Bandits Caught by Cheraw Police Chief.

PAIR BROUGHT HERE

Effort to Identify as Men Who Took Columbia Taxi Fails

Two young white men, held for the hold of S. C. McDonald of Darlington early yesterday morning at Florence, were brought to Columbia last night in an effort to identify as the men who held up Bob Dotter, Safety cab driver, in Columbia Wednesday night. The men were brought to Columbia by Lieut. Leo Jenkins, highway patrol identification officer. Sheriff T. Alex Heise and Deputies Wade Rawlinson and Tom Scott.

Lieutenant Jenkins said that Dotter had not identified the pair and expressed the opinion that the two holdups while similar, had been committed by different people. Dotter was left bound near Hopkins Wednesday night and his cab was found Thursday near Blaney.

Dotter told officers Thursday morning that the men who held him up “talked like Southerners” while the two men arrested in Cheraw, both from Pennsylvania, talked with a distinct Northern accent. It was only through prompt and efficient co-operation between Sher-

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DARLINGTON MAN HOLDUP VICTIM

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iff J. H. Coker of Darlington and Chief of Police Horace McLain of Cheraw, a former member of the highway patrol, that the two were captured, Lieutenant Jenkins said.

Mr. McDonald was held up near the Florence fair grounds at 7 o’clock yesterday morning. The two men, whose names were given as Tom Flynn and Allan Swanson, Forced McDonald to surrender his car and drove him through Darlington and to a secluded spot in the woods several miles from town. There they bound and gagged him with strips torn from the seat covers of the car and left him. Mr. McDonald managed to free his bonds, walked to the highway and caught a ride to Darlington. He notified Sheriff Coker of the holdup and the sheriff immediately spread the alarm. Chief McLain, upon being advised of the affair, grabbed a shotgun in his office and started to the street. As he walked out of the door he saw the car pass, jumped into his own car and gave chase.

He passed the bandits, blocked the road with his car and stopped them at the point of his gun. One of the men reached for a .22-caliber pistol lying on the car seat but was told to raise his hands or be shot.

A ring and watch taken from Mr. McDonald were found on one of the men. Mr. McDonald identified his property when he reached Cheraw. Thirty-seven cents, all the money Mr. McDonald had on his person, was taken by the bandits and used to buy a gallon of gasoline and a package of cigarets.

Lieutenant Jenkins said that they admitted having served a year each in the work house at Holmesburg, Pa., after being convicted of attacking a man. They also admitted that they had committed a series of thefts while traveling from Philadelphia to South Carolina. Fingerprints and photos of the men will be sent to Philadelphia and other points, as officers believe they are wanted for complicity in other cases. They were being held in the Richland county jail last night and will probably be returned to Darling today.

Meanwhile, the search for the two men who held up the Columbia cab driver Wednesday night is still being carried on as is the search for the escaped Georgia convicts who fled into South Carolina. Lieutenant Jenkins said that no connection had been made between the Darlington and Columbia holdups and the Georgia convicts. The Georgia quintet held up a car near Anderson, stole the clothes of the passengers and left their stripes behind. They have not been seen since.

Both Swanson and Flynn appear to be approximately 22 years old.

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Cheraw, July 31. – At 8 o’clock this morning Chief of Police Horace McLain of Cheraw received a phone call from Sheriff Coker of Darling advising him that S. C. McDonald of Darlington, while backing his car out of his garage in Florence was held up by two men.

As Chief McLean hung up the receiver he glanced out the window and saw the stolen car passing. Jumping in his car, he chased them and blocked the road to the river bridge and forced the bandits in a dead end road. One bandit started to draw a gun, but McLean told him if he drew a gun he would kill him. A pistol was taken from one man, who gave his name as Allen Swanson, 22, of Philadelphia. From the other a wrist watch and ring were recovered. He gave his name as Robert Williams, 23, also of Philadelphia. Sheriff Coker and McDonald arrived at Cheraw and hour later and the watch and ring were identified as McDonald’s property. McDonald drove his car home and the sheriff took the two prisoners to Darlington, where they are charged with highway robbery and kidnapping. McDonald stated that he only had 37 cents in his pocket which the bandits also took. The bandits explained they had used it to buy a gallon of gas and a pack of cigarets.

Darlington, July 31. – “Cotton” McDonald, young Darlington white man, was held up and robbed early this morning while returning to his home from Florence.

McDonald, driving his automobile, had just left Florence when he saw two white men in the road. Thinking that he recognized one of them, he slowed down. The two men, whom he realized later he did not know, immediately jumped on the running board of his car and, at the point of a pistol, forced him from the driver’s seat. One of the bandits got in the back of the car, holding the pistol on Mr. Donald while the other drove the car.

The two men took McDonald through the main section of Darlington and about five miles from here, on the Society Hill highway, the car was turned into an isolated road and stopped. During the ride Mr. McDonalds’ life had been threatened if he attempted to make any outcry.

The bandits then ripped the seat covers from the automobile, tied McDonald’s hand and feet and gagged him. His watch and 37 cents, all the money, he had with him, was taken. The men got into the car and drove away. A few minutes later Mr. McDonald managed to undo the bindings and made his way back to Darlington, where he got in touch with Sheriff J. H. Coker, who immediately called officers in nearby town in an effort to catch the bandits.

In a short time the two men, Robert Williams, alias Tom Flynn, 22, of Philadelphia, and Allen Swanson, 21, also of Pennsylvania, were arrested in Cheraw by Chief Horace McLean.

Sheriff Coker, Deputy Sheriff Gene Miller, Andrew Askins of the fingerprint department and McDonald went to Cheraw and the latter identified the men who had bound and gagged him. The two prisoners were then brought to the Darlington county jail where they are being held on charges of highway robbery and automobile theft.

The prisoners said their reason for committing the crime was that they wanted an automobile in which to go to Rockingham to get their automobile, which had been left there.

Sheriff T. Alex Heise of Richland county and Lieut Leo Jenkins of the Highway patrol were in Darlington today investigating the crime and working on the case.