On This Day in 1981: Arizona’s Infamous Heist Shatters Records as America’s Largest Bank Robbery

TUCSON, Ariz. — In a jaw-dropping event that occurred 44 years ago, Tucson became the site of what was then the largest bank heist in U.S. history. On April 22, 1981, a group of masked gunmen stormed the First National Bank of Arizona, taking bank officials hostage and making chilling threats against the manager’s family.

According to reports from the time, the robbers wore frightful Halloween and stocking masks. They executed their meticulously planned heist, absconding with $3.3 million in cash—an amount equivalent to nearly $11.8 million today. Notably, they managed to carry out the crime without causing any injuries, leaving law enforcement with scant evidence.

The FBI’s investigation led to the identification of four key suspects: Douglas Bruce Fenimore, Douglas Wayne Brown, Michael Gabriel, and the alleged mastermind, David Lee Grandstaff. The gang was believed to operate out of Iowa, having previously been linked to another high-stakes robbery in Phoenix that resulted in the theft of $1.5 million in jewelry.

In a twist of fate, those suspects were already evading the law after forfeiting their bonds in a different case. By September of the same year, Grandstaff and Brown were apprehended in Denver and returned to Iowa for trial. However, due to troubling tactics employed by FBI agents, both men were acquitted after appealing their convictions.

The saga didn’t end there. In the 1990s, journalist Debra Weyermann explored this case in-depth in her book titled “The Gang They Couldn’t Catch: The Story of America’s Greatest Modern-Day Bank Robbers—and How They Got Away With It.” Her compelling narrative chronicles not only the Tucson heist but the extensive criminal activities attributed to Grandstaff and his gang.

This historical moment in Tucson’s past continues to capture the imagination of those intrigued by true crime and the complexities of law enforcement efforts in thwarting such audacious criminal endeavors.