J O Storey was arrested and identified as the robber who robbed about 8 people at gunpoint in Bloomington in 1916. Storey had been suspected of several robberies and identified by one man who could identify him at a man living at 1208 W Livingston Street in Bloomington.
Deputy Sheriffs Spafford and Kennedy set a trap for Storey, watching him at his home and then watching a particular railroad man who was making a deposit of $400 for the railroad. It was through this stratagem that Storey was caught, although the Pantagraph does not give a description of the arrest, which seems to have been a lost opportunity!
Storey had attempted to rob O V Strange, but upon relieving Strange of his purse, he found it was empty and returned it to Strange. Storey and Strange continued for some time in conversation (!) and during this time Strange noticed that his robber was missing a finger. He was thus able to identify Storey to the police and the investigation and trap was set from that date.
After his arrest it was discovered that Storey had an arsenal of weapons and enough ammunition for a "European trench." He also had a "train strap," which was a heavy leather strap that could be affixed to a person and then attached to the top of a rail car, so that the criminal could travel secretly on the train all over the state. These were also used by people who merely wanted a free ride.
Storey had worked on the C & A as a brakeman and was suspected of being the man who had held up the train near Shirley two weeks before his arrest. After his arrest 7 more people identified him as the man who robbed them either by his appearance or the blue spotted bandana he wore over his face. One article following the arrest indicated that Storey had been identified as the burglar in the Christmas burglary of the J W Rodgers home (the December 16 post of this blog. A co conspirator. C K Fierce, gave evidence against him with regard to various criminal acts.
His prosecution ended with a guilty plea to the train robbery at Shirley in January. Just two months after he was sent to Joliet, Storey had some failure of his health and his wife came to States Attorney Miles K Young to plead that he be released from prison. Storey was paralysed in his legs and had some sort of paralysis of his spine. Young asked for a report from his doctor to make an assessment of the situation. JO Storey was just 36 years old at the time. No further information appeared in the Pantagraph about J O Storey.
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