Purple Gang – Part 2 – by Frank Passic

THE PURPLE GANG, PART 2 Morning Star, December 15, 1996, pg. 21

(Continued from December 8, 1996). The Fleishers also rented an auto stall in the “Frog Pond” building still standing in the Market Place [2001 update–building now houses the Leisure Hour Club]. Originally built by Allen J. Wilder, it contained several parking stalls, and a small auto-repair shop. The structure was acquired by the Albion Depositors Corporation (a group of local investors) during the 1930s, and later by George Bohm, owner of the Bohm Theatre. After Sam Fleisher was sent to prison in April, 1936, the stall lease was taken over by Clair Case, a junkyard employee.

During 1936 there had been numerous safe robberies and burglaries across Southern lower Michigan, including the local March 9 burglary of the Kroger grocery at 223 S. Superior Street, in which the store’s safe was removed. Local residents became particularly suspicious form that time onward.

The get-away car had been a specially armored gun-metal colored Graham-Paige sedan, that was secretly stored in the garage stall here in Albion. The car had been chased by various Southern Michigan police in some of the robberies. It was suspected as being part of the crimes when Albion police officer Walter Burns observed the car driving out on West Erie Street on a Saturday night in late May.

At 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday June 3, 1936, a massive raid by 25 law enforcement officials at the junkyard and the garage stall resulted in the capture of the car and the arrest of Louis and Nellie Fleisher, and Sam and Lillian Bernstein. Sam was well-known by Detroit police as being a “safe man.” One of the east windows over the end stall where the car was stored was not completely covered, allowing an officer to peek in and identify it. A south window was covered with tar paper.

The car was “the most completely equipped burgular’s automobile we have ever seen,” stated a Michigan State Police officer at the time. It had a 3/4 inch bullet-proof glass (the Gang would have their car serviced at what is now Bilicke’s on Austin Avenue, and workers there would wonder why the glass was so thick), a metal flap in the back window that could be pulled down to deflect bullets from the rear, metal shields on other car parts including the tires, holes to position firing guns, removable doors and seats so a large safe could be inserted. A two-wheeled hand cart was also stored inside, used for transporting the safe.

Articles found in the car included nitroglycerine, dynamite and electric caps, drill punches, a sledge hammer, chisels, tongs, rubber wire, soap, bank bags, screw drivers, other burglar’s tools, a .38 Colt army revolver, a .38 automatic pistol, a .45 army revolver and one regular one, a Winchester .30 rifle, a Marland 30-30 rifle, a 12-guage Winchester pump-gun, and a Remington guage sawed-off shotgun, along with a bag of ammunition, and guns fully loaded. The gangsters had the car wired so that wires ran from the car to the safe which was blown up with nitroglycerine.