10 September 1908: Alleged Thief Nabbed in Bicycle Chase

On this day in 1908, three Athens police officers captured an alleged gun thief, Homer Favors, after an all-day chase that took them from the police station in Athens to Crawford, Georgia. The distance between Athens and Crawford is approximately 15 miles, and at the time, most roads were unpaved.

As reported in the Weekly Banner the next day, after Officers J. P. McCall, Fred Seagraves, and J. F. Short

ran on Favors yesterday morning near the River street bridge over the Oconee river and as soon as they could get to the station house Officers McCall and Short took their bicycles and started after him.

He had a pretty good start of them [sic] but he was afoot and they were on wheels. About five miles out near Winterville they phoned to the chief at city headquarters that they were closing in on (Favors) and hoped to soon catch him.

Chief McKie told them to go ahead until they got him.

The next heard from them was at Crawford yesterday afternoon about five o'clock and the message told of his capture at that place.

Favors himself had made a good run, as well as the policemen, having run afoot from Athens to Crawford in about six hours. He was brought back to the city last night and will be turned over to the state court.

Learn More:

• Athens Weekly Banner, Jan. 1906 - Dec. 1908 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• 1909 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Story of Oglethorpe County by Lena Smith Wise in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Self-Coached Runner by Allan Lawrence in the general collection.
• Better Cross-Country Running for Boys and Girls by George Sullivan in the children's collection.
• Coping with Confrontations and Encounters with Police by Claudine G. Wirths in the general collection.
• The Police in American Society by Edward F. Dolan in the general collection.
• Choosing a Career in Law Enforcement by Claudine G. Wirths in the general collection.
  
• Once Upon a Telephone: An Illustrated History by Ellen Stock Stern in the general collection.
• Bicycle: The History by David V. Herlihy in the general collection.
• The Noblest Invention: An Illustrated History of the Bicycle by Lance Armstrong in the general collection.