Havelock Bank Robbery

1961 Canadian bank robbery

Havelock Bank Robbery

Location| Toronto-Dominion Bank, Havelock, Ontario
Date| August 31, 1961

Attack type

| Robbery
Weapons| M1 carbine, revolvers
Deaths| 0
Injured| 0
Perpetrators| Yvon Lalonde,
Roger Poirier,
Jean Claude Lalonde,
Roger Martel,
Hermyle Lalonde
Motive| Robbery

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.

The five robbers were arrested; one died in custody and the other four were found guilty. The money was never found.

## Background

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31 August 1961 was the pay day of three local mining companies, and therefore a day in which the Havelock branch of Toronto-Dominion Bank would have more money than usual.[1]

## Robbery

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During the early morning of 31 August, four men entered the basement window of the Toronto-Dominion Bank in the small town of Havelock, Ontario, while another waited in the get-away car.[1] The assailants waited for staff to arrive, and once they did at 9:15am, the armed robbers politely demanded bank worker William Lindup to open the safe and put the contents into a duffel bag, fleeing minutes later with $230,000 of cash plus bank bonds.[1][2] The five robbers were armed with revolvers and an M1 carbine semi-automatic rifle.[2]

As they waited, the neighbouring butcher spotted their Buick vehicle, felt it was suspicious and noted down the license plate.[1]

The robbers fled the scene in their vehicle, their escape was initially blocked by a bulldozer.[1] Police chased them along rural roads on the Canadian Shield, and again their escape was delayed when a car with a punctured tire blocked a single-lane road.[1][3] After hitting a rock and abandoning their vehicles,[4] the robbers exchanged gunfire with the police and escaped into the wilderness east of the Crowe River.[3][1]

The Ontario Provincial Police launched a search of the area, involving 75 officers, and captured the suspects on 3 and 4 September[2] near Ontario Highway 62.[3][5] Yvon Lalonde and one other robber were spotted on 3 September by lumber mill operator Martin Murphy, and Lalonde was arrested by police hours later.[2] On 4 September, three suspects were found by Frederick Andrews of Stirling, one of many civilians who were helping the police with the search.[1] Police constable John Martin then arrested three men, before they were taken to Millbridge.[2] They were initially held in Peterborough County jail,[3][5] later transferring them to Whitby jail.[1]

One of the robbers died of a heart attack while in custody.[6] The remaining four were found guilty after nine days of trial starting in January 1962.[6]

As of 2014, The Royal Canadian Mint stated that none of the money was found in circulation.[3] According to The Toronto Star, the robbery "was considered one of the biggest bank robberies in Canadian history."[1]

Despite two years of planning, the series of delays in their escape resulted in them becoming known as the "bad luck bank robbers".[1]

## Robbers

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All five robbers, known as the Red Hood Gang,[7] were French-Canadians from Montreal, Quebec.[8][6] Jean Claude Lalonde, Yvon Lalonde, Roger Poirier, and Roger Martel were found guilty, Hermyle Lalonde died before the trial.[9]

## In popular culture

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The robbery was the subject of the 2006 book Bad Luck Bank Robbers, by Grace Barker, and a 2014 play produced by the 4th Line Theatre also called Bad Luck Bank Robbers.[3][10] The play was written by Alex Poch-Goldin and directed by Kim Blackwell.[11]

The township of Wollaston, Ontario, changed the name of the street where the robbers abandoned their vehicle to Bank Robbers Lane.[4]

## See also

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* List of bank robbers and robberies
* Virginiatown bank robbery

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hodgins, Bill (19 August 2021). "BEHIND THE CRIMES: Bank bandits hid in basement in one of Canada's biggest robberies at the time". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
2. ^ a b c d e Gillies, John (4 September 1961). "Police Hunt $185,000 hidden loot, capture bank robbery suspects". Globe and Mail.
3. ^ a b c d e f Powell, Kelsey (16 December 2014). "Is $230,000 in stolen loot hidden near Bancroft?". kawarthaNOW. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
4. ^ a b Eadie, Jim (5 April 2016). "Township gets $1.4 million". Bancroft this Week. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
5. ^ a b Campbell, John (15 September 2015). "Bank robbery mystery still captures the imagination". DurhamRegion.com. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
6. ^ a b c "Bank's cash bag discovered in wall during renovations adds to Havelock robbery tale". thepeterboroughexaminer.com. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
7. ^ Graham, Karen (9 July 2015). "Retired Officer Remembers Robbery Featured in 4th Line Theatre Play". The Millbrook Times. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
8. ^ "Here's Mark Bonokoski's take on the mystery $230,000 bank robbers may have stashed near Coe Hill | coehillworld.com". 27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
9. ^ Barker, Grace (2006). The Bad Luck Bank Robbers: The 1961 Havelock Bank Robbery. Dawn Publishing. ISBN 9780969629825.
10. ^ Powell, Kelsey (20 December 2014). "The trail is cold, but the loot is still out there..." Retrieved 29 June 2022 - via PressReader.
11. ^ Tweedle, Sam (13 August 2016). "Crime shouldn't be this funny – a review of The Bad Luck Bank Robbers". kawarthaNOW. Retrieved 29 June 2022.

## External links

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* Trent Valley Archives - Clive Naismith fonds