The Flathead Gang, also known as The Flatheads, was a group of bank robbers. The gang was operating in the
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
area. When the police became a major problem for the gang they decided to move their robberies and other crimes to the State of Pennsylvania.
Paul Jaworski
Paul Jaworski (born Paul Poluszynski, 1900, died January 21, 1929) was a Polish-American gangster born in Poland. He immigrated to the United States in 1905. Although born to Catholic parents, when offered the services of a chaplain before his e ...
, the leader of the gang was executed in Pennsylvania in 1929 for murder.
Public notoriety
The Flatheads name first showed up on public record in 1927 when then Flatheads leader
Paul Jaworski
Paul Jaworski (born Paul Poluszynski, 1900, died January 21, 1929) was a Polish-American gangster born in Poland. He immigrated to the United States in 1905. Although born to Catholic parents, when offered the services of a chaplain before his e ...
committed the nation's first armored car robbery. The gang received the most public exposure when they were involved in the payroll robbery involving the Detroit News offices.
Crimes
*December 23, 1922: Gang kills Payroll Clerk/guard John Ross Dennis, Beadling PA during robbery.
*December 24, 1925: Gang kills a Mine Payroll Guard Isiah L. Gump Pittsburgh PA during robbery;
*Jaworski kills Jack Wright in quarrel over division of loot.
*March 11, 1927: Jaworski gang robs an armored car.
*March 12, 1927: Jaworski arrested; pleads guilty to killing Dennis and Gump;
*May 18, 1927: Jaworski sentenced to death for Gump Killing.
*August 18, 1927: Jaworski and another jail inmate shoots way out of Allegheny County Jail; two guards wounded.
*June 6, 1928: Detroit Polieman Sgt George Barstad shot by gang during robbery
ies of wounds June 6, 1928
*Sept 13, 1928: Jaworski captured Cleveland Ohio; Cleveland Officer Anthony Wieczorek fatally wounded and Cleveland Officer George C Effinger dies of wounds March 20, 1933. Bystander Benjamin Majstrek wounded by a stray bullet.
Washington Evening Star September 14, 1928, Page 41, Image 41
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See also
*Paul Jaworski
Paul Jaworski (born Paul Poluszynski, 1900, died January 21, 1929) was a Polish-American gangster born in Poland. He immigrated to the United States in 1905. Although born to Catholic parents, when offered the services of a chaplain before his e ...
*The Purple Gang
The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, was a criminal mob of bootleggers and hijackers comprised predominantly of Jewish gangsters. They operated in Detroit, Michigan, during the 1920s of the Prohibition era and came to be Detr ...
*Detroit Partnership
The Detroit Partnership (also known as the Detroit crime family, Detroit Combination, Detroit Mafia, Zerilli crime family, and the Tocco–Zerilli crime family) () is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Detroit, Michigan, and ...
References
1. Paul Kavieff, ''The Violent Years: Prohibition and the Detroit Mobs (Gangsters and Rum Runners)''
Barricade Books (2001).
External links
The Great Detroit News Payroll Robbery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flatheads, The
American bank robbers
Former gangs in Detroit
Gangs in Pennsylvania
Polish-American organizations