A former New Ulm policeman, Ralph Reece, made headlines in the Los Angeles Times this week for his quick action in the handling of two burglars.

The Reeces, who now live in Garden Grove,Calif., surprised the burglars in a bedroom when they returned home from a restaurant.

According to the report, Reece, 42, grabbed one of the men and shouted to his 17-year-old son, Tony, to go after the second man who had sprinted out the door.

Mrs. Reece, meanwhile, was telephoning police and a neighbor, attracted by the disturbance, came to Reece’s assistance.

The second man, on his way out the door, had collided with 3-year-old DeeDee Reece and sent her sprawling. Tony caught up with him a block away and brought him back.

When police arrived, they found both suspects sitting on a couch with Reece holding a baseball bat over them and the neighbor covering them with his gun. The two men were booked on suspicion of burglary.

Reece,who had been a member of the police force here from 1956 until 1965, is employed as a mechanic in Long Beach.

New Ulm Daily Journal, Feb. 8, 1973