Anyone remember "Man From Mars", robber of Crawford's market in San Gabriel? (El Monte: sales)

[cazboy]

I think it must have been sometime in the late '50's, there was a market called Crawford's in San Gabriel, not too far from the Mission. Somebody got dressed up in some kind of weird costume pieced together from (as I remember) a diving wetsuit, a gas mask to cover the face, and some kind of helmet. He got shot to death trying to pull off the robbery, and for a long time Crawford's displayed a mannequin wearing the costume - complete with bullet holes in the helmet - in the front entrance of the store. There was a sign in front of the mannequin that said "Man From Mars" or something like that - in reference to how weird he looked in the cobbled-together getup. Remember, this was the late '50's, when the "flying saucer" craze was fresh!

I remember all this because my mother used to work there at Crawford's, and I'd walk past the mannequin with my grandparents all the time because we'd drop off my mother for her shift, and pick her up after her shift ended.

Just wondering - does anyone else remember this little bit of San Gabriel trivia?

[Patrolman]

I remember seeing a picture of the robber and reading the story in the old L.A. Herald-Examiner. I seem to recall that the story appeared in the early to mid-1960's, years after the robbery. I thought I'd was the only one to remember that incident. Thanks, cazboy, for shaking out the cobwebs of my memory bank.

[cazboy]

Originally Posted by Patrolman

I remember seeing a picture of the robber and reading the story in the old L.A. Herald-Examiner. I seem to recall that the story appeared in the early to mid-1960's, years after the robbery. I thought I'd was the only one to remember that incident. Thanks, cazboy, for shaking out the cobwebs of my memory bank.

Hi Patrolman,
Aha - so someone else really remembers that incident! Hmm, so you remember reading the newspaper story in the early to mid-'60's...??? That's interesting.

Anyway, it's not important, I was just wondering if anyone at all remembered that. It's strange the things we remember from our childhoods. I remember feeling kind of freaked out seeing the bullet holes in the helmet, though.

...Doug

[Patrolman]

I believe the Herald-Examiner was doing a retrospective story on the robbery when it was printed in the early 1960's. I don't remember when the robbery occured, but it had been years prior, so your recollection that it took place in the 1950's is probably correct. When you refer to Crawford's market, are you referring to the Crawford's at 5 Points in El Monte or was the store in the city of San Gabriel?

[cazboy]

Originally Posted by Patrolman

I believe the Herald-Examiner was doing a retrospective story on the robbery when it was printed in the early 1960's. I don't remember when the robbery occured, but it had been years prior, so your recollection that it took place in the 1950's is probably correct. When you refer to Crawford's market, are you referring to the Crawford's at 5 Points in El Monte or was the store in the city of San Gabriel?

It was definitely the market in San Gabriel. Thanks, Patrolman!

[SG Native]

... to the SGPD's history website: [url=http://www.sgpd.com/html/man_from_mars.html]Man From Mars[/url]

[RoaminRebel]

Originally Posted by SG Native

... to the SGPD's history website: Man From Mars

Boy, Officer Stone didn't cut the Martian any slack for creativity.. Shot him dead right on the spot!

[Joe Van Fossen]

Adjusted for inflation, Boy's Market made nearly $123K in sales that day.