BAGOYNE ASSAULT CASE HAS VERDICT OF NOT GUILTY

Charging that he was held up on the outskirts of Milltown by a crowd of men on the evening of November 10, and that they robbed him of $28, Steve Bagoyne, a farmer living near Milltown, testified this morning in the county court against Andrew Kroposka, identifying him as one of his assailants.

Kroposka and Frank Simko, also from Milltown, were both charged with the robbery. However, this morning, Assistant Prosecutor John E. Toolan motioned for the discharge of the Simko indictment, on the grounds that Simko could not be identified.

Bagoyne claimed that on the night of the robbery, around dusk, he was approached by a group of men who asked him for a match. He informed them he had none, but as he was smoking a cigar, they insisted he give them a light. They closed in around him and followed him for a short distance until one of them suddenly hit him in the back of the head with a blackjack. He stated he was knocked down and robbed, and identified Kroposka by his voice as one of the assailants, but admitted he was not entirely certain.

Kroposka denied the charges, claiming he was at work at the Michelin Tire Company plant when the robbery occurred. Fred Hartlander corroborated this claim with Kroposka’s time card. Andrew Hanlon testified he saw Kroposka leaving work around 5:45 p.m., while the robbery was alleged to have occurred at 5:15 p.m.

The counsel did not present closing arguments in the case. The jury, without leaving their seats, found a verdict of not guilty. Frederick F. Richardson represented the defendant.

The jury consisted of John Peters, S.C. Schenck, L.E. Gariss, Charles Melbourne, Theodore Brown, William Jemison, Charles Nafey, John O’Toole, Louis Seel, William H. Cladek, Emil Bohnsack, and Joseph Zar.