Tommy Carroll (criminal)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Leonard "Tommy" Carroll (1901-June 7, 1934) was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. A boxer-turned-criminal, he committed numerous robberies during the 1920s and 30s as well as being a longtime member of the Dillinger gang
.
jail "for investigation". On October 24, 1921, Carroll was arrested for larceny
in Council Bluffs, Iowa
and remained in jail for nearly four months before his conviction on February 7, 1922. Sentenced to five years imprisonment, he spent a year in the Anamosa state reformatory before his parole in March 1923.
He continued to have run-ins with the law during the next few years, managing to avoid more jail time. He was twice charged with robbery, first in Kansas City on November 21, 1924 and again in St. Louis on August 11, 1925, and both cases were dropped. The following year, on August 28, 1926, he was jailed in St. Louis for auto theft but released without trial. He was picked up by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma
for carrying a concealed weapon on September 15, but the charges were dropped. Returned to St. Joseph, he was arrested for bank robbery on September 29, 1926, and held until his trial and acquittal on January 11, 1927.
On April 1, 1927, Carroll's luck ran out when he was convicted of armed robbery in Missouri and sentenced to five years imprisonment at the state prison in Jefferson City. He was later released on parole but only a brief time as he was quickly rearrested, tried and convicted under the newly-passed Dyer Act and spent 21 months in Leavenworth prison
until his parole in October 1931.
Carroll disappeared for a year and a half before he was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 17, 1933 for possession of burglar's tools. Carroll was able to negotiate his release and the charges against him were dropped. It was after this experience that Carroll became determined to break into major crime with a skilled team.
sometime in late-1933 and participated in his first robbery with the gang on October 23, 1933, when he joined Baby Face Nelson
, Homer Van Meter
, John Paul Chase
and Charles Fisher in the robbery of $32,000 from a bank in Brainerd, Minnesota
. On November 11, he was spotted and pursued by two Minneapolis detectives, managing to escape. Carroll soon after traveled to San Antonio, Texas
to purchase weapons from gunsmith Hyman Lehman on behalf of Nelson and the others. Carroll was forced to return when a chance encounter with police turned into a shootout, leaving Detective H.C. Perrow dead.
In February 1934, Carroll was sent by Homer Van Meter to Crown Point, Indiana
to deliver a "cash payment" to help break John Dillinger from the local jail. Carroll was, as yet, not an associate of Dillinger's and was easily able to pass through the town without notice. On March 3, Dillinger escaped from Crown Point and went to St. Paul where he met Carroll. Three days later, he joined Carroll, Van Meter, Nelson, John "Red" Hamilton
and Eddie Green
in stealing $49,500 from a bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
. Carroll was assigned to watch the street and captured 12 police officers single-handed, however Nelson shot and wounded motorcycle officer Hale Keith before they could make their getaway back to St. Paul.
Carroll was the wheelman a week later when the gang made their biggest score yet when, on March 3, they robbed a bank in Mason City, Iowa
for $52,344. Dillinger and Hamilton both suffered gunshot wounds when they exited the bank and the gang fled to St. Paul. The robbery had attracted so much attention that they couldn't risk staying in the city long and decided to disappear for a while. The gang headed for Emil Wanatka's Little Bohemia Lodge near Rhinelander, Wisconsin
a month later.
The FBI followed the gang to their hideout and, on the night of April 22, Melvin Purvis
led a raid against the lodge. The raid resulted in disaster with Federal agents killing one civilian Eugene Boisoneau, 35 from the Mercer CCC camp. Federal agents also wounded John Hoffman, 28 a gas station attendant and John Morris, 59, the Mercer CCC camp cook. Baby Face Nelson killed agent Carter Baum and wounded agent Jay Neuman and local constable Carl Christensen at Alvin Koerner's place south of Little Bohemia.
All the gangsters easily escaped.
Carroll had fled through the woods and ended up in a nearby crossroads community. He then stole a car and drove down a logging road 12 miles north of the lodge. When the road turned out to be a dead end, he left the car and escaped on foot while federal agents were arresting the women that had been found at the lodge with the gang. Carroll's wife Jean Delaney Carroll (or Crompton), sister-in-law of Alvin Karpis
, was among the women arrested and charged with harboring fugitives. She was later put on probation instead of serving a jail sentence.
