Saturday, April 22, 2023

Toronto Airport Gold Heist

 The exact taken is unclear but a cargo container holding a large amount of gold was stolen from Toronto airport.  The BBC says $15 million while the CBC says $20 million.

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Thieves use mini-drone to open bank door

 DroneDJ reports that thieves in Reims, France used a DJI mini-drone to open a door to an ATM lobby that couldn't otherwise be opened from outside.

What was strange about the crime was that the police found no trace of a break-in; neither the safe nor the entrance door of the premises showed any signs of vandalism.

When the CCTV footage of the ATM was reviewed, a mini drone was immediately detected. The video showed a skillfully piloted aircraft being used to trigger a push button that would open the door of a technical room next to the ATM.

The criminals got away with 150,000 Euros.



Monday, May 9, 2022

Interview with a getaway driver

 The Drive has an interview with former jewelry store robber and driver Larry Lawton (who seems to have a YouTube channel).  Lawton explains how to choose an appropriate getaway car.

All were simply rented from a company like Hertz under somebody else's name with Lawton listed as the co-driver. They were picked up as normal and simply returned when the job was done. Lawton and his accomplices would pay for the car, case the store they planned to rob, and then use it in the actual robbery.



Thursday, May 6, 2021

Rédoine Faïd - French Escape Artist

 GQ magazine has a profile of Rédoine Faïd a French criminal and prison escapee who was inspired by crime movies.

A notorious thief—the architect of a flurry of dazzling heists and blockbuster robberies in the 1990s that targeted banks, jewelry stores, and armored cars—Faïd became more infamous still in 2013, when he blasted out of the Sequedin prison, near Lille, where he'd been serving time after a botched robbery, using smuggled explosives. 



Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Failed Texas Thieves Escape in Bayou Boat

 ABC13 reports that thieves tried to rob a museum in Royal Oaks, Texas.  After being discovered they fled in a bayou boat and then escaped into the city's storm drain system.

Followup: Illicit Cultural property also has a post on the failed heist with a few links to other articles.

via JRM

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Obit: Murph the Surf

 The Los Angeles Times has the obituary of Jack Murphy (aka Murph the surf) a thief who in 1964 stole the Star of India from the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Murphy is best known for a daring heist in 1964 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he and other thieves used a bathroom window they had unlocked earlier to steal the famed Star of India sapphire — bigger than a golf ball — along with other precious gems.

Murphy was arrested a few days later and spent two years in prison for the heist.  The New York Times has a long article from 2019 about the robbery which has a number of pictures.

Murphy was a champion surfer before the heist and owned a surf shop in Florida.  


Saturday, June 29, 2019

$1.1 Million in gold stolen from house near Belleville

Who says that you have to travel to an exotic location to pull off a major heist?  According to the Ottawa Citizen $1.1 million in gold was stolen from a house in eastern Ontario.

About $1.1 million in gold bars and coins and a further $4,000 in American currency were stolen, apparently in April, from a home in Cramahe Township. The rural municipality is between Brighton and Colborne.
“It’s kind of a bizarre situation,” said Northumberland OPP Const. Kimberly Johnston. “This type of theft is not something we come across every day.”