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Bring your own pen
There was a bank robbery in Colfax in 1977.
From http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/10/17/16/shootout-outside-colfax-bank-results-are-deadly
The date was Feb. 25, 1977, and a gun battle on Main Street in Colfax would leave one robber shot dead by the city’s police chief.
The time was 2:30 p.m. as two masked men dressed in coveralls and wielding heavy firepower walked into the Bank of America branch.
“Everybody stand still and nobody will be hurt,” one gruffly called out.
The two were soon in receipt of $15,000 in small bills stuffed into a duffel bag. But Colfax Police Chief Dave Ricketts had been alerted to the robbery after a teller sounded a silent alarm. Ricketts, famous for his mutton-chop whiskers and calm demeanor, was poised and ready with his revolver outside the building.
Faced with the prospect of a long prison term, 32-year-old Ronald Gene Pass decided to make a bold run for his car, spraying lead from his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle as he exited the front door.
Ricketts sought protection at the side of his car and returned fire off the hood as bullets from Pass’ rifle struck nearby buildings. Ricketts kept firing back, unloading his revolver at the fleeing suspect. One bullet to the chest proved fatal.
The Journal published a full-page photo spread of the shootout’s aftermath in its Friday edition, including a grim image of the dead man’s tattooed arm showing unlucky snake-eyes dice and the words “Born to Lose.”
The city, all of 750 people at the time, was gripped by a combination of excitement over the shootout and fear over the fact that a second robber was on the loose. Armed with a sawed-off shotgun, he had apparently commandeered a truck and escaped into the Telegraph Hill area behind the main area of town. On his exit, he had slipped and dropped the duffel bag. With the Colfax population on edge, dozens of peace officers searched through the night.
The second suspect eventually was arrested in the Sacramento area, found guilty in U.S. District Court of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years in the federal pen. Ricketts, who was unharmed in the shootout, would go on to serve a lengthy career with the Sheriff’s Office before retiring.
And those sordid “Born to Lose” photos splashed on the front and inside of the Journal way-back-when? The Journal archives retains them as reminders of a time when newspaper subscribers were more apt to stomach a more graphic look at their community when they hunkered down with their AJ and morning cup of Joe.