Thursday, February 24, 2011

Officer closes bar in one-man raid near here

This story was published by The Ypsilanti Daily Press on Thursday, February 24, 1931.

A one man raid of a residence near the Ypsilanti Armory, Monday night, is the opening gun in a campaign to keep Washtenaw county dry, Sheriff Jacob Andres stated this morning.

One of the deputies stepped into the residence Monday night to “look things over’ and decided to conduct the raid single handed. He found the residence, a stucco house contained a bar with beer on tap, and an assortment of whiskey and wine. The stock of gin, he was told, had been depleted. As he entered, the bar tender, Gordon Parrington, R F. D. 1 had just placed a whiskey serving on the counter and informed a customer, “That’s good”. “I’ll take it then,” the deputy said and proceeded with the raid.

Contrivance for the serving of beer, well iced, was made of a garbage can in which the ice was packed around a system of coils. A faucet had been attached to one side of the can and a pressure gauge, air compression chamber and rubber tubing completed the outfit. There was no brass rail the deputy says, but there was an iron one, a bar and even an old spittoon.

He made the bar tender and the door keeper, Francis Guyer, 23, R. F. D. 1, empty out the beer on the premises and carry the apparatus to the county jail. Both are held on charges of possession.

“I was so darned anxious to let you in!” the door tender regretfully remarked, indicating to the deputy the men expected there was to be active trade.

The house is an eight room building of recent construction.

Numerous complaints had been received of the place Sheriff Andres says.

During the last week an intensive campaign has been made in Wayne county to drive out bootleggers and they are trying to “muscle” into Washtenaw county, the sheriff explains.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Officers fork hay Sunday evening

This story was published by The Ypsilanti Record of Wednesday, February 23, 1921.
Mrs. Adeline Beilek and Harry Merritt were both bound over by Justice Stadtmiller on a statutory charge preferred by Henry Beilek, husband of Adeline.
Sunday night Beilek told officers that his wife was in the habit of going out nights and coming back home about 2 o’clock in the morning. “She smells like a horse,” he told officers, “and I believe she stays in a barn.”
Officers Connors, Elliott and Laidlaw Sunday night on a tip from the husband went to the barn of Merritt, on Water Street, and broke into it. They went up in the hay loft and looked and listened. They neither saw nor heard. Then they began to fork hay. Chief Connors says he forked a ton, while Deputy Sheriff Dick Elliott thinks he forked more than a ton. Laidlaw and Beilek also forked some.
The latter was extremely anxious to find the man and kept jabbing his fork down in the hay continually, thinking he would run it into the man. After the officers were exhausted they finally uncovered Mrs. Beilek and she was taken to the detention room at the city hall and locked up. Tuesday she made a voluntary confession, stating that she had been guilty of the crime charged. Bail was fixed at $500 each. Merritt furnished bail, his two brothers coming to the rescue. Mrs. Beilek was unable to get bail and was committed to the county jail to await trail

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Troopers raid Deihl shack at Hospital site

This story was published by the Ypsilanti Daily Press on Saturday, February 7, 1931.

State troopers Friday afternoon swung axes freely at Ypsilanti State Hospital when liquor was found at the Frank Deihl restaurant, a temporary shack near the dormitory. Two men , who were found in the building at the time, were taken into custody and a warrant was issued for the apprehension of Deihl. He had not been arrested this morning.

Stanley Ferguson and Joseph Priestas, state troopers, acting under orders from the state department where a complaint had been sent concerning conditions at the hospital site, conducted the raid which occurred between 2 and 3 o’clock. Deihl is accused of possession of three had a half pints of whiskey and three quarts of wine.

Anthony De Mico and David McIntosh, both giving the state hospital as their address, were arrested and taken before Justice Bert E. Fry. Both pleaded not guilty and demanded examination which was set for Feb. 13. Bonds of $100 were furnished by William Deihl. Disorderly charges were lodged against them.

The state officers broke windows of the restaurant, a temporary structure 50 by 25 feet long and wrecked furniture and equipment