This week in Prince George history, Sept. 11-17:
Sept. 15, 1952: Police were searching for a team of safecrackers who pulled off one job and were nearly caught in the act at a second robbery over the weekend of Sept. 12-14, 1952.
"Safecrackers were within seconds of capture Friday night (Sept. 12) when they were interrupted by police as they hacked away at a vault in the Imperial Oil Company office north of the CNR tracks," The Citizen reported. "A police prowl-car halted the Imperial Oil Company theft only minutes after thieves had smashed the dial off a small safe. Police found the office building and empty when they pulled up, but from the fact it was still warm inside they deduced they had missed a capture by seconds."
A couple days later on the Sunday, skilled safecrackers removed the door from the safe at the B & B Store at 344 George St. and stole between $700 and $800 in cash, but missed $30 in silver in the unlocked cash drawer.
The thieves gained access to the store by cutting a small, neat hole through the tin roof of the building. The safe was removed to a back room while the safecrackers worked to remove the door.
The thieves were picky, taking only the cash and leaving the merchandise -including a number of guns.
"Failure on the part of the thieves to remove any merchandise from the store is thought to indicate the job was done by professionals, who usually leave traceable loot strictly alone," The Citizen reported.
Police believed the two cases were committed by the same gang.
Scanning through issues of The Citizen from the following weeks, it appears the clever cracksmen got away with their crime. The haul was worth about $6,400 to $7,320 in today's money.
Raiding the Archives returns at full lengthy next week, following technical difficulties this week.
To explore 100 years of local history yourself, visit the Prince George Citizen archives online at: pgc.cc/PGCarchive. The Prince George Citizen online archives are maintained by the Prince George Public Library.
