Wednesday December 18, 1974. The Christmas holidays are fast approaching. In Roanne, in the afternoon, the police officers and their families are all invited to the Le Majestic cinema for the traditional Christmas tree. But the party will be cut short: it is in fact this moment that three thugs have chosen to rob the branch of the Société Lyonnaise.
The affair begins at 3:40 p.m., at number 121 Mulsant Street. Three men burst into the bank branch, masked and with guns drawn. “Don’t move, it’s a hold-up.” Be kind, we won't hurt you. »
One of the employees is forced to open the safe and give the robbers the 35,000 francs it contained. The three thugs then fled, locking the three bank employees and the customers in the vault to delay the alert.
An anonymous call as a Christmas present
Twenty minutes later, managing to free themselves, the bank agents raised the alarm. The Christmas tree is interrupted and all police force is deployed in the city. But it is already too late to hope to find the three robbers. Except that…
At 5 p.m., an anonymous call came to the police station. Like a Christmas present. An anonymous witness indicates that he saw three men get out of a Renault R12 at the foot of a CTA building, in the Mâtel district. “They’re hiding something, be careful.” I have the impression that they are armed. One of them is wearing a light-colored raincoat. » One of the robbers had just been reported with the same clothing detail.
Immediately, the police force refocused on the neighborhood which was completely cordoned off. The apartment in which the three suspects are likely to be found is identified, on the third floor of one of the buildings.
An hour of a Fort Chabrol scenario
“Once in the hallway, it was a long wait. After several warnings from one side and heavy silence from the other, it was only around 6:20 p.m. that we heard, behind the door, one of the occupants: “We surrender.” »
The three men come out, hands in the air, and are taken to the police station. In the apartment, we found the loot, “camouflaged everywhere, even in the fridge. We even found 500 franc notes in the shoes of one of the gangsters.”
Added to this is a real arsenal: a 7.65 automatic pistol, a Welby 38 caliber pistol, a barrel pistol and a Stein submachine gun with a stocked magazine. Armament which leads investigators to believe that the three men, placed in detention after their custody, could also have committed other hold-ups in the region.
