Great Brinks Robbery
Encyclopedia
The Great Brinks Robbery was an armed robbery
of the Brinks Building at the corner of Prince St. and Commercial St. in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on January 17, 1950. Today the building is a parking garage located at 600 Commercial Street.
The robbery resulted in the theft of $1,218,211.29 in cash, and $1,557,183.83 in check
s, money order
s, and other securities. At the time, it was the largest robbery in the history of the United States
. Skillfully executed with only a bare minimum of clues left at the crime scene, the robbery was billed as "the crime of the century". The robbery was the work of an eleven-member gang, all of whom were later arrested.
Secretly, O'Keefe and Gusciora entered the Brink's depot; they picked the outside lock with an ice pick and the inner door with a piece of plastic. Later, they temporarily removed the cylinders from the five locks, one at a time, so that a locksmith could make duplicate keys for them. Once this was done, Pino recruited seven other men, including Pino's brother-in-law Vincent Costa, Michael Vincent "Vinnie" Geagan, Thomas Francis Richardson, Adolph "Jazz" Maffie, Henry Baker, James Faherty, and Joseph "Barney" Banfield.
The gang decided to wait for the optimal time for their heist. Pino studied schedules and was able to determine what the staff was doing based on the lights in the building windows. O'Keefe and Gusciora even stole the plans for the site alarms. The gang members entered the building on practice runs after the staff had left for the day. Costa monitored the depot from a room of a neighboring tenement building, exactly across from the Brinks building on Prince Street. By the time they acted, the gang had been planning and training for two years.
s and chauffeur's caps, along with rubber Halloween masks, gloves, and rubber-soled shoes. While Pino and driver Banfield remained in the getaway car, seven other men entered the building at 6:55 PM.
With their copied keys, they came to the second floor through the locked doors and surprised, bound, and gagged five Brinks employees who were storing and counting money. They failed to open a box of the payroll
of the General Electric
Company but scooped up everything else.
The robbers walked out at 7:30 PM. In addition to money, they had taken four revolvers from the employees. Afterwards, the gang rapidly counted the loot, gave some of the members their cut, and agreed not to touch the loot for six years, after which the statute of limitations
would have expired. The robbers scattered to establish their alibis.
s proved useless. The truck that the robbers had used was found cut to pieces in Stoughton, Massachusetts
, near O'Keefe's home.
In June 1950, O’Keefe and Gusciora were arrested in Pennsylvania
for a burglary
. O’Keefe was sentenced to three years in Bradford County Jail
and Gusciora to 5 to 20 years in the Western State Penitentiary at Pittsburgh. Through their informers, police heard that O'Keefe and Gusciora demanded money from Pino and MacGinnis in Boston to fight their convictions. It was later claimed that most of O'Keefe's share went to his legal defense.
FBI agents tried to talk to O'Keefe and Gusciora in prison, but the two professed ignorance of the Brinks robbery. Gang members came under suspicions, but there was not enough evidence for an indictment, so law enforcement kept pressure on the suspects. Adolph Maffie was convicted and sentenced to nine months for income
tax evasion
.
After O'Keefe was released, he was taken to stand trial for another burglary and parole
violations and was released on bail of $17,000. O'Keefe later claimed that he had never seen his portion of the loot after he had given it to Maffie for safekeeping. Apparently in need of money, he kidnapped Vincent Costa and demanded his part of the loot for ransom.
Pino paid a small ransom but then decided to try to kill O'Keefe. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, he hired underworld hitman
Elmer "Trigger" Burke to kill O'Keefe. Burke traveled to Boston and shot O'Keefe but failed to kill him, despite seriously wounding him. FBI approached O'Keefe in the hospital, and on January 6, 1956, he eventually decided to talk.
On January 12, 1956, just 5 days before the statute of limitations was due to run out, the FBI arrested Baker, Costa, Geagan, Maffie, McGinnis, and Pino. They apprehended Faherty and Richardson on May 16 in Dorchester, Massachusetts
. O'Keefe pleaded guilty January 18. Gusciora died on July 9. Banfield was already dead. A trial began on August 6, 1956.
Eight of the gang members received maximum sentences of life imprisonment; except for McGinnis, who died in prison, all were paroled by 1971. O'Keefe received only 4 years and was released in 1960. Only $58,000 of the $2.7 million was recovered.
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
of the Brinks Building at the corner of Prince St. and Commercial St. in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on January 17, 1950. Today the building is a parking garage located at 600 Commercial Street.
The robbery resulted in the theft of $1,218,211.29 in cash, and $1,557,183.83 in check
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
s, money order
Money order
A money order is a payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. Because it is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, it is a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.-History of money orders:...
s, and other securities. At the time, it was the largest robbery in the history of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Skillfully executed with only a bare minimum of clues left at the crime scene, the robbery was billed as "the crime of the century". The robbery was the work of an eleven-member gang, all of whom were later arrested.
The plan
According to information later gleaned from Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe, Joseph "Big Joe" Mcginnis was the originator of the heist. He brought Atonia Fat Pino, and Stanley "Gus" Gusciora.Secretly, O'Keefe and Gusciora entered the Brink's depot; they picked the outside lock with an ice pick and the inner door with a piece of plastic. Later, they temporarily removed the cylinders from the five locks, one at a time, so that a locksmith could make duplicate keys for them. Once this was done, Pino recruited seven other men, including Pino's brother-in-law Vincent Costa, Michael Vincent "Vinnie" Geagan, Thomas Francis Richardson, Adolph "Jazz" Maffie, Henry Baker, James Faherty, and Joseph "Barney" Banfield.
