Wrongly executed?Charles Sberna and the 1937 killing
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 Old Slip Station |
Patrolman John H. A. Wilson, an 11-year member of the New York Police Department, was on strike-duty in front of the E. J. Barry drug warehouse at 54 Fulton Street in lower Manhattan. Employees of the warehouse had walked off the job, and Wilson was sent to ensure picketers behaved themselves.
It was an odd assignment for him. He usually worked behind a desk at the First Precinct's Old Slip Station 1, issuing applications for pistol permits in the financial district. But a number of regular patrolmen had been drawn away to keep order and move traffic around a large American Legion convention downtown, and Wilson was temporarily pulled from his desk.2
At about 10:40 on Thursday morning, September 23, 1937, Wilson heard a man yelling, "Police!" He gazed across the street to the Rudisch Refining Company at 65 Fulton. Up on the fourth floor, a gray-haired man leaned from a window and shouted, "Holdup on the second floor. There's three men. They've all got guns."
The Rudisch building, sitting between Gold and Cliff Streets just a few blocks from the South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn Bridge 3, was a processing plant for precious metals. It was known for its work with gold.
As a career paper-pusher, 37-year-old Wilson was an unlikely hero. But he was a dedicated public servant and a second-generation cop. (His father was Lieutenant George Wilson, retired from the force in 1925.) Wilson charged alone across the street and into the Rudisch plant. He rushed up dark stairs and burst through the metal door to the second floor offices.
Three gunmen
Three gunmen were in control of the offices. A short time earlier they had passed through the main entrance, scaled over the metal grills that blocked the stairway and pushed their way into the administrative quarters with pistols drawn.
On their way in, the would-be robbers failed to notice elderly Max Satz, concealed by a stack of cartons. After they passed, Satz, father-in-law of plant owner Louis Rudisch, climbed a rear fire escape to the fourth floor to shout for help.
Handing his pistol to an accomplice, one of the intruders quickly bound Louis Rudisch and employee Abraham Kever with wire. He then tied up employees Louis Wolk and Morris Reich. As he began binding porter Rudy Wyatt, the metal door swung open.
Stationed by the door, one of the gunman saw Patrolman Wilson enter from the dark stairway. He planted his pistol butt into Wilson's head. The officer sprawled on the floor. Dazed but still conscious, he fired his handgun. Fire was returned. The intruder with two weapons fired an estimated 10 shots at Wilson, emptying one pistol and nearly emptying the other.4
During the shootout, the gunmen closest to the door struggled with Wilson and bumped into a pot of melted wax 5, spilling it on the left side of his jacket and his left hand and on Wilson's right hand.6 Burned, Wilson let go of his revolver. The gunman reached for it but was also scalded by the hot wax.
The three gunmen scrapped their robbery plans and fled the building. Two of the men ran toward Gold Street. The other turned toward Cliff Street.7 The men left behind one .38 caliber handgun and a jacket soaked with wax.8
Killed in the line of duty
 Patrolman |
The noise of the incident attracted the attention of other workers at the plant. They rushed to the second floor offices to find Patrolman Wilson struggling to get to his feet. The officer then fell to the floor and lost consciousness.
Wilson was taken a short distance to Beekman Street Hospital. 9 Doctors tended as best they could to his wounds. Four officers -- William Higgins, William LaForge, George J. Neilson and William Zimmerman -- each gave a pint of blood, hoping to help their comrade. Six other officers stood ready to do the same. Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine waited beside Wilson's bed in case the patrolman gave some clue as to the identities of his attackers.10
Wilson never regained consciousness. He succumbed to his injuries at 5:45 p.m. He was survived by his wife Anna 11 and three daughters, ranging in age from three years old to 13.
The New York Police Department gave Wilson an inspector's funeral. Hundreds attended a Sept. 26 wake held at the Prospect Place, Staten Island, home of his sister, Mrs. Charles Shay. 12 Commissioner Valentine was present as Wilson was laid to rest the following day. 13 The department also honored him in a 1938 ceremony for officers killed in the line of duty. 14
(Continued on Page 2)
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