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Site of the Brinks Robbery

The North End Little Italy Food Tour will excite your senses with the traditional Italian fare of the North End while taking you past some of the most historical sites in Boston. Much of Boston’s interesting history dates back to colonial times but here in the North End you will find the site of a more modern tale. It is the site of The Great Brinks Robbery, often called the crime of the century.

Located on the Freedom Trail on the corner of Commercial and Prince Streets stands the original building where the famous heist was pulled off. Seven men held five Brinks employees at gunpoint and made off with $1.2 million dollars in cash and almost $1.6 million dollars in checks, money orders and other securities. Although the men were eventually captured, most of the money would never be recovered.

The Brinks Robbery was one of the FBI’s most famous cases and at the time was the largest robbery in the history of the United States. The pressure was on to discover the identity of the thieves but the FBI had little evidence to start with. They had a chauffeur’s hat, tape, rope and a witness who saw the get- away vehicle make its escape.

The heist was well planned. The gang spent over a year planning, observing the building and employees and even broke into an alarm company in Boston to review the Brinks Building’s security system. The men wore Halloween masks, chauffeur hats and were armed.

Brinks offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture and arrest of the thieves. With the statute of limitations closing in for some of the charges, the FBI was putting heavy pressure on one of the thieves who was facing unrelated criminal charges. He confessed on January 6, 1956 and eventually 8 men were found guilty and given life sentences for the crime.
The original building is now used as a parking garage but can still be seen in the North End along the Freedom Trail and is part of just one of the many intriguing stories that surround Boston.