On March 10th, 1917 the Oak Park Oak Leaves ran a story titled “Thieves Loot Judge’s Courtroom.” It tells the story of Judge Lewis, an Oak Park Judicial Officer, whose offices were broken into and ransacked. The thieves made off with his typewriter, which was brand new because only three months earlier Judge Lewis had his offices broken into and his typewriter stolen.
The thieves’ logic was probably something along the lines of; well if they can’t write wanted notices they can’t catch us, and if they can’t write down court records they can’t convict us. This logic proved itself to be rock steady, as the thieves were never caught. At the time of the article, Lewis stated that he might have to start having court at night, to defend his remaining furniture.
Written and researched by Brian Cannon