Lost Milwaukee #2.5 ... Mapping the Jewel Heist

Revisiting our first episode, I went back and checked out a vintage Milwaukee Map on the UWM libraries site to try to get a better idea of where the dramatic jewel heist chase of 1926 actually took place.
Here is an outline of the initial police chase on a modern map. Again, I have used MS Paint to cosmetic it a bit…

1. The two robbers that escaped the gunfire of Detective Mauger jump into the waiting taxi and proceed westward

2. Turning from Wells onto 13th and blasting towards Grand Ave (now Wisconsin) at a high rate of speed, the taxi draws the attention of a motorcycle cop, who attempts to stop the vehicle for speeding.

3. After firing shots at the bike cop, a squad car joins the chase. More shots are fired as the cab nears the then-Muskego Ave bridge. The police hold their fire for fear of wounding passers-by.

4. The cab looses the cops after they are slowed by snow and slush. At the time, this was near the intersection of National and Greenbush. Today, Greenbush is known as S. 4th Street.

Checking the map, the apprehension of the men proves that they didn’t have much of a plan once they ditched the taxi cab. The Driver reported that they fled the car when KK met S. Bay (A). Two men where picked up at Stewart Street “Soft Drink Parlor” (B) and the other was found shortly thereafter (C), hiding in a burlap potato sack in the basement of an Allen Street (now E. Becher) home.

That must have been one hell of a big sack of potatoes…