LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT HISTORICAL WEB SITE
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LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT HISTORICAL WEB SITE
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MARKET BASKET ROBBERY – MARCH 31, 1950
On Saturday, April 1, 1950, the headlines of the State Journal read: “Police Squads Combing City, Area, for Pair Who Shot Three Officers.” The Market Basket grocery store on East Michigan had closed for the day. After preparing the registers for the next day, the store manager and head cashier set the alarm and exited the building at 9:47 pm to the rear (south) parking lot. Two male armed bandits emerged from the dark parking area and ordered the two employees to reenter the store. At 9:51 pm an ADT alarm was received at the Western Union Office and Lansing police were immediately notified. The first cruiser arriving at the front of the store (north) carried Patrolmen Bob Belen, Anthony Pohl, Burwin Lagios who was being taken to his beat, and commissioner Potter, an observer. Patrolmen Russ Detering and Alex Hnatiw arrived within seconds and took up a position east of the building. Officer Belen, the first to reach the front doors of the darkened store, unknowingly interrupted the armed bandits who were standing over the two employees. One of the robbers open fired on Belen, hitting him four times. Officer Detering ran from his position towards Belen, while Hnatiw and Pohl covered the back of the store. The bandits kept shooting and ran through the store to the back, but found their escape route covered and assumed the store was surrounded by police officers. The bandits yelled, “We surrender,” but as Detering approached them, they began shooting hitting him with their gunfire. As the bandits jumped over Officer Belen and ran out the back door, they ran into a hail of bullets from Officer Pohl. However, both suspects escaped through rear yards of neighboring houses. The darkness of the scene left officers only able to shoot when they saw gunfire to avoid hitting an innocent person and protect bystanders that were gathered around them. Intense investigations did not reveal the whereabouts of the robbers, but within a week an anonymous tip led Lansing detectives to the Detroit area. With cooperation of several Detroit area police agencies, the two young men were apprehended and confessed to the Market Basket robbery and other crimes they had committed. In time, the officers recovered from their injuries and returned to their police duties. Each officer received a Meritorious Service award.
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The link above will load a copy of the newspaper article. The file is very large and will take some time to load.
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