100 years ago in The Record
Sunday, Feb. 9, 1919. Police in Troy, Albany, Cohoes and Watervliet are searching for three men who carjacked an Albany cabdriver on the way to Cohoes early this evening. Leonard Schaap drives a cab for J. A. Byron and picks up fares outside one of Albany’s hotels. The three men climb in around 5:30 p.m. and ask to go to the Spindle City via the “back road” through Menands and Latham. A mile outside Latham, the men order Schaap to stop . With one man brandishing a revolver, they make him switch seats with another of the trio, who takes over the driving. Frisking Schaap, they take $11 and his driving mittens. The cab continues on its way with two carjackers in front and Schaap in the back with the gunman. “To prove to Schaap that the weapon was in good working condition, the fellow raised it, pulled the trigger and shot a hole through the roof of the car,” The Record reports. “They made all manner of threats to him, impressing upon him that if he made any noise or attempt to get out of the machine, he would be killed on the spot. They told him they might kill him anyway, adding that if they should decide to do so his life would probably end in Syracuse.” In Cohoes, Schaap sees his chance when the car stops behind a trolley at Columbia and Main. The gunman presses his weapon against Schaap, warning him that “to yell is to die.”
“But suddenly Schaap grabbed his watcher’s hand, turned it, and held the weapon so its muzzle was towards the robber,” our reporter writes, “Holding the gun thus, he sprang over the side door and began to shout at the top of his voice.”
Fearing a gunshot at any moment, Schaap is relieved to see a policeman and several civilians running toward the car before the gunman tears the gun loose and the car speeds down Columbia Street.
Schaap describes the men as “young and smooth-faced.” Investigators suspect that the trio were involved in a “series of daring robberies by auto bandits in New York City last week.” Whether they’re headed to Syracuse or not is unclear.
2 Held on Charge of Assault and Robbery
Two men are arrested in Troy this morning for robbing United Waste Company watchman Martin Burns at the company’s Jackson Street plant.
William DeLorme and Matthew Kelly are accused of taking a watch and “other articles” from Burns after hitting him in the head with a stick. The pair had been arrested for breaking into a South Troy store three weeks ago.
—Kevin Gilbert