Bank Robbers in Gun Battle with Officer

Garden City Telegram Original Article - March 17, 1927 CONTINUED....

The hastily formed posse of Garden City officers drove west of town in two cars which were drawn up across the road on the pavement. When they stopped, the road, outside the pavement on the shoulder, was very muddy; they figured that should a car attempt to pass, running off the pavement, it would certainly go into the ditch. While they waited for the bandits, the ground froze and was solid when the bandit car did arrive.

At 12:45, a Nash sedan, driven rapidly, approached from the west. Chief Richardson stepped out and signaled for a stop but the car came on rapidly, swerved out on the shoulder of the pavement, passed the blocking autos and headed on toward Garden. As soon as the officers saw the car would not stop, Mr. Richardson opened fire at the tires with a riot gun, loaded with buck shot; the other officers grouped on the opposite side of the autos fired several shots which were answered by the bandit car. The officers sprang into their own cars and rushed back to Garden City but the lead held by the bandits enabled them to swing into Garden City with lights switched off and elude the officers.

Two false clues threw the officers off at this time; one report came in that a car, without lights had circled through the east part of town, turning south and crossed the river bridge south; another report from Cimarron soon afterward, stated that a car had come in from the west, doubled south in the west part of town and headed south across the river there. The wires were kept hot but no further information was obtained that night.

Sunday afternoon, about three o’clock, word came from the Greathouse ranch, fifteen miles north of town that a bullet riddled car had stopped at the Emil Landgraf home at daylight and its two occupants had demanded breakfast and gasoline. It was reported from Lamar Saturday evening that the bandit car contained three men and one woman. At the Landgraf home, there were only two men in evidence. The lap-robe was thrown over the back seat and the space in front of it, covering some bulky object but it was impossible to determine what. IT is possible that his bulky object may have been two wounded or dead persons, the other man and woman, but this is only conjecture.

From later developments, it appears that the bandits, after leaving Garden drove north and cut the telephone wires near the Henry Metz place. Another place was found where the car had stopped and bullet torn tires changed.

After leaving the Landgraf farm, the car had gone on north to the Dave Wallace farm where they stopped again and inquired the way to the Kansas-Colorado Boulevard, stating that they desired to go to Scott City and then on west. Investigations later, developed the fact that they went east instead. They were traced, the next day, to a point a few miles northeast of Jetmore where the trail was lost. Officers in all central Kansas towns are keeping a close watch on all roads, but so far, without result.

Tuesday morning, word was phoned in from the Greathouse ranch that Jack Craig had dug up a sack of money, buried by the bandits three or four miles this side of the Greathouse ranch. When this word was received, the officers were already in cars ready to start on a search for the loot. After their arrival, three more sacks of money, were found buried in shallow holes near a clump of bushes and a lone tree, the site of an early day claim shack. $2,000 in gold was found and $2,086 in silver and paper.

According to the information [unrecognizable] stated by officers that the men who were in the bandit car are Eddie Jenkins, alias, Reynolds; Bobby Collins, who recently broke jail at [unrecognizable] City man named Munger. The woman is presumed to be Munger’s wife.

Later, farmers in Lane County report that, after the bandit car went west along the Finney-Lane County line after leaving the Dave Wallace farm, there was a man and woman occupying the front seat of the car and one man possibly, two in the rear seat. The car was being driven very slowly, so slowly that farmers thought possibly some one ill was being taken to the hospital or a physician.

A further search on the ground near where the money was unearthed, located a piece of rag that had been used as a bandage. It was rolled and wrinkled in a way that would indicate that it had been used as an arm bandage. There was a round spot of it bloodstained, about two inches in diameter, with the center of the spot, deeply stained, in a circular shape, exactly like a bandage would be stained, covering a bullet hole. The officers infer that it had been used to bandage a bullet hole through an arm. IT was found about twenty-five yards northwest of where the money was buried.