It
is tough to keep a good man down—even a thief.
Sherburne County learned this difficult lesson at the hands of W. S.
McDonald, a “sneak thief” and robber of local post offices.
The
Sherburne County Star News reported in
July of 1906 at least two men removed window panes, gaining access to the Elk
River Post Office. A year earlier the
safe in the post office had been blown open and never replaced. Due to the earlier robbery, few valuables
were kept in the office. The 1906 robbery thieves made
away with about $10 and books of stamps.
The police arrested McDonald in St. Cloud.
He had stamp books in his possession at the time. These books connected him directly to the
robbery. The police had captured this
nefarious criminal.
Unfortunately,
for the police, McDonald somehow managed to escape from their custody. Trying to immediately recapture McDonald, bloodhounds
from the reformatory were brought in to track his scent. These efforts failed. It appeared he had successfully eluded the
police. Almost two months later, police
recaptured McDonald in Anoka County. He
was sent back to St. Cloud and held for a grand jury hearing scheduled for
November.
The
Star News suggested the court immediately
turn McDonald over to federal authorities based on the charges of robbing the
post office, a federal offense. “If a
grand jury has to be called on account of this man, the cost of keeping and
conviction will certainly be somewhere between $400 and $500,” the paper
noted. “All of which will be borne by
Sherburne County.”
The
newspaper went on to note McDonald had a unique talent for evading the criminal
justice system. The headlines reported McDonald
robbed the Big Lake Depot in 1903. Although
there isn’t much detail, the paper reported, “McDonald is the man given a jail
sentence a few years ago for breaking into the depot at Big Lake.” No explanation is offered how or why McDonald
was out of jail after his earlier escapades.
About
the only details surmised from the reports about the post office robbery and
the apparent thief. W. S. McDonald
seemed to favor Sherburne County as he carried out his one man crime spree. In the end he was convicted and sent to
federal prison for his recent crime wave in Sherburne County. Citizens of Sherburne County could sleep
easier knows their streets were now safe from the likes of W. S. McDonald.
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