Let’s start with the bare-bones details and talk about what happened on January 5, 1993. That, says The Buffalo News, is when a door to the Brink’s armored car depot in Rochester, New York was left unlocked. Convenient? Yes, and that’ll be important: It was later believed to be an inside job.
It was business as normal at first: Three guards counted a massive shipment of cash that had just come in from the nearby Federal Reserve in Buffalo. One of the guards stepped outside, and when he returned, it was at gunpoint. Suddenly, the guards were tied up, and one — Dick Popwych — would later recount (via the Democrat & Chronicle) that the man who had disarmed him had been wearing Carharts and a mask. Their demeanor made it clear that they weren’t going to hesitate to shoot anyone who didn’t obey quickly, so when it came time for Popwych’s hands to be zip-tied behind his back, he listened. But, blinded by a bag over his head, he also listened to what they were doing and was able to tell police that he heard them leave after closing the sliding door to a van.
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The thieves weren’t the only ones to leave: They also took one of the guards, Thomas O’Connor, with them. O’Connor was later dropped off in the Rochester suburb of Greece, where he stumbled into a local restaurant, ordered a drink, and told them to call 911. Sounds straightforward? Buckle up.
