On 24 March 1972, the safe deposit vault at United California Bank in Laguna Niguel, California, was broken into and looted by professional burglars led by Amil Dinsio. His accomplices were James Dinsio, Harry Barber, Ronald Barber, Phil Christopher, Charles Mulligan, and Charles Brockles. All were from Youngstown, Ohio.
The total stolen was estimated at $30 million, a world record at the time.
While the robbery itself was executed perfectly, the thieves made the mistake of perpetrating a similar crime back in Ohio a few months later. The FBI linked the two heists, and their investigation of transportation records revealed that the entire gang had travelled to California on a single flight. They also learned of the townhouse used as an HQ, which had been rented by one of the gang members. A search initially found nothing, until the dishwasher was checked. The robbers had forgotten to wash their dishes before returning to Ohio, and the recovered fingerprints permitted federal arrest warrants to be made, leading to the arrest and conviction of all the burglars, along with the recovery of most of the loot. Surprisingly, the FBI website does not have an account of the incident or the investigation that led to apprehension of the robbers.
Accounts of the robbery and investigation have been shown on truTV and Investigation Discovery.
List of bank robbers and robberies