Three young chicken thieves led Illinois and Wisconsin peace officers a merry chase last night but were finally arrested and returned to Freeport by Sheriff Harry Yde and a group of local, county and Wisconsin deputies and police at 10:30 last night, the arrest in Rockford of the third member of the trio also took place. The youths held in the county jail and charged with larceny are Raymond Workinger 19, Winslow Township; Alvin Miller 18, Martintown Wisc; and John Leverinton 16, Winslow Township. States Attorney Robert J. Ellis and Sheriff Yde obtained confessions from the youths and the story of their robberies and subsequent acts reads like a dime novel.

One week ago Sunday Sept. 29, 1940 Workinger and Leverington visited the farm of Arthur Ellis near South Wayne Wisc. and stole 10 chickens which they sold at Warren for $4.50. The next day they were joined by Miller and that night stole 25 fowls east of Freeport, the location of which they could not identify and sold the chickens at Lena for $4.00. Tuesday night they went to the William Kundert farm near Winslow and obtained 23 Leghorn chickens which they sold in Freeport. Wednesday night they stole 20 chickens from the McKnight farm near South Wayne which were sold at Warren. To keep their car supplied with gas and oil the trio on Monday and Wednesday nights broke open pumps at a station in Martintown and also broke into a tool house and stole 10 quarts of oil. The return robbery was so easy they said that they used a crowbar and obtained what they needed.

8 October 1940 - (Follow up Workinger, Leverington & Miller)

At a preliminary hearing before Justice of the Peace M.L. Karels the three youths were charged with Grand Larceny held to the Grand Jury under bonds of $2,500 which they were unable to pay and they were remanded into custody. Sheriff Yde said that in additon to the previously mentioned thefts the youths have admitted that two of them - Miller & Leverington continued their spree - Sunday Afternoon they visited the farm house of Roman Staderman near Winslow, and after partaking of a meal, while the family was absent, stole $9.00 in cash, a flashlight and stick pins, all of which loot, except for the cash was recovered. Robert Noble, marshal at Lena who assisted in the arrest of the pair, while detective in Rockford were taking Workinger, found a note on the door of his home which read - "If you will go to the house of Ralph Price Fair Oak Farm at West Chicago you can find the fellows you're hunting for". The youths stated, after their capture, that they had intended to meet Workinger in Chicago after they had separated and the later had gone to Rockford for the purpose of stealing a car in which to make the trip to Chicago.