Mark Tyson
Member
CROSSTOWN CROSSFIRE;
AN OLD-FASHIONED SHOOTOUT BETWEEN COPS AND ROBBERS
Copyright 2003 Sun Media Corporation
Winnipeg Sun (Manitoba, Canada)
October 5, 2003 Sunday Final Edition
What would you do if you were at the top of a hydro pole when a police shootout with bank robbers broke out?
If you were two Winnipeg Hydro employees working behind the Crosstown Credit Union, 171 Donald St., on Nov. 3, 1972, you had a bird's-eye view of two police officers firing their weapons at an oncoming vehicle.
Bill Krutecki was supervising a crew installing a transformer on a pole behind the credit union when the shooting began.
"We had no idea anything was happening until a police cruiser roared up behind us and blocked the entrance to the lane," Krutecki told the Winnipeg Tribune.
"Suddenly a policeman jumped out of a truck with a shotgun and fired five quick rounds at the getaway car."
'PRAYING TO THE GOOD LORD'
The crew on the ground scattered quickly when the gunfire began, except for one man who dropped to the pavement and covered his head with his hands.
"I just lay on my belly right next to the pole and kept praying to the good Lord," said the unidentified man.
Nobody could blame the fellow for being frightened. Less than two feet away, a cop was firing straight into the oncoming car.
Following an exchange of gunfire, the car careened into a fence ending a robbery that began minutes before when three men burst into the credit union at 10:55 a.m.
"They told us to go down on the floor. They swore a lot and told us not to push the (alarm) buttons, or else," one of the female cashiers told police.
"If you make one move, you get a bullet in the head," said another cashier.
After cramming $26,200 into paper shopping bags, the trio ran out the back door where cops were waiting with open (fire) arms.
"They came out with bags of money, that's when the action started," said cop Joe Mowatt, now retired.
The three became involved in a gunfight with police who'd staked out the credit union for more than two weeks, said Mowatt. The robbery was timed to coincide with a Brinks delivery.
The robbery, said Mowatt, was to go down two weeks earlier but one of the accused shot up on heroin and couldn't perform.
Police saw the getaway driver open the back door and jimmy the lock before he walked to the getaway car, a 1968 Chrysler, parked a short distance away. They also watched as he backed the car north to the rear of the credit union.
"We saw them go in but if we'd confronted them, there was a chance innocent people would have been hurt. We waited until they had their hands full."
A bullet smashed into the hip of Joseph Harry Smallwood, 28, who was left lying in the lane by James Allan Dunn, 23, and Edward Maurice (Greyhound) Girouard, 32, who hopped into the getaway car driven by Fredrick Nicholas Duskoluk, 27.
Graham Stanley Sylvester, 25, was later charged with robbery. His running car was found in the (City Place) parking lot across the street from the credit union. The 1961 Mercury was to be the second getaway car, said police.
Several officers opened fire from a camper truck parked across the lane, said eye witness George Lippenstein. Other officers, he said opened fire from the top of a three-storey, parking structure.
Bullets fired from a pair of police Thompson machine guns bounced off the car, said Mowatt. Police later learned the .45-calibre bullets were half-loads meant for target practice.
Some officers, armed with .30-30 calibre rifles, were able to pierce the car's metal, cause the Chrysler to skid out of control and smash into a wooden fence.
"The lane was full of deep, icy ruts," said Mowatt. "That's why they stole a Chrysler. It was heavy."
All four robbers were taken to hospital with various bullet wounds. Girouard -- with a severed spinal cord -- was the most seriously injured. Because of his injury, he received a relatively lenient 10-year sentence.
Several workers in the building reported near misses by bullets and broken glass.
Dorothy Einarson was working at her desk on the main floor when she heard shots and looked out the window.
JUMPED UNDER DESK
"I saw a guy with a gun so I jumped underneath my desk," Einarson told the Tribune.
Moments later the window was shattered by bullets and her desk was showered with broken glass.
Another woman, Nina Wakshinski, said she heard the first three shots and the window to her travel agency exploded.
"I keep thinking that if I had got up a minute earlier to go to that window ..." she told a reporter.
Nineteen days after the robbery, Smallwood appeared at his bail hearing on crutches, with one leg completely covered in a cast.
Crown attorney Dave Rampersad told Magistrate Robert Trudel that Smallwood had been kicked out of hospital when doctors and nurses "could stomach no more of his abuse."
Smallwood was free on $12,000 bail stemming from drug charges in Toronto when he was charged with the robbery.
Three weeks after the robbery, Dunn, who was on bail for another $21,000 robbery, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison by Magistrate Wallace Darichuk.
Six weeks later, Duskoluk picked up 10 years for the robbery on top of a six-year term for possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking.
All but one of the robbers are dead. The surviving member served his time and lives in Winnipeg under an alias.
When police finally returned to the station, Mowatt learned another robbery had occurred in his absence. "Somebody stole my lunch," he chortled.
