by Gen* BockMAN ABOUT TOWN

Daleville Robbery At LeastFourth Recorded At Site

The holdup of the DalevilleBranch of the Central Bank andTrust Company opened up aflood of memories, as suchthings are bound to do. Therewas, of course, a guy namedDillinger who wars~inv61ved 'ina similar anair aTThe"~samespot, buT~a diherent barik7~uftEe summer of 1933.

What did bring it up particu-larly was a piece Evan Owensdid in his column, "In thePress of Things," in the MunciePress. Ev, now balding, wasjust a squirt then and he andhis pal, Bob White, also onThe Press staff in those deepdepression days, hopped into aFord runabout and scooted forDaleville. Ev says the side cur-tains were up on the Ford,which belonged to Bob, but he"doesn't remember it beingvery cold."

It wasn't, Ev; the thermo-meter hit 98 on Saturday ofthat week. It might be a goodstory just, to ring up Bob in.New York and find put why hedid have those curtains on.

Owens has a most entertain-ing way of spinning theseyarns, as witness;

"We must have been drivinga little fast, for although An-derson police were there whenwe arrived, the Muncie lawmendidn't get there for severalminutes. The bank was 100 feetdown a side street from themain drag. Bob went inside totalk with the teller while I cir-culated in the crowd trying tofind the people who had seessomething.

"Several people had. Therewere good descriptions of thebandits, vrtio had spent a partof the morning sitting on abench in a park - like areanearby from which they couldsee the bank entrance.

"Their car hadn't gone unno-ticed, either, so police hadmore to go on than they oftendo. '

"Harry Nelson was captainof detectives here then, and hearrived with a couple of hismen, and all the lawmen wentinto a huddle in the street.

"I don't remember whetherBob phoned in the story, or Idid. But we stayed around longenough to talk with a lot ofpeople.

"Including Harry Nelson ...He said they had a pretty goodidea who the bandits were.

i "Only about two weeks earl-kr two men had held up aMuncie night spot, The Bide^a-wee, and police thought theyknew who had done it. One ofthe men lived here in Huncie^a "fellow named Harry Cope-land." 'Hold off the names,

though,' said Harry. 'We don'twant to tip our hands/

"Since we weren't using thenames immediately -it didn'tmake much difference who themen were, but I asked Harryanyway." 'Harry Copeland,' said

Capt. Nelson, 'and a fellownamed Dillinger.'

"ThaLwaS-theJirsl tank jobof what (juickly.liecame known-as,^the_T3illinger-gang,"

Owens appended' the notationthat Nelson died last August, 35years after the Daleville rob-bery. After leaving the Munciepolice department in Iat3 1931or' 1952, be operated a private tdetective agency for several |years.

We remember covering acouple of earlier Daleville bankholdups, by phone, but, some-how, we didn't get in on thecelebrated Dillinger perform-ance. The predecessor institu-tion, the Commercial S t a t eBank, sat exactly where theCentral Branch does now. Thepresent bank, in fact, was able

. to make use of the old vaultand cash boxes. There wassome refurbishing of the prem-ises, both inside and out. So itis the same familiar "bankspot" of Daleville.

Anyway, back in earlymonths of the year 1930, a lonebandit "called" at the Com-mercial Bank. He must havebeen of the jittery type. At anyrate, he certainly didn't havethings very.'well "cased.". Hegrabbed up'two bundles of cur-rency, one containing $1,500, the

other $600. As he went out thedoor,he dropped the $600 bundleand didn't even bother to re-trieve it because some bystand-ers had collected in the streetand others were rushing up. Heopened up with his gun, firingseveral shots in the air to dis-perse the growing audience sohe could make his getaway.

unmasked men entered thtbank five minutes before clos-ing time in the afternoon. Thepair heisted between $700 and$800 that trip and made theirgetaway in the direction of An-derson.

And so now to the big show1 of 1933.

It had been a big news weekin Anderson, \o begin with.Archie Chadd, then of Canton,111., but formerly a hardwoodstar at Bainbridge High Schooland Butler University, bad just

, been hired as Anderson HighSchool basketball -coach. HarryBaldwin and Jesse. H. (Hick)Mcllett had had a tussle incourt to decide which was,.themayor of Anderson and thecourt had just ruled in favor ofBaldy, a former city editor ofThe Herald.

