HOPEDALE VET THWARTS ROBBER

HOPEDALE VET THWARTS ROBBER IN 1947

A gun wielding ex-convict threatened the lives of a Hopedale veteran and his female companion in Arizona in 1947.

Larry Nichols of Dutcher Street,Hopedale had enrolled at the University of Arizona as soon as he had received his discharge papers. Because of the large influx of returning vets who were interested in acquiring a college degree, colleges throughout the country were suddenly cramped for space. But Nichols was pleased to hear from that university, even though it couldn't offer him space in a dorm. Fortunately he found an Arizona family that was willing to let him reside with them while he attend his college classes.

This arrangement went so well that the host family arranged a birthday party for Larry in March 1947. After the successful party was over, he volunteered to drive one of the female students back to her dorm.

But when the pair arrived at the front of the girls dorm a man suddenly appeared at the car window, saying he had run out of gas and needed help. Suspicious, Nichols refused to roll down his window to converse with the man.

It was then that the man produced a gun, ordering the couple to leave their car.

After threatening to kill them, he demanded the keys to the car. Nichols later said that he had been tempted to try to wrest the gun from the bandit but had not done so because he was concerned for the safety of his female companion, so he handed over the car keys. Then the man demanded money from the couple. Again,after considering his options, Nichols complied. But when the man demanded that Nichols hand over his coat, his wallet and watch, the vet got angry.

At that moment headlights from and approaching car shone on them. The light distracted the man sufficiently so that Nichols decided to use the interruption to his advantage. Nichols leaped at the man and grabbed his gun. The pair started to struggle for control of the bandit’s gun, causing them to land on the road and roll over several times.

Panicking, the man wrenched free and ran away. Nichols found the gun and fired it at the fleeing robber but the darkness made it impossible to focus on the escaping bandit.

While he was trying the calm down, Nichols decided he should escort his companion into her dorm but she insisted that he contact the police immediately and that she remain at the scene to verify what Nichols would tell them. So the pair found a nearby telephone booth and reported the incident.

In response, a dozen police in three cars arrived. After taking down the pair’s statements, the police advised them to go home and leave the investigation to them.

The next day Nichols was contacted by the police who wanted him to attend a lineup of suspects. Nichols agreed.He had no trouble identifying the culprit.

The police then told him that the culprit was an ex-convict who had only recently been released from jail. As a result of Nichols’ positive identification of the robber, the man was bound over for prosecution.

That would have ended the matter for Larry Nichols, but when the local newspaper reported the attempted robbery and how he had struggled with the man for the gun and when local radio stations began repeatedly broadcasting all the lured details for days after the event ,Nichols became a well-publicized hero.

Some people in Arizona and back home in Hopedale thought the Nichols had been foolhardy and could have been killed. But many more considered him a hero and congratulated him for thwarting the man who had had the gall to try to rob Nichols on his 21st birthday.