MONROE - There's been a lot of information in the news recently about the life of John Dillinger, due in large part because of the Johnny Depp movie "Public Enemies."
No banks in Monroe were robbed by someone as famous as Dillinger, but there was a bank robbery in the city in the 1930s.
The White Block Building now houses a variety of businesses. It's located just west of the south side of the Square.
At one time, the building was home to the Citizens Bank.
According to "The Story of Monroe" by E.C. Hamilton, on Nov. 17, 1936, Merle Vandenbush and Harry Brunette, two escaped convicts from Ohio, walked into the bank. They were wanted by the FBI for kidnapping and bank robbery.
The Monroe Evening Times' lead told the story of when the two bank robbers entered the bank: "Two calm, cool, polite unmasked young bandits stalked into the Citizens Bank about 2:20 this afternoon, herded five employees and about 20 customers into vaults or forced them to lie down on the floor, and then made a quiet escape about 20 minutes later with a sum estimated by bank officials to be about $8,000."
A cashier at the bank, O.N. Johnson, called the police and assistant cashier G.E. Zuercher sounded the vault alarm.
The two robbers got into a green car and drove south out of Monroe. The car was later found west of Freeport.
Brunette was later captured in a gun battle Dec. 15, 1936 in New York City after a raid by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Brunette was sentenced to life in prison.
Vandenbush was captured the following February in North Castle, N.Y., after he and two friends held up the Latonah, N.Y. bank. He received a prison term of 45 to 70 years.
No banks in Monroe were robbed by someone as famous as Dillinger, but there was a bank robbery in the city in the 1930s.
The White Block Building now houses a variety of businesses. It's located just west of the south side of the Square.
At one time, the building was home to the Citizens Bank.
According to "The Story of Monroe" by E.C. Hamilton, on Nov. 17, 1936, Merle Vandenbush and Harry Brunette, two escaped convicts from Ohio, walked into the bank. They were wanted by the FBI for kidnapping and bank robbery.
The Monroe Evening Times' lead told the story of when the two bank robbers entered the bank: "Two calm, cool, polite unmasked young bandits stalked into the Citizens Bank about 2:20 this afternoon, herded five employees and about 20 customers into vaults or forced them to lie down on the floor, and then made a quiet escape about 20 minutes later with a sum estimated by bank officials to be about $8,000."
A cashier at the bank, O.N. Johnson, called the police and assistant cashier G.E. Zuercher sounded the vault alarm.
The two robbers got into a green car and drove south out of Monroe. The car was later found west of Freeport.
Brunette was later captured in a gun battle Dec. 15, 1936 in New York City after a raid by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Brunette was sentenced to life in prison.
Vandenbush was captured the following February in North Castle, N.Y., after he and two friends held up the Latonah, N.Y. bank. He received a prison term of 45 to 70 years.