He was a master of disguise who often impersonated a postal telegraph messenger, police . Seventy-five stab wounds were inflicted on the three employees, and the stabbings only ended when they were interrupted by the entry of three customers, who were taken to the back at gunpoint and shot in the head. Butch was capable of robbing a bank with nothing but a pistol, but his men have been caught before. Warsaw Daily Times. After being apprehended again, he was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. I studied countless reports of other robberies that had gone wrong and people who were caught. The group soon became the hot target of the . Turns out she was talking with her accomplice, a boyfriend driving the getaway car outside the banks. The night watchman was murdered in this incident, and Davis was sentenced to life imprisonment. They often took photographs of themselves posing together with the weapons they used during armed robberies. They used dynamite to blast a hole in the roof of the safe deposit vault at United California Bank and looted $30 million in cash and valuables. The next day, the depot was robbed. To pull it off, a 25-member gang set up a fake landscaping business. The 300 million yen robbery caught the interest of international media when it took place in 1968. In early October 1864, former soldiers of the Confederacy who had fled to Canada began to gather in the small town of Saint Albans, Vermont. The failed robbery and the resulting pursuit brought all of the Younger gang to heel, except the James brothers, who separated from the rest and fled to Missouri. Security Pacific Bank, Norco, California, 1980, deadly shootout between local law enforcement and five bank robbers. It was unlikely that Floyd had been involved, but J. Edgar Hoover used the event as propaganda to further the cause of armed FBI agents. After being arrested and imprisoned in the escape proof Lake County jail, Dillinger was able to use a carved wooden pistol to trick guards, and lock them in his cell. One of the men asked for change for a ten-dollar bill, and as William opened the cash drawer the men produced pistols and demanded that a sack be filled with all the available cash. 5. In 1909, according to the Rich Hill (Missouri) Tribune edition of August 19, 1909, two perpetrators identified only as young men arrived in front of the Valley Bank of Santa Clara, California, and entered the bank. Barrow was imprisoned in 1927, for robbery of a gas station and it was here that he committed his first killing. I was more alive when I was inside a bank, robbing it, than at any other time in my life. Dillinger was born in Indiana and originally had no ties to crime. The gang robbed the First Nation Bank, in St. Marys Ohio, escaping with $14,000. Eventually, most of the Tape bandits were rounded up, including Nelson. John Dillinger was almost as famous as Al Capone. The crime spree started with the robbery of the South Marion State Bank in November 1924. In March the crime spree began again, and in that month alone three additional Indiana banks were robbed by Pierpont and his associates, in New Harmony, Kokomo, and Laketon. Floyd wasnt your typical gangster bank robber though; no, he was providing a service. The robbery was a near disaster though he still managed to make a clean getaway. For most of the shootout, the deputies had been outgunned by the bank robbers and changes to the arming of the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department were the direct result of the gun battles following the robbery. He was also an associate of John Dillinger, Alvin Karpis and the Barker gang. He was charged with the murder of a police officer during his criminal career, though many witnesses insisted John Hamilton performed the killing. Descriptions of some of the robbers led to arrests and authorities learned of plans for further robberies during interrogations, but the police were unable to locate the ringleader of the group, Harry Pierpont. Jesse was murdered there by Bob Ford in 1882 in St. Joseph. The Barker family were a notorious gang of siblings who robbed banks and killed without provocation. I probably averaged around $5k per bank. He was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 2002, by lethal injection. Dillinger was portrayed by Jonny Depp in the 2009 film Public Enemies, though the film has some major inaccuracies, such as the timeline of deaths of Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. After numerous convictions were attained using his information he entered the Witness Protection Program. Moral sense is perverted and he has no intention of following anything but a life of crime He is a murderer at heart, and if society is to be safeguarded, his type must be confined throughout their natural lives.. Oh-so-coincidentally, the