Gerald Chapman & Dutch Anderson
During the prohibition era, well before the reign of notorious criminals like Al Capone, lived the original Public Enemy #1, Gerald Chapman, also known as the “Gentleman Bandit.” Chapman, along with his gang, including Dutch Anderson, robbed a mail truck in New York in 1921, leading to the demise of the infamous gang.
New York Robbery
Dating as far back as 1912, Chapman had racked up quite the criminal record - everything from petty larceny to bank robbery. He gained notoriety on October 24, 1921, when he and his gang members followed a truck as it left the post office in lower Manhattan. They pulled the driver over at gunpoint, hijacked the truck, and pulled it into a side street. They then rifled through the mail, stealing cash and goods worth $2.4 million (over $41 million in today's standard).
Postal Inspectors spent months chasing a paper trail of bad and stolen checks that had been cashed din surrounding states all coming from the New York City mail robbery. Finally, on July 3, 1922, postal inspectors caught up to the gang.
Arrest and Escape
Gerald Chapman and his gang went to trial in August 1922. The court found them guilty and sentenced them each to 25 years in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. But Chapman and Anderson had no plans of staying in prison long. On March 27, 1923, Chapman and Anderson cut the prison's power lines. Under cover of the darkness, they climbed over the prison wall to freedom.
Chapman was located quickly and, in a shootout with law enforcement, was shot three times. Police took him to a local hospital under heavy guard, but he had every intention of escaping again. When guards left his room for a moment, Chapman jumped from the second-story hospital. By the time officers got to him, he was long gone. For the next two years, Chapman and Anderson would elude authorities.
Re-Arrest and Punishment
While Chapman and Anderson were on the run, several other crimes took place that were clearly the work of the two convicts. One was the killing of a Connecticut police officer, James Skelly. Finally, in 1925, their trail of crimes led authorities to Muncie, Indiana, where Ben Hance and his wife had been murdered by Dutch Anderson.
A neighbor, Mr. Comer, aided the two victims. As he lay dying, Mr. Hance told Comer he was shot by Dutch Anderson on "account of Gerald Chapman." Chapman was again arrested on January 18, 1925, but Anderson was still on the run.
On October 31, 1925, Anderson was found by police officer Charles Hammond in Muskegon, Michigan, A gunfight ensued, leaving both men dead. Chapman was tried and sentenced to death by hanging. There was no escaping this time. He was executed on April 26, 1926.
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