Dillinger Gang Robs
American Bank & Trust.
Bank President Grover
Weyland Kidnapped And
Left Tied To A Tree
During Getaway.
This newspaper article is
transcribed below, for easier
reading.
Dillinger Credited for Racine Holdup; Also Escaped from Northern Resort

Milwaukee,  July 23 (1933) - Two spectacular gun battles,
one a bank robbery and the other an escape from a
northern resort, marked John Dillinger's trail in
Wisconsin.
Death of Dillinger accounts for the last of five gangsters
charged with taking part in one of the boldest bank
robberies in the history of the state - the holdup of the
American Bank and Trust Company in Racine, Nov 20, 1933.
The Indiana desperado was reported seen in Wisconsin
a score of times after the Racine robbery. The only time he
was definitely identified was in the battle with federal agents
at the Little Bohemia lodge near Eagle river on April 22.

Many Visits to State
Milwaukee police believe Dillinger and his henchmen spent
considerable time here before and after the Racine robbery.
Evelyn Fretchette, Dillingers Indian sweetheart from Neopit,
Wis was said to have boasted that she and Dillinger dined in
a downtown Milwaukee restaurant New Years day.
The Fretchette woman was captured with Dilliinger in Tucson,
Ariz, but released when Dillinger was returned to Indiana.
Later authorities learned that she and Opal Long purchased
an automobile in Milwaukee January 9 the license plates of
which were found on Dillinger's car in Tucson.

Lose Fight at Tucson
Racine authorities rushed to Tucson to obtain custody of
Dillinger and his gangsters after they were captured there
January 25. After a sharp verbal fight with Indiana officials,
the Wisconsin authorities lost their attempt to bring the
holdup men back to Racine.
When Dillinger escaped from the Crown Point, Ind jail,
chief of Police  Grover Lutter issued a statement criticizing
the Indiana officials and declaring that if the desperado had
been returned to Wisconsin he would be in prison instead
of at liberty.
The bandits obtained $27,000 in cash and a large amount
in bonds in the Racine robbery. Police sergeant Wilbur Hansen
and Herold Graham, a bank teller, were shot. Grover Weyland,
president of the bank, Mrs. Ursula Patzke, bookkeeper, and
Officer Cyril Boyard were kidnapped. Boyard was dropped from
the bandit car on the outskirts of Racine.

Tied to Tree
Weyland and Mrs Patzke were tied to a tree in Waukesha
County but managed to free themselves  and walk to a
farmhouse.
The spectacular nature of the holdup was heightened by
the fact that a crowd of several hundred persons gathered
outside of the bank while the robbers were still inside.
Dillinger and his companions spattered the side walk with
machine gun slugs in fighting their way from the bank door
to their car.
Leslie Homer. 41, Indianapolis, is the only one of the five
named in the Racine warrants now in prison in Wisconsin.
He was arrested on suspicion in Chicago and taken to
Indianapolis. Police said he confessed that he took part
in the robbery and he was returned to Wisconsin for sentencing.

Others Named
The others named in the Racine warrants were Charles Makeley,
Harry Pierpoint, and Russell Clark. Makeley and Pierpoint are in
prison in Lima awaiting electrocution in the shooting of a sheriff in
freeing Dillinger. Clark is now serving a life sentence on the same
charge.
The search for Dillinger in northern Wisconsin started after he
was seen on Sault Ste. Marie, Mich...Apr 21. The next day the
outlaw and his gang was surrounded at the Little Bohemia resort.
The gangsters shot their way out of the federals trap when the
barking of a dog announced the presence of authorities. W. Carter
Baum, a federal agent was killed in the exchange of gun fire.
Eugene Boisoneau, a CCC worker, was killed and a companion
wounded by the federal men when they were mistaken for the
gangsters.

Girls Captured
Three girl companions captured at Little Bohemia were taken to
Madison where they were indicted for harboring Dillinger. They
were paroled on May 25. Jean Crompton, sweetheart of Tommy
Carroll, later was found with Carroll when the latter was killed in
a battle with Iowa authorities. She was returned to prison on a
charge of violating her parole.
Federal, county, and local officials joined in the greatest manhunt
in Wisconsin's history after the little Bohemia fiasco. George (Baby
Face) Nelson, one of the gangsters, was trailed to an Indian's
shack in the north woods but he made good his escape.
The last Wisconsin Dillinger report came from Racine several
days ago. Two Milwaukee men reported that they saw Dillinger
riding in an open Ford V-8 near Racine.  Milwaukee and Racine
county authorities patrolled all highways for several hours but
could find no trace of the car.
This photo of Grover
was taken in 1933, right
around the time of the
bank robbery
For a detailed account of the robbery,
based upon information from several
sources, please click

To view photos and background info
about the robbery, please click  












The motion picture "Public Enemies" is available on
DVD.  Directed by Michael Mann, it stars Johnny Depp
and Christian Bale. The film depicts the infamous
1933-34 crime spree of The Dillinger Gang and others.  

Dillinger, betrayed by Anna Sage (photos below), the
famous "Lady In Red", was shot to death on a Chicago
street by FBI agents on the evening of July 22, 1934, the
day before this newspaper article was published.  Only
two months earlier, on May 23, 1934, Bonnie Parker and
Clyde Barrow had been ambushed and shot to death by
local police in rural Louisiana.

"Public Enemies" originally opened in movie theaters
nationwide in July of 2009.  The movie features a vivid
depiction of the armed robbery of the American Bank &
Trust Co. and the kidnapping of Grover Weyland by
John Dillinger and his gang.
NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD
Polly Hamilton and Anna Sage.  The
duo took John Dillinger in as a
house guest.  Anna Sage secretly
contacted the FBI and advised them
that Dillinger and the two women
would be attending the Biograph
movie theater on a given night.
Anna's price for delivering Dillinger:
a promise that the FBI would quash
her extradition as an undesirable
alien.  But the FBI broke its word
and Anna was sent back to Romania
(above, arriving in Hamburg).  She
vowed to return to the U.S. but she
never did.