Narrative: Pretty Boy Floyd I was an infamous American bank robber who helped shape police and their tactics today. I was born February 3, 1904 in Adairsville, GA. I stole many things as a child. When I was younger, I stole from people, only small things. I would steal chocolate or coins, all things people really wouldn’t notice. As I grew into my teen years I would rob convenience stores. Eventually I did get arrested. I was always on the run from people and I even was wanted at one point. Soon enough, I had robbed the first of many banks, earning me the nickname of Pretty Boy Floyd. I robbed several banks, too many to count, after turning to a life of crime to escape the depression era in the 1920’s. As I was robbing my final bank, in October
of 1930, I heard sirens in the distance. I made a run for it, trying to avoid all streets, as not to be seen. I ran between houses and fences, as the sirens drew nearer. I was almost to my hideout; all I had to do was cross that last field and I would have been there. The K-9 units were going ballistic after picking up my very strong scent. I ran faster than I had ever before losing breath faster than I could catch it. A few months prior, I had been accused of taking part in the Kansas City Massacre. I had actually taken part in a gang with a few other members. When I heard the police were putting a member in jail, we rushed to save him. In the process, two officers were killed. After the officers were killed, I was wanted for “The Kansas City Massacre.” When they went to my house, I had already packed up my stuff and left. Shortly after, a 23,000 dollar reward was offered to whoever could bring me to the police, dead or alive. Since John Dillinger was killed, I was made “Public enemy No.1” and there was an increasing need for me to be captured or killed. I managed to dodge authorities all together for a little more than a year. That was the reason why I was running away. When I heard the shots ring, I knew I was going to fall. I fell to the ground in a heap of blood and tears. The bullets had hit me hard and I was bleeding out at an extreme rate, which would only allow me 15 minutes to live. When the cops finally found me, they questioned me about the massacre. I denied everything that they asked. I said I never assaulted or killed the cops. I took my last breath and died shortly after. I died from two bullet wounds on October 22, 1934. My death was one to remember as many loved and adored me. My funeral was one to never be forgotten.
Lance Lowry began his 20 year career in Texas’s criminal justice as a cadet in 1994 in South Texas’s Police Academy. He worked as a police officer in Alice, TX, a town of about 20,000 starting in 1995. In 2000, Lance left police work to become a TDCJ Correctional Officer. From 2000-2003, Lance worked as Correctional Officer in Ellis Unit in Huntsville, Texas and then transferred to Holliday Unit, also in Huntsville. From the Holliday Unit, Lance worked at James H. Byrd Unit (Huntsville), which was formerly the diagnostic intake unit for DR inmates prior to being transferred to Polunsky. It was at Byrd Unit that Lance was promoted to Sergeant. He went to the Gib Lewis Unit in Woodville, Texas and he was promoted to Lieutenant. After one or two years in Woodville, Lance took a voluntary demotion to be able to return to Huntsville, where he continued his TDCJ career as sergeant. Today, Lance is a Sergeant in the Byrd Unit, in Huntsville, Texas.
“William Henry Furman, a twenty-six-year-old black man with a sixth grade education, was not what most people called a “bad” man,” (Herda 7). Furman was just laid off of his job and was struggling to find work. But there was none. Every job did not pay enough, or was a short term job. Eventually, depressed, hungry, and broke, Furman turned to breaking and entering and to petty thievery by means of survival. Furman was caught a few times and was given a light sentence. He was also examined by a psychiatrist and was determined to be mentally impaired, but not enough to go to a mental institution. But on August 11, 1967, Furman went to rob the house of twenty-nine-year-old William Joseph Micke, Jr. with his wife and five young children. When searching through the house, Furman made too much noise, which alerted Micke. Furman heard Micke walking down the stairs and pulled out his gun that he used for scaring people away. But Micke kept walking downwards. Not wanting to be caught, Furman tried to run away and tripped over an exposed cord. His gun discharged. The bullet ricocheted to the back door. On the other side, a body fell to the floor. William Joseph Micke Jr. was dead. “The police responded to the call quickly and, within minutes, they had apprehended Furman just down the street from the scene of the crime. The murders weapon was still in his pocket,” (Herda 9). Furman tried to plead guilty by insanity and the psychiatrists described him as legally insane. But then, several days later one of the psychiatrists revised their medical opinion. Because he was not insane, the case would go on. The state of Georgia charged him with murder and issued the death penalty. This was because Georgia state law stated that any form of murder is...
