100 years ago in Spokane: Police nabbed members of a teenage crime ring who had committed 15 burglaries in two weeks

Two 18-year-old boys were caught in the act of burglarizing a service station at 14th Avenue and Grand Boulevard.

At 2 a.m., the police desk sergeant received a tip that burglars were breaking into the place. A third boy, a getaway driver, ran away when police approached. The two boys inside the station tried frantically to escape, but officers nabbed them.

“I suppose this means from one-to-15 years for me,” said one of the boys. “If my clothes hadn’t caught on the window when I was climbing out, I might have got away.”

Both boys confessed to committing 15 burglaries within the past two weeks. Their modus operandi was the same in most cases. First, they identified a store. Then, two of them broke in and piled up the plunder while the third stole a car and drove up. They quickly loaded the car up and sped off before anyone could get suspicious.

It didn’t work in this last case. The getaway car, stolen that night, was found at the scene.

One of the boys had been convicted a year ago of stealing a car in Spokane but was given a suspended sentence.

From the highway beat: Snow removal began on Snoqualmie Pass, but it was going to take months before cross-state travel could resume.

Snow and ice were “eight and nine feet deep.” The work was just getting underway with a large steam shovel.

“Everywhere the highways have suffered on account of the deep snow,” said the state highway engineer. “It is my opinion that the pass will be open for travel between Spokane and Seattle about May 15.”