Author Lewis talks about why gangsters liked MN

It was a interesting and fun way to spend the morning on Wednesday, May 4th, at the McIntosh Community Center. Chad Lewis, author of the book “The Minnesota Road Guide to Gangster Hot Spots”, filled his presentation at the Northern Exposure to Lifelong Learning event, with bank robberies, explosions, shootouts, murders and kidnappings. He kept you in suspense and kept you chuckling as well.

Lewis has compiled a book  that follows in the footsteps of some of history’s most famous gangsters from the late 1920s and early 1930s, and why they were attracted to Minnesota. Lewis said the number one reason these gangsters came to Minnesota is credited to then St. Paul Police Chief, John O’Connor. 

O’Connor collaborated with the gangsters with the Layover Agreement, an unofficial “Contract” between these wanted men and the Chief of Police. In exchange for tip-off about FBI activities as well as protection during their “layovers” in St. Paul, the gangsters would check in with the police upon arrival in the city, pay a portion of their gains to the police department, and also agreed to not commit any crimes in the city limits of St. Paul. They could go anywhere else in the state, including across the river to Minneapolis and it was fair game. Police Chiefs after O’Connor continued to use the “O’Connor System” in an effort to keep crime down in St. Paul and profit from the illegal activities of the gangsters.

Lewis talked about  back in the days of gangsters, people would buy papers just to remember what happened when they passed through town. The gangsters back then were the celebrities people wanted to keep track of, Lewis said. It was the time of economic depression and prohibition. These gangster’s did what the “average Joe” wished to do. They were stealing from banks, that just took money out of the hard working hands of America and bootlegging after the government took away these same people’s rights to drink.

Lewis said gangsters, “robbed our banks, kidnapped our citizens and mowed down anybody who got in their way.” He talked about different gangsters coming to Minnesota, such as Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, who once was noted as saying that is you were looking for a buddy, you would always think of two places, St. Paul or prison.

The author said one of the most compelling of all gangsters was George “Baby Face” Nelson, whose real name was actually Lester Gillis. He said that “Baby Face” was the best connected gangster of all time. He could provide a safe house, find you weapons or connect you to the “right people”. Nelson was also reportedly devoted to his wife and two children. His dark side, however, was his temper. Many of his colleagues refused to work with him, because he was very unpredictable, and anything could set him off.

One of the first victims of a car bombings in the U.S. was “Dapper Dan” Hogan.  On December 4, 1928 he started his car at his home in St. Paul and the car blew. The very large man was transported to the hospital where hundreds lines up at the hospital to offer to give him blood, but he eventually dies from his injuries.

The end of Prohibition was the beginning of the end of the gangster era. There was millions of dollars made in bootlegging and once Prohibition was repealed, that money dried up. “The gangsters couldn’t continue forever’, Lewis said. “Death came knocking, and for some it came very quickly.”

Next week: Gangsters in Northern Minnesota