Editing John Dillinger (section)

==Escape from Crown Point, Indiana==
[[File:Tucson-Building-Hotel Congress old lobby-1919-2.jpg|upright=1.15|thumb|Display of newspaper clippings of the capture of John Dillinger and his gang in the old lobby of the Hotel Congress]][[File:Tucson-John Dillinger House - 1925.jpg|thumb|250px|The John Dillinger House in Tucson, Arizona]]
On January 25, 1934, Dillinger and his gang were captured in [[Tucson, Arizona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/dillinger-captured-in-Tucson|title=Dillinger Captured in Tucson|website=[[Pima County Public Library]]|access-date=January 15, 2018|author=PimaLib_LibrarianFiles|date=February 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014713/https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/dillinger-captured-in-tucson/|archive-date=December 17, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tucson.com/morguetales/dillinger-captured-in-tucson/article_0326f9b0-c480-11e5-b5c6-0bd2a84f0b59.html|title=1934: Dillinger captured in Tucson|first=Elaine|last=Raines|publisher=tucson.com|access-date=January 15, 2018|date=January 22, 2016}}</ref> Dillinger was extradited to Indiana and escorted back by Matt Leach,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/isp/2629.htm|title=ISP: The Pursuit of Public Enemy #1|website=www.in.gov|date=28 May 2021 }}</ref> the Chief of the Indiana State Police. He was taken to [[Lake County, Indiana|Lake County]] jail in [[Crown Point, Indiana]], and jailed for charges for the murder of police officer William O'Malley, who was killed during a Dillinger gang [[The Dillinger Gang#East Chicago robbery|bank robbery]] in [[East Chicago, Indiana|East Chicago]] on January 15, 1934. 

Local police boasted to area newspapers that the jail was escape-proof and had posted extra guards as a precaution. However, on Saturday, March 3, 1934, Dillinger was able to escape during morning exercises with fifteen other inmates. Dillinger produced a [[pistol]], catching deputies and guards by surprise, and was able to leave the premises without firing a shot. Almost immediately afterwards conjecture began whether the gun Dillinger displayed was real or not. According to Deputy Ernest Blunk, Dillinger had escaped using a real pistol. FBI files, on the other hand, indicate that Dillinger used a carved fake pistol. Sam Cahoon, a [[trustee]] who Dillinger took hostage in the jail, also believed Dillinger had carved the gun, using a razor and some shelving in his cell. In another version, according to an unpublished interview with Dillinger's attorney, [[Louis Piquett]], investigator Art O'Leary claimed to have snuck the gun in himself.<ref>Girardin/Helmer, ''Dillinger: The Untold Story''<!-- page(s) needed --></ref>

On March 16, Herbert Youngblood, who escaped from Crown Point alongside Dillinger, was shot dead by police in [[Port Huron, Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indianapolis Recorder 24 March 1934 — Body Of Youngblood; Slain Dillinger Pal – Returned To Family And Buried In Gary |url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=INR19340324-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=newspapers.library.in.gov}}</ref> Deputy Sheriff Charles Cavanaugh was mortally wounded in the gunfight and later died. Before his death, Youngblood told officers Dillinger was in Port Huron, and officers immediately began a fruitless search for the escaped man. An Indiana newspaper reported that Youngblood later retracted the story and said he did not know where Dillinger was at that time, as he had parted with him soon after their escape.<ref>{{cite news|author=Staff|title=YOUNGBLOOD IS SLAIN IN BATTLE|url=http://www.lowellpl.lib.in.us/youngblo.htm|newspaper=Lowell Tribune|location=Lowell, Indiana|date=March 22, 1934|access-date=2016-02-24}}</ref>

Dillinger was indicted by a [[grand jury]], and the Bureau of Investigation (a precursor of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]])<ref name=fbihist/> organized a nationwide [[manhunt (law enforcement)|manhunt]] for him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/john-dillinger|title=FBI History – Famous Cases, John Dillinger|publisher=FBI|access-date=2011-09-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902181920/http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/john-dillinger|archive-date=2011-09-02}}</ref> Just hours after his escape from Lake County jail, Dillinger reunited with his girlfriend, Billie Frechette.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Evelyn "Billie" Frechette (1907-1969) {{!}} American Experience {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dillinger-evelyn-billie-frechette/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=John Dillinger |url=http://rolandanderson.se/dillinger.php |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=rolandanderson.se}}</ref>

According to Frechette's trial testimony, Dillinger stayed with her for "almost two weeks." However, the two had actually traveled to the [[Twin Cities]] and taken lodgings at the Santa Monica Apartments in [[Minneapolis]], Minnesota, where they stayed for fifteen days.<ref>U.S. District Court, District of MN, USA vs. Evelyn Frechette, et al., pp. 590–92</ref><ref>Girardin/Helmer, "Dillinger: The Untold Story", p. 274</ref> Dillinger then met Hamilton, and the two mustered a new gang consisting of [[Baby Face Nelson]]'s gang, including Nelson, [[Homer Van Meter]], [[Tommy Carroll (criminal)|Tommy Carroll]] and [[Eddie Green (criminal)|Eddie Green]].

Three days after Dillinger's escape from Crown Point, the second Gang robbed a bank in [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]. A week later they robbed [[First National Bank of Mason City|First National Bank]] in [[Mason City, Iowa]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Plenty of folks still remember infamous Dillinger bank robbery |url=https://globegazette.com/news/local/plenty-of-folks-still-remember-infamous-dillinger-bank-robbery/article_529e6fad-0abb-5561-9b59-a78d5643dc97.html |website=Globe Gazette |date=September 19, 2008 |access-date=October 1, 2018}}</ref>