Town Topics
14 April 1982

Fire Chief Is Hero

When Fire Chief Raymond Wadsworth went off to Italy on the Princeton Regional Schools’ spring vacation junket, he apparently packed in his suitcase the sense of civic responsibility that made him Princeton’s fire-chief.

Easter Saturday, in the milling crowds of the Vatican, Chief Wadsworth suddenly spotted something: a young boy, only 14 or 16 years old, grabbing an old woman’s purse. Quickly, the chief gave chase. He caught the boy, pinned him against the wall, took back the purse and held the youth until Vatican guards took over. Then he returned the handbag to its owner.

Chief Wadsworth doesn’t speak Italian. The elderly owner of the purse doesn’t speak English. Sometimes language is no barrier.