Robberies and murder were the bane of Tucson’s Chinese grocers. In a sense, they were like today’s convenience store and gas station workers. Because they worked alone in their stores, everyone in the neighborhood would have known their schedules, especially the quiet times at night, just before closing. Finally, they kept their money on the property. Some grocers, like Don Kim, would have also kept money for others in their store safes. All of this was very tempting to the local bad guys.
Here are some of the crimes against the owners of Chinese markets that I have found in the Arizona Daily Star or the Tucson Citizen:
- In the spring of 1895, Sam Lee, a Chinese merchant on Convent Street, was “brutally murdered.” His “neck cut ear to ear,” he had been “struck with a dagger in the left temple, the blade penetrating the bone and entering the brain”, and his “face had been slashed” too. The murderer got away with $800. The suspect, Manuel Gonzales, was arrested in October of 1895, but I do not know what happened after his arrest.
- In December 1901 merchant Gin Chang was assaulted. By the end of the month Nabor Pacheco “captured” Vicente Romero on a ranch in Mexico for the crime. Days later, on December 29, 1901, his trial was delayed. Unfortunately, I could not find the outcome of the trial.
- In January 1905 Hing Yuen Kee was stabbed six times with an 8-inch butcher knife. He was a member of the Kam Woyen firm, located at the end of Main near the railroad tracks. The amount of money taken was $200. The “Gee Kung Tong” offered a reward of $150 for the arrest and conviction of the murderer/s. I found nothing relating to the capture and/or trial of the murderer/s.
- In January 1908 Nogales merchant, Sing Chung, was found “with throat cut from ear to ear” and there were also gashes on the back of his head. It wasn’t known how much money was stolen but he was rumored to have kept a large sum in the store. Two men, possibly from Sonora, Mexico, were seen running from the store. A $500 reward was offered. I could not find if the men had been caught or not.
- On October 30, 1915, Lee Tan, an “aged Chinaman,” was “beaten into insensibility” by a “negro” who robbed him of $50 just as he was closing his store on Meyer & Ochoa. At the city council meeting prior to the robbery, Chinese businessmen submitted a petition for extra police protection between dusk and midnight as 14 other attacks on Chinese had recently been reported.
- In October 1915 Lung Sing (aka Low Ning), a merchant on the corner of 17th Street & Meyer, was murdered in his store. In his dying declaration he said it was a “young Mexican.” No money appears to have been stolen. His death certificate says “Murdered: cut by a pocket knife.” Lung Sing’s son, Lee Ho took over the store. After he retired, the business was taken over by his son, Jerry Lee. The store became known as Jerry’s Lee Ho Market. It became one of the longest lasting of all the Tucson Chinese markets. The murderer of Lung Sing was never found.
- On November 6, 1920 Lo Tai Boon (Bon), of 923 Anita Street, was shot and killed in a robbery at his store. Local police detective Jesus Camacho captured Modesto Martinez in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and brought him to Tucson to stand trial. In 1921 he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
- In May 1921, after a ferocious fight, grocer Low Hong was brutally beaten to death in his store just north of Tucson on the Old Yuma Trail. Police theorize the robbers (“presumably Yaquis”) came at closing time as Low was getting ready for bed. The robbers got away with $10 in gold but missed $510 in cash. Low’s friends had encouraged him to put his money in a bank, but he felt he could keep it safely in his store. He had been in the grocery business in Tucson for 35 years and left a wife and child in China.
- 1951 Tom’s Market at 351 N. 4th Avenue
- In March, the store was set on fire by thieves who broke in, got comfortable on a couch with a bottle of wine, and somehow, the couch caught on fire. Tom June, the owner of the market, said that no money was taken, but the store suffered $5,000 in damages to the contents and $1,500 in damages to the building.
- November, the store was robbed again. Tom June helped pursue and capture the two bandits. The $273 they had stolen was recovered. Once arrested, they confessed to also robbing the Ling Gin Market at 737 W. Speedway the night before. They got $81 in that robbery.
- October 24, 1956, the Independent Market, 302 W. 29th Street, was bombed in the middle of the night. The police speculated that it was done by organized crime.
- May 25, 1958, the Soleng Center, 2300 S. 6th Avenue, burns to the ground in a mysterious fire. It was never rebuilt.
- In early 1968, thieves broke into the El Cortez Market at 2801 N. Country Club. They stole $1,000 in cash and checks from the owners, Phillip, and Florence Don. In addition, they caused $500 in damages to the building.
- On June 24, 1992, at closing time, the El Grande Market #2 at 805 36th St. was robbed. Fred Gee, the market manager, his elderly uncle, Zewan Huang, and Ray Arriola a market employee, were shot and killed. The robbers were Christopher McCrimmon, Andre Minnitt and Martin Soto-Fong, a former store employee. The case became one of Tucson’s most notorious murders. Because Soto-Fong was a juvenile when the crime was committed, it was in the courts and on the news for years. As recently as June 2020, the media covered Soto-Fong’s request for parole. McCrimmon was released from prison in 2020. Minitte and Soto-Fong are, as of February 2021, still in prison.
Resources
Online Arizona Death Records & Indexes: A Genealogy Records Guide, viewed on 9/12/2022 https://www.deathindexes.com/arizona/index.html