next day, six bandits got into the garage with keys in hand, then tied up . For John Hamilton, robbing banks wasnt his first choice. In 2005-2006, Clay Tumey "studied and perfected the art of bank robbery", never getting caught but still going to prison about five months after his last robbery because he turned himself in . Nash was a jack of all trades when it came to robbing banks. The Bank of Montpelier/Facebook. Sutton was once asked by a reporter why he robbed banks. The most famous aspect of the Lamm Technique was casing the bank before the robbery, and planning getaway routes so as to leave nothing to chance. He was the last remaining public enemy, all the others having being captured or killed. Eventually, Pierpont was tried for the murder of the Allen County Sheriff in Ohio, convicted and sentenced to death. John Dillinger spent nine years in prison for assault and battery committed while he was robbing a grocery store, and spent his time there being tutored in the art of bank robbery. All three were identified by persons who knew them and subsequently captured by the Cleveland police. At the time, it was described as "the crime of the century." The gang gained entry to the warehouse from security guard Anthony Black. Although Jesse James was never tried for any of his crimes, his brother Frank was twice, acquitted both times. Think Natural Born Killers without Rodney Dangerfield and Quentin Tarantino/Oliver Stone script/director drama. 5. Four days after his arrest, Dillinger oversaw the smuggling of weapons into his friends prison cells, and they escaped, but not before killing two guards. Beginning in the 1930s, and in some cases even earlier in larger cities and towns, banks installed security mechanisms to protect themselves and their employees from robberies. The depredations of the roving criminal gangs of the depression years led to bank robbery becoming a federal crime in 1934, if the bank was a National bank or a member bank of the Federal Reserve System. He reunited with girlfriend, and partner in crime, Edna Murray before joining Alvin Karpis and the Barker gang, who were at the peak of their criminal success. 4. Frank surrendered to the authorities later that year and was tried for two robberies, one in Missouri and one in Alabama. As robbers and thieves, nobody was better than the comparatively low-profile Newton and his brothers, who later were popularized in a middling 1998 movie as "The Newton Boys."In a blink of about five years in the 1920s, the Newtons (and an occasional accomplice) pulled off about 70 bank heists (give or take a dozen), ripped off six trains and, in their pice de rsistance, cleared somewhere . He was arrested after being recognized during the robbery and sentenced to 10 to 20 years imprisonment, which was a very harsh sentence, indeed, for a first time offender. He managed to shoot his way to an escape, although his pregnant girlfriend was shot in the thigh. It was 1976 in Beirut. Wikimedia. The most significant result of the St. Albans raid was the shift of public opinion in Canada regarding support for the Confederacy, with the majority turning against the Confederate activity in Canada, and there were no more raids launched across the northern border. 8 Candice Rose Martinez. It's almost a nostalgic thing. At the time of his death, he was only 25 years old. In the end Sutton worked as a security consultant for banks. Jesse James was a ruthless bank robber whowas so confident in his work he would leave behind press releases of his recent crimes. He is the mastermind behind the Socit Gnrale Bank heist. The gang even participated in kidnappings, however this proved to be their downfall. He surrendered peacefully although no agents had brought any handcuffs, as they assumed Karpis would fight to the death. Dillinger broke out, however, and Hamilton joined him once again to commit more robberies. I don't use that to make bank robbery "okay" but that's what made it okay for me at the time. Sam Bass 1851-1878. Charles Arthur Floyd was a gun happy bank robber who during his violent career cultivated a favorable image with the general public by spreading rumors that in the course of his robberies he also destroyed mortgage documents, saving many from foreclosure. 10 Things That Developed Because Of The Great Depression, Top 10 Tips From History On How You Can Survive A Depression, 10 Lesser-Known Facts About Revolutionary-Era America, 10 Ingenious Cutlery Inventions From The Victorian Era, 10 Moments In The Disturbing History Of The Jim Crow Era, Top 10 Facts And Mysteries From The Mesolithic Era, Top 10 Victorian Era Crime Solving Techniques, Top 10 Fascinating Facts And Firsts Of Historical, Top 10 High-Stakes Gamblers Who Managed to Break the Bank, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, Top 10 Lesser Known Examples Of Mans Cruelty, 10 South African Serial Killers You Probably Dont Know, Ten Chilling Details of Already Horrific Murders, Top 10 Heartbreaking Stories About Killers On Death Row. The robbery involved a political bribery scandal, surfboard repair kits and lots of dynamite. As a young man he enlisted in the US Navy, but was dishonorably discharged after he deserted. He was convicted of bank robbery in Ohio and sentenced to 15 years in the infamous Ohio State Penitentiary in November of 1930 but escaped and continued his life of crime. 