10 Of The Most Famous Bank Robberies In America

Photo courtesy of Arlington County. Wikimedia Commons

10 of the Most Famous Bank Robberies in America

Robbery has been a common phenomenon in the United States of America, where people believe they can become rich overnight. Bank robberies have been witnessed in the country, where millions of dollars were stolen. Robbery has made many people rich worldwide but has also led others to jail. Bank robbers have been locked behind bars for forcefully acquiring money. The help of modern technology such as CCTV has helped investigate and identify the victims who have eventually been arrested and persecuted.

Some of the most famous bank robbers in the United States of America are explained below.

1. The Dunbar Armored Robbery

Bank robberies in America have taken different routes, including the most sophisticated and planned robberies, such as the Dunbar Armored robbery in 1997. A robbery was organized by the famous Allen Pace, who eventually became the best employee of the same company. The robbery occurred when Allen and his five friends pulled off one of the most shocking bank robberies in Los Angeles. The six robbers knew the company’s facility and easily maneuvered through. Allen disabled the security cameras in Dunbar to ensure they were not seen during the robbery. The dead cameras failed to capture the six men breaking into the bank and dismantling the vault. They broke into the bank at lunchtime, assaulting the men in charge. Allen and his friends got away with more than eighteen million dollars from the bank. However, they were eventually tracked and arrested when one of the robbers lent some of the stolen money to a friend. The original cash traps on the new banknotes were enough to prove the robbery.

2. The Loomis Fargo Robbery

Jacksonville, Florida, residents witnessed an extremely devastating robbery in 1997 when a man robbed his employer. Phillip Noel Johnson was an employee at Looms Fargo before he decided to rob the company of more than eighteen million dollars. Johnson stole the money after leaving two of his colleagues incapacitated and scattered. After the robbery, Johnson hid the money in his compound because it was too much to be spent. He hid some money in the mountains around to confuse the investigators. He moved to Mexico but got arrested while he attempted to sneak back into the United States of America.

3. The Jesse James Gallatin Bank Robbery

Jesse James Gallatin Bank Robbery. Photo author is unknown. Wikimedia Commons

Jesse James was a bank-robbing family that pulled off and got away with money in February 1866. The family gang used a pistol to scare off the cashier in the Clay County Savings Association. James and his friends managed to get away with property worth more than sixty thousand American dollars. The robbery was planned very well because of speculation on the United States owner. However, Jesse and his brothers killed an innocent person on the walkway. Investigators assumed that ex-bushwhackers carried out the robbery. Jesse manipulated the bank’s cashier when he wanted to change a hundred shilling dollar note. However, the cashier’s effort to look for another note gave the robbers a clue where the money was kept. Therefore the robbers shot the cashier in the arm and got away with the money.

4. The Pierre Hotel Robbery

1972 was the year with the most robberies in the United States. Samuel Nalo and Robert Comfort attempted and managed to rob one of the biggest hotels in New York in the early days of 1972. The two robbers belonged to a family crime known as Lucchese, where they organised great robberies and pulled off. The 1972 heist occurred in the afternoon when Nalo, the planner, and Comfort, the organiser, assembled a team of eight organised robbers to rob the hotel. During the heist, the robbers took people hostage and stole the hotel’s precious property, such as expensive jewelry and cash. They managed to still more than twenty-seven million dollars, equivalent to more than a hundred and fifty million dollars today. However, the group disintegrated a few years after the robbery as they killed each other, leaving one member behind bars.

5. The Manhattan Company Robbery

Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash

New York City has had a history of robberies, and the 1935 heist was a huge one in the eyes of New Yorkers. The heist was a shock because it was organised by a trusted person in society- an FBI Director. The late J Edgar Hoover had served in the FBI for years and was a trusted agent in the bureau. However, everything turned sour when he changed careers, from protecting the property to stealing property. He organised a heist in a Manhattan company and stole one and a half million dollars amid harsh economic times after the First World War. He was arrested a year after his organised heist and put behind bars together with his team of five robbers.

6. Jesse James Northfield Robbery

Jesse James was a gang group famous for multiple bank robberies, including the Northfield robbery in Minnesota. The gang broke into banks for jewelry, money, and personal reasons. They were reportedly hired to rob banks for personal and political reasons. They targeted the bank in Northfield, where Adalbert Ames, a former governor and union general, resided. Jesse and his friends organised themselves in groups; some waited on a nearby bridge, others at the entrance, and others stormed into the bank. Jesse was on the team inside the bank and ordered the bookkeeper to show them the vault and open it. However, the bookkeeper failed to give them what they wanted, and one of the gang members shot him. Outraged New Yorkers outside noticed the robbery and brought guns. There were a few minutes of gunfire where most gang members were killed. Jesse survived and escaped to Missouri.

7. United California Bank Robbery.

Photo by Mirza Babic on Unsplash

1972 started and ended with some of the most famous bank robberies in history. Famous robbers like Amill Dinsilo pulled off the most dangerous bank robberies, repeatedly leading to their arrest. He organised a robbery on March 24^th where he and his team, majorly his relatives, stormed into a bank in California and stole more than thirty million dollars. The team executed the robbery perfectly during the day. However, they were arrested because they had done the same robbery a few months before in Ohio. Amill and his cousins had a warehouse where they organised their criminal activities. The police got a lead to the house and searched, finding fingerprints and dirty dishes in a hidden sink. The team was arrested and prosecuted for robbery with violence.

8. The JKF International Airport Robbery

Jimmy Bruke is rumoured to have been the organiser of one of the biggest heists in American history. The 1978 JFK international airport robbery took place at the end of the year during the festive season. The robbers organised the heist with the members in the inner circle where they concealed evidence making the robbery the longest investigated crime. An estimated six million dollars, including cash and jewelry, was stolen in the robbery. The robbery was the largest cash robbery during the year, breaking records of previous bank robberies in the country. The mastermind, Jimmy Bruke, was never formally charged because of his meticulous organising of the robberies. Ultimately, the robbery inspired many movies released after the 1970s, such as the Big Heist and Goodfellas.

9. The Butch Cassidy’s first Robbery

Image by Kris from Pixabay

On June 24, 1889, Butch Cassidy committed his first bank robbery, which became a talk in the country. Cassidy was a friendly young man who was considered to have a good reputation and be helpful in society. Although he engaged in some notorious activities, his family still loved him for his generosity. Cassidy became more notorious in the late 1880s, being violent to people in the neighborhood. However, he was not known for gun violence until June 24^th, 1889, when he pulled off a shocking bank robbery. Cassidy targeted a bank in Colorado when he had become a youth. He single-handedly walked into the Miguel Valley bank with a shotgun and pointed it at the teller. Cassidy ordered the bank vault’s location and made away with a box full of money amounting to more than twenty thousand dollars.

10. The North Hollywood Bank of America Robbery

In 1997, Los Angeles residents witnessed what became the deadliest bank robbery in the history of America. Two bank robbers heavily armed with ammunition stormed into a bank in the city with one agenda-to still the money and get rid of anybody who would stand in the way. Larry Phillips and his counterpart Emil Matasareanu were caught red-handed by the Los Angeles Police department in the act. The bank of America was surrounded by the police when the two were inside. They were out of options and therefore decided to battle the police in forty minutes of gunfire. They had an automated machine gun with thousands of bullets. They engaged the police in the gunfire, injuring eight police officers and a few residents. They were finally gunned down in the gunfire.

In summary, there have been several bank robberies in the United States of America for decades. Some of the heists were bloody, leading to the death of the robbers, while most of the robberies were successful. Robbers managed to get away with millions of dollars from banks and investment schemes.