DIGS MORTAR LOOSE FROM STONE BLOCK
Bayard K. Lucas, 60, on trial in Porter Circuit Court on a charge of robbing the Valparaiso Lodge of Elks in October 1945, tried to break jail on the night of Sunday, February 10, 1946.
Sheriff Harry Borg said Lucas used a sharp piece of steel taken from a bed cot to remove the mortar from a large block on this south wall of the bull pen.
Julius Bornholt, living just across the alley from the jail made the discovery. He heard a scraping noise and notified the sheriff.
Investigation revealed the mortar from a large block of stone had been almost entirely removed. Lucas had turned on a faucet in the bull pen to drown any noise of his operations.
Under questioning of Borg and Chief of Police Jerome Frakes, Lucas at first denied he had tried to remove the stone. Later he admitted he planned a get-away. When questioned, Lucas’ hands and shoes were covered in limestone dust.
Lucas’ attempted escape did not speed up plans to remodel this jail. Even though the Porter County Council approved a funding request by the Commissioners to make needed changes, this three-foot-wide guard walk separating the bull pen from the outer walls wasn’t finished until late 1949.