Die 1953 Great St. Louis Bank Robbery

Am Freitag,, April 24, 1953, drei Männer und eine Fluchtwagen-Fahrer versucht, rauben die Südwestbank an der Ecke der Avenue Southwest und S. Kingshighway Boulevard in St. Louis, MO. Die St. Louis Polizei vereitelt den Raub, was der Schwerpunkt der eine wurde 1959 Film, Der Große St.. Louis Bank Robbery. The film is now in the public domain.

Fred William Bowerman from FBI Most Wanted List – Public Domain

Fred W. Bowerman, an experienced bank robber, led the robbery crew. Bowerman was 60 Jahre alt, 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 Bank Robbery – Mit freundlicher Genehmigung von 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.