Looking back: ‘Scarred lip bandit’ robs bank and men survive after being electrically shocked
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Sept. 16 to Sept. 22 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
ALMO — A man had a “serious accident” while working in Almo, which resulted in breaking his jaw in three places, The Burley Herald reported on Sept. 20, 1919.
D.A. Stout was “cranking a threshing engine,” but the crank did not release and “flew around,” striking Stout’s jaw. He was taken to Burley and later taken to the Twin Falls Hospital.
“He had to have a plate made for his mouth to take the place of teeth that are missing,” the paper explained. “The operation was a most difficult one.”
The article continues, “His face had to be cut open so as to get at the jaw bone, and the patient showed great nerve by standing all the cutting without taking anesthetic.”
After the operation, the problem was how to feed the injured man since his “teeth and jaw are out of commission.”
Despite the injury, the man was “resting easily.”
1926-1950
IDAHO FALLS — The new FM Idaho Falls police radio was going to begin broadcasting messages over the weekend, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Sept. 16, 1949.
Paul Crowder, Idaho Falls Police Department radio technician, announced the newly installed station to be known as KOA-549 was given the green light to operate after receiving formal approval from Washington, D.C.
“The new station, one of four 250 watt police units in Idaho, clamps an important segment in the statewide communication system,” the article states. “The other 250 watt stations are at Pocatello, Boise and Lewiston, with 50 watt stations at other key cities in Idaho.”
Prior to this time, the police radio operated on the old AM system while most of the state had shifted to the more efficient FM level.
1951-1975
BLACKFOOT — A “scarred lip bandit” who stole $8,300 was being sought by police, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Sept. 16, 1952.
The robber stole from the Idaho Bank and Trust Company on Monday afternoon. A “roadblock dragnet over East Idaho” did not work and the suspect remained on the run.
“Road blocks were operated during the night but no trace of a suspect was found,” the article reads. “One tip of a suspicious looking car was reported during the night but no clue was unearthed.”
Bingham County Deputy Sheriff Melvin Miles said they didn’t have “much of anything to go on.”
“The description is certainly meager,” Lt. Robert McCall of East Idaho’s state police force told the Post Register. “Outside of the scarred lip, which may not be definite, all we really know is that the suspect is over 21 years and white.”
LeRoy Pendlebury, the teller who was forced to hand over the money, said the man came into the bank around 1:40 p.m.
“He went over to a check writing stand and scribbled on the back of a blank check,” he said. “He shoved it through the window and rested a gun on the grill.”
Pendlebury recalled the note said, “Fill this sack.”
Pendlebury said he started to take loose bills from his drawer when the man said, “I’ll take that box.”
“That box” held most of the money, according to Pendlebury.
“Pendlebury said the gunman told him, ‘Don’t make any noise and you won’t get hurt,'” the article mentioned. “So he waited until he got out the door before (he) hit the alarm buzzer.”
Witnesses told police the man dumped the small bills into a sack and ran from the bank, but couldn’t say whether someone was waiting in a car. However, officers believed the robber may have had one accomplice.
Pendlebury said he ran to the door to try and spot the robber but “no one was on the street.”
“I remember thinking how unusual that was,” he said. “I couldn’t see him anywhere.”
Local and state police were working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the case.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — Two men survived after being electrically shocked, the Idaho State Journal reported on Sept. 19, 1976.
Voyde Ward, of Roberts, and George Carter, of McCammon, were at the Bannock Paving Co. slag sales yard in Pocatello when the accident happened.
They were guiding a conveyor that was being moved by a crane which struck a 2300 volt power line shortly before 9 p.m. Friday, according to the Power County Sheriff’s Department.
The accident cut the power line to the Pocatello Municipal Airport. Lights at the airport were off for about one hour.
The men were listed in stable condition at Bannock Memorial Hospital.