Pages

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Bill and Harmon Kivett, Ollie West Arrested Sunday Near Hope Mills, Dec. 4, 1922

Another Robbery of Atlantic Coast Line Train Near Hope Mills. . . Thieving of Goods of Coast Line Freight Trains Goes Merrily on It Seems. . . 3 Suspects Arrested Sunday. . . Strong Chain of Circumstantial Evidence; Men Held Unable to Furnish Bond

The robbing of freight cars on the Atlantic Coast Line system goes merrily on. Sunday morning every early a freight car, side-tracked at Hope Mills for transfer to the Virginia-Carolina Southern, was broken open and robbed of its contents—1,500 pounds of meat. The railroad detectives and Sheriff McGeachy being informed, speedily got busy and brought results.

The officials were informed that three white men, Bill Kivett, Harmon Kivett and Ollie West, were seen near the scene of the robbery early Sunday morning. In the meantime the officers trailed the tracks of an automobile from the robbed car across the bridge at Mill No. 1 to a swamp about 2 ½ miles from Hope Mills, where they found the stolen goods concealed in a swamp covered with pine boughs which the robbers had cut and placed on them.

There is a strong chain of circumstantial evidence which points directly to the three men mentioned above as the robbers of the car. The automobile which carried the stolen property to the swamp had a smooth tire on the rear. An automobile in possession of the three alleged robbers has a smooth rear tire. About the spot in the swamp where the goods were concealed was found the imprint in the ground of a human track, followed by holes evidently made by crutches. Harmon Kivett wears a wooden leg, having lost one of his legs in the late war, and walks on crutches.

Acting on the information lodged by the parties mentioned above that they had seen the Kivetts and West near the scene of the robbery, the officers arrested the men Sunday morning. They made a statement endeavoring to establish an alibi, but the statement was conflicting and unsatisfactory. It was made before Magistrate A. Cheek, who set next Thursday as the date for holding a preliminary examination, putting their bonds for appearance at $1,000 each. UP to this writing none of the men have been able to give bond, and they are in jail. They are all unmarried and live in Poe’s Bottom, just outside the corporate limits of Fayetteville. This is the fourth big robbery of A.C.L. cars within a short time. In two cases the robbers have been apprehended and in two cases the goods have been recovered. The railroad police have done fine work on these robberies and have been ably assisted by Sheriff McGeachy and his men.

In addition to the robberies here and at Hope Mills, there has been a big robbery at Selma, and part of the Fayetteville railroad force has gone there to investigate.

From the front page of The Fayetteville Observer, Dec. 4, 1922.

No comments:

Post a Comment