All crime was the direct result of brutality and greed
About Charlotte thefts were boldly held at a variety of locations. The robbers displayed firearms to threaten human life. The business owners were greatly overpowered. The outlaws seemed to possess plenty of gun weapons to do their work with.
There was a robbery at the Eldridge Fur Store.
The Red Rooster Bar was held up at gunpoint.
Thugs shot up and robbed the Sunshine Café Restaurant Bar and Nightclub.
Four masked gunmen robbed the Cinderella’s Jewelry Store.
Two armed men robbed the Charlotte Coin, Stamp and Knife Store.
Smith’s Machine Shop was burglarized. Office money in a safe was stolen.
Three masked men with pistols robbed Ed’s Garage.
Lately there was an unusual amount of successful robberies.
Crooks got about guns like wasps hovering around jam.
Skulls burned down and destroyed a police station at night using kerosene, grenades, and dynamite.
Guns were stolen from gun stores located at various places all over Charlotte.
To rob gun stores the robbers used glass cutters to remove windows, entered easily, and robbed the entire inventory.
Howard Skinner was with hard luck to locate any jobs that he could make an honest living with. His growing police record was the reason. Employers could not trust him. They were afraid of an excon. After being passed over repeatedly he fell into a new way of getting cash. Howie stayed around the criminal element in Charlotte. He met them in bars, pool halls, nightclubs, and at the flop houses that he lived in. He learned there were guns being stolen. Many guns. They were available to be bought and sold for a tidy gain. After pulling three robbery heists, Howie had ready cash on hand to buy an inventory of guns. He knew enough lawbreakers who needed weapons and had cash to buy them. So Howard became a dealer in firearms and ammunition to the city underworld. In about a year he had a new prosperity that set him into a new higher level of living. Howie was getting rich. Several other men were also wheeling and dealing weapons and cleaning up at this.