By Michael D. Martin, E.C.P.D.
Retired
About the author...Michael Martin (pictured front row, far right in the 1981 photo) is a retired veteran of 25 years on the Eden City Police Department, and has penned a number of anecdotal writings recalling his experiences.
XXXVIII. The Smith's Hardware Burglary
This was about the same time as the Builder's Mart case..Mo Clark was still
squeezing Bobby Ray for more. Bobby Ray again said he was to meet two more
thugs near Ridgeway and buy all the guns from Smith's Hardware. and we set
up on Smith's Hardware, from the previous success at Builder's Mart, we knew
this would go down but we had a harder tactical problem.
There was no good observation place. Marshall Clark, Garnet Smart, Frank Watkins and Wayne Carter staked out the area. Eugene "Buddy Moretz" was with me. Bud and I were close enough to hear the glass breaking as the thugs entered the store. We called in the team and we all quietly walked into the rear of Smith's Hardware and braced for the confrontation.
When the two burglars came out the rear of the
store, they were wearing ski masks and had their arms full of rifles. The
first thing they saw was a semi-circle of officers, all pointing 12 gauge
riot guns at them, they froze.....we photographed them as they stood, then
we removed the ski masks and photographed them again.....I still have the
photos somewhere.
Again, this couple of burglars were told that a
patrol officer had heard the glass breaking, and they too...went off to
prison not knowing Bobby Ray had set them up for a hard fall.