DAYLIGHT HOLD-UP

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 29 November 1927, Page 8

DAYLIGHT HOLD-UP

BANDITS RAID A BANK •GET AWAY WITH £lOOO. TRIPOD SWIVEL GUN ON MOTOR New York, Nov. 6. A superfilmlike, but true, story of a daylight hold-up by bandits comes from Hollywood, the cinema city of California. So fiercely picturesque was the reallife performance that the film studio experts, whose places are all round the neighbourhood of the outraged bank, are turning green with envy. Shortly before noon on Saturday there were in the South Broad why branch of the Merchants’ National Bank, Hollywood, five officials trying to attend to more than 50 men and women before the half-day closing time. South Broadway, outside, was at its most crowded hour. OUTFLMING FILMLAND.

Up to the door of the bank drove an expensive open motor car. From it leaped four men armed with revolvers and sawed-off shotguns. They entered the bank, while in the car, whose engine was kept running, a man remained at the wheel. Another man, standing up In the oar, uncovered a machinegun mounted on a swivel tripod, so that the man could swing the gun alternately towards the bank and up or down the street—as effective a bit of Hollywood picture scenery as ever entered into the brain of a scenariomonger. “Stand back! Keep still!” shouted the swivel-gunman to the astonished street people, as he swung the muzzle towards them. How many of the citizens believed it was a film stunt being operated and how many were terrorised cannot be known. Many stood back; a few kept as still as if petrified; none came forward. I SUPERFILMLIKE BANK SCENE. I Inside the bank the four armed intruders forewarned all the officials that they must lie, face downward, in a corner at the back of the bank or die. They “did not choose to stand.” They lay down. AVhiie one gunman kept the prone officials “covered” it was easy for two others to herd the half-hundred depositors, hands-in-air, into an opposite corner. . Two desperadoes kept guard with levelled guns, and warned the captives that if they made any move or outcry they would be shot. The other two swept into great satchels all the banknotes, gold and silver in sight. This done, the robbers backed swiftly out to the car—which then vanished at high speed before anybody in the street throng, cowed under tho menace of the gimbal-mounted machine-gun, had a chance to notify th" police. This daring and risky exploit—which has taught the very craftmasters of Filmtown how to stage a “Bank Hold-up”—netted the operating bandits about £lOOO.