5. When those convictions were overturned (they had been tried together) they have tried again, in separate trials, and again both were convicted. At the time of his death, he was 27 years old. Wikimedia. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. Eventually he would do some time (all bank robbers eventually do some time), but that didnt keep Williams from his day job. A fresh take on sports: the biggest news and most entertaining lists. He aligned himself with Baby Face Nelson and Tommy Carroll to rob a Michigan bank, escaping with $30,000. The brothers were sentenced on federal charges and later received additional time on state charges. On Friday, February 28th, 1997 the Los Angeles Police Department would face one of the most dangerous criminal acts in its history - The North Hollywood Bank Shootout. ", "When my lawyer first brought all my paperwork to me, I noticed that the amount was $100 off for that particular bank. For his third escape, he dressed as a prison guard and carried a ladder to the prison wall at night; when the searchlight hit him he shouted: its ok! and nobody stopped him. Whether the raid was an act of war or a bank robbery has been debated ever since. Most historians agree she was completely smitten with him, and willingly joined him as his partner in crime. Hole in the floor Photo by Craig Sunter - Wikimedia. The cab driver sets American Zed up with Zoe in his Paris hotel. A payroll master targeted in the robbery described Floyd as: They were never caught, and are believed to be behind similar heists in Paris during the following weeks. On February 13, 1866, a Tuesday, a group of riders rode into Liberty, Missouri. Also, Starr starred in a silent movie based on his criminal activity titled A Debtor to the Law. Eventually the F.B.I. The post-war violence between the former Confederate supporters and Unionists led to him being a popular figure among the former, despite the frequency and violence of his crimes. No deliberation. Dillinger was charged; however, many claim it was Hamilton who pulled the trigger. Most Famous Thieves in History: 1. Athan G. Theoharis, John Stuart Cox. Box 146, folder 2. So he told the police, the police told the bank, the bank checked the video..and they saw her take it. It is important to keep in mind that Butch Cassidy and his "Hole-in-the-Wall Gang" are one of the few successful bands of bank robbers during this time period. Jay, Clarke, Universal Press Syndicate, Chicago Tribune. He was arrested in Dayton, Ohio, transferred to the Allen County Jail, and escaped with the aid of gang members who dressed as Indiana policemen and killed Allen County, Sheriff Jess Sarber. Gillis would become known as Baby Face Nelson and despite being very short (54) and small (133 lbs) he was a dangerous individual during the golden age of gangsters. Arthur was a modern day Robin Hood, providing a service for people in need by stealing. On a Friday in 1976, Spaggiari led a team of 20 men into the bank vault. August 3, 2012, 3 Gunmen Rob Guards of $1.6 Million at World Trade Center Bank. He fled into an apple orchard where he was shot and killed. I wouldn't steal from an individual person because I'm not comfortable with that. John Dillinger left a bloody trail all across the Midwest. He wasnt hurt, but the car was disabled, and soon after he engaged in a chase with police. I enjoyed everything about it so much that one or two weeks later Id be out looking for the next job. Barrow was killed instantly by a headshot and Parker, in the passenger seat, was sprayed with bullets soon afterwards. But what the terrified customers and police didn't know was that the bold robbery was merely a carefully crafted distraction to keep . He was not, but it was likely that the Sundance Kid was, and if so Cassidy certainly knew about the robbery, which took place as he was in Tipton, Wyoming, making plans for another train robbery. The two stormed into the casino, held everyone at gunpoint and tied up several of the casino staff. Robbing banks was Dillingers bread and butter, and often included elaborate plans that placed him front and center, demanding attention of security, tellers and customers. When Jesse read newspaper reports of robberies which were attributed to him he often wrote to the papers editor