Caption: The scene outside Southwest Bank, at Kingshighway and Southwest Avenue, about 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 24, 1953. Three robbers burst into the bank at 10:19 a.m. and announced a holdup. They had planned and knew their target well -- the neighborhood bank had $200,000 ready for cashing paychecks. Alice Ruzicka, a teller, tripped the first of several alarms. Police officers Melburn Stein and Robert Heitz, patrolling two blocks away, were first to the scene. Post-Dispatch photographer Jack January heard the radio broadcast and followed a police car at 70 mph to get there in time for his photographs. On the sidewalk between the two cars are officer Stein (left) and the gang's ringleader, Fred W. Bowerman, who had used a female customer as a human shield to try to escape. Stein saw and opening and shot Bowerman. When this photo was taken, two robbers still were inside. More than 40 shots had been exchanged, but none of the customers or employees was injured. Before January arrived, Heitz and Stein exchanged shots with the robbers inside, and Heitz was wounded with a blast from Bowerman's sawed-off shotgun. The case is regarded as one of the St. Louis Police Department's finest moments. In 1959, a movie called "The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery" hit the theaters. Among the cast was a new actor, Steve McQueen, who played one of the robbers. (Jack January/Post-Dispatch)
Album ID: 1231661
Photo ID: 35342609
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