The Medford Vault Job: Inside the $10 Million Police-Led Robbery

The Perfect Crime: How Medford Officers Robbed Their Own Bank

Police officers involved in the Medford bank robbery during the 1980s standing in front of the bank.

Today we will see the story of a massive bank robbery valued at $10 million. Unlike other stories, this time the robbers are police officers. This gang of police officers exploited their positions and status in society to carry out a robbery that can be described as a perfect operation, leaving no evidence or trace behind. It was impossible for investigators to reach them no matter what they did; there was no lead to them. But the problem was what happened after the operation.

Gerald Clemente's Return and Early Corruption

Our story goes back to Massachusetts, specifically to a small city called Medford, with a population of about 60,000 in the 1980s. The economic situation in the city was excellent; people were spending and buying, merchants were making profits, and there was good liquidity and cash flow in the city. The largest and most important bank in the city was Deposit Trust Bank, whose name implied "depositors' trust." This name suggested trust, where customers could safely deposit their money and valuable possessions. The bank provided safe deposit boxes that customers could rent, with one key held by the customer and the other by bank employees, allowing the customer to open the box and take what was inside or place what they wanted at any time.

Bank Vault Immunity and Alarm System

Important documents, jewelry, and valuable possessions were placed in safe deposit boxes, and the box was closed with confidence, knowing it was in the safest place in the city: the fortified bank vault. This vault was equipped with the latest protection systems, and its walls, floor, and ceiling were made of reinforced concrete with steel, reaching a thickness of 50 cm, making it very difficult to penetrate except with heavy equipment that would take considerable time and effort. The vault was a large room with a thick, very heavy steel door. Inside the vault room, there was a second vault with a steel door of the same robustness. This inner vault was for the bank's money, while the rest of the vault room contained the safe deposit boxes rented by people to keep their valuable possessions.

The vault room was supported by one of the most advanced alarm systems of its time. This device was connected to the alarm manufacturer and directly to the police department. The alarm was silent; it did not make a sound but sent a signal to the manufacturer and a signal to the police, so that the robbers would not know the alarm was activated if they managed to penetrate the strong walls, and they would be surprised by a police siege before they could escape. The only problem with this system was that they did not account for the possibility that the police themselves might be the robbers.

The Leader of the Robbery: Captain Gerald Clemente

The mastermind behind this operation was Gerald Clemente, who held the rank of captain in the city's police force, not just an ordinary police officer. This robbery would be one of the largest in the entire history of America, with money and jewelry worth $10 million stolen, which was a very large sum. This robbery was not conceived overnight but was the result of years of accumulated corruption. Gerald was one of the most corrupt policemen, and his corruption began as soon as he joined the police force. Before that, he was not corrupt, nor was it his intention to become so. But on his first day of work, he was assigned with a fellow officer named Crasher, who was years older than him and had been corrupt for a long time. Crasher had a group of corrupt policemen around him, and they cooperated, covered for each other, and benefited from each other.

Immersion in Corruption: Gerald's First Lessons

One night, Gerald and his corrupt colleague Crasher went out on patrol. As they passed down the street, they saw a person coming out of a store's warehouse, carrying a large lounge chair. It was clear that he was stealing the chair from the warehouse because the store was closed and it was late at night. They approached the thief in their car, and to their surprise, the corrupt Crasher knew this thief, and not only that, but the thief was also a police officer, and part of the corrupt police group. The thief and Crasher exchanged words normally, as if nothing had happened, then the police officer-thief left with his stolen chair.

This was the first time Gerald had seen something like this. Crasher turned to him and said: "Look, I know you're new, so I need to make you understand: if you see another police officer carrying something like furniture or a TV or even money, don't interfere, it's none of your business, leave him alone, mind your own business, and don't play the honest hero." Thus, the first thing Gerald learned at the beginning of his police career was that corruption was normal, and everyone did it. On the contrary, if you were not corrupt, you would be ostracized and might face problems, because most of those around you were corrupt.

