March 6, 1934 John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson held up the Security National Bank in Downtown Sioux Falls.

According to local historian Bruce Blake, Baby Face Nelson fired his Tommy Gun at the start of the robbery, shattering a window on the Ninth Street side of the building and wounding a police officer who was running to the scene from City Hall.

Dillinger and his gang members ended up getting away with $46 thousand.  They skipped town in a green Packard, taking four women hostage, forcing them to ride on the car's running boards.  All were later released unharmed.

The robbers then cut through the town of Shindler, crossed the Big Sioux River into Iowa, went through the town of Granite and vanished.

The money was never recovered.

My Facebook friend Paul Farmer of KELO-TV located a recording of one of those who actually witnessed the robbery firsthand.  He found it at the South Dakota Oral History Center's website.  Here's a link.

A historical marker has also been placed at the site of the robbery at 9th & Main.  If you look closely, you can even see a bullet hole left behind.

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