His crime spree lasted nearly three months, ending in a two-hour shootout with the New York City Police Department on May 7, 1931, that was witnessed by 15,000 bystanders and received national attention.

[1] Francis Crowley was born in New York City on October 31, 1912, the second son of an unwed German mother who gave him up for adoption.

Shortly thereafter John Crowley was killed in a confrontation with police officers while resisting arrest on a charge of disorderly conduct.

[1][2] A month later, Crowley and two friends broke into the West 90th Street apartment of real estate broker Rudolph Adler.

[4] Adler's dog Trixie attacked the robbers and drove them from the house, saving her owner's life, before being shot by one of Crowley's accomplices as the gang exited the apartment.

[citation needed] On April 27, Crowley was out joyriding in a stolen vehicle with his partner Rudolph "Fats" Durringer and dance hall hostess Virginia Brannen.

[citation needed] On April 29, he was spotted in the Bronx driving a green Chrysler Imperial sedan along 138th Street near the Morris Avenue Bridge.

On May 6, Crowley was sitting in a parked car with his 16-year-old girlfriend Helen Walsh on Morris Lane in North Merrick, Long Island when he was approached by police officers Frederick Hirsch and Peter Yodice, who asked for identification.

He remained a disciplinary problem – stuffing his prison uniform down a toilet, setting fire to his bed, and frequently crafting homemade weapons.