Okla-homey
1/17/2008, 08:10 AM
January 17, 1950: The Great Brinks Robbery
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/39703/2005758654875856307_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005758654875856307)
58 years ago, a team of 11 thieves, in a precisely timed and choreographed strike, steals more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Great Brinks Robbery, as it quickly became known, was the almost perfect crime. Only days before the six year statute of limitations was set to expire on the crime, the culprits were finally caught. They were, James I. Faherty, Michael V. Geagan, Thomas F. Richardson, Joseph F. McGinnis, Anthony Pino, Vincent J. Costa, Adolph (Jazz) Maffie, and Henry Baker.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/38572/2003128784823291062_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003128784823291062)
Police question Brink's employees in the vault room on the night of the robbery. The open vault is in the background. Herald-Traveler Photograph, January 17, 1950
http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/38696/2000252811864538969_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000252811864538969)
Tony Pino, a lifelong criminal, was the mastermind behind the audacious theft. Together with Joe McGinnis, he assembled a group that meticulously planned the heist. They staked out the depot for a year and a half to figure out when it was holding the most money. Then, the gang stole the plans for the depot's alarm system and returned them before anyone noticed that they were missing.
The criminal team held repeated rehearsals, with each man wearing blue coats and Halloween masks. On this day in 1950, they finally put their plan into action. Inside the counting room, the gang surprised the guards and tied up the employees. Multiple canvas bags, weighing more than half a ton, were filled with cash, coins, checks, and money orders. Within 30 minutes, the Brinks robbery team was gone--taking $2.7 million with them. They left no clues at all.
Next, the gang met and split the proceeds of the theft. They agreed that each would stay out of trouble for six years and they almost made it. However, one of the men, Specs O'Keefe, left his share with another member because he had to serve a prison sentence for another crime. That's when it all began to unravel.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/42278/2000279748895131048_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000279748895131048)
Specs O'Keefe
O'Keefe, worried that he would be cheated out of his money, indicated that he might begin to talk. The others decided to send a hit man to kill O'Keefe but he was only wounded, and the assassin was caught.
O'Keefe made a deal with police and testified against the others. Eight participants in the Great Brinks Robbery were caught and convicted. However, only a small part of the money was ever recovered.
Brink's Job Facts:
The robbery took place on the evening of January 17, 1950.
The Brink's offices were located in the North Terminal Garage Building in the North End at 169 Prince Street. The building still stands.
$1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders and other securities were stolen by the robbers.
No one was hurt during the commission of the crime.
Eleven men participated in the robbery but there were hundreds of accessories.
Only $51,906 of the Brink's cash was recovered.
The government spent approximately $29,000,000 to bring the gang to justice.
Only eight members of the gang were put on trial in 1956. Two had already died and one had turned state's evidence against the remaining guys.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/40533/2003566191941752080_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003566191941752080)
They made a movie about it.
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/39826/2005741972295429800_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005741972295429800)
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/39703/2005758654875856307_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005758654875856307)
58 years ago, a team of 11 thieves, in a precisely timed and choreographed strike, steals more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Great Brinks Robbery, as it quickly became known, was the almost perfect crime. Only days before the six year statute of limitations was set to expire on the crime, the culprits were finally caught. They were, James I. Faherty, Michael V. Geagan, Thomas F. Richardson, Joseph F. McGinnis, Anthony Pino, Vincent J. Costa, Adolph (Jazz) Maffie, and Henry Baker.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/38572/2003128784823291062_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003128784823291062)
Police question Brink's employees in the vault room on the night of the robbery. The open vault is in the background. Herald-Traveler Photograph, January 17, 1950
http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/38696/2000252811864538969_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000252811864538969)
Tony Pino, a lifelong criminal, was the mastermind behind the audacious theft. Together with Joe McGinnis, he assembled a group that meticulously planned the heist. They staked out the depot for a year and a half to figure out when it was holding the most money. Then, the gang stole the plans for the depot's alarm system and returned them before anyone noticed that they were missing.
The criminal team held repeated rehearsals, with each man wearing blue coats and Halloween masks. On this day in 1950, they finally put their plan into action. Inside the counting room, the gang surprised the guards and tied up the employees. Multiple canvas bags, weighing more than half a ton, were filled with cash, coins, checks, and money orders. Within 30 minutes, the Brinks robbery team was gone--taking $2.7 million with them. They left no clues at all.
Next, the gang met and split the proceeds of the theft. They agreed that each would stay out of trouble for six years and they almost made it. However, one of the men, Specs O'Keefe, left his share with another member because he had to serve a prison sentence for another crime. That's when it all began to unravel.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/42278/2000279748895131048_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000279748895131048)
Specs O'Keefe
O'Keefe, worried that he would be cheated out of his money, indicated that he might begin to talk. The others decided to send a hit man to kill O'Keefe but he was only wounded, and the assassin was caught.
O'Keefe made a deal with police and testified against the others. Eight participants in the Great Brinks Robbery were caught and convicted. However, only a small part of the money was ever recovered.
Brink's Job Facts:
The robbery took place on the evening of January 17, 1950.
The Brink's offices were located in the North Terminal Garage Building in the North End at 169 Prince Street. The building still stands.
$1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders and other securities were stolen by the robbers.
No one was hurt during the commission of the crime.
Eleven men participated in the robbery but there were hundreds of accessories.
Only $51,906 of the Brink's cash was recovered.
The government spent approximately $29,000,000 to bring the gang to justice.
Only eight members of the gang were put on trial in 1956. Two had already died and one had turned state's evidence against the remaining guys.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/40533/2003566191941752080_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003566191941752080)
They made a movie about it.
http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/39826/2005741972295429800_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005741972295429800)