THIEF: The Bank Heist

Thief 22,840 2/25/2014 As the Master Thief, infiltrate the City’s most secure location, Stonemarket First Bank, to retrieve a coveted heirloom. The Bank Heist is a mission exclusive for the pre-ordered editions of Thief. The United California Bank burglary took place on 24 March 1972, when the safe deposit vault at United California Bank in Laguna Niguel, California, was broken into and $9 million ($55 million today) in cash and valuables were looted by professional burglars led by Amil Dinsio. As the Master Thief, infiltrate the City’s most secure location, Stonemarket First Bank, to retrieve a coveted heirloom. To this day, the heavily guarded and treacherous place remains impregnable, but that’s about to change. Unlock a challenging mission that will put your thieving skills to the test. GTREntertainment on FACEBOOK: GTREntertainment on TWITTER: Thief - Bank Heist Mission - Ghost Master - PS4 Gameplay.

The United California Bank burglary took place on 24 March 1972, when the safe deposit vault at United California Bank in Laguna Niguel, California, was broken into and $9 million ($55 million today) in cash and valuables were looted by professional burglars led by Amil Dinsio.^[1]

Background and the robbery[edit]

Dinsio's accomplices were his brother, James Dinsio, his nephews Harry and Ronald Barber, his brother-in-law Charles Mulligan, alarm expert Phil Christopher and Charles Broeckel. The Dinsio crew was from Youngstown, Ohio and Christopher and Broeckel were from Cleveland. Amil Dinsio was the mastermind of the operation but he worked closely with his brother, James, an explosives expert and designer/fabricator of burglary tools. His brother-in-law, Charles Mulligan, was the driver and look-out man. The inclusion of Phil Christopher and Charles Broeckel was forced upon Dinsio by the person who clued him in on the score. Dinsio reluctantly took Broeckel along as muscle only, which proved to be a critical mistake. He had no skills needed to assist in any other way with the robbery as he was nothing more than a petty thief. Broeckel helped inside the vault to bust open safe deposit boxes. Christopher played a key role in disarming the alarm. The total stolen was estimated at nearly $9 million.^[2] The gang gained entry to the vault by using dynamite to blast a hole in its reinforced concrete roof.

Investigation and arrests[edit]

While the burglary itself was executed perfectly, the thieves made the mistake of perpetrating a similar crime back in Ohio a few months later. The FBI linked the two burglaries, and their investigation of transportation records revealed that five of the gang members had travelled to California on a single flight using their own names. A sixth man, James Dinsio, arrived on a separate flight the day before the crime. They also learned of the townhouse used as an HQ, which had been rented by one of the gang members. A search initially found nothing, until the dishwasher was checked. The burglars had forgotten to run the dishwasher before returning to Ohio, and the recovered fingerprints permitted federal arrest warrants to be made. This led to the arrest and conviction of all the burglars, along with recovering most of the loot as well.

Trial and witness tampering[edit]

Earl Dawson, who assisted the police and testified against the gang, was offered money by his brother Harold Dawson to influence his testimony. Earl Dawson was placed in the witness protection program as was Charles Broeckel, who testified against his co-conspirators in exchange for immunity from prosecution. ^[3]^[4]

In popular culture[edit]

Accounts of the burglary and investigation have been shown on truTV and Investigation Discovery. Dinsio’s book, Inside The Vault, was self-published in 2014 with the assistance of his daughter. The 2012 movie Superthief discussed Christopher's knowledge of alarm systems and his role in the planning and execution of the burglary. The incident is used as the basis of the 2019 movie Finding Steve McQueen.

References[edit]

^'The FBI Files: Season 6 - Ep 7 'The Perfect Heist''. youtube. 24 December 2014.
^http://50cases.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/13/day-12-the-largest-bank-burglary-in-us-history-targets-nixon%E2%80%99s-millions/305/
^Appeals, United States Court of; Circuit, Ninth (December 26, 1975). '516 F2d 796 United States v. Dawson'. F2d (516): 796 – via openjurist.org.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^'YouTube'. www.youtube.com.

Porrello, Rick; Superthief: A Master Burglar, the Mafia, and the Biggest Bank Heist in U.S. History; 272 pp.; Next Hat Press (2005); ISBN0-9662508-5-0

External links[edit]

Bang for the Bucks by Keith Sharon
Masterminds: 'The Laguna Niguel Heist' – on YouTube

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_California_Bank_robbery&oldid=992048585'

One of my favorite things about watching new game trailers is reading people’s comments.

If you’ve never bothered to read the treasure trove you’ll find on places like YouTube, then good for you; you’ve just saved yourself a lot of wide mouthed shock, confusion, and sadness. This goes doubly for many of the Thief games’ more ardent fans, aka, nutcases. They’ll pick apart just about anything, including the lack of zombies… in a bank heist level.

This isn’t 100% like Thief 2!!! Wah, Wahh Wahhhhh!!!!

I’m going to stop complaining about people’s complains and instead show you the focus of today’s show: a trailer showing off a pre-order exclusive level for Thief called – quite appropriately – The Bank Heist. If you ask me, Eidos really outdid themselves with the creative title here. In any case, check it out…

If it looks like a Thief game and quacks like a Thief game, is it really a Thief game? I’m really not sure, and that’s kind of the beauty of the whole thing. Much like the scientific method, I’m not even pretending to know what this un-released game is going to be like when it’s finally released early next year. Does it look promising? Sure, I think so. The style matches the original games faithfully, and the refined movements and sneaking mechanics look great, but I won’t truly know until I play it for myself.

I think that’s supposed to be a camera above the vault, but it sure looks like a drill. I really can’t think of anything more terrifying than a camera that literally drill into you.

Man, such bullshit… how could they have removed the fucking zombies? This game is ruined!

The Particulars

Here are the official details, straight from the zombies mouth. It’s a shame this is a pre-order bonus (I’ll never pre-order a game, ever), but I’m guessing they’ll end up releasing it to everyone a mere 2 months later as is standard practice for all game companies that value making money.