Elmer C. Lane, 84, retired Council Bluffs police chief, died Tuesday at a local hospital. He was taken to the hospital June 30 after he suffered a stroke at his home at 1017 Avenue B. Mr. Lane, a veteran of 31 years of police service, retired as chief in 1938. His career covered an era in Council Bluffs which he often described as "the days when this was a lively town." Mr. Lane's police service record includes several arrests which he made in cases well remembered in the annals of crime in Pottawattamie County.

In 1921 he was wounded three times as he, with three railroad detectives and prohibition agents, shot it out with the Snyder gang at a farmhouse near Glendale Acres. Though he was hit in the back, neck and left shoulder, Mr. Lane shot his way out of the scrape killing one and assisting in the capture of three other members of the gang.

Mr. Lane also made an arrest which helped solve the infamous million dollar train robbery in 1920. Following a tip of an elderly woman, he arrested one of the robbers and recovered some of the cash.

He first served as police chief under Mayor Sam Green in 1928-29. He was again appointed chief under Mayor William Guilfoyle in 1936. Mr. Lane was a lifelong resident of Pottawattamie County. He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, the Iowa Policeman's Association and Ecelsior Lodge 259, AF&AM.

Survivors include: three sons, Chester, with whom he made his home, Clarence and Edward, both of El Monte, California; sister, Mrs. Effie Stamey of Cheyenne, Wyoming; nine grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.