protesting his innocence of the crime in question. Limerick joined the Maurice Denning gang in 1934, and their spree of heists . The Norco shootout in the town of that name in California took place on May 9, 1980, between five bank robbers and deputies of the Riverside County and later San Bernardino County sheriffs departments. The robbery was masterminded by Ralph Guarino, a career felon who associated with several members of organized crime, though he was not a member of a crew. Lebanon's civil war was in full swing. He spent his time planning heists with his new found friends, that they would commit shortly after being released. However, instead of returning to prison, he went on the run. After the Kansas City massacre, in which three police officers and an FBI agent were killed when escorting Frank Nash during a change of custody (Nash was also killed), Pretty Boy Floyd was named by the FBI as one of the gunmen. Kit R. Roane, The New York Times. In January of 1934 Hamilton and his crew robbed over $20,000 from a bank and gunned downed an officer. The banks customers were shoved aside and gathered with the employees, all of them forced to lie on the floor while Barrow watched over them with the shotgun and Hamilton filled a sack with the cash from the drawers. The plan was pretty simply stay out of our way or die. Baghdad holds the infamous record for the . Cassidy ordered the bank vault's location and made away with a box full of money amounting to more than twenty thousand dollars. Eric A. Aguilera and his accomplish Luda Ramos robbed The Soboba Casino in Las Vegas in 2005. In 1976, when Lebanon was in the midst of a civil war, a group of robbers decided to cash in on the confusion. Hamilton attended the liberation at Lima Jail but did not enter the building, instead serving as a lookout. Hamilton was at the top of the public enemy list, whilst Dillinger and associate Harry Pierpoint were imprisoned. He has killed more FBI agents than any other single American citizen. The infamous Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus was one of the nations most notorious prisons when Pierpont was sent there for execution. In March of 1934, Nelson partnered with John Dillinger to rob the Security National Bank in Sioux Falls, followed a week later by the First National Bank of Mason City, Iowa. Because no bodies were ever found, the US Marshal service still considers the escape to be an open case. Here is a countdown of the 10 most famous robberies in history. I look for video cameras, security guard positioning and speculate where the vault is. Volney Davis was the boyfriend of Edna "rabbits" Murray. Pretty Boy Floyd believed in having the right tool for the job, which is why he always brought his machine gun to a bank job. In February 1864, Green was arrested and after questioning admitted that he had committed the murder and robbery, informing the authorities where the remaining money was hidden. Green was not a suspect at first, the citizens of Malden unable to believe that a man in his position was capable of such a heinous crime. Movie Inspired Chelambra Bank Heist - Rs 80 Million. Bank robbery statistics from 2020 report there were zero bank robberies for 12 months in South Africa. Police caught him 15 minutes later with the knife and 410 in cash stolen from a Tesco in King's Lynn, Norfolk. The . The robbers thought they were going to steal 3 million in cash. Eventually someone caught on, but talk about not being able to keep a good man (or bad man) down. Dillinger and his gang began a spree of bank robberies across Indiana, accumulating over $300,000 in total. . Beginning in late 1924 and stretching into the early spring of 1925 a series of bank robberies throughout Indiana baffled authorities, as bank after bank found itself victim to a gang which simply vanished into thin air following the robberies. 1986 FBI Miami shootout, deadly shootout between FBI and two bank robbers. Prior to that action, a bank robber in Ohio could escape to a bordering state such as Kentucky or Indiana and avoid pursuit and arrest. In January 1958, three brothers brandishing toy pistols robbed the Bank of Columbia in Columbia, Alabama. Thomas Limerick, a onetime boxcar bandit, became a "public enemy" bank robber in the Gage County area in the 1930s. No one pulled off more armed robberies in New York since Mikhaylich started his holiday spree in 2009. Via cbsnews.com. He was alone at work when Edward Green entered the bank. Frank Nash knocked over 200 banks in his time and is known by many as the most successful bank robber of all time. November 1968, Why family believes Alcatraz escapees survived their journey. Ted P. Yeatman. 