A LOOK BACK

In 19th century London, there lived a man who became synonymous as the

greatest detective the world had ever known.

His ability to solve crimes became known in every part of the world

and the mere mention of his name brought fear to the hearts of criminals.

That man’s name was Sherlock Holmes.

In the first half of the 20th century and halfway around the world in

a small beach town called Huntington Beach, there was another man who was

fast becoming known as a master detective.

LaVern “Vern” Keller joined the Huntington Beach Police Department in

1928 after having worked in our oil fields and Fire Department. In 1932,

he became Huntington Beach’s chief of police. Just after that, Keller’s

talent as a crime deduction would be tested. This happened on a Sunday,

March 20, 1932, when an 18-year-old youth entered Ted Bartlett’s Shell

gas station, at 7th Street and Pacific Coast Highway, at 8:15 p.m. and

ordered Bartlett at gunpoint to hand over all the money in the cash

register.

After being held up four times in four years, Bartlett handed the

gunman $18.22, all that was in the register. While the gunman was inside

robbing the gas station, a second youth waited outside in a Ford Model A

Roadster. When joined by the first youth, the two robbers began their

getaway through the downtown streets.

But while the two robbers were leaving the Shell station, two local

men -- Art Anderson and Ken Gilchrist -- were pulling into the station.

Bartlett quickly told the men of the robbery, and Anderson and Gilchrist

began chasing the robbers in their Chevrolet down Main Street at speeds

of nearly 80 miles per hour. The two cars sped through Downtown

intersections.

But at Yorktown Avenue and Lake Street the robbers left the road and

turned unto a road that led through the Huntington Beach Co.’s ranch and

where they were able to give Anderson and Gilchrist the slip.

But unbeknownst to the young robbers, Anderson and Gilchrist had

gotten their license plate number. At 8 a.m. the next day, Keller

contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles in Los Angeles and learned

that the license plate number was issued to a Fred Sandbrook in Los

Angeles and belonged to a 1921 Ford Model T.

With that information in hand, Keller, along with Officer Les Grant

and service station manager Ted Bartlett, drove up to Sandbrook’s home in

Los Angeles. From Sandbrook they learned he had sold the car to a George

Crane of East Los Angeles. So the three drove to Crane’s house on El

Sereno Street. Keller found Crane at home and learned that he had sold

the car to a Bill Jackson who worked at a gas station in Sierra Vista.

It was less then 24 hours since Bartlett’s station was robbed and the

three went in search of Jackson.

Next week we’ll see how Huntington Beach’s master detective Keller

solved this crime in one day and how he went on to solve a second crime a

few months later.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.