HISTORY AT A GLANCE

On Feb. 1974, two armed men who had robbed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Bremerton were thought to be on their way to Shelton. Their getaway car was stopped in Belfair about 8 p.m., and a young woman, the only occupant, was taken into custody.

Twenty-three law officers from the Mason and Kitsap County sheriff departments, the Bremerton Police Department, and two detachments of the Washington State Patrol were involved in searching for the suspects. Roadblocks were set up in the area, and residents living where their homes could not be seen from the roadway were phoned and warned of the possibility that the two men could be in the vicinity. The following story is an excerpt from the Feb. 14th Journal, written by a reporter who had been alerted and was observing from a vehicle parked at a safe distance.

The scene at Second and Cota appeared quiet as three men emerged from the Sturgeon Café and walked to a newer model brown and tan station wagon. Two of the men got in on the passenger side of the vehicle and the third man was about to get into the driver's seat when a woman appeared in the doorway of the café and called to him. He closed the car door and went back into the café, leaving the other men sitting in the vehicle. A car driven by Mason County Sheriff's Deputy Brian Schoening pulled into the intersection on Second Street with its blue lights flashing. Schoening came out of the vehicle, drew his pistol, and moved down the sidewalk in a crouched position, calling to the occupants in the station wagon. Almost simultaneously, Chief Criminal Deputy Sheriff Tom Creekpaum appeared, also crouched with his pistol drawn, and Prosecuting Attorney Byron McClanahan, carrying a sawed-off shotgun, approached across Cota Street from the north. Other officers approached from the south.

As Schoening called out to them, one of the suspects came out of the car and lay face down on the wet sidewalk, while the other came out with his hands held high. As officers handcuffed and searched the men, people began coming out of doors up and down the street to see what was going on.

The man who had walked out of the café with the two others was David Pixley, an equipment repairman from Olympia who was having coffee when the two men asked him to give them a ride to Tacoma, which he agreed to do. Before they left the café, Cleo Fisher, café owner, received a phone call from officers advising that the two men were wanted and the café was being watched. Marcie Gravett was the waitress who called the driver back in.

The men were first spotted coming into Shelton by game protector Allen Rassmusson, who contacted the Mason County Sheriff's Office because he thought they were acting suspiciously. The Sheriff's Office gave him a description of the two men who had committed the robbery, and Rassmusson kept them under observation while they looked in a used car lot, then went to Binger's Service Station, and from Bingers took a taxi to the Sturgeon. Officers were proceeding with caution, because information from Bremerton was that the two men were armed and dangerous. They maintained surveillance for about 45 minutes, until Pixley was safely back in the café, and when both men were securely handcuffed, a search found that each was carrying a loaded 45-caliber handgun.

A police officer from Bremerton was called to positively identify the two suspects and return them to the city where the crime had been committed.

■ Jan Parker is a researcher for the Mason County Historical Museum. She can be reached at [email protected]. Membership in the Mason County Historical Society is $25 per year. For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the book "Shelton, the First Century Plus Ten."