A Double Life of Corruption and Esteem

Little by little, Gerald began to integrate with this group of corrupt individuals and learned how to use his position and work as a policeman to benefit and earn money. He realized how easy it was to steal when you were a police officer, because as a police officer, you are supposed to catch the thief, so if you are the thief, who will catch you? Especially when you have a group of corrupt police officers around you willing to cover for you to serve each other's interests. Thus, Gerald began to do like his friends. Imagine that he furnished his entire apartment with stolen goods. He started stealing furniture, electronic devices, and even large items like televisions and refrigerators.

Strangely, despite his corruption, he had a strong and respected reputation in the community as an excellent police officer. It is true that he did not arrest corrupt police officers, but he did arrest ordinary thieves. He was one of the most accomplished police officers in the field. He even managed to arrest an armed gangster once. Thanks to this operation, he was awarded the Medal of Valor, one of the highest awards in the police force, received only by officers who performed a courageous act and faced real danger. This strong reputation and achievements helped him get promoted, and these promotions further helped him cover up his corruption and the thefts he committed. He lived a double life: on one hand, a brave police officer, and on the other, a corrupt thief. This duality extended to his personal life as well. He was married with a family and children, but he had a secret mistress. He wasn't just living a double life at work; his whole life was double, as if he were living the life of two different people.

Planning the Bank Robbery: The Police Gang

Years passed, and as usual, when a person gets used to something, their boldness in it increases. Every robbery Gerald carried out became more daring, especially as his rank rose, making him feel he could do more without being caught. Until we reached 1980, the year he would decide to rob the largest bank in the city. Just thinking about such an operation was extremely daring, and it would have been impossible for Gerald to contemplate going ahead with an operation of this magnitude if he hadn't known there were corrupt officers around him who would help him.

The first of these was his colleague and close friend, we are not talking about his former colleague Crasher, but about another colleague named Tommy Doherty, who was the closest person to him in the corrupt police group. They had known each other for two years and had carried out several operations together before the bank operation. One of their biggest and earliest operations was in 1978, when they stole from the police department itself. You might wonder what there is to steal from a police department? They stole exam papers, not just any exam papers, but the exam papers for promotions. In their system, to get promoted, a person had to take an exam. They stole these exam papers, copied them, and then sold them to police officers who wanted to get promoted, for $5,000 per copy. And they didn't just sell them to police officers in the same department or in the same city; they even sold them to police officers at the state level, making large profits from this operation. In addition, they gave copies of the exam to some of their close friends in the corrupt group for free, so that these friends would be promoted and gain more control over positions in the police force, which would facilitate corruption and thefts.

Assembling the Team and Challenging the Alarm System

Their operations became bolder as time passed and their power and influence grew, until 1980 arrived and Gerald and his friend Tommy decided to rob the bank. They wanted one operation to be their final one, a retirement operation, a single strike where they would get enough loot to last them for the rest of their lives. Tommy, Gerald's friend, had a safe deposit box inside the bank vault, and he was a client of the bank. So, the first task was for him to go to the bank and ask to open his box like any ordinary customer, but this time he had to keep his eyes open and scrutinize every detail of the vault. When he entered the bank vault room, he started noticing every corner, understood the size and dimensions of the place, the number of boxes, the inner vault where they kept the bank's money, the type of locks, and the thickness of the doors. He focused on every detail, then gave all these details to his friend Gerald, the mastermind.

Gerald realized here that he had to form a team or a gang to penetrate this vault. If only the two of them remained, they would not be able to carry out this operation alone. So the first person to join them in the gang was a corrupt police officer from their group named Joe Banks. The fourth member was named Francis O'Leary, who was already a gangster and had experience in robberies. Thus, their number became four.

Of course, Gerald, as a police officer, knew about the bank's alarm system, and he knew it was a silent alarm, and that if it went off, a signal would go to the alarm manufacturer and another signal to the police department. So, he needed a way to disable this alarm. And of course, he had no experience with devices and electronics, so he needed to add a fifth member to the gang, someone with experience in this field who could help them disable the alarm system. Imagine that the fifth member of the gang was one of the thieves Gerald had caught before! He recognized him because he had arrested him. This thief was named Bucky Brett, and he was a professional thief with extensive experience in dealing with alarm systems. Thus, the number of gang members became five.

