The mysterious police car in front of the Beckley rooming house

[Lance Payette]

I made this suggestion on the Ed Forum years ago and always thought it was kind of clever on my part.

As you know, Earlene Roberts reported that a police car pulled up in front of the rooming house on Beckley and tooted its horn while Oswald was in his room on 11-22. Highly suspicious, eh?

It occurred to me, "What pulls up in front of a house and toots its horn?" A taxi, no?

The rooming house on Beckley had 22 rooms. Not your average house. More like an apartment building.

Roberts told the WC she "couldn't see too good to read" and was "completely blind" in her right eye. Hmmm.

What did Dallas taxis look like, I wondered?

Well, here's one. Think it might have been mistaken for a police car?

One of the Ed Forum regulars ridiculed me for cherry-picking a police car that fit my needs. I pointed out that this is a photo of THE ACTUAL CAB in which WHALEY TRANSPORTED OSWALD!

Note the prominent number on the side, although Roberts said 170 and I don't know if Checker had a 170.

It may all add up to nothing - not a thoroughly Busted Factoid, I'll admit - but I find the Taxi Explanation at least as plausible as the Highly Suspicious Tooting Police Car Explanation. (You can - and should - buy a nifty model of the Whaley taxi here: https://livecarmodel.com/products/1963-checker-taxi-black-with-cream-top-checker-cab-dallas-texas-hobby-exclusive-1-64-diecast-model-car-by-greenlight.html.)

[John Mytton]

I made this suggestion on the Ed Forum years ago and always thought it was kind of clever on my part.

As you know, Earlene Roberts reported that a police car pulled up in front of the rooming house on Beckley and tooted its horn while Oswald was in his room on 11-22. Highly suspicious, eh?

It occurred to me, "What pulls up in front of a house and toots its horn?" A taxi, no?

The rooming house on Beckley had 22 rooms. Not your average house. More like an apartment building.

Roberts told the WC she "couldn't see too good to read" and was "completely blind" in her right eye. Hmmm.

What did Dallas taxis look like, I wondered?

Well, here's one. Think it might have been mistaken for a police car?

One of the Ed Forum regulars ridiculed me for cherry-picking a police car that fit my needs. I pointed out that this is a photo of THE ACTUAL CAB in which WHALEY TRANSPORTED OSWALD!

Note the prominent number on the side, although Roberts said 170 and I don't know if Checker had a 170.

It may all add up to nothing - not a thoroughly Busted Factoid, I'll admit - but I find the Taxi Explanation at least as plausible as the Highly Suspicious Tooting Police Car Explanation. (You can - and should - buy a nifty model of the Whaley taxi here: https://livecarmodel.com/products/1963-checker-taxi-black-with-cream-top-checker-cab-dallas-texas-hobby-exclusive-1-64-diecast-model-car-by-greenlight.html.)

JohnM

[Lance Payette]

JohnM

Remember, to be Earlene you have to close one eye completely, put Vaseline over the lens of your glasses for the other eye, and squint through the window blinds while sitting in a recliner watching TV!

[Lance Payette]

For those who wish to continue to rely on Aunt Earlene, it should perhaps be noted that she originally gave the car number as 207 and later changed to 106. She told the WC she "didn't pay much attention" and "didn't know where she got that" 270 or 106.

Tippit's car was 10.

Hmmm.

You know, of course, that Aunt Earlene died of a "heart attack" (oh, sure) at Parkland in 1966. She was apparently so low on the list of Those Who Must Be Eliminated that it took "them" a couple of years to get to her.

[Charles Collins]

For what it’s worth, Aynesworth interviewed Earlene Roberts on 11/22/63. Aynesworth writes that Roberts didn’t mention any police car at that time (among other things).

[Lance Payette]

One more plug for my theory.

Think about it: If it were important to some CT theory that Aunt Earlene actually saw a taxi rather than a police car, my theory would be one of the more rational, coherent, evidence-based Conspiracy Factoids around! It would have been elevated to Conspiracy Gospel long ago!

It makes so much sense that I hereby designate it an LN Factoid and an article of faith of LN Gospel.

[Watson Phillips]

I made this suggestion on the Ed Forum years ago and always thought it was kind of clever on my part.

