The Bureau was already aware of Dillinger as a figure of national significance, but the Dyer Act violation made his case a federal matter. Director J. Edgar Hoover assigned it substantial resources and designated Dillinger a priority. Within weeks of the Crown Point escape, the bureau had made the Dillinger case a showcase for the new, professionalized federal law enforcement it was building.
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## The Gang Rebuilds and the FBI Closes In
The months between the Crown Point escape in March 1934 and the Biograph Theater shooting in July 1934 were the most intensely active period of Dillinger’s criminal career — and the period during which the FBI’s pursuit drew closest.
In March 1934, now operating in territory that made him a federal fugitive, Dillinger and his reconstituted crew robbed two more banks: the Security National Bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on March 6 (taking $49,500) and the First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa, on March 13 (taking $52,000, with Dillinger wounded during the escape). Both robberies involved coordinated gang action and demonstrated continued operational capability despite being pursued by federal agents.
April brought a series of near-misses for the FBI. On April 9, agents caught up with Dillinger and his girlfriend Billie Frechette at a restaurant in Chicago, but Dillinger escaped while Frechette was arrested. The near-capture was an operational embarrassment for the Bureau, and it intensified the pressure on the Chicago field office, led by Special Agent in Charge Melvin Purvis.
Then came Little Bohemia Lodge.