January 17:

1950 : Boston thieves pull off historic robbery

On this day in 1950, 11 men steal more than $2 million
from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts.
It was the perfect crime--almost--as
the culprits weren’t caught until January 1956, just
days before the statute of limitations for the theft
expired.

The robbery's mastermind was Anthony "Fats" Pino, a
career criminal who recruited a group of 10 other men
to stake out the 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, returning
them before anyone noticed they were gone.

Wearing navy blue coats and chauffeur's caps--similar
to the Brinks employee uniforms--with rubber Halloween
masks, the thieves entered the depot with copied keys,
surprising and tying up several employees inside the
company's counting room. Filling 14 canvas bags with
cash, coins, checks and money orders--for a total
weight of more than half a ton--the men were out and
in their getaway car in about 30 minutes. Their haul?
More than $2.7 million--the largest robbery in U.S.
history up until that time.

No one was hurt in the robbery, and the thieves left
virtually no clues, aside from the rope used to tie
the employees and one of the chauffeur's caps. The
gang promised to stay out of trouble and not touch the
money for six years in order for the statute of
limitations to run out. They might have made it, but
for the fact that one man, Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe,
left his share with another member in order to serve a
prison sentence for another burglary. While in jail,
O'Keefe wrote bitterly to his cohorts demanding money
and hinting he might talk. The group sent a hit man to
kill O'Keefe, but he was caught before completing his
task. The wounded O'Keefe made a deal with the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to testify against his
fellow robbers.

Eight of the Brinks robbers were caught, convicted and
given life sentences. Two more died before they could
go to trial. Only a small part of the money was ever
recovered; the rest is fabled to be hidden in the
hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. In 1978, the
famous robbery was immortalized on film in The Brinks
Job, starring Peter Falk.

history.com/tdih.do


1893 : Americans overthrow Hawaiian monarchy

history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4682

1961 : Eisenhower bids farewell

history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4683

1966 : H-bomb lost in Spain

history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6779

1977 : The execution of Gary Gilmore

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