The Baby Bandits
- May 27, 2018
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 7
“Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse.” It’s a maxim rarely quoted by high school commencement speakers, but students who attended the Preston School of Industry took the adage seriously, with fatal results.
On Nov. 23, 1936, two young bandits robbed three bars in the early morning hours. One of the robbers was stocky, the other average size. Both were about 18 years old. Two days later, armed with stolen sawed-off shotguns and led by a third man, the gang stuck up two places in North Beach.
Intrigued by their youth, the newspapers called them the “Baby Bandits.” Their actions, however, showed sophistication and planning. They would steal a car from a garage, use the car in holdups and abandon it the same night.
Because their crimes centered around North Beach, police assumed the gang was from the neighborhood. Detectives circulated photographs of local criminals, but none of the victims recognized the photos. Police Capt. Charles Dullea was still convinced there was a connection, so he called in John Dooling, a North Beach beat cop, and asked him to canvas the neighborhood.
For the next three days, nothing happened....
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