The 1953 Great St. Louis napad na bank

Piątek, Kwiecień 24, 1953, trzech mężczyzn i kierowca ucieczka próbował obrabować Southwest Banku na rogu Alei i S Southwest. Kingshighway Boulevard w St. Louis, MO. St. Louis Policja foliowane rabunku, , który stał się przedmiotem 1959 film, Wielki St. Louis napad na bank. Film jest obecnie w domenie publicznej.

Fred William Bowerman from FBI Most Wanted List – Public Domain

Fred W. Bowerman, an experienced bank robber, led the robbery crew. Bowerman was 60 lat, while his crew were all in their 20s. Bowerman expected to get in and out of the bank quickly but the robbery quickly went awry. An alarm was triggered notifying the local district officers, who arrived before they had even gathered up all the money.

The driver, Glenn Chernick, who would later turn out to be a star college football player, left when he saw all the police arriving. One of the robbers, Frank Vito, who was already facing other criminal charges from past offenses, committed suicide. The last member of the crew, William Scholl, was shot, while trying to escape with a hostage.

Still from The Great St. Louis napad na bank – Courtesy of Creative Commons

Bowerman attempted the same tactic but was shot by Officer Mel Stein, who was standing just outside the entrance to the bank. Stein said as the hostage was well clear and Bowerman’s side came into view, he squeezed the trigger. The impact knocked Bowerman to the ground, where he was disarmed.

Bowerman would die in a local hospital on May 2, 1953. Scholl and Chernick would both be sentenced to 25 years in prison for their parts in the robbery. A few bystanders suffered minor injuries but only the robbers were seriously hurt or killed.