Detective Allan G Lee

End of Watch : September 10, 1949

DETECTIVE ALLAN G. LEE
St. Paul PD
Died September 10, 1949

On September 10th at 4:10 p.m., Janssen's Liquor Store at 365 University Avenue was robbed. After the holdup, Mrs. Willie Woods advised officers of the holdup. Officers saw the suspect at University and Virginia. They followed him south on Virginia where, at Central Avenue, the officers pulled alongside him. Officer Rowan told the suspect at gunpoint to take his hands out of his pockets and approach the car. The suspect quickly stepped out of the line of fire, drew his .38 caliber revolver and fired four times. The officers believed he was using blanks because the car was not hit. The suspect the turned and ran. Rowan followed on foot and Officer Fahey followed in the car. Rowan fired five times as he ran. At Virginia and St. Anthony, the suspect hid in some bushes and Rowan could not find him although they continued the search for several hours. Later, officers searched a residence at 365 Louis Street and found the jacket worn in the holdup and the .38 caliber shells.

At 7:15 p.m., officers received a tip to go to 324 St. Anthony Avenue. Detective Lee and Officer William Crowell approached the front porch with guns drawn. Georgia Evans met them at the door and talked to them for a few minutes. Detective Lee saw the suspect in the living room. He took a step forward and the suspect fired twice. Lee fell to the floor and the suspect jumped over the officer and ran down the sidewalk, around the corner, across Farrington and south toward Rondo, firing at least four times in the air. Detective Lee died at Anker Hospital from the gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen. Ms. Evans was later arrested.

They then searched a residence at 339 Rondo Avenue where police were told the suspect had been seen in the back of the house. As officers began the search, gunfire was heard inside and Officer Jackson, 45, was later found on the floor with a gunshot wound to the thigh. He couldn't say what happened, but he was believed to have been hit by another officer's bullet.

Around 9:00 p.m., officers went to the suspect's home on the second floor of 227 Rondo where 3,000 spectators had gathered after hearing of the officer's murder. Officers fired tear gas inside and three officers then went in with gas masks. They found the suspect under a bed. As the suspect crawled out from under the bed and stumbled toward them, seven or eight more officers began firing. The suspect was hit twelve times. The suspect, Oliver Crutcher, 30, died at 10:25 p.m., before reaching the hospital. He was a suspect in two other grocery store robberies. Police arrested two men during the manhunt believed to be accomplices in those robberies.

Detective Allan Lee was 42 years old and had been with the department for 12 years. He started with St. Paul Police Department on March 1st, 1937, as a temporary employee. He was promoted to detective in 1948. He was survived by his wife, Geneva, and two children: James, 10, and Karen, 4. His funeral was held Tuesday, September 13th at Como Park Lutheran Church and he was buried in Roselawn Cemetery.

Sourced from: The book "We Will Remember"
With permission from Lisa Lovering, Author and Board of Director
MN Law Enforcement Memorial Association
L.E.M.A. 2009

Fred Babcock

Anker M Bangs