1. The robbers were armed with rifles, handguns, and shotguns. It was she who labeled him as having a baby face and the sobriquet Baby Face Nelson was quickly bandied about in the press of the day when describing his crimes. Two bank robbers and one deputy died in the gun battle, nine officers were wounded. Whilst incarcerated, he began to associate with prominent bank robbers such as John Dillinger, Harry Pierpoint and Homer Van Meter. Ruth Brown, New York Post. Starr liked to rob banks during the day, sometimes with his picture pasted on a Wanted Man poster on the very walls of the banks he robbed. John D. Kazar, Vermont History. Train robberies. The Birds were then ordered into the vault and the two men left. The attempted robbery of the First National Bank of Northfield on September 7 was stopped when the clerk refused to open the safe, claiming that it was equipped with a time lock which prevented him from doing so, while another clerk fled out the back door, wounded in the shoulder. Before he became one of the most wanted outlaws in the west, Cassidy was born as Robert Leroy Parker in Utah. Votes: 20,895 | Gross: $0.42M He robbed a bank in Ohio, but was captured soon after. Authorities in four states joined in the search for the fugitives. 7. . He started with several banks in New York City and then moved to New Jersey before coming back to the city where he would eventually get caught driving a stolen delivery car. Frank Eugene Converse, whose family later founded the Converse Shoe Company, was a seventeen-year-old clerk at the First Malden Bank in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in December of 1863. On April 23, 1934, the gang were confronted by police and, during a getaway, Hamilton was wounded and died shortly after. Conrad was a 20-year-old bank teller at the Society National Bank in Cleveland when he walked . Here are our sources: The Canadian View of the Confederate Raid on Saint Albans. United California bank robbery. 1. FBI. Today its very hard to pull off a bank job, yet each day approximately 20 banks are robbed in the U.S. alone! During one robbery Nelson was reported to have sprayed innocent bystanders with machine gun bullets while screaming wildly. He did a Reddit Ask Me Anything yesterday, and it yielded some fascinating stuff. The most famous of the gangs which used the pass was that known as the Wild Bunch, led by Robert Leroy Parker, also known as Butch Cassidy, and his partner Harry Longabaugh, known to history as the Sundance Kid. Hamilton began his criminal career by robbing a gas station in Indiana, and being sentenced to a very long prison term of 25 years. Parker first met Clyde Barrow at a friends house. The trio then proceeded to rob a bank in Minnesota for $32,000. The Lord never seeks re- election. At 9:24 am, a riddle of bullets was fired by Philip after he spotted a parked police vehicle 60 meters from the building. The first time he was serving a 30 year sentence for robbery, he used a smuggled gun to hold a prison guard hostage, before using a ladder to scale the prison wall. The Hole in the Wall Pass in Wyoming was an easily defended, difficult to approach hideout for several criminal gangs which took sanctuary there from the 1860s through the early twentieth century. After linking up with the Dillinger gang, he participated in some other high profile bank robberies. After the second gun battle in San Bernardino County, the surviving robbers escaped into the San Bernardino Mountains. The heist inspired three films: 10 Million Dollar Getaway, the Big Heist, and Goodfellas. In addition to being a master bank robber he was also a master of escaping from prison (which is good when your job is robbing banks on the outside). The young men produced shotguns and ordered the chief cashier, a man named Birge, and his aides to hand over all available cash. He was acquitted in both cases, and though Missouri had other cases in which the surviving James brother could have been charged, he was never again brought to trial. Two of them survived, as did a fourteen-month-old child, who was not shot because the robbers ammunition ran out. In 1998, robbers struck the Bank of America at 1 World Trade Center in New York City, a feat believed to be impossible after the increase in security at the complex following the bombing in 1993. She started screaming "lock the doors, lock the doors" but I ignored it and just kept walking like nothing was happening. It was 12:38 in the afternoon on January 13, 2006, when the call went out to police: a bank robbery in progress. Anyway, here are the stories of five famous bank robberies. He also participated in many high profile bank robberies until his death at the Battle of Barrington. I look for video cameras, security guard positioning and speculate where the vault is. David S. Grant is the author of several books including "Blood: The New Red." In 2005-2006, Clay Tumey "studied and perfected the art of bank robbery", never getting