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Jacob Bonaparte arrested
Just what Bonaparte allegedly did is uncertain. He appeared among those listed as being arrested for burglary, the charge used in cases of alleged looting, in the lists published in the Atlanta World, Afro-American, and Norfolk Journal and Guide, and in the New York Evening Journal. However, the 28th Precinct police blotter recorded the charge against him as attempted burglary, suggesting that he was not arrested with any merchandise in his possession. In the Magistrate's Court, Bonaparte was charged with disorderly conduct, an offense that did not include attempting to take proprty. Instead, that charge suggested he had been in the crowds around the store when it was looted and clashed in some way with police. However, Magistrate Renaud acquitted Bonparte, an outcome also recorded in the 28th Precinct police blotter. Renaud's verdict indicated Bonaparte was a spectator, perhaps arrested as part of police efforts to disperse crowds on the street. The Romanoff Drug store was located in the midst of the area of Lenox Avenue that saw multiple arrests and reports of looting and violence, likely after midnight. Bonaparte may have been among the crowds drawn to the street by the noise. He lived 123 West 128th Street, midway down the block between Lenox and 7th Avenues, relatively close to the store.
J. Romanoff was also the complainant in the case of Oscar Austin, a twenty-nine-year-old Black man, and Sam Nicholas, a twenty-four-year-old Black man, both arrested by the same police officer, according to the Harlem Magistrates Court docket book. Both men's prosecution followed the same pattern as that of Bonaparte, ending in Magistrate Renaud acquitting them. They lived a little further from the store than Bonaparte, Austin at 204 West 128th Street, just west of 7th Avenue, and Nicholas at 224 West 124th Street.