Bandits Captured
Contributed by: Mike on Monday, September 14 2026 @ 09:09 am EDT
Last modified on Monday, September 14 2026 @ 01:37 pm EDT
Indianapolis Times, Volume 42, Number 304, Indianapolis, Marion County,
30 April 1931[*1]
BANDITS CAPTURED AT OAKLANDON AND $3,000 BANK LOOT RECOVERED
A citizens' posse discouraged bank banditry in Marion county today when it captured two men who held up the Oaklandon State bank, taking $3,000.
Top picture shows the bandits being led, handcuffed together, into the sheriff's road patrol office. Left to right are Deputy Sheriff Tom Scanlon, James Cordell and Charles Palmer, the bandits, and Deputy Sheriff Pat Kinney. In the inset (left) Cordell and (right) Palmer. Both men were reluctant to be photographed.
Below (left), the bank, and (left to right) Paul Burk, one of the posse; Edgar Mock, assistant cashier, who was held up, and R. V. Bruce, another of the posse.
Robbers Chased Across Fields by Citizens, Surrender Without Fight; Hide Behind Counters in Holdup.
Two young bank bandits who robbed the Oaklandon State bank of $3,000 early this morning were captured ten minutes later, when a half dozen citizens overtook them after a mad steeplechase across fields west of the village.
Refusing their names or any information to deputy sheriffs who brought them to Indianapolis, the pair were turned over to detectives. Later they told detectives they were James Cordell, 32, Detroit, and Charles Le Roy Palmer of Cleveland, but they were silent again.
Detectives today received requests from Ohio authorities for description of Cordell and Palmer, whom they believe are wanted for crimes there.
Tells of Other 'Third Degrees'
Both bandits refused to say anything when quizzed by detectives. However, Cordell's description is said to tally with that of a bandit who robbed a bank in St. Clairsville, O., Tuesday.
"You can beat me, kick me, or do what you damn please, but I'm not talkin'," Cordell, the younger man, told detectives. "I've been in hospitals as long as three weeks after one of these sessions, but I never told anything."
A moment later he denied ever having been in trouble before, and said he wouldn't be wanted for anything in Ohio.
Prosecutor Herbert E. Wilson said he would file indictments against the pair as soon as possible, and work to bring them to trial without delay.
"Robbers with guns are potential killers," he said.
When Edgar Mock, assistant cashier, opened the bank at 7:30, the pair arose from behind a counter, with pistols in their hands.
"Get 'em up, quick," one commanded. Then he looked out of the window, noticed that the holdup might be seen, and commanded Mock to lower his arms and walk behind the counter.
Threatening death if he stepped on alarm buttons or refused to obey them, the bandits ordered the vault opened. From it they scooped $3,000 into a sack, and forced Mock into the vault.
Pulls Burglar Alarm
Once inside, swiftly he grabbed a steel door and slammed it shut to protect himself, pulling a burglar alarm at the same time.
The alarm sounded in the fire station nearby. As the bandits fled through the rear door of the bank, seven men ran after them. Some of the citizens were armed with shotguns. Others had no weapons.
The chase led west of the town, with the villagers gaining on the bandits. In an open field, half a mile away the bandits split, one darting in one direction, and other in another.
Close behind one of the bandits was Alexis Riley, unarmed.
"Stop, you! Or I'll drill you," he yelled at the panting fugitive.
His bluff was not called. The bandit stopped, and surrendered without any opposition, before he discovered his captor was unarmed. He had refused to shoot until Riley had covered him.
They were R. V. Bruce, Otto Applegate, Paul Burk and Guy McCord. Riley took away the gun, and Bruce took the sack of money. Cordell was carrying. Search disclosed two other guns, one of which belonged to the bank.
Meanwhile, Norris Lingle and Marvin Springer overtook Palmer. Florin Huntley, 16, and Ross Apple, 19, had seen him hide a small sack of money in a drain tile. It was recovered, and the gun was found along interurban tracks where he threw it as he ran.
Think Third Man Involved
Deputy Sheriff Scott Palmer, marshal, said he thought a third man was in on the plot, and was to have picked up Cordell and Palmer, but was unable to carry out the plan when Mock stepped on the alarm.
He said that while driving a school bus west of the town shortly after the alarm sounded, he saw a stranger driving a maroon coupe, looking backward toward the village several times as he sped away.
Mock and the citizens who captured the pair may share a $100 reward offered by the American Surety Company of New York, which carries a policy on the bank. The insurance company already has begun arrangements to pay the reward to the bank, which will distribute it among the members of the posse.
Mock was held up June 22, 1926, while alone in the bank. The bandit was Bruce Scott, now wanted here for murder of a city fireman, on trial in Oklahoma for kidnapping.
The men were returned to the bank and searched. As the money was piled up, a table one of the bandits protested:
"Hey, listen, $35 of that was mine," he complained. The money was not given to him.
Officers Soon on Scene
Deputy Sheriffs Thomas Scanlon, Pearl Craig and Pat Kinney, on the scene in eleven minutes after they received the alarm, handcuffed the prisoners and brought them to city prison.
Police believe the men entered the bank through a side window during the night and intended to blow the safe, but were surprised by Mock.
Following the bandits, deputies found two guns on them, one a blue-steel .45-caliber revolver, and the other a .38-caliber automatic pistol. Cordell was a tall, husky man, and Palmer is short and heavy.