The gang decided to wait for the optimal time for their heist. Pino studied schedules and was able to determine what the staff was doing based on the lights in the building windows. O'Keefe and Gusciora even stole the plans for the site alarms. The gang members entered the building on practice runs after the staff had left for the day. Costa monitored the depot from a room of a neighboring tenement building, exactly across from the Brinks building on Prince Street. By the time they acted, the gang had been planning and training for two years.
The heist
On January 17, 1950, after six aborted attempts, the robbers decided that the situation was favorable. They donned clothing outwardly similar to that of a Brink's uniform with Navy pea coatPea coat
A pea coat is an outer coat, generally of a navy-colored heavy wool, originally worn by sailors of American and European navies. Pea coats are characterized by broad lapels, double-breasted fronts, often large wooden or metal buttons, and vertical or slash pockets...
s and chauffeur's caps, along with rubber Halloween masks, gloves, and rubber-soled shoes. While Pino and driver Banfield remained in the getaway car, seven other men entered the building at 6:55 PM.
With their copied keys, they came to the second floor through the locked doors and surprised, bound, and gagged five Brinks employees who were storing and counting money. They failed to open a box of the payroll
Payroll
In a company, payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions. In accounting, payroll refers to the amount paid to employees for services they provided during a certain period of time. Payroll plays a major role in a company for several reasons...
of the General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
Company but scooped up everything else.
The robbers walked out at 7:30 PM. In addition to money, they had taken four revolvers from the employees. Afterwards, the gang rapidly counted the loot, gave some of the members their cut, and agreed not to touch the loot for six years, after which the statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
would have expired. The robbers scattered to establish their alibis.
Investigation and falling out
Brink's Incorporated offered a $100,000 reward for information. The only clues police could initially find were the rope that the robbers had used to tie the employees and a chauffeur's cap. At first, any information police could get from their informerInformant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
s proved useless. The truck that the robbers had used was found cut to pieces in Stoughton, Massachusetts
Stoughton, Massachusetts
Stoughton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,962 at the 2010 census. The town is located approximately from Boston, from Providence, and from Cape Cod.-History:...
, near O'Keefe's home.
In June 1950, O’Keefe and Gusciora were arrested in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
for a burglary
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
. O’Keefe was sentenced to three years in Bradford County Jail
Bradford County Jail
The Bradford County Jail served as the jail in Bradford County, Pennsylvania from 1873-1991. It was located in Towanda, Pennsylvania.-History:...
and Gusciora to 5 to 20 years in the Western State Penitentiary at Pittsburgh. Through their informers, police heard that O'Keefe and Gusciora demanded money from Pino and MacGinnis in Boston to fight their convictions. It was later claimed that most of O'Keefe's share went to his legal defense.
FBI agents tried to talk to O'Keefe and Gusciora in prison, but the two professed ignorance of the Brinks robbery. Gang members came under suspicions, but there was not enough evidence for an indictment, so law enforcement kept pressure on the suspects. Adolph Maffie was convicted and sentenced to nine months for income
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
.
After O'Keefe was released, he was taken to stand trial for another burglary and parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
violations and was released on bail of $17,000. O'Keefe later claimed that he had never seen his portion of the loot after he had given it to Maffie for safekeeping. Apparently in need of money, he kidnapped Vincent Costa and demanded his part of the loot for ransom.
Pino paid a small ransom but then decided to try to kill O'Keefe. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, he hired underworld hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
Elmer "Trigger" Burke to kill O'Keefe. Burke traveled to Boston and shot O'Keefe but failed to kill him, despite seriously wounding him. FBI approached O'Keefe in the hospital, and on January 6, 1956, he eventually decided to talk.
On January 12, 1956, just 5 days before the statute of limitations was due to run out, the FBI arrested Baker, Costa, Geagan, Maffie, McGinnis, and Pino. They apprehended Faherty and Richardson on May 16 in Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
. O'Keefe pleaded guilty January 18. Gusciora died on July 9. Banfield was already dead. A trial began on August 6, 1956.
Eight of the gang members received maximum sentences of life imprisonment; except for McGinnis, who died in prison, all were paroled by 1971. O'Keefe received only 4 years and was released in 1960. Only $58,000 of the $2.7 million was recovered.
Films
At least four movies were based on the Great Brink's Robbery:- Six Bridges to CrossSix Bridges to CrossSix Bridges to Cross or 6 Bridges to Cross is a 1955 American crime caper film directed by Joseph Pevney of Universal Pictures. The film starred Tony Curtis, George Nader, Julie Adams, Jay C. Flippen and Sal Mineo on his screen debut...
(1955, Joseph Pevney) - Blueprint for Robbery (1961, Jerry Hopper)
- Brink's: The Great Robbery (1976, Marvin J. Chomsky)
- The Brink's JobThe Brink's JobThe Brink's Job is a 1978 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Allen Garfield, Warren Oates, Gena Rowlands, and Paul Sorvino. It is based on the Brink's robbery in Boston, where almost 3 million dollars were stolen....
(1978, William Friedkin)
See also
- Brink's robbery (1981)
- List of famous bank robbers and robberies
- RobberyRobberyRobbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....