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LBM Photography | all galleries >> Chronologic Photo Journals - 2002-2022 >> 2023 >> St. Clair / Superior 2023 > St. Clair Savings
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29-Jul-2023

St. Clair Savings

In 1957 this bank was the scene of the first burglary ever recorded on film. I pasted snippets of the Cleveland Police Museum + Plain Dealer article below, google the internets if you want the whole story (camera details via a CWRU Professor)..
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**Here’s the story:

On Friday, April 12, 1957 a man and a woman, both carrying pistols, robbed the St. Clair Savings and Loan of $2,376. Both the manager and a clerk succeeded in setting off the special bank alarm and the camera whirled into action along with the standard bank-alarm system which brought the police radio alert. As the newly installed police camera was rolling, Steven Ray Thomas, wearing a handkerchief around his face, held the customers and employees at gunpoint while Wanda DiCenzi scooped the money into a bag. They escaped in a stolen car driven by Rose O’Donnell. After dividing the money, the three parted. The police arrived on the scene within two minutes but missed the robbers by seconds
The police quickly had the pictures of the robbery printed in newspapers. The headlines on Saturday, April 13, 1957, screamed, “Have you Seen These Robbers? – Hidden Camera Identifies 2,” and “Movie Camera Films Holdup of Loan Firm – Picture here 1st in History.” By Friday evening, the news of the robbery and use of the new police camera had spread across the country. Robber Wanda DiCenzi saw the pictures in the paper and heard about them on the radio. Her accomplice Steven Ray Thomas fled to Indianapolis after the robbery but returned on Saturday after hearing about the police pictures. DiCenzi and Thomas gave themselves up on Saturday. Getaway driver Rose O’Donnell, who did not hear about the hidden camera film, was apprehended after a neighbor phoned police concerning her whereabouts. All of the money was recovered except for $800 which was spent on clothes and motel bills. The suspects were indicted by the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury and all three pled guilty. **

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
1/160s f/5.6 at 24.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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