Disabling the Alarm: Months of Precise Experiments

To review, the first member is Gerald, the first corrupt police officer and the mastermind of the operation. Then we have Tommy, the second corrupt police officer and Gerald's close friend for years. After him, we have Joe, the third corrupt police officer. The fourth member is Francis, the gangster. And the fifth and final member is Bucky, the professional thief, whose main task will be to disable the alarm system.

This Bucky had knowledge and skill in electronics, so he built a special device that he could use to disable the bank's alarm. But this device did not immediately disable the alarm; it required experiments, because the bank's alarm system had many wires, and he didn't know which wire to target. The purpose of the electronic device he made was to block the signal when the alarm went off, so that the signal would not reach either the manufacturer or the police department. But for the device to block the signal, he had to connect it to the correct wire. And to know the correct wire, he had to experiment.

Imagine they spent two full months experimenting with these wires to ensure that the signal did not leave the alarm system. And after each experiment, they had to put everything back in its place. The alarm system had to remain as it was so that no one would suspect anything, because if employees or technicians found any error or wire out of place, an emergency would immediately occur. The thing that allowed them to take their time in checking and experimenting was that they were police. When Bucky was experimenting with the bank's alarm system, their car, which was a police car, was circling the area, as if they were on patrol. So if anyone approached, they could deter them, especially if it was another police officer. And no one would suspect their movements if they saw them, because in the end, these were police officers wearing police uniforms and driving a police car. If they were ordinary thieves tampering with the bank's alarm system and circling the area, they would certainly be under suspicion. But being police was the perfect cover for this operation. In the end, after two months of experiments, they finally managed to find the correct wire and method to block the signal. Thus, they managed to overcome the first obstacle, which was the alarm system.

Penetrating the Solid Walls: Using Dynamite and Smart Timing

The second obstacle, of course, is the walls surrounding the vault room, the reinforced concrete walls up to 50 cm thick. The idea that occurred to them was to penetrate them with dynamite and blow them up, because if they tried to dig into them, it would take a long time, possibly days, which was not an acceptable option. So, the solution was to blow them up. Of course, the problem here too is that the sound of the explosion might attract attention. The solution they came up with is that they would carry out the operation on Memorial Day. On this day, there are festivals, gatherings, fireworks, and noise. So if anyone heard the sound of the dynamite explosion they would use on the bank vault, they would not be surprised or suspect anything, and they would think it was the sound of fireworks and celebrations.

The Night of the Operation: Breaking into the Bank and Blowing Up the Ceiling

When the night of Memorial Day arrived, which also coincided with a weekend, meaning the bank would be closed for three consecutive days, the gang began their operation. The timing was perfect; the noise of festivals and celebrations, in addition to the bank being closed for three consecutive nights, would give them enough time. Four of the gang members, Gerald (the first corrupt police officer and mastermind), Joe (the third corrupt police officer), Francis (the gangster), and Bucky (the professional thief who would disable the alarm), these four would carry out the break-in and robbery. As for the fifth, Tommy (the second corrupt officer and Gerald's close friend), his mission would be to patrol the area around the bank in a police car and monitor the place to protect his comrades from any external interference, whether from other police officers or ordinary people. Tommy was not just an ordinary police officer in the department; he held a high rank and was even the highest-ranking officer among all the police officers on duty that night. This meant he could easily direct them to areas far from the bank.

Gerald and his three friends who broke into the bank were confident that no one would interrupt their work, so they immediately began the robbery. The first step was to disable the bank's alarm, so Bucky immediately pulled out his special device or the electronic chip he had made and connected the wire that blocked the alarm signal. The next step was the break-in, but they didn't break into the bank directly through its door. Instead, they broke into the store next to the bank, because breaking into the doors of this store was easier than breaking into the bank's doors, which were more fortified. After breaking into the store, they went up to the attic. The store they were in was in the same building as the bank, meaning the store was adjacent to the bank, and only a wall separated them. When they went up to the attic, they reached the dividing wall between the store they were in and the space above the bank vault room. This dividing wall was a very ordinary wall made of light bricks. So, very simply, they broke this wall and made an opening in it, and passed through it to the space above the bank vault. They were now in the empty area directly above the bank vault room, which is an area containing extensions and pipes. The ceiling of the vault room was now under their feet. This ceiling, as we said, was a very thick concrete ceiling, reaching a thickness of 50 cm. This is the ceiling they needed to blow up to enter the vault.

