At a hearing Joseph Strauss stated for the record, that around
                                        midnight during the night in question he awoke ” to sudden,
                                        terrible blows against the shutters” of his shop window. ”When
                                        the blows stopped” he heard a car take off in front of his house,
                                        whereupon he immediately went to the shop to check out the
                                        damage. While he was standing at the door of the shop a car
                                        drove up ”Fuldaer Berg”, and he was able to memorize the
                                        number of the license plate. This car had iron bars in the back,
                                        apparently meant as a baggage rack.
                                        Since Joseph couldn’t go back to sleep after this nightly scare he
                                        went upstairs to the second floor of his flat and stood at an open
                                        window with shutters ajar.
                                        ”Around 01am”, so he reported ” the same car came back, headed
                                        for my house. At Dr. Schenk’s front yard the car stopped, and the beams of the lights were aimed at my shop window. Two or three individuals wearing work clothes and armed with axes and pickaxes got out of the car. When these guys came running towards my shop window I called for help from the open window. My call was answered by some patrons of Joseph Hodes’ tavern who ran out into the street, whereupon the guys with the axes gave up on their scheme, got back into the car and drove towards ‘Gartenstrasse’.”
Joseph Strauss, who by the way had watched yet another car turn from Gartenstrasse into Fuldaer Strasse, definitely recognized the car in question by its iron bars.