Carroll remained on the run with Dillinger and Van Meter for almost a month and eventually hid out in a cabin outside East Chicago, Indiana
. On May 19, he and the rest of the gang were indicted by a federal grand jury in Madison, Wisconsin
and charged with harboring each other as fugitives. Later that month, as the gang went their separate ways, Carroll was reunited with his wife who violated her probation to join Carroll.
. The next morning they drove to Waterloo
where they stopped at a gas station. The station attendant noticed spare license plates in Carroll's new Hudson
and called local police after they had left. Carroll unintentionally parked the car across the street from the Waterloo police garage where, at that time, Detectives Emil Steffen and P.E. Walker approached the two. Caught off guard by the officers, Carroll reached for his gun but dropped it underneath the car, stopped to pick up the gun and ran down a nearby alley. Steffen and Walker opened fire and shot Carroll four times. Carroll died of his wounds at a nearby hospital several hours later. His wife was taken into custody and sentenced to a year and a day for violating her parole, only two days following her husband's death, later miscarrying their child.
Played by actor Spencer Garrett
in the 2009 film Public Enemies.
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
.
Early life and criminal career
An ex-boxer, Tommy Carroll was first arrested on January 24, 1920, and served 60 days in the Douglas CountyDouglas County
Douglas County is any of twelve counties in the United States, all of which are named for Stephen A. Douglas, a Senator from Illinois from 1847 to 1861 and the Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860:* Douglas County, Colorado* Douglas County, Georgia...
jail "for investigation". On October 24, 1921, Carroll was arrested for larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
in Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
and remained in jail for nearly four months before his conviction on February 7, 1922. Sentenced to five years imprisonment, he spent a year in the Anamosa state reformatory before his parole in March 1923.
He continued to have run-ins with the law during the next few years, managing to avoid more jail time. He was twice charged with robbery, first in Kansas City on November 21, 1924 and again in St. Louis on August 11, 1925, and both cases were dropped. The following year, on August 28, 1926, he was jailed in St. Louis for auto theft but released without trial. He was picked up by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
for carrying a concealed weapon on September 15, but the charges were dropped. Returned to St. Joseph, he was arrested for bank robbery on September 29, 1926, and held until his trial and acquittal on January 11, 1927.
On April 1, 1927, Carroll's luck ran out when he was convicted of armed robbery in Missouri and sentenced to five years imprisonment at the state prison in Jefferson City. He was later released on parole but only a brief time as he was quickly rearrested, tried and convicted under the newly-passed Dyer Act and spent 21 months in Leavenworth prison
United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
The United States Penitentiary , Leavenworth was the largest maximum security federal prison in the United States from 1903 until 2005. It became a medium security prison in 2005.It is located in Leavenworth, Kansas...
until his parole in October 1931.
Carroll disappeared for a year and a half before he was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 17, 1933 for possession of burglar's tools. Carroll was able to negotiate his release and the charges against him were dropped. It was after this experience that Carroll became determined to break into major crime with a skilled team.
Carroll and the Dillinger gang
Carroll joined the John Dillinger gangJohn Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
sometime in late-1933 and participated in his first robbery with the gang on October 23, 1933, when he joined Baby Face Nelson
Baby Face Nelson
Lester Joseph Gillis , known under the pseudonym George Nelson, was a bank robber and murderer in the 1930s. Gillis was known as Baby Face Nelson, a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature...
, Homer Van Meter
Homer Van Meter
Homer "Wayne" Van Meter was an American criminal and bank robber active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson.-Early life:...
, John Paul Chase
John Paul Chase
John Paul Chase was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was a longtime criminal associate of the Karpis-Barker Gang and Baby Face Nelson who later brought him into the John Dillinger gang. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover once referred to Chase as "a rat with a patriotic-sounding name"...
and Charles Fisher in the robbery of $32,000 from a bank in Brainerd, Minnesota
Brainerd, Minnesota
Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,590 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Crow Wing County and one of the largest cities in Central Minnesota...
. On November 11, he was spotted and pursued by two Minneapolis detectives, managing to escape. Carroll soon after traveled to San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
to purchase weapons from gunsmith Hyman Lehman on behalf of Nelson and the others. Carroll was forced to return when a chance encounter with police turned into a shootout, leaving Detective H.C. Perrow dead.