Facing Obstacles: The Sound of the Explosion and the Arrival of Unexpected Money

The first step they needed to plant the dynamite in the ceiling was to drill holes using a drill to place the dynamite sticks inside. Throughout this entire process, Tommy, who was patrolling outside in the police car, was in constant communication with them via radio. So before they did any work that would make noise or sounds, Tommy had to tell them that everything was fine outside for them to start, because if there wasn't someone outside and they were breaking or drilling, someone might hear the sounds and cause them a problem. So, there was constant communication between them.

While the four inside were drilling into the vault ceiling, Tommy suddenly called them over the radio and asked them to stop. They immediately stopped drilling. What happened was that Tommy saw two people approaching the area. These two people were actually store owners; they had a store opposite the bank, and even though all stores were closed, these two were coming to arrange some items and things in their store. In the end, it was their store, even if it was a holiday and all stores were closed, there was nothing to stop them. But Tommy went to them immediately and told them that there was criminal activity happening in the area, and that this place was not safe currently, and asked them to return. These two people, the store owners, did not suspect anything. In the end, they had a police officer in uniform and a police car in front of them. On the contrary, they were impressed by the police's response and their dedication to maintaining security. So, they simply returned home.

The Unveiling of Unexpected Spoils

The four returned to the vault again the next night, and focused all their efforts on breaking into and stealing from the safe deposit boxes. The surprise they didn't expect was that these boxes contained far greater amounts of money and jewelry than they had anticipated. And the quantity of boxes was so large that one night wasn't enough for them. So they returned the next night and completed their work.

In the end, imagine they got almost a million dollars in cash. This is only the cash; the jewelry and gold were something unbelievable, estimated at $8 million. Meaning the robbers stole approximately $10 million in total, an amount larger than they had ever dreamed of. Thus, they finally got the haul of a lifetime, and would not need to carry out any other operation after that.

Dividing the Spoils and Storing the Jewelry

The first thing they did, of course, was divide the cash among themselves. Dividing the cash was easy: they had a million dollars, and they divided it by five, so each of them got $200,000. But the real problem was dividing the jewelry; how would they divide it fairly among themselves? After a short discussion, they decided not to distribute it as jewelry because they wouldn't be able to know its true value. They decided they had to find a way to convert the jewelry into cash. They could, for example, sell it on the black market to a gang or criminal organization for less than market price, and that gang would then dispose of it. The important thing was to convert the jewelry into cash, meaning they wouldn't divide it among themselves now.

Gerald was the leader, and his decision was to leave this jewelry with Joe Banks, the third corrupt police officer. Why did he leave it with Joe? We don't know the reason, perhaps Joe had a safe place where he could hide it. After that, Gerald told the gang members to hide their money and not do anything reckless for the time being, because the police would start their investigations immediately after the operation was discovered, and with a robbery of this size, the FBI would certainly intervene and take over the case. So, they had to remain hidden for as long as possible until things calmed down. So each of them took their money, and Joe Banks took his money and the jewelry with him, and each went home and slept that night, waiting to see what would happen the next morning.

The Shock of Discovery and the Beginning of Investigations

In the morning, when bank employees returned to work after the holiday, they were shocked by the scene they saw. The images you are seeing in front of you are real from the vault room: the place was turned upside down, everything was broken, safe deposit boxes were open, and of course, they found the hole the thieves had made in the ceiling. As expected, FBI investigators arrived immediately and took over the case, beginning to examine the crime scene. When the FBI goes to investigate a place, local police officers are present and assist them and supervise the place with them. One of the police officers who was with them inside the vault was Tommy Doherty. Meaning the thief was literally sitting with them while they were examining the place. Tommy was spying on them, monitoring their movements, and making sure there was no lead or evidence that could lead the investigators to them. Of course, they left no trace in the place; they took all their belongings and everything with them, leaving no fingerprints or anything that could identify them. They were very careful and precise. We can say it was a perfect crime in terms of execution, but the events that would follow the crime would be far from perfect.

