The following was taken from the Gainesville Daily Sun of Gainesville, Fla., and will be of much interest to the many friends of Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman, who resided here for several years. Mr. Hoffman was assistant cashier of the Jackson County Bank.
Ocala, August 12—Harry Barnes and a man named Holland, for former with a bullet in his neck and under guard at a local hospital, were being held tonight by Marion County authorities in connection with the attempted holdup of the Bank of Citra, 25 miles north of here.
Barnes was captured after he had fallen wounded before the fire of H. W. Hoffman, the cashier of the bank, while Holland was apprehended in a swamp adjacent to the Orange Lake. Sheriff Thomas and Deputies Perkins and Rhondenberry made the arrest.
During the search for the man, Sheriff Thomas reported the disclosure of the men’s camp on an island in Lake Lochloosa, in Alachua County. Two women claiming to be the wives of the men, were found there.
The attempted holdup occurred during the forenoon, two men entering the bank, presenting a check signed by J. S, Tracy. Cashier Hoffman said that when he looked up he was faced by a .45 calibre pistol. The men began shooting, he said, and he ducked underneath the counter, grabbed a gun, and returned fire, Barnes falling wounded and Holland escaping. Attracted by the shooting, citizens quickly gathered and a posse was formed.
Officers tonight were attempting to establish a connection between today’s holdup and that of several months ago when a pair of bandits, entering the institution in a similar manner during banking hours, forced an official into the vault and make off with more than $5,000 loot.
No clue has ever been established as to the identity of the participants in the first holdup. At that time the bandit pair made their getaway in a light touring car, which was found several miles from Citra.
Barnes is said to be a resident of Island Grove, in Alachua County north of Citra. Holland’s identity has not yet been established, according to officials.
From the front page of The Ruralite, Sylva, N.C., Tuesday, August 24, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn91068754/1926-08-24/ed-1/seq-1/
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