FRANKLIN COUNTY OHIO - Columbus Citizen 06-08-1927 pages 1&2 *************************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. http://www.usgwarchives.net *************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Virginia Porter virginiaporter@hotmail.com April 10, 2003 *************************************************************************** I also have a few picture files that go with this. Columbus Citizen 06-08-1927 pages 1&2... Where Wild Ride Had Anticlimax: A wild ride in the night had an anticlimax for Angelo Furne, 545 Bonham Ave, at 2 A.M. Wednesday when he crashed into a confectionery, and a climax when he was shot and killed by policemen as he fled from the scene of the accident. The above pictures (see store, policemen and Angelo sketch) tell the story. Above, left, is seen the store of E. M. Davis, 133 W. Fifth Av, Badly wrecked by Furne's machine. Below are shown two automobiles struck by Furne before his machine catapulted into the store. right, above are shown Policemen Nesser and Knight who did the shooting. Below, at the left, is a sketch of Furne. CORPORAL SAYS HE SHOT AT ANGELO FURNE BECAUSE HE THOUGHT LATTER HAD GUN... Nesser and Companion Officer Quizzed By Acting Chief and County Prosecutor --Victim Slain as He Runs From Accident. County and city authorities joined forces in an investigation into the killing by police officers of an autoist as he fled from the scene of an accident early Wednesday. Angelo Furne, also known as Furnaletto, 26, 545 Bonham Av, was shot and killed at 2 A.M. at Dennison and Greenwood Avenues while being pursued by Police Corporal Nesser and Policeman Knight. Both Nesser and Knight fired at Furne, but which one hit him has not been determined,, altho Knight claims he shot into the air. Each fired two shots. A postmortem examination of Furne by Coroner Murphy is expected to reveal which of the officers hit Furne. One of them carried a .38 caliber revolver while the other's was .45 caliber. Police Inspector Dyer, acting chief and County Prosecutor Chester grilled the officers Wednesday to ascertai PROMISCUOUS SHOOTING. " There has been promiscuous shooting in that neighborhood. " he said " and we have had a great deal of trouble with persons using guns. " I fired my two shots, one as Furne stood by a fence after we had chased him east on Fifth Ave and then south on Dennison and east on Greenwood to opposite the rear of the Everett Junior High School. I had fired the other previously when we ran down Fifth Ave. " He stood with his hands in front of him, and I thought he had a gun. " Policeman Knight declared that he fired both of his shots into the air and did not aim at the fugitive. " As we ran, I fired once on Fifth Ave and once on Dennison. " he said." We both yelled for Furne to halt several times, threatening to shoot. " Furne, who sometimes went by the name of Furnaletto, was struck in the right shoulder by the bullet, which then passed thru his jugular vein. He was taken to White Cross Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The body was taken to the Egan undertaking es TWO LOCKED UP Mrs. Charleen Furne, 19, widow of the man shot, and Paul Cogat, Cleveland, were arrested in connection with the shooting and held for investigation. Mrs. Furne, who is nursing an injured leg suffered in an automobile accident in which she and her husband figured, was not told that her husband was dead. Corporal Nesser, Policeman Knight, and Danner were investigating a complaint in W. Sixth Ave at 2 A. M. Wednesday, when a Studebaker coupe going north on Highland St turned east on Sixth Ave. And the driver, apparently seeing the officers and attempting to avoid them, turned the car back, going south on Highland. The officers started after the car. FIND WRECKED ROADSTER at 133 W. Fifth Ave a confectionery store operated by E. M. Davis, the Studebaker car passed out of the picture. Here the officers found a wrecked Chrysler roadster, half buried in the front of the store building. This car it developed was that of Furne and his party. Learning that at least one person had been injured in the accident, the officers went to the home of Mrs. Anna Rule, 136 W. Fifth Ave where they were informed the injured persons had been taken. When the officers approached the door of the house, Furne and Cagot went out the back door and there started the chase, which ended in the death of Furne and the capture of Cagot. Cagot went south on Hunter and was overtaken by Officer Danner, Furne ran east on Fifth Ave and then south on Dennison and east on Greenwood to opposite the rear of the Everett Junior High School on the north side of the street. It was here that Furne was shot. When Nesser and Knight rounded the corner to the schoolyard, they say Furne MRS. RULE'S STORY. Mrs. Rule's story of the affair follows: " I was in the front room taking care