Pint-sized criminal who hated police to death
Patrolman Fred Hirsch and his partner Peter Yodice were looking for thieves on Long Island one evening when they saw a car parked on Morris Ave, in North Merrick. Inside the car was a diminutive young man with his girlfriend. The police asked the man to identify himself.
The young man was a wanted criminal, Francis Crowley, known as “Two Gun” for using two pistols during robberies. Crowley had once vowed “no copper will ever take me alive”, so he was not about to tell them who he was and submit. He pulled out his guns and began firing, killing Hirsch and injuring Yodice.
The incident sparked a major police manhunt that ended the next day, May 7, 1931, at Crowley’s hideout, an apartment on West 91st St in New York. Hundreds of police surrounded the building, armed with Tommy guns and tear gas. It was New York’s biggest ever shootout.
Contrary to his vow, Crowley was wounded but taken alive, bringing to an end a three-month crime spree, which inspired many a gangster cliche.
His short, unhappy life began with a troubled childhood. Born Francis Dietz in 1912, his mother was
Dorothy “Dora” Dietz, a domestic servant. His father was an Irish immigrant security guard named John Flood, who refused to marry Dora or have anything to do with her.
Francis was handed over to Anna Crowley, who ran what he later called a “Baby farm”. Anna raised him as her own but he often acted up for attention. An unruly student, he never got beyond second grade.
Nicknamed “Shorty”, he had a particular hatred of police after one of his adopted brothers was killed by an officer when Crowley was 12. In and out of juvenile detention, by the time Crowley was 18 he already had a long rap sheet.
Things escalated in 1931 when he and his criminal friends, including Rudolph “Fats” Duringer, were charged over a series of shootings, including wounding police.
Crowley was also wanted for raping and killing a woman who spurned him.
Found guilty of murder, both men went to the electric chair. As he was being strapped into the chair, Crowley’s last words were: “Give my love to my mother.”