Suspect, 88, Has 37-Page ‘Rap’ Sheet : 2 Suitcases Open Up a Mystery for Officers

Police uncovered a jolly little mystery Sunday afternoon involving a familiar central figure: Fred H. Anson--or at least that was the name the 88-year-old suspect gave when he was arrested.

Officers became suspicious when they saw a spry, white-haired old man loitering at the Rapid Transit District’s Los Angeles International Airport bus stop in the 6200 block of West 96th St., nervously eyeing two suitcases at his feet.

“Those are mine,” the old man said, when officers approached him and asked to examine the contents of the valises. When the officers opened the bags, they found that one contained ladies’ undergarments and the other a variety of female articles.

No Stranger to Officers

When Anson was booked for investigation of grand theft at the Los Angeles Police Department’s airport substation, veterans on duty there immediately recognized him. They said the man who was carrying 10 Social Security cards, each bearing a different identity, is a senior citizen with an interesting past.

And a check of Anson’s criminal record confirmed their suspicions. His 37-page “rap” sheet, dating back to a juvenile arrest in 1914, showed that in his career, the suspect had used 84 aliases, but never had been booked for a crime more serious than theft, Officer Steve Enos said.

Spent 35 Years in Prison

Enos said Anson admitted having spent 35 years in prison in his lifetime for a series of misdeeds and that he claimed to have been born in Irving, Tex.

“I’d have been all right if I’d stayed in Texas,” the officer quoted the suspect as saying, “because I never got into any trouble in Texas.”

Police, however, said they could not explain how Anson came by the suitcases containing the improbable items. But they said they believe they had been filched from a woman traveler passing through one of the airport terminals.