MN House asks Congress to name South St. Paul Post Office after officer shot by Ma Barker’s gang

Dave Orrick, Pioneer Press
·1 min read
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The Minnesota House Thursday evening formally asked Congress to name the South St. Paul Post Office in honor of a police officer killed in 1933 by the infamous Barker-Karpis gang.

Patrolman Leo Pavlak, 38, was gunned down during a payroll robbery while escorting two messengers from the local post office Aug. 30, 1933, when Arthur Barker fatally shot him, according to an account reported by the South St. Paul Police Department.

Thursday’s action by the House was a resolution, approved 130-0, that carries no force of law, but simply asks Congress to name the post office after Pavlak, which Congress has the authority to do.

According to a letter from the family read by state Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, Pavlak’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren include a number of local law enforcement officials. Among them were retired St. Paul police officer David Pavlak, U.S. Marshal for Minnesota Bob Pavlak, and former Ramsey County Sheriff Commander Robert Pavlak Jr.

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