Looking back: Youths crash into store after car brakes fail and man throws fit after not getting pair of boots for Christmas
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Dec. 23 to Dec. 29 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BLACKFOOT — A “popular superintendent of the sugar factory” thought someone stole his horse and buggy but was surprised when the police chief showed up in it, The Blackfoot Optimist reported on Dec. 25, 1913.
Mr. Varley and his wife came to Blackfoot on business. When they were ready to go home, they noticed their horse that was hitched across the street from DeKay’s store, was gone. Only a halter was left.
Authorities were notified and were preparing to go look for the stolen horse and buggy.
“All of a sudden, the missing rig drove in sight with Chief of Police Simmons and (nightwatchman) Sewell, who had borrowed it to get a man who was reported to be lying in the road near the Doud residence,” the article reads.
When the officers explained to Varley why his horse and buggy were temporarily missing, he understood and “did not blame them” for taking his mode of transportation.
1926-1950
AMERICAN FALLS — A false fire-alarm helped burglars get away, the Idaho State Journal reported on Dec. 26, 1950.
Two guns, a carton of shells and $70 in cash were stolen from a building early Tuesday morning while police and firefighters responded to a fire alarm a mile from the scene of the burglary.
Power County sheriff started an investigation into the burglary. The building where the items were stolen from was owned by the same person who owned a local pharmacy that was also burglarized about a week earlier.
1951-1975
BURLEY — The brakes failed on a car filled with five youth inside on Christmas Day, The Burley Herald reported on Dec. 27, 1956.
The boys had left the home of the driver, Richard Floyd Blake, 17, of Declo, to pick up an item at the store. With them was the son of the store owner, J.A. Gillett.
When Blake pulled in the parking lot and pushed on the brake, he realized the brake wasn’t working.
“There was tinkle of plate glass and the grinding of bricks,” the article reads. “The boys had made their entry without even having to unlock the door of the store.”
Damage to the front of the store was estimated at $300 and damage to the front of the car was estimated at $50 to $75.
Sheriff LePage Layton said a leak probably developed in the brake line of the car sometime during the one-and-a-half mile trip from Blake’s house to the store.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — Pocatello police were called to a home after a 40-year-old man who didn’t get the pair of boots he wanted for Christmas caused a disturbance, the Idaho State Journal reported on Dec. 26, 1977.
The man did damage to his residence and “roughed up” members of his family, who ended up staying at another house that evening.
The disturbance happened around 10:40 p.m. while the family opened Christmas presents. The man had reportedly been drinking before the incident. No charges were immediately filed.