| George Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ivan Dahl von Teler c.1880 |
| Died | October 31, 1925 Muskegon, Michigan |
| Alias(es) | "Dutch" |
| Status | Killed by police |
George "Dutch" Anderson (born Ivan Dahl von Teler; c.1880 – October 31, 1925) was a Danish criminal and, with American bandit Gerald Chapman, co-led an early Prohibition-era gang from 1919 until the mid-1920s.
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Anderson was born Ivan Dahl von Teler to a wealthy Danish family circa 1880,[1][2] Anderson graduated from the University of Uppsala and Heidelberg studying music, literature and several languages before emigrating to the United States around the turn of the century. Although attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison for a time, Anderson eventually dropped out and, by 1907, had begun committing petty theft. He was in and out of prisons in Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin until 1914.
In 1917, Anderson was arrested by police in Rochester, New York and convicted of a burglary charge in 1913. Sentenced to five years imprisonment in Auburn State Prison, Anderson became acquainted with bank robber Gerald Chapman. Following both men's paroles in 1919, they began bootlegging operations in Toledo, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan.[2]
In late 1921, along with former Auburn inmate Charles Loeber, Anderson and Chapman began committing armed robbery when, on October 21, the three men forced a U.S. Mail truck to stop at gunpoint on Leonard Street successfully taking with them $2.4 million in cash, bonds and jewelry. Eluding capture for more than eight months, the three were eventually arrested by New York police on July 3, 1922, after being betrayed by a police informant. Anderson and Chapman were both sentenced to 25 years imprisonment at the Atlanta Federal Prison.
Anderson escaped from prison on December 30, 1923 and was suspected by authorities to have rejoined Chapman in several hold ups (Chapman had escaped six months earlier on April 5).
Chapman was recaptured on January 18, 1925, in Muncie, Indiana, due to informant Ben Hance, also of Muncie, Indiana. Both Hance and his wife were found dead eight months later on August 11. Authorities suspected their deaths may have been attributed to Anderson as retribution for betraying Chapman to police (Chapman had been sentenced to death in Connecticut for the murder of a policeman).
Traced to Muskegon, Michigan for passing counterfeit money, on October 31, 1925, Anderson and Police Officer Charles Hammond confronted each other in a narrow alley. In the ensuing gunfight both men were killed.[3]