of the baby, who had been restless, when I heard a crash. I went out front and there saw a Chrysler car half buried in the front of the store across the street. " Two girls and two men were standing near the car and I went over. One of the girls appeared to be badly hurt about the leg, so I invited them to come over to my house and get washed up. " I put the girl with the injured leg to bed and wrapped up the wrist of one of the boys. " The fellows asked me not to report the matter to the police and the girls insisted that I shouldn't turn them in. " " In the meantime somebody had called the police and they arrived. Several police came to the front door and the boys ran out the back. " Chased by patrolmen the boys split, one going south on Hunter Ave and the other east on Fifth Ave. We came out on the porch, the girls and myself and watched the chase in Fifth Ave. " The fellow being ormerly worked as a molder at the Columbus Malleable Iron Works. COLUMBUS CITIZEN 06-09-1927 PAGE 13 USE OF POLICE PISTOL IN FURNE CASE HELD JUSTIFIABLE Drastic action by an officer to the extent of full use of his pistol is permissible when the actions of a fugitive are " such as to arouse suspicions." That is the way County Prosecutor Chester defined use of a pistol by a policeman Thursday, after he, with Police Inspector Dyer, had announced that no charges will be brought against Corporal Ray Nesser for shouting and killing Angelo Furne as he fled the scene of an auto accident early Wednesday. Prosecutor Chester said : " Any ordinary citizen in the lawful pursuit of his business should and must stop on the command of a police officer in full uniform. When his actions are such as to arouse suspicions, police will be justified in taking drastic action in the enforcement of the law. " The conduct of Furne Wednesday as he fled from Corporal Nesser and Policeman Joseph Knight was " suspicious. " the investigators held. Other reasons for absolvin COLUMBUS DISPATCH 06-09-1927 PAGE 29 'JUST GOING ON RIDE' SAYS WIDOW OF BULLET VICTIM Husband Frightened and Ran When Policemen Came, Mrs. Furne Declares -- Denies Knowing Two Suspects arrested Later ----- Nesser exonerated in Killing " There was no mystery about my husband's actions. He was just frightened and ran when the officers entered the house, " said Mrs. Charles Furne, age 19, of 1516 Glenn Avenue, who told late Wednesday her version of the wild auto ride and fatal shooting of her husband, Angelo, age 21, killed early Wednesday morning when he attempted to escape from Police Corporal Ray Nesser after the auto he was riding in had figured in several Collisions in Fifth avenue. " Angelo did nothing wrong. He was only frightened. Paul (Cagot) came to our home from Cleveland, Tuesday, and the three of us started for a rid Tuesday night. We went downtown and picked up a woman whom none of us knew. Later we had some liquor and were going to the Little Pig barbecue, East Fifth Avenue when the COUPLE RELEASED. Both Mrs. Furne and Cagot, who were arrested and taken to city prison where they were questioned and held on an investigation charge, were released late Wednesday afternoon. The young woman said she met Furne a year ago. When they were married they went to live with her sister at the Glenn avenue address, she said. Conflicting reports of shooting in the Fifth avenue district prior to police finding Furne's wrecked auto have not been cleared, but in their efforts to learn the cause of the supposed shooting, police uncovered a clue which resulted in the arrest of two men who are being held at city prison on investigation charges. From a telephone number found in Cagot's pocket, police traced a clue to 164 Pennsylvania avenue, where they arrested Thomas Hurst, age 19, and Charles Evans, age 19, of 1241 Michigan avenue. They confiscated 50 gallons of liquor, at the Michigan avenue address. DENIES KNOWING MEN Mrs. Furne, however, says she know neither of the two men. She also denied that her husband had previously been in a fight and stabbed. " Angelo never had a fight as long as I have known him, " she said. The two men probably will be questioned Thursday. Corporal Nesser was completely exonerated by acting Chief of Police Dyer following questioning of Mrs. Furne, Cagot and a number of neighbors in the vicinity where the accident occurred. " No charges can be filed against Nesser because of Furne's actions immediately preceding the shooting, " Dyer said. " Furne's efforts to escape indicated that he had been riding in a stolen car. " Dyer said. " Nesser also commanded the man to stop several times. Other shooting in the vicinity probably tended toward making Nesser think the man one of a gang of desperate men. " Any ordinary citizen in pursuit of his lawful business need never fear to stop on command of a police officer in full uniform, " John J. Chester, county prosecuto