 | |
| Author | Grace Barker |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Genre | Crime, non-fiction |
| Publisher | Dawn |
Publication date | 2006 |
| ISBN | 978-0969629825 |
Bad Luck Bank Robbers is a 2006 book by Canadian historian Grace Barker about the Havelock Bank Robbery.
The book documents the robbery, the police chase, the escape, the search and capture of the five robbers, and their trail. It inspired a 2016 play by the same name.
Grace Barker is a Canadian author based in Campbellford, Ontario. [1] She was supported by former police officer Clive Naismith of Trent Valley Archives during the research of the book. [2]
Barker previously wrote Timber Empire: The Exploits of the Entrepreneurial Boyds, a historical account of lumber baron Mossom Boyd and his family. [3] [4]
The book documents the Havelock Bank Robbery of the Toronto Dominion Bank in 1961 and the police chase of the robbers. [1] [5] The book describes the two years of planning that went into the robbery, learning the patterns of the staff and the timing of the managers vacation. [6] It details the limited capacity of the local police force. [6] It also talks about the errors made by the robbers, how the local butcher spotted their vehicle and the series of unlucky events that slowed their escape, including a bulldozer blocking road an the breakdown of another vehicle on a single lane road. [6] The book describes how the delays allowed the police to catch up with the robbers, the subsequent gun fight and then the robbers escape into the Ontario wilderness. [6] It details the police-led search, the capture and then the trail of four of the robbers, and the death in custody of the fifth. [6] The book ends by discussing the mystery of the missing $230,000. [6]
Kelsey Powell writing for Kawartha Now praised the author's evidence gathering and described the book as a "must read" for history fans. [7]
The book inspired a play by the same name that premiered at the 4th Line Theatre in 2016. [8]
The Norrmalmstorg robbery was a bank robbery and hostage crisis best known as the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome. It occurred at the Norrmalmstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 1973 and was the first criminal event in Sweden to be covered by live television.
Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank-owned property, such as a train, armored car, or (historically) stagecoach. It is a federal crime in the United States.
The City of Kawartha Lakes is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is mostly rural. It is the second largest single-tier municipality in Ontario by land area.
Havelock-Belmont-Methuen is a township in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, in Peterborough County. On January 1, 1998, Belmont and Methuen Township amalgamated with the Village of Havelock to form what is now Havelock-Belmont-Methuen.
Kate Barker, better known as Ma Barker, was the mother of several American criminals who ran the Barker–Karpis Gang during the "public enemy era" when the exploits of gangs of criminals in the Midwestern United States gripped the American people and press. She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers.
Bobcaygeon is a community on the Trent–Severn Waterway in the City of Kawartha Lakes, east-central Ontario, Canada.
Alvin Francis Karpis, a Depression-era gangster nicknamed "Creepy" for his sinister smile and called "Ray" by his gang members, was a Canadian-born criminal of Lithuanian descent known for being a leader of the Barker–Karpis gang in the 1930s. Karpis led the gang along with Fred Barker and Arthur "Doc" Barker. There were only four "public enemies" ever given the title of "Public Enemy #1" by the FBI and he was the only one to be taken alive. The other three, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson, were all killed before being captured. He also spent the longest time as a federal prisoner at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, serving twenty-six years.
The Great Train Robbery is a bestselling 1975 historical novel written by Michael Crichton, his third novel under his own name and his thirteenth novel overall. Originally published in the US by Alfred A. Knopf, it is currently published by Avon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. The novel tells the story of the Great Gold Robbery of 1855, a massive gold heist that takes place on a train travelling through Victorian-era England on 22 May 1855. Most of the book takes place in London. A 1978 film adaptation was written for the screen and directed by Crichton.
Edwin Alonzo Boyd was a Canadian bank robber and leader of the Boyd Gang. His career made him a notorious Canadian folk hero.
Ezra Allen Miner, more popularly known as Bill Miner, was an American bandit, originally from Bowling Green, Kentucky, who served several prison terms for stagecoach robbery. Known for his unusual politeness while committing robberies, he was widely nicknamed the Grey Fox, Gentleman Robber or the Gentleman Bandit. He is reputed to have been the originator of the phrase "Hands up!" Legend has it that Bill Miner admonished his cohorts to fire their guns when in danger of capture but "do not kill a man".
Ronnie Leibovitz is a convicted Israeli bank robber, nicknamed Ofnobank, due to his reported theft methods. In English this moniker has been translated as Bikerbank or the Motorcycle Bandit.
The Norco shootout was an armed confrontation between five heavily armed bank robbers and deputies of the Riverside County and San Bernardino County sheriffs' departments in Norco, California, on May 9, 1980. Two of the five perpetrators and a sheriff's deputy were killed, eight other law enforcement officers, a civilian, and two other perpetrators were wounded, and massive amounts of gunfire damaged at least 30 police cars, a police helicopter, and numerous nearby homes and businesses.
Mossom Boyd was an Anglo-Irish entrepreneur who developed and operated a large lumber business on the Trent river system in Ontario, Canada.
Russell "Slim Gray" Gibson was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw associated with Alvin Karpis and the Barker Gang during the late 1920s and 1930s. Gibson spent much of his early criminal career with the Central Park Gang based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which included the Barkers, Volney Davis, Ray Terrill and other local criminal figures. He participated in his first major robbery when he teamed with Neal Merritt and James "Cowboy" Long to rob a bank messenger in Oklahoma City of $75,000. Gibson was arrested for this robbery, but escaped from county jail prior to his trial.
Harold Eugene "Eddie" Green was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw during the 1930s, best known as a member of the John Dillinger gang. He was also associated with Frank "Jelly" Nash, Volney Davis and the Barker-Karpis Gang in his early career.
The 4th Line Theatre is a Canadian theatre company located near the small town of Millbrook, Ontario in the township of Cavan Monaghan that is dedicated to producing and developing original Canadian theatre, from small-town stories to broad national sagas – written by and about Canadians.
The 1973 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce bank robbery occurred in Kenora, Ontario, Canada, on May 10, 1973. A robber entered the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce with firearms, a bomb, and bags to hold money. Upon leaving the bank, accompanied by an undercover police officer, he was shot by a police sniper and the bomb detonated. The robber was killed and the officer injured. The robber has never been identified.
The Havelock Bank Robbery was a 1961 armed robbery of bank bonds plus $230,000 cash from the Toronto-Dominion Bank branch in Havelock, Ontario.
Byron Shane Chubbuck, also known as Robin the Hood or Oso Blanco de Aztlán is a convicted American bank robber and indigenous activist. Starting in 1998, Chubbuck would rob numerous banks until he was captured in August 1999. During his criminal run, he informed bank tellers that the money which he stole would go towards the indigenous Zapatista army in Southern Mexico. After being charged with 13 counts of bank robbery and 1 count of attempted bank robbery, he was imprisoned at Santa Fe County Jail, where he remained until his escape in December 2000.