SMALL BOYS' FIB GOT OUT OF HAND
Officer, a Boy Fell Through the Ice … Well, a Boy Could!


Two small Minneapolis boys got lickings Tuesday for telling a fib to policemen.

Gee, what a mess: Mark Buchanan and Greg Warren pondered their fate. It all started when Mark Buchanan, 8, 3115 Clinton Av., and Greg Warren, 7, 3132 Clinton Av., were standing at the edge of a 60-foot embankment gazing at the river at Main St. and SE. 6th Av. about 5 pm.

Two patrolmen Warren Burns and Matthew J. Trymucha, cruising by in their squad car, noticed the two boys, stopped, and attempted to chase them away.

Mark, however, boldly announced that another boy had "vanished" on the ice, [and] Greg agreed.

Burns slid down the steep bank. Trymucha called for help. More squad cars arrived and the search began. The search was called off a short time later.

But Burns couldn't get back up the bank.

Another call went out, this time for six firemen to rescue Burns. With their help, he climbed up a long rope, cutting his hand in the process.

Mark and Greg were taken to police headquarters. They admitted the whole thing was a fib.

Mark was placed in the juvenile jail for a few hours and was taken home by his mother about 11:30 p.m.

"He'll look you straight in the eye and tell you all sorts of little lies," his mother said, "but he's never done something as big as this before."

She said Mark got a "hard licking with a belt" and was hustled off to bed.

Greg's mother, Mrs. June Warren, said Greg "was scared" when she arrived at police headquarters to retrieve her son.

"He wanted to go home. He said he was sorry. We talked it over, he got a spanking, and I sent him to bed."

Mark explained:

"I start telling stories. I tell a lot of stories, and they sort of get away from me. I get in too deep, and then I can't get out."