Thief Defeated By Bullet

Image from American Firearms

THIEF DEFEATED BY BULLET THAT FELLS HIM IN HIS TRACKS

Onawa Merchant Shoots When Crook Orders Him To Throw Up His Hands.

Onawa, Ia., Aug. 13. — I.A. Blotcky, a local merchant, shot and killed a highwayman almost at the door of his home here at 10:30 o’clock Saturday evening. Mr. Blotcky had for some time made it a practice to carry Saturday’s cash receipts home with him in a sack, invariably holding a loaded .32 calibre revolver just under his coat in the other hand. At the time of the shooting he carried $1,200 in a bag.

Just as he was turning into his lawn, a man stepped out from behind a tree commanding Blotcky to throw up his hands. As he raised his hands, as if in compliance, Mr. Blotcky fired and the robber fell, the bullet having taken effect in the left eyeball and passed through his brain.

The unknown man died in half an hour. After the shooting, Blotcky informed Sheriff George Martin.

The would-be robber had been seen hanging around town for several days before the shooting. He had been with two companions and pretended to be seeking work in the harvest fields.

J.B. Richard and Gus Danielson, of the Sioux City detective force, have been here and procured pictures of the dead man in the hope of establishing his identity, no papers having been found in his pockets. Detective Richard found $50 in bills in a secret pocket.

Mr. Blotcky has been exonerated by a coroner’s jury. His father, Joseph Blotcky, of Sioux City, was here yesterday.

Bayard Advocate (Bayard, Iowa) Aug 15, 1912

Image from Wisconsin Historical Society

Young doctors working in the cause of science, now cut to bits all that is left mortal of the robber who was shot last week at Onawa when he attempted to hold up I.A. Blotcky, who carried $200. Society may be better off without him, as the papers say, but just the same, somewhere probably a mother is standing at the back gate watching the train’s arrival to bring home her wandering son.

Correctionville News (Correctionville, Iowa) Aug 22, 1912