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Tuesday, September 3, 2019

The Great Brink's Robbery

     The smart thief learned early on that the money in banks had to come from somewhere, which meant that someone or some company was transporting it. This task, at least in the middle of the twentieth century, was primarily handled by the Brink's Armored Car Company.

     The Brink's company has, since its inception, been involved with the banking business. It specializes in transporting money from one location to another--a point which has not gone unnoticed by bank robbers and holdup men. At one time or another everyone has envisioned the big bag full of money falling off the back of a Brink's truck. Often this money is completely untraceable; it's either new money going to a bank or old money going to a federal reserve depository to be destroyed. One can safely assume that wherever there is a Brink's armored car on the move, money is inside….Today there are hundreds of armored car companies all over the nation.

     The first Brink's robbery took place in Boston on January 17, 1950. The crime, pulled off by minor miscreants, nettled the robbers $2.7 million in cash and securities. Although these robbers should have fallen into the amateur classification, they did case the job very well. They even went so far as to gain entrance to the Brink's building by accessing the security company's office, and taking a close look at the system which protected the fortified building….

     Eight men were finally convicted of the crime and given life sentences. The three surviving members of the gang were released from prison in 1980.

L. R. Kirchner, Robbing Banks, 2003

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