"Michigan Red” Arrested by Inspectors & Pinkerton Detectives
On September 16, 1900, Post Office Inspectors and detectives of the Pinkerton Agency arrest “Michigan Red” for robbing multiple banks and post offices.
The Crime
Martin Hawley, better known as “Michigan Red,” was a career criminal. After being released from prison for robbery in 1899, he and a partner robbed the Nunda Post Office in New York on December 23, 1899, by blowing the safe with nitroglycerin and fleeing with $640. They were quickly pursued by authorities, and Hawley was arrested and taken to the Monroe County Jail. After one week, he escaped.
The Crime Cont.
On the night of May 24, 1900, residents of Williamsburg, VA were woken by explosions surrounding the Peninsula Bank. The burglars escaped with $5,500 after surviving a major shootout with law enforcement. Detectives knew this was the work of the notorious “Michigan Red” and other members of the Topeka Joe gang.
The Arrest
On September 16, 1900, Hawley was discovered eating in a restaurant on Third Avenue in Williamsburg, VA, and he was promptly arrested after a crafty investigation organized by Inspector John D. King and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. “Michigan Red” pled guilty to the post office robberies and the Williamsburg bank robbery. He would spend the next seven years in and out of prison until his death on July 18, 1907, after a shootout with police near Gary, IN.