I don’t know why I like a good bank robbery. But I do.
I’d never want to be in one. Or even close. Yet, I like to hear the stories about them. Or watch the movies that focus on epic robberies.
Maybe it is something about the “little guy” getting away with it. Maybe it has something to do with my traumatic Woolworth’s shoplifting experience when I was seven or eight years old.
But. For whatever the reason may be, I like a good heist.
Like this nifty story of a heist in Boston. This happened a long time ago, on January 17, 1950. I wasn’t even born yet. But on that day, eleven men stole more than $2 million ($29 million today) from the Brink’s Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. And. It was the perfect crime. Almost.
With these things, there is always a mastermind, I’ll tell you. This time, the “man with the plan” was a guy named Anthony “Fats” Pino. Isn’t it always a “Fats” or “The Knife” or “Shorty” or “The Butcher”?
Anyway, Anthony Pino was a career criminal who recruited a group of ten other men to stake out the Brink’s depot for 18 months to figure out when it held the most money. Pino’s men then managed to steal plans for the depot’s alarm system. Then, they returned the plans before anyone noticed they were gone.
The heist was cool. The guys all wore navy blue coats and chauffeur’s caps that were similar to the Brink’s employee uniforms. They also donned rubber Halloween masks.
This little band of thieves entered the depot with copied keys. Of course, they took the employees by surprise and tied them all up inside the company’s counting room. Then, the men filled 14 canvas bags with cash, coins, checks, and money orders. The total weight of this was more than half a ton. They loaded up their getaway car and were done in less than 30 minutes. Their haul? More than $2.7 million, or around $29 million today. It was the largest robbery in U.S. history up until that time.
The thing I like best is when no one gets hurt. And guess what? No one got hurt. The thieves left virtually no clues, aside from the rope used to tie the employees and one of the chauffeur’s caps.
It all would have worked. But.
The gang promised one another to stay out of trouble and not touch the money for six years in order for the statute of limitations to run out.
They would have made it, except for one big robber dummy. The guy was Joseph “Specs” O’Keefe. Joe left his share with another member in order to serve a prison sentence for another burglary. And while Joe was in jail, he wrote letters to his cohorts demanding money and hinting he might talk.
Well. The group couldn’t have that. So they sent a hitman to kill O’Keefe. Somehow, the hitman was caught right before “offing” Joe. Wounded but alive and well, Joe made a deal with the FBI to testify against his fellow robbers.
Eight of the Brink’s robbers were caught, convicted, and given life sentences. Two more died before they could go to trial.
Here is the thing. Only a small part of the money was ever recovered. The rest of it? Well, the story goes is that it’s hidden in the hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
In 1978, the famous robbery was immortalized in the film The Brink’s Job, starring Peter Falk.
And that’s a story about a job.
By the way, I’m taking a little time off from the blog after this. I haven’t had a vacation in a while.
Turns out they have some nice bowling alleys up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
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“Honesty is the best policy.” – Benjamin Franklin
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“Integrity is the foundation of all great success and character.” – Zig Ziglar
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“Being dishonest isn’t an innocent mistake — it’s a deliberate act of deception. Anybody who says, ‘I didn’t mean to lie’ is being dishonest.”
– M.A. Laurie
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The job. And it nearly worked.
