1930

September 30, 1930
Gunfire at Milam @ Anita

DOB – 2/29/1904, Age 26
Badge –
Final Resting Place – Glendale, Lufkin, TX

One police officer was killed and another critically wounded Saturday night, September 20, 1930, in a gun battle, when they tried to arrest the occupant of a car, which had been used by two unmasked white bandits, who held up the Touchy Furniture Company Store, at 720 Milam, and robbed it of $317. The robbery took place shortly before 9 p.m. The shooting occurred an hour later at Milam and Anita.
Officer W.B. Phares, 26, Fitzgerald's partner, was shot once, the bullet penetrating his abdomen.
The Touchy Store robbery took place shortly before 9 p.m., when two well-dressed unmasked white men held up the store, took $317 from the cash register and safe, forced the manager, T.P. Clark, into a car and dropped him out two blocks from the store. After the bandits released Clark, he rushed to a nearby garage and telephoned police a description of the bandits and their car.

A general order was issued by Police Chief Percy Heard, directing all members of the police department to be on the lookout for the robbers. The number and description of the car was broadcasted to all officers, and Officers Fitzgerald and Phares were among the policemen patrolling the streets trying to find the bandits. When the officers were approaching Milam and Anita, they spotted a car which bore the license numbers broadcasted over the air. As they neared the car, pistol shots rang out and Officer Phares fell to the pavement. He drew his pistol and emptied the contents in the direction of the car.
"Get that man!" Officer Phares shouted. Officer Fitzgerald advanced toward the car. The scene became a bedlam of shooting. Officer Fitzgerald staggered back several feet and fell with three bullets planted accurately in his left lung. The hijacker jumped out of the car and ran west on the north side of Anita Avenue.
The shooting attracted a large crowd, more than 2,000 men and women standing in groups to watch police officers searching the neighborhood. The killer escaped in spite of the man hunt. As the night wore on, the search for the slayer extended over the city, white deputy sheriffs and policemen guarded all roads leading out of town. Despite their futile attempts to apprehend the killer of the officers, it was an unsuccessful night.
Mr. J.J. Maple, 35, was arrested Sunday by officers, who intercepted his wife as she entered her apartment to get extra clothing for herself, her husband and their daughter. They had been hiding out in a church behind Evergreen Cemetery on the banks of Brays Bayou since the shooting. Mrs. Maple led the police officers to her husband, where he was apprehended by several officers.
E.F. Grimes, 34, was arrested later in the day after Mrs. Maple gave her statement identifying him as her husband's partner on other robbery cases. Both men confessed their part in the Saturday night holdup.
Officer W.B. Phares entered the police service July 30, 1930. And passed away on September 30, 1930 after 10 days in the hospital struggling to keep him alive (He was only an officer for 2 months).

Source – Houston Police Department Museum Files