Lou’s View – August 7, 2014
Attack of the Wrist Bag Grabber
by Lou Bernard
In crime terms, it wasn’t exactly Jack the Ripper. But it was somewhat annoying, the first few months of 1904. There was a sort of mild one-man crime spree in Lock Haven. He was known by the creative name of the “Wrist Bag Grabber.”
Sometime in the winter of 1904, a man from Saint Mary’s came into town. Of course, nobody knew this yet. Nobody knew who he was or where he’d come from. But he was a criminal.
He was not exactly the type you see on “Law and Order.” His method was simple: He would wait for women to walk by carrying something—A purse, a shopping bag—And then he’d grab it and run away. Annoying thefts, yes, but even Nancy Grace would have a hard time getting all hysterical over this one.
The Wrist Bag Grabber stole purses from women throughout the winter and spring of 1904. A woman would be peacefully walking the streets of Lock Haven, and suddenly, a man would appear out of nowhere, snatch her purse, and run.
This all came to a climax on a Saturday evening—June 11, 1904. It was reported in the Clinton County Times later: “Wrist Bag Grabber Caught.”
Early in the evening, Lizzie Miller was walking along East Church Street, near the old jail, when her handbag was snatched. In an eerily prescient coincidence, the thief was waiting in the alley right beside the jail. The Wrist Bag Grabber darted out, grabbed her bag and the money inside, and ran from Church Street south, toward Clinton Street.
Meanwhile, over at 361 East Clinton Street, Minerva Lamkie was sitting on the porch of Henry Smith. Smith was a station engineer on the railroad, and Minerva was chatting with his wife. She was holding a package that she’d just had delivered, containing a new dress. As the Wrist Bag Grabber fled, he attempted to grab that bag, too.
Well. You can steal a woman’s money, but God help you if you try to take away her brand new dress apparently. Minerva held onto the package, screaming, and the Wrist Bag Grabber began to choke her. He wrestled the bag away from her, but both women were screaming at this point, and it brought the attention of two local men, Howard Lieber and Willie Zinn.
Lieber and Zinn chased the Wrist Bag Grabber east, toward Pine Street. He dropped the bags he was carrying, but they pursued him into a local lumberyard, where they held him until the police arrived.
“The police” in this case would be Officer John C. Brendel, aged forty-seven, who had been a city police officer for thirteen years. Two months later, that same summer, Brendel would go on to commit suicide, but that night he was a hero. The paper reported,”They held on to him and turned him over to Officer Brendel, who took him to Fort Shearer.”
“Fort Shearer” was the nickname for the county jail at the time, which was under the supervision of Sheriff J.H. Torrence Shearer, who served from 1903 to 1905. When locked up and questioned, the Wrist Big Grabber turned out to be William Snyder of Saint Mary’s, who had come to Lock Haven six months ago.
Snyder was given a hearing in front of Alderman Edward K. Parsons, who sent him to jail to be held until the September court term. I’d like to think Parsons sang “See You In September” as Snyder was led off, but maybe that’s just me. Bail was placed at three hundred dollars, which would be approximately fourteen million today. (Writer’s Note: Check this fact before it goes to print.)
Snyder spoke to District Attorney McCormick, and admitted his guilt. He was sent to prison, and the Clinton County Times reported that the Wrist Bag Grabber had, himself, been bagged, because the Clinton County Times has never rejected a cute phrase. And the streets of Lock Haven were safe for purses and packages once again.
