He commanded the Dillinger Gang , which was accused of robbing twenty-four banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and escaped twice. He was charged with but not convicted of the murder of an East Chicago , Indiana , police officer, who shot Dillinger in his bullet-proof vest during a shootout ; it was the only time Dillinger was charged with homicide.
Dillinger courted publicity. The media printed exaggerated accounts of his bravado and colorful personality, and described him as a Robin Hood -type figure. After evading police in four states for almost a year, Dillinger was wounded in a gunfight and went to his father's home to recover.
On July 22, , local and federal law-enforcement officers closed in on the Biograph Theater. Dillinger's parents had married on August 23, His father was a grocer by trade and, reportedly, a harsh man. She cared for her brother for several years until their father remarried in to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fields — ; they had three children. As a teenager, Dillinger was frequently in trouble for fighting and petty theft; he was also noted for his "bewildering personality" and bullying of smaller children.
Fearing that the city was corrupting his son, Dillinger's father relocated the family to Mooresville, Indiana , in In he was arrested for auto theft , and his relationship with his father deteriorated. In , Dillinger's troubles resulted in him enlisting in the United States Navy , where he was a petty officer third class machinery repairman assigned aboard the battleship USS Utah. Dillinger returned to Mooresville, where he met Beryl Ethel Hovious.
Despite Dillinger's attempts to settle down, he found it difficult finding a job. While leaving the scene, the criminals were seen by a minister who recognized the two men and reported them to the police.
