Aug 21, 1910
Young Horse Thief
Suffolk, VA
Ralph Hezekiah Hinton, nine years old, possibly the youngest horse thief ever convicted, was found guilty in Justice Deberry's court on the second offense.
Owing to his youth there was no prosecution for the first horse stolen, but when he disappeared with Thomas Smith's horse he was pursued and captured after a four-mile chase by Hurricane Branch and a posse.
Wow! Nine years old and stealing horses - I wonder if he kept stealing them. But the best part I think is the name Hurricane! I wonder if it was a nickname or his real name?
Aug 4, 1911
A Young Horse Thief Captured
What is probably one of the youngest horse thieves ever captured was Roy Strangler, a youngster fourteen years old, who was taken into custody by Deputy Sheriff Duray last Saturday near Melvin. He was taken, together with a horse belonging to Mr. Baldauf of Parker, which he was riding. The boy's home is in Denver where his mother resides, but for the past several months he has been working for Mr. Baldauf. He decided to leave last Saturday and accordingly saddled and bridled the horse and when no one was looking, started for Denver. He was brought to Castle Rock and was tried before County Judge Bassell on Tuesday and sent to the Industrial School at Golden.
Is August the best month for stealing horses?
Aug 9, 1912
Two Young Horse Thieves Captured
Two young horse thieves, giving their names as Joseph Iker and Percy Donnelly, were apprehended on Monday morning by Deputy Sheriff Angus McBane near his ranch at Larkspur. The boys gave their ages as fifteen and fourteen years, respectively. They had stolen the horse, buggy and a saddle at Cripple Creek and were on their way to Denver. The buggy they had taken in the first place did not seem to suit their fancy, so they made a trade at another place - without the owner's consent - for another rig, and this helped them to escape detection as long as they did. They had evidently started out on a "wild west desperado tour" as they had two guns and a dark lantern along with them. They had no ammunition for the guns, however, when captured. A deputy sheriff came down from Cripple Creek and took them back to that place for trial.
Donnelly is the son of a miner living in Cripple Creek. Iker is just out from New York, according to his story. He stole seventy-five dollars from his mother in July and came to Denver. He went from there to Cripple Creek.
Apparently August IS the month for horse thievery!
Hey I found the best(and youngest) one yet - and it's not in August.
July 7, 1916
Candy for Young Thieves
Infants run off with Horse and Buggy and were treated when arrested.
Richmond, Ind.
Mrs. E. R. Smith reported to police headquarters that her horse and buggy had been stolen from North Seventh Street, where she had left the outfit when on a shopping tour. Two hours later the police received a telephone call from the town marshal at Boston, six miles south of Richmond, who informed the police that he had a "couple of horse thieves" in custody and believed the stolen vehicle which they had in their possession might have been taken at Richmond. The police sent two armed men in an automobile to Boston to get the "thieves."
Chief Goodwin and other officers were nearly all night awaiting the return of the men and the "desperate characters." When they arrived the "horse thieves" were found to be Jesse Smelser, age five and Jack Smelser, age three. The tots had climbed into the buggy after unhitching the horse and, without point of destination in view, Jesse, the older, had driven straight south until Boston was reached, where the marshal stopped them.
Chief Goodwin said the prisoners were too small to be even scolded, so, instead, he bought them each a bag of candy and turned them over to their parents, who were vainly searching for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment