In Boston's North End neighborhood, is a parking garage at the corner of Commercial Street and Prince Street. This parking garage is now a place where motorists can find a rare place to park in the city, a few decades ago, it was the offices of Brink's, Inc. where the daily receipts were dropped off. Also, on January 17, 1950, it was the site of the largest bank heist in the United States of America at that time.
Boston Police received a call from a Brink's employee at 7:27 pm and dispatched cars to 169 Prince Street, a side road that joins Commecial Street. When the final count was made, $ 1,218,211.29 in cash and $ 1,557,183.3 in checks, money orders and other securities were missing. What had not been taken was the payroll for General Electric, which was in a strong box that the criminals could not break open in the time allotted. They noted that the robbery was skillfully done; so skillfully, in fact, that few clues could be obtained from the site.
The police didn't have much in the way of leads or a list of suspects to go by, either. Eventually, the FBI as well as other local law enforcement agencies would be called in to solve the crime. J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director, had suspected that it might have been a communist plot (what WASN'T to him), saying, "It would be a fine sum of money to have for subversive purposes." The press called it "The Crime of the Century."
The criminals turned out to be local, after-all. A group of seven, led by Specs O'Keefe had committed the crime. All were 'career criminals,' and had pulled off smaller crimes before. Other members included Tony Pino, Joe McGinnis, Vinnie Costa, Jazz Maffie, and Sandy Gusciora. They spent a about a year observing the location from a building across the street to find weaknesses in the security - apparently, there were many. A member also went to the U.S. Patent Office to study the patents of the building alarms being used. Other members went into the building after hours to memorize the floor layout and were able to take out the lock casings, make copies of the keys for them, then replace the casings without anyone noticing. It is also likely they had help from many accomplices.
They got away, and might never have been found out. But, distrust began to develop between the former gang, and the Boston Police and FBI were relentless in their pursuit, putting pressure on the underground and interigating almost everyone that possibly could have been involved. By the end of 1950, law enforcement knew who committed the crime, but they didn't have the evidence to prove it.
The break came on January 6, 1956 when Specs O'Keefe finally cracked. He had already been in jail for 3 years on an unrelated crime and was jealous that he was in jail while his cohorts were freely spending the money. Five days later and six days before the statute of limitations was about to expire, indictments for 11 people were issued. They were tried and found guilty. But, O'Keefe only spent four years in prison as part of his bargin, and the other members spent less than fifteen years behind bars.
And about the money - only $50-68 K was ever recovered. $52K was recovered after a $10 bill with a serial number from the robbery was traced to a concealed area in an office wall in Boston. A significant amount was burned when one of the member believed that that money was being traced.
And to top it off, a film was made about the crime, called (Tada!), The Brink's Job, starring Peter Falk and Peter Boyle, in 1978. In the film, two of the gang members made cameo appearances!
There is little left of the Brink's office in that garage. But, you can still walk around and imagine how it was done!
Sources:
Wikipedia (Great Brink's Robbery):
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(The Brink's Job [Movie]):
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Celebrate Boston (Brinks Robbery Building in Boston):
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Boston Public Library (Brinks Job Exhibit):
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iwalked audio tours (Boston Crimes):
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