Dunbar Armored robbery

The Dunbar Armored robbery is the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States. In 1997 five men robbed the Dunbar Armored facility in Los Angeles, California of US$18.9 million [1] (equivalent to $30.1 million in 2019).

Details

The robbery was masterminded by Allen Pace,[2] who worked for Dunbar as a regional safety inspector. While on the job, Pace had time to photograph and examine the company's Los Angeles armored car depot. He recruited five of his childhood friends, and on the night of Friday, September 12, 1997, Pace used his keys to gain admittance to the facility. Pace had timed the security cameras and determined how they could be avoided. Once inside, they waited within the staff cafeteria, ambushing the guards one by one as they took their lunch breaks at approximately 12:30 A.M.

Pace knew that on Friday nights, the vault was left open, due to the large quantities of money being moved. Rushing the vault guards, the robbers managed to subdue them before they could signal any alarms. In half an hour, the robbers had loaded millions of dollars into a waiting U-Haul. Pace knew exactly which bags contained the highest denominations and non-sequential bills. He also knew where the recording devices for the security cameras were located and took them.

The police immediately realized it was an inside job and closely examined Pace, but could find nothing. The gang worked hard to conceal their new wealth, laundering it through property deals and phony businesses. Eventually, one of the gang members, Eugene Lamar Hill, erred when he gave a real estate broker friend a stack of cash bound together with the original currency straps; Hill's friend went to the police. Arrested, Hill soon confessed and named his co-conspirators. Allen Pace was arrested and sentenced to 24 years in prison on April 23, and remains incarcerated at a Federal Correctional Institution in Safford. Less than half (US$5 million) of the money was ever recovered, with some US$13.9 million still unaccounted for.

See also

References
  1. Rosenzweig, David (February 28, 2001). "2 Convicted in $18.9-Million Cash Robbery" – via Los Angeles Times.
  2. Meyer, Josh (June 19, 2001). "Leader of Heist Is Given 24 Years" – via Los Angeles Times.
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