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On December 15, 1972, Officer Harold Warnecke stopped in front of the Kroger Store at 4312 North Grand to make a routine business check, unaware that a holdup was in progress at that location as the two robbers ran from the store. Officer Warnecke called to one of the robbers to come over to him. As that man approached the patrol car, the second man circled around behind the car and fired three shots into Warnecke's back, killing him instantly.
Comments/Citation:
At 8:00 a.m. on December 15, 1972, two men entered the Kroger Store at 4312 North Grand, went to a checkout counter and announced a holdup. An employee alerted the manager who activated an alarm connected to a security company. The robbers, after grabbing $1,000, ran out hte front door of the store.
Unaware of the robbery, sixty year old officer Harold Warnecke pulled up in front of the store. He was making a routine business check. Warnecke began checking stores, businesses and parking lots long before it became department policy. At the time, the robbery alarm had not yet been broadcast over the police radio. Warnecke stopped at the curb and got out of his patrol car. The manager of the Kroger Store, waving at Warnecke through the window, pointed at the robbers. Warnecke called to one of the robbers to come over to him. As that man approached the patrol car, the second man circled around behind the car and fired three shots in to Warnecke's back.
Officer Warnecke collapsed on the sidewalk. One of the shots had pierced his heart, killing him instantly. The robber took Warnecke's wristwatch, his wallet and his revolver before escaping. These items were later found nearby in the snow.
An intense investigation followed the shooting of Officer Warnecke. The investigation culminated in the arrest of Ricardo Jacobs and Clarence Harvey. Harvey was a soldier from Fort Leonard Wood who was absent without leave. Both men were identified in line ups as the two robbers of the Kroger Store.
Officer Warnecke had faced danger before. During World War II, he was the only survivor of a United States Navy gun crew on a Merchant Marine ship that was hit by a shell. Married iwth two grown children, he joined the force on November 1, 1945. He could have retired in six months.
