T.V. Newsman Briefly Held Hostage

Apr. 23, 1965 - A television newsman with a habit of carrying around a black bag to hold his notes was mistaken by two armed men at 1 p.m. today for a man who was supposed to get a payroll at the First National City Bank branch at 28-11 Bridge Plaza North, Long Island City, Queens.

As the newsman, John Tillman of WPIX-TV New York, started to drive away, first one thug and then another got into his automobile. The pair demanded “the money you just got at the bank.”Tillman explained he was a newsman and that what he had got was an interview at the Department of Traffic about the bank. He pointed to his special vehicle identification permit from the Police Department.

“How do you like that,” one of the thugs said. “We got the wrong guy. We got ourselves a cop.”

Not a cop, Tillman explained patiently, a newsman.

Convinced, the thugs let him out without robbing him and told him he could pick up his car a block and a half away. He found it. They had left the motor running.

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