13. Old City Jail
In August of 1945, the Winslow Mail published an article about a “One-Man-Navy Battle” at the Winslow Police Station. A sailor of “giant physical proportions” had deserted his base in San Diego and stowed away on a train headed east. He managed to get out of California but was spotted on a train in Northern Arizona. To avoid getting caught, he jumped off the train into the desert between Flagstaff and Winslow. The railroad employees notified the authorities and the Winslow Police Department headed off in search of the stranded sailor.
Local policemen working with the highway patrol found the sailor stumbling in the desert. He was clearly suffering from a desperate mental condition. He had a broken bottle in each hand and belligerently slashed at the officers in his attempts to escape. It took six men to restrain the sailor and contain him using lassos to maintain their distance and drag him into a police car. While they were able to drag him into a cell at the jail, they were not able to pry the broken bottles away from his hands. Despite being behind bars, the manic sailor shouted threats and swiped his makeshift weapons at anyone who dared approach him.
The Navy sent a plane to the Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport to return the sailor to a Navy Hospital in California. Unfortunately, the sailor was still fighting the bars of the jail cell. In a desperate move, the police chief fumed the cell with tear gas, hoping to subdue the manic sailor. A bear of man, the sailor fought the tear gas, bellowing indecipherable threats. Once he was finally subdued by the tear gas, the sailor received treatment for the gas and was taken to the airport by ambulance.
While the building no longer houses prisoners, it is used by City of Winslow staff for storage purposes. Some staff members have reported hearing an inhuman bellow echo from the cells of the old jail area. Others have reported having a massive form swoop at them as they walk past the deserted cell bars.
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