Naptown

It seems I got so much extra duty I never got a weekend off but I did make it into “Naptown” (Indianapolis) once in a while. Very few of us had cars but the post had shelters just outside the entrance. If you sat there for a bit local residents, or higher grade officers, with cars would pick you up and take you into town.

One weekend, however, one of the junior officers with a vehicle invited me to go in for a night on the town along with several others.

He had been told about a nightclub on the edge of town called the Chicken Hut and where the so-called “action” was. We drove out there about 9 p.m. When we went to the door, an attendant said they were closed. There were numerous cars in the parking lot and noise could be heard from the lighted interior.

We sat outside to see if anyone came in or out and eventually several rough looking youths came out and were arguing heatedly. Suddenly several of the youths split the group, jumped in a vehicle and took off just as two police patrol cars wheeled in with their sirens blasting.

One cruiser chased the fleeing car and we could hear the “pap, pap” sound of what we figured to be a .38 caliber pistol being fired. Officers from the other patrol car got out and it was then we saw one of the youths on the ground, apparently stabbed.

We milled around the parking lot to see what was going on and one of our group found a pocket knife with what appeared to be blood on it. We turned it over to the police and they took all our names, apparently so we could be contacted later for testimony.

We got involved, I suppose, so we might get some time off duty to testify in an interesting court case. To my knowledge none of us were ever called and I have no idea whether the car pursuit was successful or if anyone was ever charged in the case.

Later we were told the nightclub had been under suspicion for a number of liquor law violations and other criminal activities. That must have been why they were cautious about letting anybody they didn’t know into their place.