Random Insane Exploits Of Pierre Loutrel, A Psychotic Criminal And Member Of French Gestapo (11 items)

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  (#9) He Died After Shooting Himself In The Bladder While Robbing A Store

  Loutrel managed to alienate the other members of the Gang des Traction Avant after about a year and a half. He didn't give up thievary, however, and tried to rob a jewelry store in Paris in 1946. He was on his own, failed to get any money or jewels out of the deal, and as he tried to escape, he shot himself in the bladder while storing his gun. He suffered for five days until he finally died of his wound. 
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  (#1) He Served In The French Military In Africa But Only To Get Out Of Prison

  Pierre Loutrel was born in 1916 in Sarthe, France. As a child, he moved to Marseille, where he was jailed as a teenager. He was only released when he joined the Bat' d'Af in Africa, a penal battalion in Algeria. He served his "tour in hell," as it was known, and went to Paris upon release.
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  (#8) He Escaped 350 Policemen On One Occasion In 1946

  As the police stepped up efforts to stop Loutrel and his criminal gang, they gathered 350 officers around a cafe where the group was rumored to be meeting. The cops were all there but the unlawfuls were not. A local boy told the police he knew where Loutrel and his gang were, so all 350 police followed to boy to a local inn. The police found some gang members at the inn but not the ones they were looking for. Once again, Loutrel had evaded their efforts. 
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  (#6) He Was A Member Of Gang Des Tractions Avant, Named For The Type Of Cars They During Their Heists

  In his post-WWII thievery, Loutrel ran the Gang Des Tractions Avant, an organized unlawful syndicate that robbed banks and committed other various illegal acts in Paris. Made up of form French Gestapo, the members used the same car the Gestapo preferred to conduct their raids, the Citroën Traction Avant.

  The Citroën Traction Avant, developed in the 1930s in France, had front-wheel drive, was quick and easy to drive, and was reliable so it was a smart choice. The car itself, however, was expensive to produce and bankrupted the Citroën company, which was then acquired by Michelin.
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  (#5) He Once Went Off With French Actress Martine Carol, Then Apologized By Sending Her Roses

  French actress Martine Carol found success first on the stage and later on film. Through the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in numerous films and was considered the first "femme fatal."

  She was once abscanded with by Loutrel, although the whole event was incredibly brief. Loutrel sent roses the next day to apologize to Carol. Carol had a personal life plagued by bad marriages and drug and alcohol abuse, and she died in 1967.
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  (#11) Until The Police Had His Corpse, They Blamed Him For Unsolved Mysteries

  Because the police didn't know Loutrel was dead, they continued to think he was committing unlawful acts and leading the Gang des Tractions Avant. Numerous robberies were credited to Loutrel until his body was discovered in 1949. To identify Loutrel, police circulated photos of Loutrel's skull placed over pictures of him in life. 

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