On Oct. 11, 1925, FBI Special Agent Edwin C. Shanahan and two Chicago police officers set a trap for a trigger-happy car thief. Shanahan had received a tip that Martin Durkin was driving a stolen car from New Mexico to a garage at 6231 S. Princeton Ave. in Chicago.

But when Durkin showed up, the police weren’t in position. The Tribune reported at the time that one was in the back of the garage and the other was on the phone in the garage office, asking the station for reinforcements.

A garage employee had warned the officer that Durkin wouldn’t go quietly. The fugitive was already being sought for shooting several police officers in Chicago and California.

The FBI, on its website, says the two officers had stepped out to seek their replacements after hours on duty. Regardless, Shanahan

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