[10][11] As a teenager, Dillinger was frequently in trouble for fighting and petty theft; he was also noted for his "bewildering personality" and bullying of smaller children.

[9]: 16–17 In 1923, Dillinger's troubles resulted in him enlisting in the United States Navy, where he was a petty officer third class machinery repairman assigned aboard the battleship USS Utah.

[9] During the robbery, Dillinger struck a victim on the head with a machine bolt wrapped in a cloth and carried a gun which, although it discharged, hit no one.

Tracked by police from Dayton, he was captured and later transferred to Allen County jail in Lima to be indicted in connection to the Bluffton robbery.

After Dillinger's death, Billie was offered money for her story and wrote a memoir for the Chicago Herald and Examiner in August 1934.

In another version, according to an unpublished interview with Dillinger's attorney, Louis Piquett, investigator Art O'Leary claimed to have snuck the gun in himself.

[23] On March 16, Herbert Youngblood, who escaped from Crown Point alongside Dillinger, was shot dead by police in Port Huron, Michigan.

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.

Three days after Dillinger's escape from Crown Point, the second Gang robbed a bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

[31][32][33] Daisy Coffey, the landlord, testified at Frechette's trial that she spent most evenings during Dillinger's stay observing what was happening.

On March 30, Coffey went to the FBI's St. Paul field office to file a report, including information about the couple's new Hudson sedan parked in the garage behind the apartments.

As a result of Coffey's tip, the building was surveilled by two agents, Rufus Coulter and Rusty Nalls, but they saw nothing unusual because the blinds were drawn.

[35] Ten minutes later, by Nalls's estimate, Van Meter parked a green Ford coupe on the north side of the apartment building.

After waiting two to three minutes, Coulter went to the basement apartment of the caretakers, Louis and Margaret Meidlinger, and asked to use the telephone to call the Bureau.

While Coulter stayed with Van Meter's Ford, Nalls went to the corner drugstore and telephoned the local police, then the Bureau's St. Paul office, but could not get through because both lines were busy.

Upon hearing Van Meter firing at Coulter, Dillinger began shooting through the door with a Thompson submachine gun, sending Cummings scrambling for cover.

[45] On April 7 at approximately 3:30 a.m., they rammed a car driven by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Manning near Noblesville, Indiana, after Hubert fell asleep behind the wheel.

According to Hubert, his brother planned to pay a visit with the bullwhip to his former one-armed "shyster" lawyer at Crown Point, Joseph Ryan, who had run off with his retainer after being replaced by Louis Piquett.

That Friday morning, late at night, Dillinger and Van Meter took a hostage, Warsaw, Indiana police officer Judd Pittenger.

He had, in fact, gone to Chicago where he used the alias of Jimmy Lawrence, a petty criminal from Wisconsin who bore a close resemblance to Dillinger.

[citation needed] He later testified that he performed facial surgery on himself and obliterated the fingerprint impressions on the tips of his fingers by the application of a caustic soda preparation.

He came in with a drum of machine gun bullets under his arm, threw them on the bed or the couch in the bedroom, and started to talk to Van Meter.

"[citation needed] Agents arrested Loeser at 1127 South Harvey, Oak Park, Illinois, on Tuesday, July 24.

O'Leary returned from a family fishing trip on July 24, the day of Loeser's arrest, and had read in the newspapers that the Department of Justice was looking for two doctors and another man in connection with some plastic surgery that had been done on Dillinger.

[9] Dillinger and Hamilton, a Billie Frechette look-alike,[2][9] met in June 1934 at the Barrel of Fun night club located at 4541 Wilson Avenue.

[2][9] Division of Investigations chief J. Edgar Hoover created a special task force headquartered in Chicago to locate Dillinger.

She stated she was unable to leave the house to inform Purvis or Martin about Dillinger's plans to attend the Biograph, but as they were going to have fried chicken for the evening meal, she told Polly she had nothing in which to fry the chicken and was going to the store to get some butter; that while at the store she called Mr. Purvis and informed him of Dillinger's plans to attend the Biograph that evening, at the same time obtaining the butter.

At the time, federal officials felt that the Chicago Police Department was thoroughly corrupt and could not be trusted; Hoover and Purvis also wanted more of the credit.

[10] At approximately 8:30 p.m., Sage, Hamilton, and Dillinger were observed entering the Biograph Theater,[7][58][60] which was showing the crime drama Manhattan Melodrama, featuring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and William Powell.

[6] An ambulance was summoned, although it was soon apparent Dillinger had died from the gunshot wounds; he was officially pronounced dead at Alexian Brothers Hospital.