In February 1934, Carroll was sent by Homer Van Meter to Crown Point, Indiana
Crown Point, Indiana
As of the census of 2010, there were 27,317 people and 10,976 households in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 88.20% White, 6.30% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.80% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.90% from other races, and 1.60% from two or more races...
to deliver a "cash payment" to help break John Dillinger from the local jail. Carroll was, as yet, not an associate of Dillinger's and was easily able to pass through the town without notice. On March 3, Dillinger escaped from Crown Point and went to St. Paul where he met Carroll. Three days later, he joined Carroll, Van Meter, Nelson, John "Red" Hamilton
John Hamilton (gangster)
John "Red" Hamilton was a Canadian criminal and bank robber active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of John Dillinger.-Prison break:...
and Eddie Green
Eddie Green (criminal)
Eugene "Eddie" Green was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw during the 1930s, best known as a member of the John Dillinger gang...
in stealing $49,500 from a bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south...
. Carroll was assigned to watch the street and captured 12 police officers single-handed, however Nelson shot and wounded motorcycle officer Hale Keith before they could make their getaway back to St. Paul.
Carroll was the wheelman a week later when the gang made their biggest score yet when, on March 3, they robbed a bank in Mason City, Iowa
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
for $52,344. Dillinger and Hamilton both suffered gunshot wounds when they exited the bank and the gang fled to St. Paul. The robbery had attracted so much attention that they couldn't risk staying in the city long and decided to disappear for a while. The gang headed for Emil Wanatka's Little Bohemia Lodge near Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 7,735 at the 2000 census.-Claim to fame:...
a month later.
The FBI followed the gang to their hideout and, on the night of April 22, Melvin Purvis
Melvin Purvis
Melvin Horace Purvis, Jr. was an American law enforcement official and Federal Bureau of Investigation agent. He was given the nickname "Little Mel" because of his short stature...
led a raid against the lodge. The raid resulted in disaster with Federal agents killing one civilian Eugene Boisoneau, 35 from the Mercer CCC camp. Federal agents also wounded John Hoffman, 28 a gas station attendant and John Morris, 59, the Mercer CCC camp cook. Baby Face Nelson killed agent Carter Baum and wounded agent Jay Neuman and local constable Carl Christensen at Alvin Koerner's place south of Little Bohemia.
All the gangsters easily escaped.
Carroll had fled through the woods and ended up in a nearby crossroads community. He then stole a car and drove down a logging road 12 miles north of the lodge. When the road turned out to be a dead end, he left the car and escaped on foot while federal agents were arresting the women that had been found at the lodge with the gang. Carroll's wife Jean Delaney Carroll (or Crompton), sister-in-law of Alvin Karpis
Alvin Karpis
Alvin Francis Karpis , nicknamed "Creepy" for his sinister smile, was an American criminal known for his alliance with the Barker gang in the 1930s. He was the last "public enemy" to be taken.-Early life:Karpis was born to Lithuanian immigrants in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was raised in Topeka,...
, was among the women arrested and charged with harboring fugitives. She was later put on probation instead of serving a jail sentence.
Carroll remained on the run with Dillinger and Van Meter for almost a month and eventually hid out in a cabin outside East Chicago, Indiana
East Chicago, Indiana
East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census.-Geography:East Chicago is located at ....
. On May 19, he and the rest of the gang were indicted by a federal grand jury in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
and charged with harboring each other as fugitives. Later that month, as the gang went their separate ways, Carroll was reunited with his wife who violated her probation to join Carroll.
Death
Carroll and his wife managed to evade the authorities for only a few weeks following their departure from Dillinger. On June 6, 1934, they checked into a tourist camp in Cedar Rapids, IowaCedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...
. The next morning they drove to Waterloo
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...
where they stopped at a gas station. The station attendant noticed spare license plates in Carroll's new Hudson
Hudson Motor Car Company
The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
and called local police after they had left. Carroll unintentionally parked the car across the street from the Waterloo police garage where, at that time, Detectives Emil Steffen and P.E. Walker approached the two. Caught off guard by the officers, Carroll reached for his gun but dropped it underneath the car, stopped to pick up the gun and ran down a nearby alley. Steffen and Walker opened fire and shot Carroll four times. Carroll died of his wounds at a nearby hospital several hours later. His wife was taken into custody and sentenced to a year and a day for violating her parole, only two days following her husband's death, later miscarrying their child.
Played by actor Spencer Garrett
Spencer Garrett
Spencer Garrett is an American actor who has appeared in television programs, television films, films, and a few blockbuster productions like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Public Enemies, and Air Force One....
in the 2009 film Public Enemies.