BERLINIt may not have been the perfect heist, but it was close:Four bandits stormed a bank in southern Berlin this week, seized 16 hostages, collected $3.6 million in ransom and then, 18 hours later, slipped away with their loot through a pre-dug tunnel beneath the feet of several hundred heavily armed police.
June 29, 1995
Even Berlin Police Chief Hagen Saberschinsky was impressed by what the daily Tageszeitung newspaper described as the most spectacular hostage drama in Berlin’s postwar history.
The deed does demonstrate a certain dash and a certain degree of skill, a sheepish Saberschinsky told reporters on Wednesday, shortly after authorities realized they had been duped.
Thursday there was still no trace of the bandits, whose exploits showed signs of being elevated to folklore status in the popular press.
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