The Dillinger Gang was a group of American Depression-era bank robbers led by John Dillinger. The gang gained notoriety for a successful string of bank robberies, using modern tools and tactics, in the Midwestern United States from September 1933 to July 1934. During this crime spree, the gang killed 10 and wounded 7. They managed to pull off three jail breaks which wounded two guards and killed a sheriff.
The increased use of new law enforcement techniques by the newly strengthened Bureau of Investigation (FBI predecessor) led to the dismantling of the gang. Many of its members were killed or imprisoned. Most notably, the BOI killed Dillinger in 1934 when he exited a movie theater.
Known members John Dillinger Baby Face Nelson John "Red" Hamilton Homer Van Meter Harry "Pete" Pierpont Charles Makley Russell Clark Ed Shouse Harry Copeland Tommy Carroll Eddie Green
Tactics The gang employed military-inspired tactics taught to them in prison by men such as Herman Lamm. Tactics included the use of roles during the robbery: Lookout, getaway driver, lobby man, and vault man. Gang members had modern weapons like the Thompson submachine gun and also had bulletproof vests.
Lamm is credited with creating the first detailed getaway maps, known as "gits", to improve the chances for escape after the robbery. Powerful vehicles, like Ford coupes with a V8 engine, at the scene of the crime were known as "work cars" but were discarded after the crime to foil eye-witness reports given to police. Gangsters made use of caches of gasoline for their getaway cars as well as medical kits to treat injuries.
Activities Before Lima: New Carlisle National Bank, New Carlisle, Ohio, of $10,000 on June 21, 1933;"Bandits Bind Cashier, Clerk and Assistant". Dayton Daily News, June 21, 1933, pp. 1 & 5. The Commercial Bank, Daleville, Indiana, of $3,500 on July 17, 1933; Montpelier National Bank, Montpelier, Indiana, of $6,700 on August 4, 1933; Bluffton Bank, Bluffton, Ohio, of $6,000 on August 14, 1933; Massachusetts Avenue State Bank, Indianapolis, Indiana, of $21,000 on September 6, 1933; After Dillinger was broken out of Lima: Home Banking Company, Saint Marys, Ohio of $12,000; Central National Bank and Trust Co., Greencastle, Indiana, of $74,802 on October 23, 1933; American Bank and Trust Co., Racine, Wisconsin, of $28,000 on November 20, 1933; First National Bank, East Chicago, Indiana, of $20,000 on January 15, 1934; After Dillinger's escape from Crown Point: Securities National Bank and Trust Co., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, of $49,500 on March 6, 1934; First National Bank, Mason City, Iowa, of $52,000 on March 13, 1934; First National Bank, Fostoria, Ohio, of $17,000 on May 3, 1934; Merchants National Bank, South Bend, Indiana, of $29,890 on June 30, 1934.
To obtain more supplies, the gang attacked the state police arsenals in Auburn, Indiana and Peru, Indiana, stealing machine guns, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, and bulletproof vests. On October 23, 1933, the gang robbed the Central National Bank & Trust Company in Greencastle, Indiana, making off with $74,802. They then headed to Chicago to hide out.
The gang traveled to Racine, Wisconsin and robbed the American Bank and Trust Company, making off with $28,000. On December 14, 1933, CPD Detective William Shanley was killed. The police had been put on high alert and suspected the Dillinger gang of involvement in the robbery of the Unity Trust And Savings Bank of $8,700 the day before. The robbery was eventually determined to have been the work of another outfit. Shanley was following up on a tip that one of the gang's cars was being serviced at a local garage. John "Red" Hamilton showed up at the garage that afternoon. When Shanley approached him, Hamilton pulled a pistol and shot him twice, killing Shanley, then escaped. Shanley's murder led to the Chicago Police Department's establishment of a forty-man "Dillinger Squad".
Daytona Beach, Florida
Dillinger and Evelyn Frechette were at a house on Daytona Beach, Florida on December 19. A day or two later they were joined by members of his gang; these were Pierpont, Makley, Russell Clark and Opal Long. Edwin Utter was the caretaker who occupied the garage apartment at the same address, and he told how the couples did not bother anyone (they "kept to themselves") and had no outside contacts, as far as he knew, and he did not see anyone visit them. To Utter the group had the appearance of gangsters. Someone in the group at some time mentioned to him they were coming from Chicago. Utter said the group received a considerable amount of mail. After the gang had gone, several letters came addressed to Frank Kirtley (an alias of Dillinger), J. C. Davies (alias of Makley), and J. C. Evans (an alias of Pierpont), but as the gang had not left a forwarding addresses, they were returned to the postman.
Utter stated there was considerable drinking going on, especially at night. He said the gang stayed at the cottage until about January 12, leaving at night. This January date would have posed yet another problem for Dillinger's defense team had he gone to trial for Officer O'Malley's killing.FBI Dillinger File 62-29777
East Chicago robbery
While Makley, Clark, and Pierpont extended their vacation by driving west to Tucson, Arizona, Dillinger left Florida on January 12 and met up with Hamilton in Chicago at noon on January 15, a meeting that had been arranged between the two men while Dillinger was in Daytona Beach. Later that afternoon they robbed the First National Bank in East Chicago. East Chicago marked the first time serious violence occurred at a Dillinger robbery, a trend that would continue through South Bend, the last job. Killed by Dillinger was East Chicago patrolman William Patrick O'Malley, the outlaw's first and only murder victim."East Chicago Patrolman William Patrick O'Malley". Indiana Law Enforcement Memorial. At approximately 2:50 p.m., 10 minutes before closing time, Dillinger, Hamilton, and an unidentified driver pulled up in front of the bank on Chicago Avenue on the wrong side of the street, facing east in the westbound lane, double parked, and exited the vehicle, leaving the driver to wait in the idling car.