As you know, Earlene Roberts reported that a police car pulled up in front of the rooming house on Beckley and tooted its horn while Oswald was in his room on 11-22. Highly suspicious, eh?

It occurred to me, "What pulls up in front of a house and toots its horn?" A taxi, no?

The rooming house on Beckley had 22 rooms. Not your average house. More like an apartment building.

Roberts told the WC she "couldn't see too good to read" and was "completely blind" in her right eye. Hmmm.

What did Dallas taxis look like, I wondered?

Well, here's one. Think it might have been mistaken for a police car?

One of the Ed Forum regulars ridiculed me for cherry-picking a police car that fit my needs. I pointed out that this is a photo of THE ACTUAL CAB in which WHALEY TRANSPORTED OSWALD!

Note the prominent number on the side, although Roberts said 170 and I don't know if Checker had a 170.

It may all add up to nothing - not a thoroughly Busted Factoid, I'll admit - but I find the Taxi Explanation at least as plausible as the Highly Suspicious Tooting Police Car Explanation. (You can - and should - buy a nifty model of the Whaley taxi here: https://livecarmodel.com/products/1963-checker-taxi-black-with-cream-top-checker-cab-dallas-texas-hobby-exclusive-1-64-diecast-model-car-by-greenlight.html.)

Your "conspiracy Theory"  is more concocted than "Clever"
Survey says your slippery theory is a bust according to Mrs Roberts testimony , which you have completely misrepresented , either in deliberate dishonesty or ignorance , one .
Your purposedly left out omissions include the fact that Mrs. Roberts testified that she actually worked for & was on a friendly basis with a police officer and his wife , and it was not uncommon for him to stop by the rooming house to relay messages from his wife. back and forth
Not only was She was very familiar with make and model of the patrol cars used , she was very familiar with her friends particular number of his car, and at first glance thought it was his car ( 170) but soon saw that it was not his car.

the police car that I knew and had worked for so, I forgot about it. I seen
it at the time, but I don’t remember now what it was.
Mr. BALL. Did you report the number of the car to anyone?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I think I did-I’m not sure, because I-at that particular
time I remembered it.
Mr. BALL. You remembered the number of the car?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I think it was-106 it seems to me like it was 106, but I do
know what theirs was-it was 170 and it wasn’t their car.
443
Mr. BALL. It was not 170?
Mrs. ROBERTS. The people I worked for n-as 170.
Mr. BALL. Did you report that number to anyone, did you report this incident
to anyone?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, I told the FBI and the Secret Service both when they was

[Lance Payette]

Your "conspiracy Theory"  is more concocted than "Clever"
Survey says your slippery theory is a bust according to Mrs Roberts testimony , which you have completely misrepresented , either in deliberate dishonesty or ignorance , one .
Your purposedly left out omissions include the fact that Mrs. Roberts testified that she actually worked for & was on a friendly basis with a police officer and his wife , and it was not uncommon for him to stop by the rooming house to relay messages from his wife. back and forth
Not only was She was very familiar with make and model of the patrol cars used , she was very familiar with her friends particular number of his car, and at first glance thought it was his car ( 170) but soon saw that it was not his car.

the police car that I knew and had worked for so, I forgot about it. I seen
it at the time, but I don’t remember now what it was.
Mr. BALL. Did you report the number of the car to anyone?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I think I did-I’m not sure, because I-at that particular
time I remembered it.
Mr. BALL. You remembered the number of the car?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I think it was-106 it seems to me like it was 106, but I do
know what theirs was-it was 170 and it wasn’t their car.
443
Mr. BALL. It was not 170?
Mrs. ROBERTS. The people I worked for n-as 170.
Mr. BALL. Did you report that number to anyone, did you report this incident
to anyone?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, I told the FBI and the Secret Service both when they was

It's my factoid, bub, and I can pick and choose as I damn well please. The fact is, Aunt Earlene had poor eyesight, said she didn't pay much attention, and gave two different numbers for the "police" car. The fact is, taxis pull up in front of buildings and toot their horns. The fact is, if it wasn't her friends' police car, and it certainly wasn't Tippit's #10 because she gave three digits both times, then what the hell police car was it? By a process of rational elimination, it was - that's right - Checker cab #142, picking up good old Fred Bigelow who came out of a side entrance and hopped in. Alternatively, Aunt Earlene was fundamentally nuts, which is another distinct possibility.