A stranded milkman sought refuge at the nearest dwelling, the Pine Lodge, after he was robbed at gunpoint in the Township of Washington this week 88 years ago.
William Porbek, driver of a Borden’s delivery truck, had been doing his usual rounds in Washington Township, driving on Pascack Road on Monday, Jan. 27, 1931.
Porbek told police that as he neared Ridgewood Road, a newer model Ford overtook him and crowded him off the road, forcing him to stop near a ditch. Two men “of rough appearance” jumped out of the car and approached him.
“One of the two men came up to him and told him to put up his hands, at the same time poking a gun in his side,” the Hillsdale Herald, a local newspaper of the era, reported. “Then they searched him and took what cash he had, leaving checks and other papers.”
They robbed him of nearly $200—no small amount for the time. They also took the keys from the milkman’s truck so he could not follow them, and then they returned to their Ford and sped away.
Porbek noticed that the Ford’s license plates were turned around backwards so that the number was hidden.
Porbek walked to the Pine Lodge at Pascack and Ridgewood roads. That place is pictured above as it would have looked at the time, with a much less developed Pascack Road visible in the background to the right. The photo was taken from Ridgewood Road. Pine Lodge is now the restaurant Bacari Grill.
At Pine Lodge the milkman phoned the Westwood police, who in turn notified Washington Township officials. Surrounding towns were notified to be on the lookout for the bandits, but the men left few clues and were not caught.
—Kristin Beuscher