James C. Lucas

Infobox Criminal
subject_name = James C. Lucas


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date_of_birth = 1912
place_of_birth =
date_of_death = 1963
place_of_death =
charge = Bank robbery (before 1935)
Murder (1938)
penalty = Life imprisonment
status =
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

James C. Lucas (1912 - 1963) was an American criminal that served a life sentence in Alcatraz. He was part of an attempted escape from the prison in 1938, but is best known for attacking Al Capone in the prison's laundry room on June 23, 1936.

Biography

Lucas was originally sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment for bank robbery [cite news |title=CAPONE IS STABBED BY ALCATRAZ FELON; Fellow Convict Plunges Scissors Into Ex-Gangster in Prison Barber Shop. |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50612FB3A5B1B7B93C6AB178DD85F428385F9 |work=New York Times |date=1936-06-24 |page=48 ] and violation of the Dyer Act (interstate trafficking of stolen vehicles). He arrived at Alcatraz in January 1935 from the Texas State Prison [cite news |title=Alcatraz Felon Killed, One Shot, Third Seized As Guards Foil Escape |url=http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/sfoealc7.htm |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=1938-05-24 |pages=1,5 ] and was known there as James "Texas Bank Robber" Lucas.

Attack on Capone

On June 23, 1936, Lucas stabbed Al Capone in the back with a pair of shears from the prison barber shop. Capone had been working in the the laundry area convert|10|ft|m|0 away. [cite news |title=Names make news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,770270,00.html |work=TIME |date=1936-07-06 |accesssate=2007-12-05 |quote=Catching Capone at work in the prison laundry, Lucas plunged a pair of scissors into his back. ] He defended himself, punching Lucas in the jaw before prison guards broke up the ruckus. Capone was able to walk to the prison hospital unassisted. [Iorizzo, Luciano J. "Al Capone: a biography". Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003. ISBN 0-313-32317-8] The following day, Capone left the prison hospital with minor injuries and continued with his regular duties at Alcatraz Prison. [cite news |title=Al Capone Leaves Prison Hospital After Stabbing |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |date=1936-06-28 |page=17 |accessdate=2007-10-31 |id=ProQuest Historical Newspapers document 483031192 ] Lucas was sent to solitary confinement for his brutal attack on Capone. [cite news |title=Crime: Capone Prison Pet Provoked |work=Washington Post |date=1936-06-28 |page=B4 |accessdate=2007-10-31 |id=ProQuest Historical Newspapers document 240338792]

Alcatraz escape attempt

In the spring of 1938, Lucas and two other convicts planned an escape from Alcatraz. Their plan began by incapacitating an unarmed custodial worker supervising a work detail on the top floor. Once the supervising worker was rendered unconscious, the convicts would escape through a window to the rooftop, where they would incapacitate an armed guard and leave the island via a seized police boat.

They enacted their escape plan on May 23, 1938 in the prison's mat shop, where they assaulted custodial worker Royal Kline with hammer blows to his head. They proceeded to the roof, where an armed guard shot both of Lucas's accomplices. Other guards arrived at the scene. Lucas was cornered and surrendered to the guards. [cite news |title=Three Convicts Fail in Break at Alcatraz; Slug Guard; Two Are Shot, Third Cornered |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E1EF73E5C1B7A93C6AB178ED85F4C8385F9 |work=New York Times |date=1938-05-24 |page=1 |accessdate=2007-12-05] The custodial worker died of his injuries the next day; one of the wounded convicts also died. [cite news |title=Hammer Blow Kills Alcatraz Aide in Break: 2 Surviving Felons to Face Murder Charge; Third Slain in Flight |work=Washington Post |date=1938-05-25 |page=X1 |accessdate=2007-10-31 |id=ProQuest Historical Newspapers document 240807832] Lucas and the other surviving convict, Rufus Franklin, were tried for murder [cite news |title=Alcatraz Prisoners Hear Shooting Related by Guard |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1938-11-05 ] [cite news |title=Court Calls for Bullets that Halted Convict Flight |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1938-11-09 ] [cite news |title=Alcatraz Convicts Deny Killing Guard In Escape Attempt |work=Washington Post |date=1938-11-23 ] and sentenced to life imprisonment. [cite news |title=Killers of Alcatraz Guard Escape Execution; Jury Limits Penalty of Felons to Life Terms |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C1FFE3A581A7A93C5AB178AD95F4C8385F9 |work=New York Times |date=1938-11-27 |page=1 ] [cite news |title=Alcatraz Pair Get Life |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1938-11-27 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/sfoealc7.htm Alcatraz Archive]
* [http://waleydata.com/?art_id=63 Harmon Waley: Alcatraz And Waley]