Clifford Olson was born on January 1st 1940, in Vancouver, British Columbia. While he was growing up he was always in trouble. Even as a child in school her was referred to as a bully and not a nice kid. Then as he grew up things didn't change for the better the just got worse. As a teenager and young adult Olson found himself in trouble with the law quite frequently. From the year of 1951 to 1981 ( ages 17-21) he had 94 arrests. He was put in jail for some of them and served time for cries ranging from fraud to armed robbery.
James T. Johnson was a young man who had a good job working as a construction worker. Although, he had a job and worked every day he still lived at home with his mother. Furthermore, he was the type of young man who went to work on time and after work he would come home. Unfortunately, there were occasions where he would go out with a few of his co-workers on a Friday he still came home afterwards. Nevertheless, he was hiding a secret from his mother that later led to him being arrested. Now, rather than James uses his money he had earned from working, he burglarized homes and garages in the communities in his area. After burglarizing these homes he would then sell the items he had stolen via the internet or a pawn shop in two different counties.
At the age of sixteen, Clyde dropped out of school to work at Proctor and Gamble. Clyde’s crime streak started with helping his brother steal a small flock of turkeys and transporting them to Dallas to sell for Christmas money. Dallas officers saw the back seat full of live fowl, and pulled them over arresting them both. His brother claimed full responsibility , and they lat Clyde go since he was so small and innocent looking. Clyde soon mat up with a man named Frank Clause. Clyde soon quit his job at Proctor and gamble and began burglarizing small businesses in Dallas, Lufkin, and Hillsboro, Texas. Although Clyde was introduced into the gang by his brother, he soon became accepted and became the leader. Their crime spree started with stealing a couple of cars and burglarizing a few houses.
To properly understand the story of Bonnie and Clyde background information must be present. Clyde Barrow was born into a family of poverty, with many mouths to feed; Clyde’s parents had trouble paying the bills (“Bonnie and Clyde.” New par. 7). At a young age Clyde was very fascinated with Western Outlaws such as Jessie James, and Cole Younger. Finally, at age sixteen, Clyde decided to drop out of school (“Bonnie and Clyde.” New par. 7). Clyde began his first criminal offense when he did not return a rental car, in 1926; his second arrest was with his older brother, Buck Barrow, for stealing turkeys (“Bonnie and Clyde.” New par. 7). Although being arrested twice before the age of twenty, Clyde would try to maintain a steady job; however, when the job failed Clyde always went back to being a criminal (“Bonnie and Clyde.” New par. 7).
He was an inmate with Dick Hickock in the Kansas State Penitentiary who originally gave Dick the idea of robbing the Clutter family because he worked there before. Hence, Floyd instructed Dick the layout of the Clutter’s house and told him that the Clutter’s kept a safe that had ten thousand dollars. For that reason Dick and Perry organized a robbery and promised to not spare any witness and Floyd was the reason they got caught since Floyd snitched on them. However, Floyd wanted to achieve the American Dream as well that landed him in jail. He stole a lawnmower in an attempt to start a lawn care business to settle down and start his own business. Unfortunately, the law punished him for stealing and snatched his dream to start a
Bonnie Parker grew up with a normal childhood went to school every day was an above average student. She was born in Rowena Texas on October 10, 1910. Her father Charles Parker was a brick layer, but he died when bonnie was only four. After her father’s death the family moved in with her grandparents by Dallas Texas. She met Roy Thornton and soon after they got married, but Thornton got in trouble with the law and sentenced to five years in prison leaving bonnie on her own. She had a waitress job but was unhappy after Roy left. Until went to visit a friend in West Dallas where she then met Clyde Barrow. Clyde was born March 24, 1909 in Telico Texas. Clyde Barrow’s father was Henry Barrow who was a share cropper. He was one of eight children in the family. Clyde’s academics was anything but consistent. When his father quit farming the family moved to West Dallas which was were his dad opened a service shop. Clyde started high school but that was short lived he dropped out of school. Bonnie and Clyde met in West Dallas at a mutual friend’s house .Bonnie’s life prior to their crime spree was completely normal for a teenage high school student job at a café, showing no signs of becoming a notorious robber. Clyde on the other hand was the complete opposite. After dropping out of high school he went out with his brother selling stole...
