Posted on 06/11/2005 1:16:51 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Germany's three oldest bank robbers were jailed yesterday after admitting they stole more than €1.2 million ($1.9 million) in 14 raids across a number of provincial towns.
The men, who became known as the "Grandpa Gang", started their spree in 1988 and were arrested last year when police set a trap.
A court in Hagen sentenced 74-year-old Rudolf Richter - known as Rudi - together with Wilfried Ackermann, 73, and Lothar Ackermann, 64, to between nine and 12 years in jail.
Most of the robberies went without a hitch, but the court was told that, on one occasion during an escape, Richter, who was the getaway driver, had to stop the car to relieve himself. He suffered from a prostate problem, arthritis and bad knees.
Wilfried Ackermann said the men met in jail where they were serving time for armed robbery. On their release they embarked on a string of bank raids, armed with handguns - some dating from World War II - automatic weapons and fake hand grenades.
At first, police were mystified as to their identity as the robbers wore balaclavas and were casually dressed in jeans and trainers, the court heard.
Eventually, video footage revealed the robbers were not young men but pensioners, one of whom had problems climbing stairs.
Following a tip-off from inside prison, police kept the men under surveillance. Last November, the men were arrested when they tried to rob a bank in the quiet German town of Menden-Lendringsen. "It took longer to arrest them than usual as they had to be read their rights twice," a police officer said.
"Two of them were wearing hearing aids and the batteries were low."
Sentencing the men, Judge Horst-Werner Herkenberg said yesterday they had "used all means to achieve their goals".
He said the impact on the clerks they terrorised was far more serious than the money they stole.
On retirement, Germans generally benefit from large pensions and a rule that prevents others from making noise in the afternoon, in case it interferes with elderly people's rest.
The robbers were all hard up because of stints in jail, the court heard. Giving evidence, Wilfried Ackermann said fear of having no money and spending his old age in a nursing home drove him to commit the first couple of robberies, and afterwards there was no way to stop.
"Your honour, it's unbelievable how easy it is to rob a bank once you've done it a couple of times," he testified.
He said he spent 95 per cent of his share of the money on buying a farm, machines and animals. The others gave money to their ex-wives but continued to live frugally.
Police recovered €400,000 but have no idea where the rest went.
Richter said his main impulse was to "get his own back" on the authorities after he was jailed in 1969 for a crime he said he did not commit.
In their defence, the men said they had never deliberately hurt anybody. They said they only fired two shots - one of which nearly hit Wilfried and the other struck the steering column of their getaway car.
I could visualize it as a comic movie: an elderly bank robber in a wheelchair outside the bank, directing the arrived police: "They drove off in that direction"- and pointing the direction with the hand holding the bank money bag...
Description here. :)
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