Charles A. Floyd was born in Georgia on February 3rd 1904, one of eight children and the son of a small time farmer who struggled to keep food on the table. The family moved to Oklahoma and rumors were that the Floyd family dabbled in the bootlegging industry to help keep the family farm from foreclosure.
The Kroger Food Store Heist
Young "Choc" as Charles was called in his youth, idolized bandits like Jesse James and Henry Starr who had used the Cookson Hills where he grew up as a hideout from the law. These types of legendary bandits captured his imagination and he longed for the types of adventures these men had led.
Charles started in petty crime in his early teens by breaking into a U.S post office and steadily progressed to more serious crimes. He became influenced by criminal types he met through his work in the cotton fields and by hanging out in pool halls and underground drinking and dancing establishments.
Floyd married in 1924 and later fathered a son. But in 1925 he had made the decision to give up on honest labor and adopt the life of crime his hero's of the past had been so famous for. He teamed up with a known thief named John Hilderbrand and along with a third man planned a daring payroll robbery.
The Kroger robbery in St. Lewis netted the felons between 12 to16 thousand dollars and the foolish young bandits flaunted their newly won wealth and were shortly caught and convicted of their crimes and sent to prison.
Pretty Boy Earns His Name and Does Time
Charles being identified by one of his victims as a rosy-cheeked boy was given the nickname “Pretty Boy” which he detested. He was sentenced to five years at the Missouri State Penitentiary but ended up serving a little over three years.
While incarcerated “Pretty Boy” received a proper education in crime and was befriended by bank robbers and persons with mob connections. Upon his release he went to Kansas City which was a cesspool of crime and corruption at the time.
Pretty Boy met several bad characters whom he would partner with from time to time to rob banks and commit other crimes. In 1930 he was arrested in Ohio after harboring police killer James Bradley and sentenced to 15 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary for robberies he had committed.
Floyd never served his 15 years but instead escaped while being transported to prison and returned to Kansas City and during a robbery in Toledo, Ohio with partner William Miller “Pretty Boy” shot and killed a police officer named Castner, but not before Miller was shot dead and their two lady companions were captured.
The Kansas City Massacre
Charles once again fled to Kansas City and went back to bank robbing with partner Adam Richetti, but the one crime that he will forever be remembered for is the Kansas City Massacre in June of 1933 in which three armed men ambushed police officers and Federal Agents transporting a prisoner named Frank Nash who was being returned to Leavenworth Penitentiary after a daring escape.
The crime was botched and Frank Nash along with four officers were killed in the attempted rescue of Nash. The public was outraged by the brutality of the crime and J. Edgar Hoover ordered a reckoning. Fingerprint evidence linked Richetti and Floyd to the crime but both men denied involvement.
Dillinger Dead Pretty Boy Becomes Public Enemy #1
In October 1934 both Floyd and Richetti were in Ohio and robbed the Tiltonsville Peoples Bank on the 19th. The following day Richetti was captured after a shootout in Wellsville, Ohio with local police. Charles escaped by taking a hostage and stealing the man’s car.
Two days later the area was crawling with policemen searching for Floyd who J. Edgar Hoover had recently elevated to “Public Enemy #1” after the death of John Dillinger, with whom Charles had been affiliated with in the past. “Pretty Boy” was spotted on October 22 by patrolmen watching the back roads for suspicious activity.
Charles bolted on foot when identified by patrolman Chester Smith. Smith fired at Floyd with a rifle and wounded him in the shoulder. Pretty Boy was armed with two Colt .45 automatics but never had a chance to return fire and was gunned down as he ran away, just like John Dillinger. He died less then fifteen minutes later and thus ended the career of one of America’s most infamous and colorful criminals.
For more info go to FBI.GOV FAMOUS CASES
And check out TRU TV.COM ON GANGSTERS
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