The most wanted gangster in the US, who was helped by people everywhere to hide from the police and was celebrated as a hero (4 photos)

There have been many gangsters in the history of the US criminal world, but only a few have inspired not fear and hatred, but sincere sympathy in ordinary people.





One of these is the criminal whom the authorities declared the most wanted, Charles Floyd, nicknamed "Pretty Boy", but despite this, he managed to avoid arrest for many years. Surprisingly, ordinary citizens actively helped him in this, hiding him from the police, providing shelter and even admiring his actions.

The Early Years of Charles Floyd



For the capture of Pretty Boy Floyd in the 1930s, the American government promised $5,000 - this is ~$100,000 in today's money, later this amount grew to $23,000 - (~$500,000 in today's money, taking into account inflation)

Charles Arthur Floyd, better known as "Pretty Boy" Floyd, was born on February 3, 1904 in the small town of Adairsville, Georgia.

In 1911, his family moved to Oklahoma, where he spent his childhood.

At 18, Floyd broke the law for the first time, robbing a store, but his first loot was quite modest - only $3.50 (that's about $50 in today's money, taking into account inflation). In 1925, he moved to St. Louis, where he was arrested for armed robbery of a collector. The court sentenced him to five years in prison, but after serving three years, Floyd was released, vowing never to go to jail again.

He found a girlfriend and had a child, but as the saying goes: "once a bandit, always a bandit."





Pretty Boy Floyd (on the left in the photo is his real photo with his wife and child taken in the late 1920s), the photo on the right is a still from the movie about Pretty Boy Floyd

Unable to cope with the usual low-paying work, he began robbing banks, moving between Kansas and other states. Some suggest that it was his wife who encouraged Floyd to return to a life of crime, since she loved expensive jewelry and clothes, and he could not afford it.

One way or another, he began to rob banks even more actively and it was during this period that he became famous throughout America, receiving the nickname "Pretty Boy" - for his striking appearance, love of hairdressers, expensive suits and manner of behavior.

A childhood full of hardships and his first experience of criminal life shaped his path, making Charles Floyd one of the most famous gangsters of his time and "public enemy number 1" in the eyes of the American authorities.

Why did ordinary citizens love a criminal and robber so much?



Even though he was a violent criminal and "public enemy number 1," many people called him "Robin Hood of Cookson Hills" and hid him from the police, refusing to hand him over to the authorities.

The reason for such popular love was that during his robberies, Floyd not only took the money, but also destroyed mortgage papers and loan agreements, thereby freeing ordinary citizens from debt.

And since in the 1930s mortgage and credit agreements were kept exclusively in bank vaults adjacent to individual city districts, no other copies of these documents existed, and many people ceased to be debtors to banks. It is known that in this way several thousand people were freed from credit obligations and mortgage payments for a 30-year or even 50-year period, receiving their housing (practically) as a gift from the state, thanks to the actions of Pretty Boy Floyd.

That is why the police could not arrest Floyd for several years. People refused to cooperate with the police, and some even gave Floyd a place to stay overnight and hid him in their homes.

However, despite this, in 1934, FBI agents managed to identify Pretty Boy Floyd, and in the ensuing shootout he was killed.

The next day, about 40,000 Oklahomans turned out for his funeral to honor the "Robin Hood of Cookson Hills," a powerful testament to how much he was loved and supported by ordinary citizens, even though he was a criminal.