Thieves targeted a local business in 1949, leaving little to no evidence behind. Police believe they are a team of professionals. In other news: a man who attacked the police chief reveals he’s an asylum patient from Kankakee, and he seems to be suffering from dementia; and the Dexter City Council delves into waste management options.
100 years ago
July 16, 1924
• The senior citizen who got in a fist fight with Poplar Bluff’s police chief now has a backstory: he admitted his name is William Phelan, age 65, and he last resided in an asylum in Kankakee, Illinois. He said he escaped the “bug house” but couldn’t explain how he got to Poplar Bluff.
Phelan was arrested yesterday for breaking the windows of a pool room and attacking Chief N.W. Hendrickson. Hendrickson subdued him with his billy club and help from a passerby.
Williams mentioned one relation, a sister in Chicago, but couldn’t provide her name.
“His mind is wandering. He is really in a bad condition and should have proper care,” said Dr. Barnett, the county physician.
Authorities are contacting the Kankakee asylum where Williams last lived in the hopes of returning him.
75 years ago
July 16, 1949
• A Poplar Bluff business was hit by professional burglars last night.
Sometime between 11 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., thieves broke into the Ozark Provision Company, taking cash and items valued at several hundred dollars. This morning, employees discovered the thieves had used the business’s own truck to make off with a safe full of cash and checks, and several guns. Authorities expect the delivery truck, which is clearly marked with the company’s name, will likely be found abandoned outside the city.
Investigators said the thieves took every precaution to conceal their identities. They entered through a window and placed a board under it to avoid leaving footprints. The windows were sealed with electrical tape to dampen the noise as they attempted to crack the safe, before simply stealing the whole thing, and their gloves kept the crime scene fingerprint-free.
50 years ago
July 16, 1974
• The Dexter City Council established a committee to study solid waste management at a meeting last night.
Gary Gaines of the local architectural firm C.R. Trotter and Associates outlined the city’s options as laid out by new state guidelines. Dexter can either have a city-owned and operated system for collection and disposal, bring in a third party to handle it, or come up with a combination of the two.
The council moved to employ Trotter and Associates as consultants on the project.