Photos: Outlaw John Dillinger captured in Tucson in 1934
89 years ago on Jan. 25, 1934, John Dillinger and his crew of criminals — Charley Makley, Russell Clark and Harry Pierpont — were captured in Tucson following a string of jail breaks and robberies in the Midwest.
On Jan. 23, 1934, Makley and Clark were staying at Hotel Congress when a fire broke out. The duo asked firefighters to retrieve their bags from one of the upper floors. But the firefighters later recognized Makley and Clark and notified police.
Dillinger and Clark were arrested at a home near the University of Arizona. Makley was arrested downtown at what was once the Grabe Electric Company. And Pierpont was captured after being lured to the local police station under false pretenses.
More about the capture: Here are 10 fast facts
John Dillinger
Arizona Daily Star front page on events surrounding the capture of John Dillinger and his gang in January, 1934.
John Dillinger
Arizona Daily Star front page on events surrounding the capture of John Dillinger and his gang in January, 1934.
John Dillinger
Arizona Daily Star front page on events surrounding the capture of John Dillinger and his gang in January, 1934.
John Dillinger
John Dillinger was one of the most notorious gangsters of the 1930s, wanted for a rash of bank robberies in the Midwest.
John Dillinger
This is a June 1934 FBI "Wanted" poster of John Herbert Dillinger who was considered "Public Enemy No. 1." (AP Photo)
John Dillinger
On display at the History of Pharmacy Museum in the College of Pharmacy at the University of is gum chewed by John Dillinger and deposited under a counter at his regular seat at the Owl Drug Store in downtown Tucson. Jesse Hurlbut who ran the store - filling prescriptions and serving meals - collected the gum after recognizing the gum chewing customer as Dillinger after the outlaw's arrest.
John Dillinger
Standing from what is now the location of Maynards Market & Kitchen, looking across at the north facade of Hotel Congress, ca 1930s, before the fire that engulfed the third floor, forcing the Dillinger gang out.
John Dillinger
This 1923 American LaFrance Fire Engine used by Tucson Fire Department at the 1934 fire at Hotel Congress. The fire at the hotel flushed out three members of the gang, who were noticed by firefighters who remembered mug shots from detective magazines. A ruse pulled one of Dillinger's best gunmen into Police Chief C.A. Wollard's office. Dillinger surrendered to an officer who said, "Reach for the moon, or I'll cut you in half."
John Dillinger
Home where John Dillinger stayed in 1934, located at 927 N. 2nd Ave. Photo taken in 1983. John Dillinger, unaware that the others of his gang were in jail, was nabbed at sundown as he and his girlfriend strolled into the house on Second Avenue.
John Dillinger
News photo of the Tucson Police officers involved in the arrest of John Dillinger in 1934. The Old Pueblo, home to about 30,000 people, had a police force that numbered 35. The average salary for a Tucson Police officer was $140 a month.
John Dillinger
Tucson Police Chief C.A. Wollard, standing at far left, at John Dillinger's (center, with hat on knee) arraignment the morning after his capture.
John Dillinger
In this 1961 picture, Tucson Police Sgt. Tom Keeley holds a Colt Thompson with a 20-round clip and and secretary Linda Bradfield holds a Winchester Model 1907, among the guns confiscated from the John Dillinger gang during Dillinger's capture in Tucson in 1934. In total, police seized three Thompson submachine guns, two Winchester rifles mounted as machine guns, five bulletproof vests and more than $25,000 in jewelry and cash, part of it taken in an East Chicago robbery.
John Dillinger
Tucson Police Office Stan Benjamin holds John Dillinger's Colt Thompson "Tommy" gun with a 50-round magazine at the main police station in Tucson in 1975.
John Dillinger
The Remington .41 caliber Double Derringer pistol confiscated from gangster John Dillinger when he was arrested in Tucson, Arizona on January 25, 1934 -- six months before he was fatally gunned down in Chicago -- sold for $95,600 in a public auction conducted in Dallas, Texas and online by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas (www.HA.com) on July 25, 2009, a few days after the 75th anniversary of Dillinger's death. According to Heritage the winning bidder is a Los Angeles area collector, and the winning bid was more than twice the pre-auction estimate.
John Dillinger
Artifacts at the Arizona Historical Society: At left is a handgun used in the Pantano stage holdup. At right is a gun owned by Billy Stiles, an outlaw/gunman who died in 1908. The cummerbund from John Dillinger's bullet-proof vest is on the table.
John Dillinger
This late April 1924 photo released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows a view of Little Bohemia, in Manitowish Waters, Wis., taken by FBI personnel following a raid. John Dillinger and his gang lived there for three days, until federal agents nearly caught up with them. Two men were killed and four were wounded during a gun battle as the gang escaped.
John Dillinger
In this July 21, 1934 file photo, people pose in front of the Biograph Theater at Lincoln and Fullerton Streets as one woman displays the newspaper headline "Dillinger Slain" in Chicago, Ill. Outlaw John Dillinger was shot and killed by federal agents outside the movie theater after watching the feature "Manhattan Melodrama."
John Dillinger
In this film publicity still released by Universal Pictures, Johnny Depp stars as legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger, in a scene from, "Public Enemies."
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