‘BRINKS’ OF DEATH: COP
Heist gal had gone for gun
Newly paroled former radical Judith Clark was more than just a getaway driver — she was just as willing to pull the trigger as the robbers who killed two cops and a security guard, a survivor of the deadly 1981 Brinks heist told the Daily News.
“When we got to her, she was reaching under her seat and there was a loaded pistol under her seat,” said retired Nyack Detective Arthur Keenan, who was shot in the thigh during a gunfight with Clark’s co-conspirators.
“She was directly involved.”
Clark and members of the Weather Underground held up an armored car at the Nanuet Mall in Rockland County on Oct. 20, 1981. The $1.6 million robbery was intended as a fund-raiser for the radicals, but soon went haywire.
A shootout at a roadblock left Nyack Police Sgt. Edward O’Grady, Officer Waverly “Chipper” Brown and Brinks security guard Peter Paige dead.
“They had an M-16 that was converted so it could fire at full auto,” Keenan recalled. “We only had revolvers at the time. We had a very little chance against them.”
A remorseless Clark was arrested a short time later. She represented herself at trial and was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for her conviction on three counts of second-degree murder.
In December 2016, Gov. Cuomo granted Clark clemency, allowing her a hearing before the parole board. Prior to that, Clark would not have been eligible for parole until she was 106.
The state parole board voted 2-1 Wednesday to release Clark, 69. She is expected to walk free within a month.
Keenan is still steaming that Clark even got the chance to have a parole hearing. “Gov. Cuomo took it upon herself to give clemency to Clark in 2016, but he never spoke to me or any of the victims’ families,” Keenan said, adding that he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder connected to the shooting.
“It’s frustrating. For anybody making a decision of that importance, you would think he would at least want to hear both sides. It’s like a judge hearing the case, but only hearing one side of the case,” Keenan said.
The retired cop — who gave a victim impact statement over an hour long during Clark’s first failed bid for parole in 2017 — said he has repeatedly asked for an audience with Cuomo to state his case to keep Clark in prison, but he never heard back.
Cuomo cited Clark’s work behind bars as influencing his decision. She earned a master’s degree, trained service dogs, counseled mothers and founded an AIDS education program. More than 2,000 people provided statements of support for her release.