Initial Suspicions and Interrogations of Suspects

After the FBI investigation of the crime scene, their initial conclusions were that those who carried out this operation were local people who had experience with the place and had some kind of authority, either bank employees, security personnel, or even police. The FBI knew there was widespread corruption in the police department in this city, so they were monitoring some officers, including Gerald and Tommy, because they were among the highest-ranking police officers on duty that night, and there was some talk about them. Gerald knew they might suspect him, but he was confident that he and his gang members had left no trace behind.

Alibi and the Secret Witness: Barbara Hickey

Gerald and his friend Tommy went to the FBI interrogation feeling comfortable and fearless. During Gerald's interrogation, investigators asked him where he was on the night of the break-in, which was Memorial Day night. Gerald told them he was with his secret mistress, do you remember her, whom we discussed earlier? Why did he tell them he was with his mistress? Because if he had told them he was at home with his wife and children, his wife might not support his story, or his children might unintentionally contradict his story. So he saw that the safe option was to claim he was with his secret mistress, and he did indeed go to her after the operation ended that night. So, it's true that Gerald exposed himself to the investigators and confessed that he had a secret lover, but the investigators were not concerned with the existence of a secret mistress; their concern was the robbery.

This secret mistress was named Barbara Hickey. And of course, Gerald had informed her in advance that if the investigators summoned him, she should tell them that he was with her all that night. This way, he would have an alibi and a witness testifying in his favor. And indeed, the investigators brought Barbara in and interrogated her, and she told them the same thing: that Gerald was with her all that night. FBI investigators continued their investigations with several other people besides Gerald. They interrogated other police officers, they interrogated some bank employees, and they even interrogated some neighboring store owners. But after all these investigations, they were unable to reach a clear conclusion; they had no evidence and no lead. So Gerald and his friend Tommy were following the course of the investigations from the inside feeling comfortable, because everything indicated that the FBI would not be able to get anything to incriminate them. So all they had to do was remain calm until the case cooled down. Perhaps even after a year, the entire case would be closed.

Reckless Actions and a New Witness

Indeed, month after month passed, and almost a full year of calm went by, with the FBI making no progress in the case, and perhaps at any moment they would consider it a cold case and close the investigation. And although Gerald managed to maintain his calm and keep a low profile, the problem was with his comrades Tommy and Joe. These two were not calm at all; they began spending their money on women and cocaine, and they lived in a constant state of euphoria, their only goal being to enjoy themselves in any way possible.

And as we said, Gerald had given the jewelry to Joe to keep until they found a way to convert it into cash. They were waiting for the right time after the investigation into the case cooled down, and then they could deal with the matter of selling the jewelry. The problem was that Joe began to dispose of some of the jewelry; he gave some of it to a girl he tried to get close to, and he sold some. And the news reached Tommy. And as we said, both of them were not in their best mental state; they were using cocaine and drugs. After Tommy learned about the jewelry, he went to Joe to confront him about it, and there was shouting and an argument between them, and the argument escalated into violence. At that moment, Tommy had a shotgun with him, so he raised it at Joe and shot him. The matter happened quickly and surprisingly strangely. After that, the police arrived and arrested Tommy, and suddenly the whole world turned upside down and the situation became crazy.

The Exposure of the Grand Heist: Stolen Jewelry and a Kilogram of Cocaine

The biggest problem is that Joe did not die from the shot. Of course, since this incident occurred between police officers, it required the intervention of a higher authority, so state police arrived to investigate this incident. State police, of course, are considered higher than local police in the city. When they began investigating the incident, they searched the place where it occurred, and they searched the cars of the perpetrator and the victim. And when they opened Joe's car trunk, they found a bag containing a quantity of stolen jewelry. Imagine, he had put it in the car trunk. In addition, they found a whole bag of cocaine, one kilogram. When the news reached Gerald, he realized that he was in trouble, and that the matter had become very complicated. Two of his partners in the operation were involved in an investigation, and on top of that, the police found part of the stolen jewelry. Suddenly, the world turned against him. He was waiting for the case to cool down, but because of his friends' stupidity, the case escalated to the maximum extent.

