“Creepy” Karpis and The Last Great Train Heist

Side A: “I thought of the great bandits of the old West [like] the James Brothers…They knocked over trains, and I was going to pull the same stunt,” exclaimed notorious gangster Alvin “Creepy” Karpis. On November 7, 1935, Karpis and his bandits held up Erie Train #626 at this former location of the Garrettsville Train Depot, escaping with over $46,000 in cash and securities. Because of this last great train heist in American history, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and his Government Men (G-Men) improved their surveillance methods to capture Karpis. Once labeled “Public Enemy Number One,” Alvin Karpis became Hoover’s first arrest on May 1, 1936. Local legend holds that FBI agents flooded this town searching for Karpis and his accomplices, and this led the James A. Garfield School District to adopt the G-Men as the mascot for its athletic teams. Side B: *Image* The Garrettsville Train Depot in 1935. Photograph courtesy of the James A. Garfield Historical Society *Image* New Agent “G-Men” Training Class, 1935. Except where noted, photographs courtesy of the F.B.I. *Image* The capture of Alvin Karpis in New Orleans, May 1936. Karpis is fourth from left and has his hands crossed in handcuffs. J. Edgar Hoover is at left and shown in the immediate foreground. *Image* FBI agents involved in the apprehension of Alvin Karpis. L to R: W.R. Glavin, E.J. Connelley, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Clyde Tolson, and Dwight Brantley. July 12, 1936. *Image* The James A. Garfield School District G-Men. Image courtesy the JAGLSD.