1949 Robbery

As I continue sifting through all my research material left over from compiling and editing The Fowlerville Chronicles, I will occasionally add an interesting article or two of some of the events in Fowlerville – sometimes good and sometimes not so good. The following article, published in The Fowlerville Review in 1949, brought to light a robbery attempt of both the Tomion’s Dairy Store (currently a storefront for hunting supplies) and the post office (which was then located where Shear Image is found today).

Burglars Entered Two Places Here~~A total of about $102.70 was obtained by burglars in Fowlerville last Wednesday night, in a break-in at Tomion’s Dairy and the Post Office.

At about 12:30 am, Laverne Dibble, who has been substituting as night watch since Alva Christian was injured in a traffic accident, checked the rear doors along the south side of East Grand River and found that a window had been taken out at the Post Office and that a rear door at the Dairy was open.

Upon investigation, it was found that burglars had entered the Tomion Dairy through a skylight and knocked the combination off the safe. However, in doing so, they broke a tear gas bomb which drove them out. They obtained about eight dollars from the milk route bags and a petty cash box before they made their exit.

They then attempted to enter the Post Office building through the roof. They chopped a hole in the roof, tore down some metal ceiling, and then evidently decided against entry in that manner, and returned to the alley and took out a window. After forcing their way through two barred doors, they tore the safe open, took $94.70 and a vault which contained more money. The inner vault was found intact in a rear room of the Post Office building; it appearing that the burglars were frightened away before they had a chance to break it open.

It is presumed that the burglars were driven out of Tomion’s Dairy by the sting of tear gas, and probably would have returned later if the break-in had not been discovered.

State Police and the postal officials are working on the case, checking fingerprints found on both safes.