The hunt for Dillinger was focused in Chicago in the early part of his crime spree. Several members of the Chicago Police Department were actively focused on catching the Dillinger Gang. As a figurehead of the Chicago Dillinger Squad, which was developed in late December, 1933, Captain John Stege was instrumental in the arrests of several of the female associates of the Dillinger Gang.
With Sergeant Frank Reynolds, Stege oversaw 40 Chicago police officers in the hunt for Dillinger. With the help of informants, Stege remained one step behind Dillinger in Chicago in Winter, 1933. That December, he led a raid on the Clarendon hideout on November 17, and barely missed Dillinger. He arrested Pat Cherrington and her sister, Opal Long, on two occasions. The first, in December 1933, occurred when Stege picked up the two sisters along with Jeanne Burke, the girlfriend of Art "Fish" Johnson, a local go-between for the gang. The second, and more deadly arrest, occurred in June 1934, when the women were picked up in their room at the Hotel Chateau, 3838 Broadway.
The June arrests arrest resulted in a Federal prison sentence for Pat Cherrington. Her sister, Opal Long, was committed for a shorter stretch in the Minneapolis Workhouse. Their attorney, Louis Piquett, who was ordered by Dillinger to represent them, did nothing to help them.