Suspect 'Inside Jobs' on $5,000 'Racket' Holdups
Title
Suspect 'Inside Jobs' on $5,000 'Racket' Holdups
Subject
Racketeering, West Indian Johnny, Armed Robbery
Description
Newspaper report of two armed robberies, one in Philadelphia and one in Camden. "West Indian Johnny" is thought to be connected with the potentially related stickups.
Creator
Gordon Alsop
Source
Philadelphia Tribune
Publisher
WCU HIS 601/HON 452 Great Migration and Digital Storytelling, Fall 2014
Date
June 12, 1930
Contributor
Alex Raimo, Erica Knorr
Rights
Used by permission of the Philadelphia Tribune Company, Inc. All rights reserved. The Philadelphia Tribune, with 130 years of continuous publication, is the oldest newspaper in the United States serving the African-American community.
Format
PDF
Type
Text
Text
"Racketville" Holdups Net Gunmen Tidy Little Sum of $5,000 and Jewelry
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"West Indian Johnny" Figures As a Loser in Both Stickups; Police Arrest one Suspect
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CLAIM CAMDEN JOB WAS "INSIDE WORK"
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Sum Lost By "West Indian Johnny" in Philadelphia Holdup Reported as High as $6,000
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AIDE ADMITS COUP WAS "NUMBER" CASH
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All is not well along the glittering rialtos of Negro "Racketville."
Since last Saturday denizens of the shady realm just outside the law have lost -- at least they report it -- sums of money varying from $4,600 to $8,600 in the aggregate.
None but those on the inside will probably ever know the exact amount of money that is [???] to have been lost in the shuffle, with gunmen dealing the cards.
The inside story on both holdups reek of waht is most feared by the [???] who hold clenchedfists over their minions. Both holdups have that peculiar ordor from which the phrase "something rotten in Denmark" originated.
-------------------------------------
"West Indian Johnny" Figures As a Loser in Both Stickups; Police Arrest one Suspect
-------------------------------------
CLAIM CAMDEN JOB WAS "INSIDE WORK"
-------------------------------------
Sum Lost By "West Indian Johnny" in Philadelphia Holdup Reported as High as $6,000
-------------------------------------
AIDE ADMITS COUP WAS "NUMBER" CASH
-------------------------------------
All is not well along the glittering rialtos of Negro "Racketville."
Since last Saturday denizens of the shady realm just outside the law have lost -- at least they report it -- sums of money varying from $4,600 to $8,600 in the aggregate.
None but those on the inside will probably ever know the exact amount of money that is [???] to have been lost in the shuffle, with gunmen dealing the cards.
The inside story on both holdups reek of waht is most feared by the [???] who hold clenchedfists over their minions. Both holdups have that peculiar ordor from which the phrase "something rotten in Denmark" originated.
Claim "Frameup"
The boys along with what is known as the "Gold Coast", Seventeenth street between Lombard and South, when they have the matter on the pan laugh and mutter something about "inside job" and "frameup".
"West Indian Johnny" is reputed to be the power behind the throne at this address, an alleged "number" headquarters. In a satement to reporters of the TRIBUNE, Sinclair admitted being connected with the "number" racket, but denied that the house stuck up by the gunmen was on his string.
There are those who are inclined to believe that Sinclair engineered the job. This, however, in view of information obtained by three TRIBUNE reporters who worked on the investigation of the holdup, is not considered probable.
From authentic and confidential reports Sinclair had a good day of it on Saturday. There were practically no heavy "pay-offs". The supposition that he staged the holdup to recoup losses he is reported to have sustained in a holdup of a well known gambling hose in Camden is dissipated by the fact that the Camden holdup happened over twenty-four hours later.
Nora Williams, one of the women bound and gagged, admitted that the money stolen from teh Twenty-first street house belonged to "West Indian Johnny", and taht it represented recepits from "number plays".
"How did he happen to leave so much money around here? Why didn't he take it to the bank?" she was asked.
"I don't know," was her tacit reply.
This amoun of money has been $4,000, $3,000, 2,000, $1,000 and, according to latest reports, $6,000.
[cont.]
The boys along with what is known as the "Gold Coast", Seventeenth street between Lombard and South, when they have the matter on the pan laugh and mutter something about "inside job" and "frameup".
"West Indian Johnny" is reputed to be the power behind the throne at this address, an alleged "number" headquarters. In a satement to reporters of the TRIBUNE, Sinclair admitted being connected with the "number" racket, but denied that the house stuck up by the gunmen was on his string.
There are those who are inclined to believe that Sinclair engineered the job. This, however, in view of information obtained by three TRIBUNE reporters who worked on the investigation of the holdup, is not considered probable.
From authentic and confidential reports Sinclair had a good day of it on Saturday. There were practically no heavy "pay-offs". The supposition that he staged the holdup to recoup losses he is reported to have sustained in a holdup of a well known gambling hose in Camden is dissipated by the fact that the Camden holdup happened over twenty-four hours later.
Nora Williams, one of the women bound and gagged, admitted that the money stolen from teh Twenty-first street house belonged to "West Indian Johnny", and taht it represented recepits from "number plays".
"How did he happen to leave so much money around here? Why didn't he take it to the bank?" she was asked.
"I don't know," was her tacit reply.
This amoun of money has been $4,000, $3,000, 2,000, $1,000 and, according to latest reports, $6,000.
[cont.]
Original Format
Newspaper
Files
Collection
Citation
Gordon Alsop, “Suspect 'Inside Jobs' on $5,000 'Racket' Holdups,” Goin' North, accessed September 13, 2024, https://goinnorth.org/items/show/222.