Second killing of an officer in less than a year

Police Capt. Bradish, walking with Mayor Harper and Chief Kern, spots one of the suspects on a busy street and arrests him

Los Angeles in the 1900s

Police Officer Patrick H. Lyons

PATROLMAN LYONS SHOT TO DEATH BY YOUTHFUL BANDIT

Policeman P.H. Lyons of the University Station was shot and instantly killed last night by one of two hold-up men who had just robbed the cash register of Arthur Grossner, a wholesale liquor dealer at 1404 Central Ave. . . . [Examiner].

HIGHWAYMEN MURDER A POLICEMAN.

Patrolman P.H. Lyons was shot and killed about 11:05 o’clock last night by a highwayman who, with his partner, held up and robbed the Magnolia Winery at No. 1404 Central Ave. . . .

Ten minutes later, the same men held up a grocery store at Twelfth Street and Tennessee.

In less than two hours the man who did the shooting was captured and identified.

The prisoner stated that his name is Rolla Robey, aged 28. He does not appear to be more than 19 years of age. . . . [Times]

REJOIN TO PERPETRATE 3RD ROBBERY

Patrolman P.H. Lyon [sic], attached to the University police station, was shot and fatally wounded in a battle with two holdup men at 14th Street and Central Avenue shortly after 11 o’clock last night.

Lyon was shot down without warning by one of the two holdup men while he was in the act of disarming the partner of the man who shot him.

The shooting occurred a few minutes after the two men had held up and robbed the Magnolia Winery, a wholesale liquor store at 1404 S. Central Ave.

The two men previous to this had attempted to rob the grocery store of Ernest Gerlemann at 811 S. Central Ave. and had made a sensational escape from there in a stolen wagon. . . . [Herald]

Officer is slain while frisking a suspect

The two men first appeared at the Gerlemann grocery shortly after 10 o’clock. They entered the front door and, approaching a woman clerk, asked her for change for two dollars in scrip. [According to the Times, it was a “clearing-house certificate and the clerk was the daughter of the owner.]

As she passed from behind the counter, . . . both men drew black handkerchiefs over their faces and drew pistols from their pockets.

As the proprietor saw the move, he cried, “Here come two policemen now.”

At this the men ran from the store and jumped into the Gerlemann wagon . . . and, whipping up the horse, dashed down Central Avenue.

They were chased for three blocks by citizens who had been attracted by the cries from the store, and then the wagon turned into 12th Street and . . . was wrecked by colliding with a standing street car. . . .

Within a few minutes the vicinity was swarming with officers. . . .

Patrolman Lyon . . . heard an exclamation from the wine store of Grosser Brothers. The officer . . . saw two men with masks over their faces backing from the store.

The Herald consistently used the spelling Lyon and Grosser.

He stepped to one side and allowed them to come from the door, when he threw his gun on them and commanded them to halt.

Both stopped, and Lyon backed the taller of the two men up against the wall of the building, and while he held his revolver in one hand proceeded to search his prisoner with the other.

The smaller man was standing almost alongside the officer . . . . Without warning, he drew a revolver from his coat pocket and, pointing it directly in the face of the officer, fired one shot. . . .

The policeman dropped to the pavement with a groan and both men ran, one going north and the other south on Central Avenue.

The sound of the shot was heard by firemen of Hose Company No. 3, and several

The act was witnessed by half a dozen people, among them [Fire] Lt. H.H. Hemb . . . and hoseman A.C. Stammer.

These men had been awakened by [a man and a woman who had] rushed into the engine house shouting “Holdup!” . . .

During the fight with the policeman, the older of the robbers lost his mask, which was picked up by Walter Ransom of 1411 Essex St. and was turned over to the police.

George Murdey of No. 330 Crocker St. rode up on a bicycle just as the shooting occurred. He pursued the men, who ran through a vacant lot and started toward 12th Street.

“Go back or I’ll kill you,” the tall man shouted as he turned and leveled his gun. . . .

(Continued below.)

One fugitive tries to hide under a porch

As soon as the report of the murder was received at police headquarters, every available officer . . . and every deputy sheriff who could be communicated with was sent into that section of the city. . . .

Never was any part of the city more completely searched . . . . Pressing half a dozen automobiles into service, uniformed and plain-clothes officers dashed through the streets,

“Arrest every man you see, no matter who he is, and bring him to Central Station.”

That was the order given to the officers, and it was obeyed to the letter. Belated pedestrians were taken in custody wherever found and, despite the protests of many of them, were taken to police headquarters. . . .

Most of these prisoners did not object to these drastic police methods when they

More than a score of them, after their release, returned to their homes, armed themselves and assisted the police in the search. . . .

This quick work resulted in the capture of the murderer. The arrest was made by Patrolman Bowe.

This officer was making a hurried search . . . and near 8th and Hemlock streets [now Market Court] he saw a man dart into a yard and try to conceal himself under a porch.

Drawing his revolver, the policeman . . . compelled him to come into the light and hold up his hands. The prisoner was handcuffed and sent to Central Station. . . .

Rolla Robe, the younger of the two highwaymen, is a small, weak-faced boy. He says he is aged 22 years, but he looks even younger. He seems to be utterly indifferent about the killing.

Handcuffed to a detective, Robe was taken from his cell

He took little interest in the proceedings and gave no trouble.

He was so quiet that, once inside the room, the handcuffs were removed and he sat for the picture.

(Continued below.)

Arrested, he blames ‘bad company’

The prisoner was sullen and at first refused to answer a question. A.M. King, a former patrolman who was in the room, asked Robe if he remembered him.

“You know me,” said King. “I arrested you in Catalina last summer.”

Robe smiled and then nodded

“Bad company is responsible for the fix I’m in,” he said. “I guess I was a fool, but I’m in for it now, and I guess I better make the best of it.” . . .

The excuse Robe gives is that he was desperately in need of money to buy food for his wife and baby. Robe spent most of

He stuck to the story yesterday that he did not do the shooting. . . . It is certain that both men will be prosecuted on a charge of murder.

(Continued below.)

Another is betrayed by his left hand

. . . In Robe’s description of [his accomplice, whom he identified as George] Lauman, he said he [Lauman] had his left index finger off and the first joint of his thumb. . . .

Lauman led a double life, according to Robe’s statement. Sometimes he dressed like a laboring man and loafed about poolrooms and saloons.

Again he would don tailor-

Accompanied by Mayor Harper and Chief Kern, Capt. A. J. Bradish . . . was walking along First Street near Los Angeles Street yesterday afternoon when he saw a young man faultlessly attired in a new tailor-made suit of brown.

As the man passed, swinging his arms, Bradish noticed that

He instantly placed the man under arrest, hurried him to the nearest corner and sent him, handcuffed, to the police station[, where he] gave his name as George Lauman . . . .

Further than that, he would tell nothing, answering all questions with either silence or grunts or refusal to answer. . . .

Patrolman Lyons was aged 30 years. He had been a regular member of the police force since August 20, 1907, but before that he served as a special patrolman for some time. He was therefore not inexperienced.

The manner in which he had single handed [attempted] to capture two masked men, known to be armed, shows that he was not a coward.

His home was at No. 720 E. 5th St. Since his appointment he had been working out of the University Station and had been on duty only in residence districts. By his superiors he was considered a promising young policeman.