caught but still going to prison about five months after his last robbery because he turned himself in, serving "three years and some change". Green was held in the Middlesex County Jail until April 1866, when he was hanged for committing the United States first armed bank robbery, and for the crime of murder. Is it strange that every time I walk into a bank I lightly case the joint? By then Jesse James had been dead for seven years, but the two remaining Younger brothers, Jim and Cole, continued to maintain their silence over any crimes committed by the James brothers, including the Northfield robbery. Williams and his gang were known for being able to do bank jobs in under a minute. No referenda as to which road to take. After the cashier reluctantly complied the men made their escape with about $32,000, most of it in gold. To me, its just natural, given that a bank has a vault full of cash and money makes the world go around. The father of a man who was kidnapped was friends with President Franklin D Roosevelt, and as a result the FBI stepped up their efforts greatly to foil this type of crime. He ran errands for gangsters when he was 10 years old, and soon garnered a reputation for reliability. Two years later, the first successful getaway by automobile following a bank robbery took place in France. The Soboba Grab and Dash was a casino heist straight out of the Hollywood movies. Where do we find this stuff? I love the story of J.L. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The following year he robbed a bank in Grand Haven, Michigan. Born in 1847 and raised in the "Little Dixie" area of western Missouri, James and his slave-owning family maintained strong . It was to be delivered to a local . But many robbers do find themselves behind bars eventually. On September 26, 1933, a total of 10 men, including Hamilton, escaped using smuggled guns from the recently paroled John Dillinger. He was gunned down in the so called Battle of Barrington, but not before taking FBI agents Herman Hollis and Samuel P Cowley with him. In June 1986, bank officials opened for business on a Monday morning to find a 20-by-25-inch hole in the bottom of the vault, deposit boxes strewn all over the floor and about $172,000 in cash . One of the largest bank robberies of all time was committed without the use of force, without any injuries, and without any real chance of catching the perpetrators or recovering the missing cash. Jesse James robbed many banks and killed several men, but his legend overshadows his true history. Johnny D. Boggs, True West Magazine. Grim bank officials told Hunt that someone had . Butch and Sundance were alleged to have been killed in 1908 in South America, though their exact fate remains in question. "I think morality is very subjective. Jesse James fame was so widespread that many towns claim to have been robbed by him, despite little evidence of it being true. Someone should have. In reality, they killed several. Wikimedia. He died after being shot by cops during a failed rescue attempt by his crew (Nash was on his way to prison). I just told them what I wanted, and they complied. The suspect's disappearance was a mystery that lasted 52 years - a few months longer than he did. The money was returned to the bank. Each year there are approximately 3,000-4,000 bank robberies. Charles Arthur, a.k.a. They would commonly participate in gun battles with police, in which innocent bystanders were often killed. Whilst in prison he tried to escape with another prisoner. After staying unidentified for more than 50 years, an infamous bank robber from the USA has finally been identified. He was paroled in 1932, and began to commit small time robberies with Parker. Jesse James didnt spread the wealth, he was in it for himself and sometimes that meant a few eggs would be broken (he mistakenly killed a cashier during a heist in Missouri). Three men entered the First National Bank and demanded that the cashier, George Nixon, open the safe and give up the gold coins within. The only caveat is, it's successful as long as you don't get caught. She just shrugged -- palms up like a little kid -- and said, "That's all I got." Is it possible he is still alive? Volney Davis. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. FBI. Professional burglars Amil and James Dinsio with their nephews, brother-in-law, and two other associates, who were good at disarming the alarms, pull off the largest heist in U.S. history. 9. Clipping from the Minneapolis Tribune, March 14, 1934. In yet another gun battle with police, a second robber was killed. According to reports, 18 perpetrators are still at large. Over the years souvenir hunters chipped away pieces from his headstone, leading it to be replaced several times, often coinciding with the release of yet another film about his career.