Was Riverside’s first bank robbery really in 1960?
When I first saw mention that Riverside’s first bank robbery was in 1960, I had to pause.
Was that true? Not that I’m advocating for crime in our county seat, but it seemed to me to be a bit farfetched that a bank robbery did not happen until Riverside was 90 years old, but it appears to be true.
On the afternoon of Wednesday June 1, 1960, 28-year-old Lanier Allison Ramer walked into the Bank of America branch downtown (at the time that was at 9th and Main streets), shoved a paper bag at teller Trudy Salvatore and told her to fill it and not look around. He soon walked out with just over $2,000 (nearly $21,000 in today’s money) and headed north on Main.
Luckily, a customer at the bank whispered to another customer, H. T. Hetrick, that the bank was being robbed and Hetrick pursued Ramer north on Main, then west on Eighth Street. Ramer became suspicious and took off running with Hetrick in pursuit. Hetrick appealed to two Air Force men who joined the pursuit, when Ramer ducked into an alley and then entered the Circus Room bar on Seventh Street, across from the Fox Theater. The airmen summoned police, and Ramer was arrested in the bar while he was drinking a beer.
Interviews at the time with current and former police officials seemed to corroborate the fact that this was indeed Riverside’s first bank robbery. A search through the police records also seemed to confirm that. I also went through past copies of the Riverside newspapers available for most of the 90-year period and, indeed, there is no mention of a Riverside bank robbery in those years. Luckily, Riverside’s first was thwarted very soon by quick-witted witnesses and the two airmen from March who aided in the arrest of Ramer.
Ramer was held in custody in Riverside until he appeared in court. At his preliminary hearing, he was turned over to Los Angeles and the federal court system because bank robbery is a federal crime. He was held in Los Angeles until his trial in November, and on Nov. 30, 1960, he pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Ramer must have gotten out early for good behavior, because other records show that he married in summer 1964. However, a year later, he committed another bank robbery in Los Angeles, and was then sentenced to 10 years. During his time in prison and afterward, he advocated for prison reform, and eventually landed a job with the New York Department of Corrections. He died unexpectedly in 1980 at age 48, apparently never coming to Riverside again.