John Dillinger ‘shot the sheriff’

By Mary Grothause, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, October 13, 2008 (1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Most of us are probably familiar with the Bob Marley song “I shot the sheriff,” which may have been prophetically true but had nothing to do with the shooting of Allen County Sheriff Jess Sarber on Oct. 12, 1933 by the John Dillinger gang.
The events presented are culled from Delphos Herald news articles and from the book “The Gangsters” by Timothy Jacobs.
Oct. 13, 1933 – Intensive search was being conducted throughout Ohio today for three  gunmen  who  invaded the  Allen  County  Jail  at Lima  late  yesterday,  shot  and fatally wounded Sheriff Jess Sarber and then released John Dillinger, 30, notorious bank robber, said to be wanted in two states, Indiana and Ohio.
The gunmen, along with Dillinger, who was being held in the county jail to face charges in connection with the robbery of a bank at Bluffton, escaped without being sighted, leaving officials no clue as to which way they made their getaway.
Police and county officials throughout Ohio and particularly the central section of the state, however, were notified to be on the lookout for the gunmen. Before lapsing into unconsciousness last night at Memorial Hospital, Sheriff Sarber declared to attendants that he had recognized one of the bandits as Harry Copeland, who he said was one of the 10 convicts who escaped from the Michigan City, Ind. prison on Sept. 20.
Sheriff Sarber told of the shooting, “Three men came in and said they wanted one of our prisoners. I asked them for their credentials and their reply was the drawing of revolvers, the leader saying, “Here are our credentials.” “Before I could say anything, the leader, who I think is Harry Copeland, one of the Michigan City fugitives, had opened fire. That is about all I remember.”
Sheriff Sarber, Mrs. Sarber and Deputy Sheriff John Sharp were in the office when the gunmen entered. “Sarber was sitting behind the desk and spoke to the three men,” Sharp said in telling of the shooting. “He asked them what they wanted.”
“We are from Michigan City, Indiana, and we are here to see John Dillinger, the fellow you have here for bank robbery,” one of the men said. “He was a big fellow, about six feet and four inches tall.” “The sheriff asked for visitors’ credentials. The big man pulled an automatic pistol from his pocket and said, “Well, here it is.”
“Sarber reached for his gun and the big man shot him. The sheriff fell to the floor and as he dropped, the three men turned toward me, covering me with their pistols. They searched me, took away my gun and then asked for the jail keys. “I told them I did not have the keys and did not know where they were. They apparently believed me for they turned again to the sheriff, who was on the floor.”
“Where are those keys, you ——?” the big man asked.” “I do not know whether the sheriff was able to answer. I heard nothing from him and then a moment later the big man fired a second time. I heard a groan and that was all. The big man continued repeating his demand for keys and after a time, I saw him club the sheriff.”
“The next I remember is that the men had keys and were entering the jail proper. They asked for Dillinger and in a few minutes they came out with him. When they reached the outer office, they shoved me and Mrs. Sarber into the jail, turned the lock and then fled.”
It is understood that four shots were fired, two of them striking  the  sheriff,  one piercing the abdomen. He died at the hospital at 8:05 p.m. Thursday. It is believed that his death was due to a blood clot resulting from blows to the head by the gunman who beat the officer with his automatic while demanding the keys to the cells of the jail.
Although Sheriff Sarber had asserted a short time before his death that he had recognized one of the gunmen as Harry Copeland, Indiana state police reported that no one by that name was among the convicts who broke out of the prison on Sept. 20.
Police recalled, however, that Dillinger had been suspected while being held by Dayton police recently following his capture, of having aided in the Indiana prison break. At the time of Dillinger’s capture in Dayton, police seized a note which was said to have a diagrammed detail of the escape plot.
Dillinger had been identified in connection with several bank robberies, including one at Indianapolis, another at Farrell, Penn. and one at Bluffton. He was captured Sept. 22 in Dayton in the house of a woman who is a sister of one of the convicts who escaped from the Michigan City prison.
Oct. 14 – Spurred by the posting of a $5,000 reward, one of the most intensive manhunts in the history of western Ohio was being conducted Saturday for the gang of desperadoes who brazenly invaded the Allen County Jail late Thursday and released a suspected bank robber after slaying Sheriff Jess Sarber.
The $5,000 reward was posted by the Allen County commissioners for the capture of the killers, believed to be escaped convicts from the Michigan City, Ind. prison, “dead or alive.”
