A broken cigarette lighter turned out to be far more useful than its owner ever expected when it reportedly saved him from a gunshot in Springfield, Illinois, in 1928.
Walter Warner was carrying the lighter in the pocket of his vest when he became involved in an argument with a man identified as Ambro Lamsarger. At some point during the dispute, the confrontation escalated dramatically, and Lamsarger fired a gun at Warner.
Under ordinary circumstances, the shot might have caused a serious or even fatal wound. Instead, the bullet struck the cigarette lighter tucked inside Warner’s vest pocket.
The small metal object absorbed the impact and stopped the bullet before it could enter Warner’s body.
The irony of the story was not lost on the newspaper that reported it. Warner’s lighter apparently did not function properly for its intended purpose. It would not light a cigarette. Yet when faced with a far more dangerous task, the defective lighter performed remarkably well.
Stories of pocket objects stopping bullets have appeared from time to time in newspaper accounts, with everything from coins and watches to books and cigarette cases credited with deflecting or slowing gunfire.
Lighter Won’t Light, But It Stops Bullet
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois. — Walter Warner has a cigarette lighter that works, but not as a lighter.
He got in an argument with Ambro Lamsarger and Lamsarger fired a gun at him.
In an incredible twist of fate, the bullet was stopped by the lighter, which was in Warner’s vest pocket.
Source: The Washington Daily News. Washington, D.C. December 4, 1928.
