On November 7, 1935, notorious gangster Alvin "Creepy" Karpis and his bandits held up Erie Train #626 at the former location of the Garrettsville Train Depot, escaping with over $46,000 in cash and securities. Karpis compared the crime to the train robberies of old West bandits such as the James Brothers. The heist became the last great train robbery in American history and prompted FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and his G-Men to improve their surveillance methods in order to capture Karpis. Once labeled "Public Enemy Number One," Alvin Karpis became Hoover's first arrest on May 1, 1936. Local legend holds that FBI agents flooded the town searching for Karpis and his accomplices, leading the James A. Garfield School District to adopt the G-Men as the mascot for its athletic teams.
