story above, or chances for entrance through skylights—all of which are carefully noted by the party who makes the preliminary survey of the premises, and the burglars come prepared for such emergencies as they reasonably expect from his reports. With a vacant second or third story, entrance may be gained by one of the thieves secreting himself during the day or entering by the elevators and trap-doors—and these are by no means unusual occurrences.

The stores usually selected by these robbers are those which have articles of value. Silks and laces are sought after, and a first-rate hardware store is a significant catch. The finer grades of cutlery and razors are articles that always bring decent prices. A good hardware store is as good as a jewelry store, and the risk from detection and inside guards is not half so great, while the goods can be readily and safely disposed of.

The goods obtained by these robberies are at once removed from the rented house of the burglars, and no attempt is made to dispose of them for several days. When the first alarm, however, has subsided. one member of the gang takes a sample of each article and seeking out the receiver, or dealer in stolen goods, displays them, and inquires how much he will pay for the quantity they have on hand. By these means they invariably realize much better prices for their plunder than they would by bringing the goods in bulk, for they are thus enabled to bring the “fence” to terms, without affording him the opportunity of giving them away, and securing the goods for himself.

As the thief has taken the precaution to carry only samples of his wares, he is enabled to go from one receiver to another—and in a large city, there are a number of men, and women too, who deal exclusively and extensively in stolen goods—until he has received an offer that is satisfactory. Not doing this in a day or two, the goods are then shipped to a distant city, where they can readily be sold for much better prices, as the danger of identification and recovery is far less.

The thieves often shoplift during reconnaissance, favoring jewelry stores, especially if overnight security is too strong to allow a nighttime robbery. Here is how they work in this scenario: Most jewelry stores have tall showcases against the wall, behind the cases on the counters. In these cases, the silverware and larger articles are kept for display. Arranged in rows with paths, the short counters hold watches and small jewelry, tastefully displayed on trays. The thieves enter the store and one of them, securing the attention of a clerk, walks deliberately behind the counter, and pointing to some article of silver-ware in the case against the wall, engages the clerk in bargaining for its sale; while thus engaged he stands between the counter and the clerk, who is obliged to turn his back to the counters in order to face his supposed customer.

 

While this is going on his attention is entirely diverted from the other thief, who seizes the first favorable opportunity to transfer some of the most valuable articles in the counter cases to his own pockets and to pass quietly out of the store unsuspected. In some cases, however, there are two lines of counters and cases on opposite sides of the store, and under such circumstances the clerk must be taken to a place at the upright cases directly opposite the articles that are intended to be stolen. For this operation two men must work upon the clerk, while the third man does the stealing. One of the thieves does the talking with the unsuspicious clerk, while the second one, reading a newspaper, completely conceals the actions of the third confederate while he is robbing the cases upon the counter.

There is another system of robbing wholesale stores, which in many instances has been remarkably successful. This is called the “note-racket,” and is exceedingly simple. The thieves wait upon the outside until they learn that a certain member of the firm has gone out to lunch, or upon some business errand—which is easily ascertained by watching the premises—and then one of the thieves will enter the store and ask for the absent merchant. Of course he is answered that the gentleman inquired for is not in; whereupon the thief will express his deep regret and, as he has important business elsewhere, it is impossible for him to wait, but if he can procure a sheet of paper and an envelope, he will write a note and leave it. The desired articles are given to him, and deliberately walking up to a desk, which he believes has the money for daily use, he begins to write. His confederate now enters, and beckoning to the man nearest to the desk, engages him in conversation upon diverse matter about their business. The thief at the desk then quickly draws his skeleton keys from his pocket, unlocks the drawer, and with one deft motion cleans it out, then relocking the drawer, he comes toward the clerk, tearing up his note as he does so, and saying that he has reconsidered the matter and will call again in an hour or two. He then quietly walks out of the store and disappears, and his companion follows him as speedily as he can, without exciting suspicion. The dismay of the clerk when he finds that the gentlemanly inquirer has robbed his desk under his very nose, can be better imagined than described.

The operations which I have detailed here have occurred quite often and in many cases the losers have been utterly at a loss to account for the mysterious disappearance of their cash.

In the latter case it will be seen that the utmost carefulness is necessary in dealing with all visitors who invade the office of the store, and that in no case should a stranger be allowed to come in close proximity with the desks where money or any valuables are kept. It is impossible to discriminate against visitors, for the most innocent appearing man is apt to be the thief, and hence a general rule of exclusion should be enforced.

To guard against the former class, those who come into the silence and darkness of midnight, many precautions are necessary and constant vigilance is needed. It is important that especial notice should be taken of any stranger who may call, no matter what pretext the call is made, at the time the stores or the safes are being opened or closed. If the person who has the keys in his possession is addressed, and his attention asked, let him slip the keys into his pocket, instead of laying them down upon a counter or desk. Care must be taken so that the thieves do not get even a good look at these keys, as a good look to some robbers is as serviceable as a wax impression.

Whoever is entrusted with the keys to the store or safe at night, should so guard them that they cannot be found while he is asleep—for in many instances the thieves have gained an entrance into the sleeping-rooms of trusted employees, and have either stolen the keys, or have taken wax impressions of them for future use, while their custodian was slumbering unconsciously upon his couch.

One of the best preventives against store robberies is to have a good light burning in the store all the evening, and the windows unobscured, so that all passers-by may have a full view of the entire interior; and in case employees sleep in the store, have the doors bolted at a point more than one foot above or below the lock.

As danger is always to be apprehended from the surroundings, the cellar or the floor above the store should never be rented to strangers of whose respectability you are not fully advised, and a constant watchfulness should be maintained for suspicious occupants of the buildings upon either side. Increased care is necessary whenever any of the adjoining buildings are unoccupied.

By careful observance of these precautionary directions the dangers from robbery are materially lessened, and perfect immunity may thus be secured.