The true-life story of Pearl Lusk and Olga Rocco could have been an interesting classic – if written as a crime movie. Pearl was a young sales clerk who was relieved of her job. She desperately needed a job as she could not afford her well-furnished apartment.
On Thanksgiving Day in 1946, she met Allen La Rue, Olga Rocco’s ex-husband, who disguised as a detective working for an insurance company to find stolen jewelry and promised her a job. Excited, she took the job offer to take a snapshot of Olga as proof that she stole the jewelry. He said he needed proof to report the case to the police.
On the 31st of December, 1946, Pearl set out early on her mission, but little did she know that the x-ray camera given to her to take the snapshot was a sawed shotgun. Did she complete the mission? How did she find out that she was deceived? This article answers these questions and more. Pearl and Olga ended up as friends. But let’s see how they started:
Who Was Pearl Lusk?
Pearl Lusk was a 19-year-old girl who moved to New York City just a few months after finishing high school. She moved from Quakertown in Pennsylvania, a town near Philadelphia. She had to spend some time in Brooklyn with her mother and step-father, so she rented an apartment in Manhattan after securing a job as a salesgirl.
In December 1946, she lost her job because the Christmas rush had ended and her services were no longer needed. This meant she could no longer afford her apartment, and Pearl was in dire need of a job. On Thanksgiving Day of 1946, she met a charming man named Allen La Rue on her way to visit her mother on the Brooklyn subway train.
Though she was taken aback by his great looks, she did not give in to his advances. Fortunately, their paths crossed again on the evening of the day after Christmas as she returned from her mother’s place. They had drinks at Times Square, where she ordered her favorite Scotch Whiskey and 7-up.
She shared her ordeal with him, and he promised her a job as an assistant in tracking a jewelry thief (Olga Rocco). Allen gave her a box containing a camera and asked her to position the box very close to the suspect’s waist before she dragged the wire.
He explained that this was because the suspect had the jewelry on her waist, so it would take an x-ray picture that could see through her clothes. According to Allen, the suspect (Olga Rocco) wears the stolen jewelry on her waist.
Who Was Olga Rocco?
Olga Rocco was a 29-year-old woman who was a victim of a camera-gun shooting. She was Allen’s ex-wife who had been at the receiving end of Allen’s several abductions and unending death threats.
Olga lived with her parents, her married sister, and her sister’s husband, along with their daughter, after her divorce. They all lived in 1434 Fifty-Seventh Street, Brooklyn. She was married to Alphonse Rocco (also known as Allen La Rue) after a few months of courtship in 1944, and their marriage lasted for one and a half years (May 14, 1945, to April 1946).
However, neither Olga nor her parents knew who exactly her husband was. Allen claimed that his parents died when he was young and that he was raised in orphanages and foster homes. More so, Olga’s husband’s source of income was unknown. He used to travel for a while and return with a new car and enough money.
He was used to hunting and camping. He would go on weekends in the Catskills with only a gun and sleeping bag, but most of all, he was also a jealous husband. Additionally, Olga had to work because her parents were dependents. She was a private secretary to the owner of the Croyden Hat Company with their office on West Thirty-ninth street.
What Happened To Pearl Lusk?
Pearl Lusk almost killed Olga Rocco while thinking she was taking a picture. On the 31st of December, 1946, two ladies were seated not far from each other in a train headed for Brooklyn. They were both strangers, but circumstances had made their lives intertwined. These ladies were Pearl Lusk and Olga Rocco.
Olga was on her way home after work, and she was seated adjacent to Pearl, who carried a box slightly bigger than a shoe box. The box was decorated, and it had the inscription “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” on it.’
When they got to Times Square, she followed Olga and did as Allen had instructed. She showed her the box and pulled the wire. Surprisingly, instead of a snapshot, there was a loud explosion. The box nearly fell off her hands, and Olga screeched, falling, holding her left leg.
The frightened Pearl said that she took Olga’s snapshot, then someone shot her from behind when the subway guard asked her. The police came, searched the box, and found a sawed-off shotgun. The police took her to the station, and when she realized she had been tricked by Allen to commit murder, a surprised Pearl continued apologizing to Olga – who had miraculously survived the attack.
Pearl confessed and told Olga and the police about the new job and how she was supposed to take pictures using an x-ray camera. Olga instantly knew that her ex-husband had finally gotten her. The wounded Olga Rocco was taken to the hospital while PearlLusk was taken to the West Thirtieth Street Station house.
Olga had to tell her story all over again to Stenographers and explained how her ex-husband had abducted her a couple of times and his numerous death threats. She said he had been stalking her and calling her almost every day, ending the call with tolls of threat. She shared this with the detectives Cooperman, Kahn, McNelly, and O’Brien and her suspicions before the incident happened.
At the West Thirtieth house, Pearl Lusk was shown a picture of her boss and his wife Olga in the nightclub before they got married. This was when it dawned on her that she had been deceived. She was later released when it became obvious that she was only a victim of deceit.
Olga Rocco Lost Her Left Leg Due to The Incident
Olga Rocco was discharged from the Rosevelt hospital, but she was never the same. The explosion had damaged her left leg so badly that it had to be amputated. Rocco lived the rest of her life on crutches and made a fortune from selling jewelry.
She pressed some charges against the police in the New York County Supreme Court. She filed a $200,000 suit, hoping to get compensated for her lost leg. In her suit, Rocco stated that she had informed the police that her husband was a threat to her life and they could not protect her.
However, on hearing Pearl Lusk’s testimony, the court dismissed the case, stating that the police did protect her from her husband but could not predict that he would use Pearl to get to her.
Pearl Lusk Later Moved On With Her Life
Pearl Lusk was later released from the West Thirtieth Station House, and Olga forgave her, which meant they became friends – and visited each other occasionally. Pearl later married the love of her life, David W. Lubell, and they had four children. However, she did not live very long. She died on the 21st of April, 1981, in Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 54.
What Happened To Olga Rocco’s Husband?
Olga Rocco’s husband, Alphonse Rocco, aka Allen La Rue, was killed by the police six days after the camera-shooting episode. When his involvement came to light, the police mounted a man-hunt for Olga Rocco’s husband. However, they had limited information about their suspect.
Olga’s parents could not help either, as they scarcely knew their son-in-law. They also did not know his parents, friends, or affiliates. However, Alphonse had gone to his nephew, Dominick Rizzo’s place, and being a con man, he convinces Rizzo to drive him to the Catskills to get the scarce automobile spare parts he claimed to have.
On their way there, Allen hijacks Risso’s car after they stopped by to grab a bite in Cairo, NY. Still, on the run, Rocco drove northwest for 30 min and camped with Frank Nash. However, he ran out of luck as the police trailed him to the woods.
The police caught a glimpse of him sleeping under a spruce tree in the dark, and they fired a warning shot, calling out to him to surrender. Rocco, however, fired back four times. The police returned the shots, and Rocco was killed.
