BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP (AP) -- A decade after burglars smashed out a bank window and replaced it with a festively decorated plywood panel, police still have no suspects in the daring Christmas morning 2000 heist that netted the thieves $123,000 in cash.
Whoever pulled off the burglary was clever enough to bring with them a custom-fitted section of plywood made to look like the curtains inside the Comerica Bank branch and adorned with the image of a smiling elf in a Santa suit carrying a sack of toys, along with two stockings and two candles.
Bloomfield Township Police Chief Kirt Bowden said officers who checked the bank after the shattered window sounded an alarm were fooled by the wood panel into thinking everything was fine. A bank security guard who checked the building an hour later also was tricked by thieves' window-dressing.
"They brought it with them, so they already had the (window's) dimensions," Bowden told the Detroit Free Press.
The thieves also brought with them pre-fitted wooden blocks used to hold the plywood snugly in the window frame. And once the mock window was in place shortly after 1 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2000, they proceeded to scour the bank for cash. The thieves likely ran to hide when a police car rolled through the bank's parking lot to check on an alarm, and continued their work once the officers left.
Bowden said investigators never did develop any good leads in the theft in one of Michigan's wealthiest ZIP codes. He said the thieves left few clues behind, aside from some old tools and a few tracks in the snow. And it wasn't until almost 30 hours after the break-in that the theft was discovered by a technician who arrived to service the branch's ATM.
"He couldn't get in the front door because there was a piece of copper wire jammed in the lock," said retired Bloomfield Township Detective Ron Genereux.
Police believe that trick was probably designed to slow down a security guard with thoughts of doing a walkthrough while they were inside. The technician eventually worked it free and got inside, spotting glass shards on the floor and the plywood panel in the window.
During their time inside the bank, the thieves opened several empty teller drawers before they went to work on the teller cash dispenser drawer -- a central cash point for tellers. They forced it open and scooped out $123,000 in cash.
They left behind cutting tools they had used, unsuccessfully, to try to cut the knob off the door of the night deposit vault. They also tried but failed to cut into the ATM. On their way out, the thieves disabled a loud alarm box.
Investigators found no fingerprints on any of the tools. "Just some glove impressions," Genereux said.
Footprints found in the snow outside the bank led to an adjacent parking lot and an impression in the snow the size of the window board, but beyond that, there were no clues.
Genereux interviewed all the bank employees and checked for connections between them and any criminals, but he was left with only questions. He said the plan worked so well, police hoped the bandits might try again at another bank, but investigators never found a similar break-in.
"I still find it odd that there wasn't another one," Genereux said.
Published: Tue, Dec 28, 2010
