NB NK Rotary Club hears about Charles Makley and the Dillinger gang from local author.

 Mr. Robert “Buz” Howard, St. Marys native and author of “Fat Charley Makley and the Dillinger Gang (The Great American Crime Spree of 1933-1934)” visited the New Bremen-New Knoxville Rotary Club to share a tale or two about Makley and the gang.  Howard, a teacher at St. Marys Memorial High School began writing the book about three years ago and it was printed in April of 2010. “I really didn’t know if anybody else would be interested,” said Howard.  “It was more like a hobby to me at first.”

 The story of St. Marys native Charley Makley is still something that is discussed locally.  “Everyone seems to have a great grandfather or great uncle who encountered Dillinger, Pierpont and Makley in St Marys,” said Howard.  “One difficulties of the project is to separate reality from myth, and I am not sure Dillinger was ever in St. Marys, although he is a big part of St. Marys history.”  In September 26, 1933 ten hardened criminals escaped the Michigan City , IN prison.  John Dillinger (out on parole at the time) smuggled guns into the prison, enabling the escape.  Harry Pierpont became the gang leader and Charley Makley was his right hand man.  Russell Clark, and John “Three Fingers” Hamilton were also among the escapees.  One week later, this same group robbed the First National Bank in St. Marys, in an effort to secure funding to break Dillinger out of the Allen County Jail, in Lima .  They netted $11,000.00 in the robbery. 

 The gang went to Lima to break Dillinger out of jail and “got the jump” on Allen County Sheriff Jess Sarber, shooting him as he went for the gun in his desk drawer.  Makley and Pierpont pistol-whipped Sarber as he sat in his chair bleeding to death from the gun shot.  After freeing Dillinger they traveled south through Cincinnati before rolling through Indiana , eventually raiding a police arsenal in Auburn , IN.   It was during this raid that they seized bullet proof vests, rifles, shotguns, ammo and a Thompson “Tommy” machine gun.  Now they had money, guns, fast cars and were able to rob banks with little trouble.  

The gang made their way to Chicago , having gone from being hard laborers in a miserable prison a month earlier, to living the “high life” with all the money and power they could want.  The gang went to Daytona beach , then Tucson , AZ to let the Midwest cool down over the winter, due to the number of lawmen looking for them.  Oddly enough, the Tucson police managed to capture the gang and shock the Chicago Police.  The book continues on to chronicle the entire crime spree, including more jail breaks, the “Little Bohemia” escape and finally the shooting of Dillinger outside a movie theater in Chicago .  “My book focuses primarily on the Makley angle and the murder trial from the shooting of the Allen County Sheriff,” said Howard.