Posting of the reward was announced shortly after officials had definitely identified one of the killers as Harry Pierpont, one of the 10 convicts who broke loose from the Michigan City prison Sept. 20.
Search for the killers and John Dillinger, the 30-year-old bank robber suspect, who they released from the Allen County Jail where he was being held in connection with the holdup of a bank recently at Bluffton, was concentrated Saturday in the area immediately surrounding Lima.
Although the desperadoes have had the advantage of several hours time to make good their escape, the county officials believe that they may have established a hiding place near Lima to wait for the sensation of their daring escapade to blow over.
Close watch also was being maintained at Dayton for traces of the gunmen. Dillinger was taken into custody several weeks ago at Dayton and at the time he was found in the company of a woman named Mary Jane Jenkins, a sister of Joseph Jenkins, one of the convicts who escaped from the Michigan City prison.
Efforts to locate the woman at Dayton yesterday were futile, however. It was learned that she had vacated her apartment several days ago, leading to the belief among officers that she had been tipped off in advance of the plot to release Dillinger from the Allen County Jail and had taken to cover.
Officials also grilled Fred Pierpont, a brother of Harry Pierpont. Fred Pierpont was taken into custody at his farm home near Leipsic within a few hours after the jail deliver. He denied any knowledge, however, of either the whereabouts or the activities of his brother.
An automobile was found in a barn on the Pierpont farm, however, which led officials to suspect that the desperadoes had planned to use that car in effecting their escape after the release of Dillinger from the Allen County Jail. The car, police said, has been identified as one stolen in Chicago and used in a bank robbery at St. Marys Oct. 2.
Meanwhile, a thorough investigation was slated by county prosecutor Ernest M. Botkin into the jail delivery that ended in the fatal shooting of Sheriff Sarber.
Convinced that the release of Dillinger was the result of a planned plot, Botkin declared he was determined to learn how the desperadoes learned the inside layout of the county jail.
Botkin pointed to the fact that the gunmen were well acquainted with the layout of the jail and expressed the belief that they had been tipped off via the grapevine of the underworld.
The possibility also was studied that the delivery plot had been planned while Dillinger was still in custody at Dayton.
A raid on the farm home of E. H. Dillinger near Mooresville, Indiana brought to no success to 20 Indianapolis policemen, deputy sheriffs and constables who had a tip that his son, John L. Dillinger, notorious outlaw, had visited there.
John Dillinger, alleged bank bandit, was freed from jail at Lima, Ohio Thursday night by a bandit gang that included at least one of the convicts who escaped from the state prison at Michigan City two weeks ago and who killed Sheriff Jess Sarber.
Oct. 16 – Funeral services for Sheriff Jess Sarber, Allen County official who was shot down by gunmen at his office in Lima Thursday night, were held Saturday at Trinity M. E. Church and interment was made at Walnut Grove Cemetery on the Harding Highway east of Delphos.
The services at the church and also at the cemetery were largely attended. Allen County officials and city officials from Delphos and Lima were among those in attendance. Mayor W. H. Taylor attended and extended to Mrs. Sarber and her son the sympathy of the people of Delphos. He was accompanied by Chief of Police Glenn M. Ditto and many others from Delphos and vicinity were in attendance.
The church services were conducted by Rev. F. Earl Roe, pastor of the Trinity M. E. Church, assisted by Rev. W. J. Thomas, pastor of the Christian Congregational Church at Lima. Music at the sheriff’s residence, at the church and at the cemetery was furnished by the Gomer quartet consisting of Ellis F. Jones, D. H. Roberts, J. C. Jones and W. O. Roberts. Margaret Jones was accompanist.
Active pall bearers were Robert J. DeVoe, Prosecutor Ernest M. Botkin, County Auditor S. A. Rusler, Harry Hildreath, Dr. Joseph Morris, Homer Reeder, Welty Hites and Dr. L. P. Brunk. Members of the Lions Club, with which the sheriff was affiliated, were honorary pall bearers.
Leading the funeral procession to the cemetery was an official motorcycle squad composed of Deputies W. L. Sharp and H. R. Moorman and Officers Kermit Westbay and Elmer Jansen of the Lima Police Force.
The federal government is now taking a hand in the search for the three gunmen who entered the office of the sheriff Thursday night and for the prisoner who was liberated at that time. J. A. Gestall of Washington, D.C. and William Larson of Detroit, have been assigned to the case and are now engaged in investigations, which, it is hoped, will result in the arrest of the four men.

Part Two in next Saturday’s paper will reveal the past of John Dillinger and the aftermath of Sarber’s death.

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