The Gang Collapses and Crucial Testimony

Gerald sat thinking about what to do, and he found no solution but to remain calm in his place, hoping that none of his friends would turn against him. In the end, his friends are supposed not to expose him even if they get themselves into trouble, as there is nothing to push them to expose him. A few weeks passed, and then a court hearing was held for Tommy, who shot Joe. And Joe, of course, was present at this hearing. During the trial, Joe took the stand to testify about what happened and how Tommy shot him. Tommy's lawyer then pressured Joe about the bag the police found in his car trunk. Why did the lawyer bring up the issue of this bag? Because it contained drugs and stolen jewelry. If Joe was a drug addict and a thief, then this would supposedly weaken his testimony and make it difficult to consider. The lawyer thought that by asking these questions, he was defending his client Tommy. But when the lawyer asked Joe these questions, Joe replied with "Yes, I am an addict, and yes, I stole this jewelry from Deposit Trust Bank on Memorial Day, and this Tommy whom you are defending was my partner in the operation." The entire courtroom went wild; no one expected this shock.

After the trial, Tommy was found guilty in the shooting incident. But the most important thing, of course, was the bank robbery. Immediately after what happened in court, FBI investigators arrived and began interrogating Joe, and they made a deal with him that he would tell them everything in exchange for immunity from the charges against him, meaning he would not be imprisoned and nothing would happen to him. So Joe confessed everything, gave them all the details and names, and told them about Gerald and that he was the mastermind and leader of the operation.

Justice Achieved: Long Prison Sentences

Of course, the investigators believed him, but the problem was that Joe as a witness was considered very weak; he was an addict and an accomplice in the crime. In the end, the jury might consider him just a desperate person trying to implicate innocent people to save himself, especially since, as we said, Gerald is still clean, no dust on him, and he left no trace or evidence. So for the investigators, Joe's testimony was not enough to convict Gerald; they needed another piece of evidence or another witness. But at least they now knew where to press; they knew that Gerald was the target.

When they went back to investigate his personal life and the people around him, they learned that he had left his secret mistress Barbara, and there is nothing better than exploiting the resentment of a former mistress to convict someone. So they brought Barbara in again for interrogation. At first, she told them: "I don't know much, and he didn't tell me anything," meaning she was not very cooperative. But after they went into details with her and assured her that they would protect her and nothing would happen to her, she confessed to them that Gerald had returned that night covered in dust from head to toe, and the dust was concrete. So she asked them: "Will this help the investigators?" They smiled at each other and told her: "It will certainly help the investigators." They realized that they had found the witness they were looking for.

After that, they went to Gerald's house and arrested him on charges of bank robbery. Of course, he was nervous, but he kept trying to convince himself that he had left no trace or evidence, and that he would eventually be able to clear himself in court if he got the right lawyer. But the shock came when his former mistress Barbara appeared before him on the witness stand in court. And this is a real shot of her testifying at his trial. And she not only testified about that night when he returned covered in dust late at night, but she also testified about his behavior and character and that he was a corrupt police officer, and she said that he always talked about the operation that would change his life forever. Gerald sat in court listening to her testimony, knowing that this was his end.

Of course, he was not the only one tried; his friend Tom, who shot Joe and caused all this trouble for them, was also tried with him. And with them were also Francis, the gangster, and Bucky, the professional thief who was responsible for disabling the alarm system. As for Joe, the third corrupt police officer who was their partner in the operation, he testified against them in court, and because he made a strong deal with the FBI, he was granted immunity from the charges against him in exchange for his full confession and testimony against his comrades in court.

Gerald and his associates were sentenced to 30 to 40 years in prison, which was almost like a life sentence, meaning they would die in prison or get out in their old age. This is the story and what happened.

Sources:

The Boston Globe archives provide detailed reports about the Medford bank heist and the officers involved. You can access one of their investigative pieces here.
A comprehensive review of law enforcement corruption cases, including the Medford robbery, is available through the FBI's official historical cases here.
Crime Library has published an article that explores infamous inside jobs like the Medford robbery, which you can read here.
An NPR podcast discussed police misconduct in the 1980s, featuring the Medford case as a major example. You can listen to that episode here.
Additional insights on the psychological profile of corrupt officers like Captain Clemente can be found on Psychology Today here.