File Charges In Holdup Attempt

Article taken from the Zanesville Times Recorder December 13, 1948.

Portsmouth, OH., December 12 -- Police Chief Hugh Rudity tonight filed four charges against George W. Kimmell, 48, in connection with a daring attempt to hold up a busy supermarket last night.

Kimmell was arrested as he fled on foot after customers threw canned goods and vegetables at him. Police recovered $1,980.

Rudity charged Kimmell with armed robbery, auto larceny, carrying concealed weapons, and shooting with intent to kill. The chief said kidnapping charges may be filed tomorrow.

The gunman raced to an automobile he had left at the curb, with the motor running and the lights on. But the motor was off. L.R. Gable, a passerby, had noticed the car, heard the ignition keys "as a precaution."

When the car wouldn't start, the robber fled on foot. Four officers arrested him within a few blocks.

The car found in front of the store had been stolen earlier from Maurice Lawson of Sciotoville. A gunman approached Lawson while the latter was sitting in the parked car. Lawson was forced to drive within a few blocks of the market, and then put out of the car.