Brian Garfield: Target Manhattan

Did he know you were the security officer?

I don’t think so. I think Mr. Maitland had told him I was a bank officer, that was all. Maybe he expected me to get up the cash.

You said you got sarcastic. What did you say to him?

I don’t remember exactly. I said something about did he have the hydrogen bomb in his hip pocket or his shirt. I guess I wasn’t taking it very seriously at first. But it didn’t take long at all to wise up. This guy didn’t say anything at first. It was Mr. Maitland who did the talking. He told me the guy claimed he had a partner up over the city in an airplane and they were threatening to drop bombs on the city if we didn’t pa the ransom.

Had Ryterband given him a deadline?

I don’t know. You’d have to ask Mr. Maitland.

What I’m getting at, Mr. Rabinowitz, is whether you were informed of the deadline.

Well, of course I was. But it didn’t happen right at the beginning there.

What did happen?

I told Mr. Maitland he ought to take it easy, the chances were the guy was a crazy, he was bluffing.

And?

Mr. Maitland said he realized that. But he said we had no choice but to act on the assumption that the threat was real.

Were those Maitland’s exact words?

Pretty close. Why’d you ask?

Because it sounds like the way Maitland would phrase it.

Anyway I took a seat. This guy looked rattled. I thought the best thing to do was try to calm him down, get him talking. I asked him his name. He stammered a little, then he said he was Willard Roberts. I asked him if he had any identification. He said, “Don’t be an idiot.” He said we were wasting precious time. He started yelling at me to get down to the vaults and start packing the money up. I told him it wasn’t that simple. In the first place we don’t keep that kind of cash on hand-no bank does, except maybe the Fed down at their incinerators-and in the second place, I told him, we had no way to know he wasn’t bluffing.

What did he say to that?

He said we’d find out soon enough, if we didn’t pay off. Then he went over to the window-it’s an old building, the Merchants Trust, it’s got those high ceilings and those tall vaulted windows. He pointed up through the window and told me to see for myself. I walked over to the window and looked the way he was pointing.

And?

I saw the plane.

Where was it?

Circling over the Battery, heading north over Manhattan. It was flying very low-right on top of the buildings.

Did you recognize the aircraft type?

I’m not an expert. I was in the infantry in Korea; I don’t know a whole lot about airplanes. But I could see it was an old one-four propellers. And it was pretty big. It looked like a bomber, if you know what I mean.

Were the bomb-bay doors open?

I don’t know. I don’t think so.

Go on, Mr. Rabinowitz.

He said that was his partner. He said he had a full load of five-hundred-pound bombs in the plane. He said his partner was going to circle over Manhattan Island until the ransom was paid or the time ran out. If the ransom was paid he’d go away. If it wasn’t paid by the deadline, the bombs would be dropped on New York City. Then he told me the deadline was ten minutes after five in the afternoon. He said the money had to be paid by then or the bombs would drop.

Did he say why they’d picked that particular time? Ten minutes after five?

It was because the largest number of people would be on the streets at that time. I don’t remember whether he explained that right then or later.

Actually didn’t he insist that the money be paid over somewhat earlier than that?

That was later.

How much later?

Maybe forty-five minutes, an hour. After the police came. Maybe after the FBI came.

Let’s break for lunch, shall we?

Your name, please?

Andrew V. Toombes.

Your title?

Deputy Police Commissioner, New York Police Department. I have a statement I’d like to read into the record, if that’s permissible?

Of course. Go right ahead.

I’ve cleared this statement through the Commissioner. He concurs in it. I thought it might save us some time-the Commissioner’s a rather busy man, as you can imagine.

We hadn’t intended asking either the Commissioner or the Mayor to testify here, Mr. Toombes. Neither of them had any direct role in the events that are the subject of this inquiry. The Mayor was in Chicago at the mayors’ conference, and I believe the Police Commissioner was in Los Angeles attending a three-day symposium.

Yes sir, that’s right. Assistant Deputy Mayor Swarthout was the highest-ranking city official on the case. Then of course there were the federal authorities. Ultimately the case was their responsibility.

Well, that’s partly what we’re here to determine, isn’t it? If you’d read your statement now?

Just one more thing. This isn’t solely my personal statement. I’ve included information from reports from police officers of various ranks who were involved in the case. In the interests of saving time, you see. I realize you may still want to call some of these officers to testify, but maybe this statement will cut down on the number of them you’ll want to talk to personally. I don’t like to take a cop off his beat any oftener than I have to.

Thank you. We appreciate it, and we don’t intend calling unnecessary witnesses. If you’d care to proceed?

Thank you. I’ll skip over the formal address and such…

“The Craycroft-Ryterband case first came to the attention of NYPD through a telephone call from the Merchants Trust Bank to the First Police Division on Twenty-first Street. The call was placed by Mr. Ira Rabinowitz, chief of security for the bank. It was logged in at the Thirteenth Precinct at ten forty-eight A.M., May twenty-second.”

Excuse me for interrupting. Is the Merchants Bank on Beaver Street in the jurisdiction of the Thirteenth Precinct?

No. It would be in the First Precinct, on Front Street. Rabinowitz is a former police officer, however He put the call through direct to division headquarters, which is located in the Thirteenth Precinct building. It was the correct thing to do; it saved a bit of time.

I see. Go on, please.

“Information was received by Captain Henry L. Grofeld, chief of First Division, that a crime was in progress at the Merchants Trust Bank. This information was received at eleven oh nine, and Captain Grofeld responded by-”

Excuse me again. But that indicates a gap of twenty-one minutes between the time Rabinowitz phoned the division and the time the case came to the attention of the divisional commander. Isn’t that excessive?

No, sir. It’ll explain itself as I read on.

Very well. I’m sorry to keep interrupting you.

It might go faster if I simply read the whole statement into the record and you asked your questions afterward, Mr. Skinner.

I’ll try to do that. Proceed.

“Captain Grofeld responded by ordering Special Investigations Squad to dispatch a team of officers to the Merchants Trust Bank. He was informed that this action had already been taken by his deputy commander, Lieutenant James O’Hara, and that O’Hara had also instructed the nearest street-patrol team of officers to respond to the call personally.

“According to statements by officials of Merchants Trust Bank, the first officers to arrive on the scene-foot patrolmen Lester Weinstein and Salvatore Cris-cola-entered the offices of the bank president at ten fifty-seven. They were informed of the facts, to the extent of his limited knowledge, by Mr. Rabinowitz. They then informed the perpetrator, then identified as Willard Roberts, that he was in custody. The perpetrator was advised of his rights.

“A team of three officers from Special Investigations, headed by Sergeant William J. O’Brien, reached the scene at eleven oh six.”