Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
On this date ...
1969: Two men from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, were in custody in the Quay County Jail after being accused of robbing Jerry’s Package Store in Tucumcari. The armed holdup occurred at 10:17 p.m. the previous day when one of the men held an automatic pistol on a store employee and threw a green bank bag on the counter, demanding money. A total of $204 was taken from the store. The suspects were apprehended in Santa Rosa. The men also were suspects in the robbery of a Dairy Queen in Dalhart, Texas.
• A Tucumcari man, chief petty officer Billy Watson, escaped injury during an explosion and fire that rocked the USS Enterprise off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. One New Mexican was among the 28 who died in the disaster, and more than 300 were injured. The fire was caused when a Zuni rocket attached to a plane detonated, causing other rocket and bomb explosions.
• The Odeon Theatre of Tucumcari was screening a Steve McQueen action film, “Bullitt.”