November 12, 1934, Charles Milles Maddox is born to 15 year old Kathleen Maddox who had been living with various partners in hotel rooms when Charles was born. Kathleen was an alcoholic and when Charles was 4, she had earned a five-year jail term for robbery. While his mother was in jail, Charles had been taken in by his aunt and uncle in McMechen, West Virginia. He had been placed in schools and boys homes. By age nine, Charles had already started stealing and later on added burglary and auto theft to his record. There was a consistency to the habit of stealing and it became easier. As he began to steal more he gained a sense of comfort, stability. He was caught stealing and sent to reform school and then again when he was twelve and was sent to Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1947. He was not there long and had ran away trying to return to his mother who didn’t want him. He then tried to live on his own, supporting himself entirely off of stealing and burglary until he was caught. The court had arranged for him to be sent off to Father Flanagan’s Boys Town. (another reform school) Three days after he was admitted to Boys Town, thirteen-year-old Charlie and another boy committed two armed robberies. Charles was later moved to the Indiana School for Boys for three years. His teachers described him as having trust in no one and “did good work only for those whom he figured he could obtain something.” In 1951, Charles and two of his friends had run away and started heading for California, supporting himself ...
For the past century and a half bank robbing has been a major crime throughout the world that law enforcers are trying to crack down on. During the modern world we live in now many banks have put in high tech security systems trying to stop these men from stealing all of their money. As people may imagine bank robbers have had to change their plans in order for them to get away with how they go about taking the money and having a successful getaway. Today people that want to rob a bank have to go through extreme planning to make sure they are not caught. Many of them go after hours so they stay away from potential problems that may arouse when their are others around. Back in the 1920’s that was not the case with the back robbers of that day because they did not have cameras or security systems that they have today. The first banker robber that started it all for others was a famous man by the name of Herman Lamm who robbed his first bank in 1913 (“Bio.com”). Other great bank thieves like Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and the most famous of all John Dillinger studied and imitated the majestic still of Lamm. John Dillinger was considered the most brilliant and efficient bank robber of all-time and eventually earned the title from the FBI as Public Enemy Number One. In almost two whole years Dillinger and his men robbed a total of twenty-eight banks and took a total of 760,000 dollars which in todays world would be about ten million dollars (“Bio.com”). The FBI covered up the killing of John Dillinger because he was not only public enemy number one and a banker robber but he was a man of the people.
In the late 1800’s, safe robbing was very common. “A Retrieved Reformation” is about a safe robber just let out of prison. The story begins when Jimmy Valentine is released from prison after only ten months. After he was released, Jimmy returned home to acquire his safe-cracking tools. A week after Jimmy was released from prison, he robbed a bank in Indiana. Later, he robbed a bank in Jefferson City, where he stole five thousand dollars. These robberies led to Ben Price, the detective who put Jimmy into prison in the first place, being summoned to find Jimmy. Jimmy registered at the Planter’s Hotel as Ralph D. Spencer. The hotel was in Elmore, Arkansas, where the rest of the story would take place. After arriving in the town for the first
One of the most nerve-wrecking things I had to do alone, was going on an airplane. It wasn’t the first time I had gone on an airplane, but it had been a long time since I had been on one. I was 12 at the time and I was going to visit my auntie in Austin, Texas. The only way I could go visit her for summer vacation, was by going on a plane all by myself. I remember I was wearing a white shirt with neon pink flowers, my favorite shirt, when I was on my way to the airport. It was just my auntie, my mom, and I that were in the car. Once we got there, we all said our goodbyes and I started off on my airplane journey, all on my own.
I am Jason Derek Brown, and the FBI has a $200,000 reward out for me. My face appears on the Top Ten Most Wanted in America list. I am wanted for murder and armed robbery that I committed back in November of 2004. Most people will come to many conclusions hearing this information, but they don’t tell you the whole story, the real story. This is the story of how this list has destroyed my life when all I was trying to do was fix it.
Strumming out the last chords to the song Trystan looked at the decent sized crowd the band had pulled in. He loved how they all were jumping and screaming the band's name! He was getting drunk just off the sound and honestly he wasn't going to let the buzz die off so quickly. He was wanting to keep living in this moment where his last name wasn't anything that was on anyone's tongue, just the first name.
The sound filled the air. It almost made me forget my back was tired from sitting so upright in this uncomfortable wooden pew. As I watched, I found myself wondering how in the world someone can make their fingers move so quickly. Not to mention, her feet and fingers are moving at different rates. She completely fit the image of a concert pianist with her long, sequined red dress, red lipstick, and platinum blonde hair. She looked like she belonged in a grand concert hall, instead of on the stage of our small church.