Suspect in Burglary Try Shot By Neighbor

March 30, 1947
Los Angeles

Career footpad Ray Mathews, 28, 417 S. Boylston St., made the mistake of plying his trade too close to home, when he was observed early today riffling the purse of his across the hall neighbor, Mrs. Harry Schwerberg.

The lady yelled, which alerted another neighbor, Kenneth Craig, who shot Mathews as he tried to flee the building. Mathews then returned to his own apartment, leaving again by way of a ladder out the window. Responding officers found the wounded man hiding in a hedge, and conveyed him to the Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, where he was booked on suspicion of robberies in San Francisco. Also taken into custody was a .45 caliber revolver, allegedly tossed aside by Mathews.

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Kim Cooper

Kim Cooper is the creator of 1947project, the crime-a-day time travel blog that spawned Esotouric’s popular crime bus tours, including The Real Black Dahlia. She is the author of The Kept Girl, the acclaimed historical mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe, and of The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles. With husband Richard Schave, Kim curates the Salons and forensic science seminars of LAVA- The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. When the third generation Angeleno isn’t combing old newspapers for forgotten scandals, she is a passionate advocate for historic preservation of signage, vernacular architecture and writer’s homes. Kim was for many years the editrix of Scram, a journal of unpopular culture. Her books include Fall in Love For Life, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, Lost in the Grooves and an oral history of Neutral Milk Hotel.

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