Sheriff Charles Oglesby was shot and killed while attempting to arrest three men stealing a ride on a Pennsylvania Railroad freight train.

   He had been requested to assist the engineer in removing three hobos from the train who were ordered off during a stop in Star City but refused. Sheriff Oglesby was unaware the three men were not hobos, but actually a gang of safe-crackers who had recently burglarized the Marsh Bros. store in Burnettsville in White County.

   As Sheriff Oglesby approached, one of the three suspects ran from the train, up the railroad tracks north from Pearl Street in Winamac. The other two suspects stood their ground. Both men fired shots at Sheriff Oglesby and he returned fire.

   The second suspect attempted to run from the scene and was shot below the left shoulder as he climbed a fence. The third suspect fired again, hitting the sheriff in the chest, however, before he could escape he was shot in the abdomen by return gunfire.

   Sheriff Oglesby was taken to his home where he died an hour later in the company of his family. A posse was quickly deputized and set out after the bandits. Two suspects were found wounded in a cornfield just north of Winamac and surrendered without incident. The third suspect was captured along the tracks north of Winamac.

   The 35-year-old suspect who killed Sheriff Oglesby died of his wounds three days later. The 21-year-old wounded suspect was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Both suspects were convicted of the store burglary and sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.

   Sheriff Oglesby, a Republican from Winamac, was in the first year of his second, two-year term in office. He was survived by his wife, 9-year-old daughter, 7-month and 5-year-old sons, parents and two sisters.