Long Branch, March 29. -- During the Winter there have been numerous robberies committed from the cottages here and along the shore as far north as the Highlands. The cottages as a general thing are nominally put in charge of residents, more particularly to see that they are not damaged by the weather, and are only examined after storms to see that the rains have not driven in and injured the furniture, &c. When those visits have been made, it has been discovered that the cottages have been entered and the things have been overhauled and bed linen, carpets, and other things that could be packed in small compass been carried away.
    Two months ago two cottages on Pavilion-avenue owned by Mr. O'Reilly of New-York, on being opened for some repairs, were found to have been robbed of a large amount of bed clothing, carpets, and silverware. Several days afterward a cottage on Second-avenue owned by the Misses Cronin, No. 56 West-seventh-street, New-York, was entered and similar goods had been taken. A week or two afterward several cottages on North Long Branch and Monmouth Beach owned by Messrs. Robbins, Niles and others were also discovered to have been robbed, and then Maps & Slocum's store and the ticket office of the New-Jersey Southern Railroad were entered. Nothing of any value was, however, stolen, although a large number of tickets were taken from the latter place. These, with the exception of three or four, were all found on the track a few hundred yards south of the station, where they had been thrown by the robbers.
    Two or three notorious characters living here were suspected and were watched, but it was found that they had left their usual haunts, and it was reported they had gone to New-York. One of these suspected parties was Kit Davis, who had been arrested several times for disorderly conduct and confined in Freehold Jail for short periods. The Chief of Police was satisfied that he was the leader of the gang, and hoped to arrest him the first time he came here to visit his family. Nothing was heard of him until two weeks ago, when five cottages at Navesink Beach, six miles north of here, opposite the Highlands, four of them owned by H. M. Barbour, of Trenton, and one by Mr. Bacat, were found to have been entered within a few days and a large amount of household goods taken. The special police officer at Brabright, who took the matter in hand, discovered that two suspicious characters had been seen prowling around there by the life-saving station men while walking their beats, and from the description given of them there was no doubt that they were the same gang that the Long Branch police suspected. It was also found out that the stolen goods had been shipped from Highland Station in New-York. The agent of the railroad at New-York was notified to hold the goods and to arrest any one calling for them. After several days, no one claiming the goods, they were taken and examined by the railroad detectives and found to be those taken from the five cottages.
    A few nights since the two hen roosts in Long Branch Village of Mrs. Hampton and Conover Wynkoop were robbed, and every chicken taken. Yesterday a boy about 16 years drove into town, and sold a lot of 40 chickens to several butchers at such a low figure that it was suspected that he had not come by them honestly. On being questioned by the officers it was ascertained that Davis and a companion, who were at the house of a man named Bennet, in the pines five miles southeast of here, had sent him to sell the chickens. Immediately on receiving this information Constables Smith and Thorn, with a posse of four or five citizens, started in the direction given by the boy. They found the place without difficulty. It was near Eaton-town, in the vicinity of Solomon Map's Pond, and within a short distance from the house of "Mingo Jack," who was lynched a short time since.
    The seven men surrounded the house and Constable Smith approached it in front. As soon as the inmates of the house saw him the two men made a rush for the woods. Several shots were fired by the constables, after calling on them to halt. One of the men dropped and was arrested, but Kit Davis, the leader, escaped. He is supposed to be wounded, as he was heard to say, with an oath, that he "was fixed" as he ran away. The man captured proved to be John Carroll, alias John Darby, who although not a native of the place, is well known here. He worked here last Summer, but it was not known that he was a criminal.
    On entering Bennet's house, a large amount of stolen goods were found, consisting of silk dresses, linen sheets, blankets, bed spreads, and clothing. Some of the articles were claimed by Mrs. Dumas, of New-York, who came down today and identified several things stolen from her cottage, situated on the corner of Cedar-avenue and Deal Turnpike. She says her cottage was in a fearful state; everything had been rummaged from the top to the bottom of the house, and many articles were still missing. One picture worth $2,500 was taken. Constables Smith and Thorn still hold a number of articles not identified, among them a ??? rifle and two revolvers. The police hope to arrest Davis in a day or two.

Source:

The New York Times, New York, Tuesday March 30, 1886, Page 3, Column 3.