Entirely apart from th»events, certain preliminarystages of which had certainlygenerated temperatures of theirown, a mid-summer heat wavehad this area firmly' in itsgrasp. There hadn't been anyrain in these parts since thalast week of May. Folks werejobless and hungry. Crops wer«gone and the grass on the lawnshad long since turned yellow.You could buy'a respectablemeal in a restaurant for 25cents. In some the "Wue plat*special" was only 15 cents.

Looking into the old boundfiles of The Bulletin, we cameacross the story. "Two YouthsRob Bank At Daleville," t h «headlines said. We know in-stantly who wrote THAT story.To Foxy Louiso, anybody underthe age of 52 was a YOUTH.That's elementary.

Well, said Foxy, "two youngunmasked bandits," driving agreen coupe, had entered theCommercial Bank at 12:30 p.m.,cleaned out a cash till, rifleda vault in almost leisurely man-ner, and made off with $3,000 to$4,000.

Miss Margaret Good, book-keeper, alone in the bank at thetime, was catering to three cus-tomers — Frank Mowery, Land-

_ ley Hall and Wesley Cox. That" has been told and cetold. - ;

Foxy told how one of the ban-dits stood about 5 feet 4 and

. had a scar on one of his lips.That was, of course, HarryCopeland.

: The other stood about 6 feetand was of the athletic type.He jumped over a partitionwith ease to enter the teller'scage. That was Dillinger. Thepair took 10 minutes to gettheir job done. They were me-thodical and thorough. Theyfired no shots. In the end, no-body was physically harmed.(That, of course, was not theway many of the subsequentDillinger performances went!)

We could go on and on, but

No ArrestIn Robbery

Agents of the Federal Bureauof Investigation at Indianap-olis said this morning that anall-points bulletin seeking thearrest of a Munde man sus-pected in the armed robberyof a Daleville bank Thursdayhas not yet brought results.

The FBI announced Fridaybefore noon that Nathan J.(Nate) Warden, 30, of 2207 N.Milton St., Muncie, is beingsought in the armed robbery Iat the Central Bank and Trust',Do. branch at Dalevile about3 p.m. Thursday. The robberyn e t t e d approximately $12,000,according to James Hamilton,manager of the bank.

Mrs. Marilyn Richman, a tel-ler who was pistol-whipped by:he robber, remained in satis-factory condition at Muncie'sBall Memorial Hospital with!a dozen scalp lacerations. Ham-ton, who was reportedly chloro-

formed and slugged one timeduring the robbery, has been>ack at work since Friday

morning. ,A warrant and complaint

were filed against Warden Fri-day before a U.S. commission-er at Indianapolis. Hamiltonaid! he positively identified theaspect from photographs.

NATHAN WARDENGives Himself Up

Daleville BankSuspect TurnsSelf In to FBI

By DICK POWELL

Nathan J. Warden, 30, a former Mun-cie^insurance salesman charged in the $14,-500' holdup'of the Daleville branch of Cen-tral Bank and Trust Co., surrendered tothe FBI in Indianapolis Sunday. •

Special Agent James Nagle said War-den was .accompanied by his wife and anattorney.'- '-*;v.v--• : . .-.

Warden's arrest .Was, sought the dayafter.the Jan. 23 robbery when a warrant^was issued for him- It "alleged that he'pistol-whipped two bank employes andtook the large amount of cash.' * . ^

" NAGLE SAD) Warden wilt appearMonday 'before t U.S. Commissioner,probably Robert W. Geddes,. to deter-mine identity, probable cause and bond.The warrant stipulates' $50,000 "bond, butsince the surrender was voluntary thebond might be lowered. , '

; The, robbery suspect made no'state-ments Sunday, Nagle said, because hisattorney- had Instructed him to make none.Nothing concrete was learned of "the

t man's-whereabouts since the armed rob-bery, but Nagle said Warden had been

*\; Florida shortly after the holdup andhad also spent sonie time in Chicago.

; according to information he hadreceiveA_

Bank IsHit For

$12,000Police Hold Three;

Men In WickesBurglary

DALEVILLE — A 30-year - old Muncie insur-ance salesman and for-mer professional photog-rapher has been allegedlyidentified as the lone gun-man who escaped fromthe Central B a n k andTrust Co. branch hereThursday with an esti-mated $12,000 in cash;One of two employes, se-verely beaten by the ban4dit,' was listed in satis-factory condition today atBall Memorial.. Hospitalin Muncie.. ' - ' - ..'.-

In Anderson, two Ken-tucky men and an Ohioresident face charges to-day of second degreeburglary, after they werearrested Thursday eve-ning during a break-in atWickes Lumber Co., 162'5E. Whetstone Road.