Hamilton waited in the bank's vestibule while Dillinger entered the main room of the bank. Once inside, Dillinger leisurely opened up a leather case containing a Thompson, pulled it out, and yelled to the 20 to 30 people in the bank, "This is a stickup. Put up your hands and get back against the wall." The bank's vice president, Walter Spencer, while hiding, kicked a button which touched off the burglar alarm. Dillinger then went to the door of the vestibule and told Hamilton to come in. Hamilton produced a small leather bag and began scooping up the cash cage by cage. Dillinger told him, "Take your time. We're in no hurry."
Meanwhile, the first police contingent arrived on the scene after receiving the alarm at police headquarters. Four officers arrived: Patrick O'Malley, Hobart Wilgus, Pete Whalen, and Julius Schrenko. After a quick look through the windows of the bank, the officers could see a holdup was in progress and that one of the men was carrying a submachine gun. Shrenko ran to a nearby drugstore and called for more backup. While Schrenko was calling headquarters, Wilgus entered the bank by himself, but was soon covered by Dillinger. The outlaw "relieved" him of his pistol, emptied the cartridges, then tossed it back to the officer. Referring to his Thompson, Dillinger told Wilgus, "You oughtn't be afraid of this thing. I ain't even sure it'll shoot."
Turning his attention to Hamilton, Dillinger said, "Don't let those coppers outside worry you. Take your time and be sure to get all the dough. We'll take care of them birds on the outside when we get there." Dillinger then discovered the hiding VP, Spencer, and ordered him up against the wall with everyone else.
Schrenko's call for backup emptied the station of all but its phone operator. Four more officers arrived: Captains Tim O'Neil and Ed Knight, and Officers Nick Ranich and Lloyd Mulvihill (Mulvihill would be murdered by Van Meter on May 24). These four officers joined the other three in positions on either side of the Chicago Avenue entrance to the bank. Apparently, not one of them noticed the getaway car double parked on the wrong side of the street right outside the bank door, with its driver sitting unconcerned in the seat with the motor running.
Dillinger then ordered Spencer and Wilgus to lead the way out of the bank, acting as shields. The four walked down the sidewalk toward the car. O'Malley, standing about 20 feet from the front door, saw an opening and fired four times at Dillinger, the bullets bouncing off the outlaw's bullet-proof vest. Dillinger pushed Spencer away with the barrel of his Thompson and yelled, "Get over. I'll get that son of a bitch." O'Malley fell dead, with eight holes in a line across his chest. As Hamilton made his way into the street, he took a bullet to the right hand, causing him to drop an emptied pistol. Dillinger kept firing until he climbed into the rear seat of the car. Two game wardens who had driven up to the scene emptied their guns into the car as it started to pull away. The car actually started to pull away before Hamilton had closed the left rear door, and the door was partly torn off as it caught on the rear of another vehicle. The Ohio plates used at the gang's earlier robbery of a Greencastle bank in October were used on the East Chicago getaway car. Police believed the car "may have been a Plymouth", but was actually a 1934 Ford two-door sedan. The abandoned car was found the following day at Byron Street and California Avenue, Chicago.
Every officer, as well as numerous witnesses inside the bank, identified Dillinger as being one of the robbers – and the gang member who shot Officer O'Malley. Prints were taken of the piece Hamilton left behind, which identified him.FBI Dillinger File, 62-29777 Dillinger was officially charged with Officer O'Malley's murder, although the identity of the actual killer is debatable, and it is still questioned by some whether Dillinger participated in the robbery at all.
As police began closing in again, the men left Chicago to hide out first in Florida; later at the Gardner Hotel in El Paso, Texas, where a highly visible police presence dissuaded Dillinger from trying to cross the border at the Santa Fe Bridge in downtown El Paso to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. They instead crossed the border further South in Texas, eventually making their way to Tucson, Arizona.
Hiding out in Tucson
On January 21, 1934, a fire broke out at the Hotel Congress in Tucson where members of the Dillinger gang were staying. Forced to leave their luggage behind, they were rescued through a window and down a fire truck ladder. Makley and Clark tipped several firemen $12 (each, according to a bureau report) to climb back up and retrieve the luggage, affording the firefighters a good look at several members of Dillinger's gang. One of them, William Benedict, later recognized Makley, Pierpont, and Ed Shouse while thumbing through a copy of True Detective and informed the police, who traced Makley's luggage to 927 North Second Avenue. Officers from the Tucson Police Department went to the address on the afternoon of January 25, and there arrested Clark after a struggle. They found him in possession of $1,264.70 in cash.
Makley was then followed to the Grabbe Electric & Radio Store on Congress Street, where he was looking at a radio capable of picking up police calls, and was apprehended there. He had $794.09 of cash in his possession.FBI Dillinger file, 62-2777
To capture Pierpont, the police staged a routine traffic stop and lured him to the police station, where they took him by surprise and arrested him. There was $99.81 recovered in Pierpont's personal effects and $3,116.20 on Mary Kinder.