AN OLD-FASHIONED SHOOTOUT BETWEEN COPS AND ROBBERS
Copyright 2003 Sun Media Corporation
Winnipeg Sun (Manitoba, Canada)
October 5, 2003 Sunday Final Edition
What would you do if you were at the top of a hydro pole when a police shootout with bank robbers broke out?
If you were two Winnipeg Hydro employees working behind the Crosstown Credit Union, 171 Donald St., on Nov. 3, 1972, you had a bird's-eye view of two police officers firing their weapons at an oncoming vehicle.
Bill Krutecki was supervising a crew installing a transformer on a pole behind the credit union when the shooting began.
"We had no idea anything was happening until a police cruiser roared up behind us and blocked the entrance to the lane," Krutecki told the Winnipeg Tribune.
"Suddenly a policeman jumped out of a truck with a shotgun and fired five quick rounds at the getaway car."
'PRAYING TO THE GOOD LORD'
The crew on the ground scattered quickly when the gunfire began, except for one man who dropped to the pavement and covered his head with his hands.
"I just lay on my belly right next to the pole and kept praying to the good Lord," said the unidentified man.
Nobody could blame the fellow for being frightened. Less than two feet away, a cop was firing straight into the oncoming car.
Following an exchange of gunfire, the car careened into a fence ending a robbery that began minutes before when three men burst into the credit union at 10:55 a.m.
"They told us to go down on the floor. They swore a lot and told us not to push the (alarm) buttons, or else," one of the female cashiers told police.
"If you make one move, you get a bullet in the head," said another cashier.
After cramming $26,200 into paper shopping bags, the trio ran out the back door where cops were waiting with open (fire) arms.
"They came out with bags of money, that's when the action started," said cop Joe Mowatt, now retired.
The three became involved in a gunfight with police who'd staked out the credit union for more than two weeks, said Mowatt. The robbery was timed to coincide with a Brinks delivery.
The robbery, said Mowatt, was to go down two weeks earlier but one of the accused shot up on heroin and couldn't perform.
Police saw the getaway driver open the back door and jimmy the lock before he walked to the getaway car, a 1968 Chrysler, parked a short distance away. They also watched as he backed the car north to the rear of the credit union.
"We saw them go in but if we'd confronted them, there was a chance innocent people would have been hurt. We waited until they had their hands full."
A bullet smashed into the hip of Joseph Harry Smallwood, 28, who was left lying in the lane by James Allan Dunn, 23, and Edward Maurice (Greyhound) Girouard, 32, who hopped into the getaway car driven by Fredrick Nicholas Duskoluk, 27.
Graham Stanley Sylvester, 25, was later charged with robbery. His running car was found in the (City Place) parking lot across the street from the credit union. The 1961 Mercury was to be the second getaway car, said police.
Several officers opened fire from a camper truck parked across the lane, said eye witness George Lippenstein. Other officers, he said opened fire from the top of a three-storey, parking structure.
Bullets fired from a pair of police Thompson machine guns bounced off the car, said Mowatt. Police later learned the .45-calibre bullets were half-loads meant for target practice.
Some officers, armed with .30-30 calibre rifles, were able to pierce the car's metal, cause the Chrysler to skid out of control and smash into a wooden fence.
"The lane was full of deep, icy ruts," said Mowatt. "That's why they stole a Chrysler. It was heavy."
All four robbers were taken to hospital with various bullet wounds. Girouard -- with a severed spinal cord -- was the most seriously injured. Because of his injury, he received a relatively lenient 10-year sentence.
Several workers in the building reported near misses by bullets and broken glass.
Dorothy Einarson was working at her desk on the main floor when she heard shots and looked out the window.
JUMPED UNDER DESK
"I saw a guy with a gun so I jumped underneath my desk," Einarson told the Tribune.
Moments later the window was shattered by bullets and her desk was showered with broken glass.
Another woman, Nina Wakshinski, said she heard the first three shots and the window to her travel agency exploded.
"I keep thinking that if I had got up a minute earlier to go to that window ..." she told a reporter.
Nineteen days after the robbery, Smallwood appeared at his bail hearing on crutches, with one leg completely covered in a cast.
Crown attorney Dave Rampersad told Magistrate Robert Trudel that Smallwood had been kicked out of hospital when doctors and nurses "could stomach no more of his abuse."
Smallwood was free on $12,000 bail stemming from drug charges in Toronto when he was charged with the robbery.
Three weeks after the robbery, Dunn, who was on bail for another $21,000 robbery, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison by Magistrate Wallace Darichuk.
Six weeks later, Duskoluk picked up 10 years for the robbery on top of a six-year term for possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking.
All but one of the robbers are dead. The surviving member served his time and lives in Winnipeg under an alias.
When police finally returned to the station, Mowatt learned another robbery had occurred in his absence. "Somebody stole my lunch," he chortled.
I can see it now! The mouse gun fans are going to be all over this! 