Bob Brennan, negro bootlegger, is in the Good Samaritan hospital, where he may die from pistol-shot wounds.
It’s a near-miracle that Motorcycle Officer W.W. McGraw is alive, policemen considered when they heard the story Saturday of events in connection with McGraw’s fight Friday night with the negro aboard a light buggy drawn by a runaway horse. The negro knocked McGraw beneath the wheels of the buggy, but he held on. Although dragged for three blocks, he managed to get his gun; and that is why Brennan may die.
The extent of the officer’s injuries are a bruised leg, caused by being ground under the wheels of the buggy, and bruises about the head and shoulders from dragging on the ground.
Brennan was trying to get away from officers, who wanted him for hauling liquor. They found five gallons in the buggy when Detective Ed. Pittman stopped the horse after the wounded negro, wet with blood, jumped from the vehicle and escaped temporarily down the railroad track.
The police Ford, with McGraw, Pittman and Gribble aboard, accosted Brennan at Mint and Bland streets about 9:30 o’clock Friday night. He answered their order to halt by using his whip on his horse. Welts as wide as a man’s hand proved that he had beaten the animal unmercifully.
McGRAW GETS ON BUGGY
The Ford started in pursuit, and when it was alongside the buggy, McGraw jumped. He landed on the rear platform of the vehicle. Using one hand for the whip and the other for blows at McGraw, the negro resisted all efforts of the officer to bring the runaway to a stop. McGraw put up a defense, but the necessity for holding tight as the buggy bounced from one wheel to the other as it sped over the three blocks of dirt road from Bland to Tryon streets, made it impossible to conquer the bootlegger.
A stiff blow from the negro as the buggy swung from Bland into Tryon street knocked the officer over the left rear wheel. McGraw’s foot caught in the running board of the buggy and the wheel carried his body to the ground. After the wheel had left its print on McGraw’s body, on its first trip around, he grasped the spokes. The wheel skidded.
For three blocks, or from Bland to a field near Park avenue, the body of the officer dragged the ground. His firm grasp of the spokes of the wheel kept it from turning.
Meanwhile, the police Ford had kept up the chase. Running in front of the racing horse, Detective Pittman alighted. He made a desperate dive for the reins of the animal, but a side-swipe from the horse knocked him 15 feet away. The horse, however, reared up on its feet in protest of this interference. Pittman got to his feet before the horse and while the animal was reared in the air, he grasped the reins.
TRIED TO SHOOT HORSE
As the horse darted for an open field, McGraw managed to get hold of his gun. He attempted at first to shoot the horse, and thereby bring it to a stop, but Pittman’s presence made shooting dangerous. A good aim could be taken at the negro, who was still using the whip with effect. A ball entered his breast and another one broke his arm.
Although wounded, and with blood flowing in streams, the negro jumped from his buggy and ran for nearby railway tracks. When last seen by Pittman and Gribble as they tightened their clasp on the rearing horse, the negro had dashed down the embankment leading to the tracks.
The horse was brought to a stop and McGraw released from his precarious situation. HIs right leg, which was caught in the running board of the buggy, was wrenched out of position, but no bones were broken.
An examination of McGraw showed bruises about the head and shoulders and his wrenched leg. A piece of his left ear had been ground away when the wheel traversed his head and body. But he said he was not hurt “much.” He was on duty at 10 o’clock Saturday morning, the regular hour for reporting. The city will have to buy him a new uniform as the ground wore his coat away while he was dragging.
It was impossible for the officer to subdue the negro during the three blocks’ run from Mint to Tryon streets because of the antics of the buggy. The fast speed caused the vehicle to roll like a ship in a storm. The negro, seated and relieved of the necessity of holding, had the full use of one arm.
SWING THREW HIM OFF
“He struck back at me with his right hand, but I had to hold to keep the buggy from jarring me off,” McGraw explained Saturday morning.
“I wouldn’t have been knocked off if the buggy hadn’t swung around in making the corner of Bland and Tryon on two wheels.”
A search along the railway tracks by officers after McGraw had been cared for filed to locate Brennan. Late in the night, however, he found his way to the home of Dr. Wylie Moore, where he sought medical attention. He was removed to the Good Samaritan Hospital.
The liquor was contained in a five-gallon tin can. It was between the negro’s leg, sitting in the foot-board of the buggy. He held on to it until forced to leave the vehicle, making no effort to shove it from the buggy during his efforts to escape.
Detective Pittman sustained no injuries, despite his dash for the reins while the horse was in motion. Pittman is as fast as lightning, the police say, and this accounted for the quick “come-back” he made after the horse had knocked him off.
Chief Orr expressed words of commendation for McGraw and Pittman for their daring.
“I think it shows the determination with which the officers go after bootleggers,” Chief Orr said. Others who heard of the incident during the morning praised McGraw for his fight and Pittman for his dash for the horse.
From the front page of The Charlotte News, Saturday, July 2, 1921
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