James T. Neagle, FBI specialagent-in-charge at Indianapolis,has identified the Daleville

.branch hcldup suspect as N'at^Warden of 2207 N. Milton Ave.,

Muncie.Neagle said James Hamilton,

the bank manager, aided inidentifiyng Neagle as the gun-man. A federal complaint andwarrant regarding Warden wasto be filed before a "U.S. commis-sioner at Indianapolis today.

Delaware County and FBI of-ficials returned to the Daleville

ybank this morning as the probe3continued into the Thursday rob-:;bery. Mrs. Marilyn Richman, 45,

suffered a reported 12 lacera-tions about the head from thepistol-whipping administered bythe lone bandit shortly after .3p.m. Her condition was termedsatisfactory at Ball Hospital this

."morning.

!) Both men entered iiaminon s•;private office, where the subject^ drew a black snub-nosed pis-•tttol and ordered Hamilton to sit

down. The gunman then placeda rag, believed soaked in chloro-form, over Hamilton's face andthe manager lost consciousness.

Hamilton said he awoke short-jly thereafter and that the gun-^man struck him on the headwith his pistol- Hamilton feigned

Has Passport

»I loss of consciousness after theblow and was present when the| armed subject attempted to{chloroform Mrs. Richman, who|| had been brought into Hamil-ton's office from the main partof the bank. Hamilton said the

- woman failed to black out and5 that the bandit began to club

A Muncie insurance sales-J«man suspected in the $12.500.

armed robbery of the DateviUe!branch of the Central Bank and!Trust Company'of Gaston It si I

'^Thursday may have left tbejjj| United States. Police officials;'''have learned that Nathan J.;J Warden, 30, recently obtained a^ pas-port and efforts are beir.g

'y made now to learn if he hadobtained visas for any foreign

. • countries. ' . i

i] Warden, object of a nation-'' • „,.: j— . . • r _ i » * ^.her on the head. A physician la- i%ide R?arct following i^ancc'-

Her reported the woman had 12 'of a federal warrant for his -r-iscalp lacerations from the beat- *rest on a charge of bank rtfy

The bank manager.said only'he and Mrs. Richmah normally• work in the bank. He termed thet robbery "well-planned," andsaid the gunman arrived at the

' b a n k at a time when'employes(would normally be counting theday's receipts. ,

The gunman was describedjby Hamilton as six feet tall, of'slender build with long blackhair. He was estimated to bein bis late 20s or early 30sand wore a tan trench coat and

jbhie pants. Officials were seek-.ing persons today vfat mayJhave seen the robber leave thebank or observed the vehicle in

.which he left the scene.

is believed traveling]' a:one. He left his wife and t^c'step-children at Muncie w'.ie.V

'hey mo->ed about a jcar ?.c.i(from Chicago. Warden rod.Heea a free-lance photographerin Chicago.

Police have learned Ward:-nJwas last seen driving a car; rented from a Muncie agency'last Tuesday. Authorities ha'.e" heen checking Indianapolis and''diner Middle- West airpTts to' see if the Cwvro'et' b*en left behind. W»r<3«rfi mJ-jitary record is being rVcl-xdt t o learn if lie had any inr'lr.s-ttion for a par'T'jlar co-mtry o;political ideology.

j It hhas not

a. Bank Manager James Hamil-£ton said the bandit entered the?bank at exactly 3 p.m. — the1 normal closing time. He said

he wished to speak with Ham-ilton and then went to his car,returning with a briefcase. Ham-ilton said when the man re-turned he had already drawncurtains across the windows ofthe bank, and that when theman entered, Hamilton locked

Warden Indictedfor Bank Robbery

INDIANAPOLIS.— Nathan J. Warden,Muncie, was indicted by a federal grandjury here'Monday in connection with thearmed robbery of the Gaston Central Bankand Trust Company branch at Daleville.

Warden, who eluded capture for sometime, is charged with the robbery in which,both the branch"* manager and cashie^ werepistol whipped. About $14,500 was taken inthe robbery and never recovered.

Also indicted Monday were three mencharged with the robbery of the Mt. Sum-mit branch of the Citizen's State Bank atNew Castle. They are James D. Brotzge,William Joseph Brotzge and David Le RoyHedstrom.•~ ••V3T"!"'!.T.'' !&'.-'' *T -w

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