30. The Criminal Kings of Rockford
Frank Reno’s acquittal emboldened him and his gang. They grew more violent, and took over the small town of Rockford Indiana, whose Rader House hotel became their headquarters. It might have been America’s worst hotel: the Reno gang robbed and murdered unwary travelers who checked in. They soon expanded their reach and ambition, and committed history’s first peacetime robbery of a passenger train in 1866. They also expanded their repertoire by sticking up banks and raiding communities throughout the Midwest.
That first train robbery seemed to have gone smoothly enough at first, but later on, it turned out that a passenger had identified Frank’s brother, John, and two other gang members. The trio was subsequently arrested, but then the witness who had fingered them was shot dead. The other passengers got the message: they refused to testify and finger the arrestees as being part of the gang that had robbed the train, and the charges were dropped.
