Pat Diepenhorst and Cynthia Sorensen on the 1991 Saugatuck Bank Robbery
Name/Title
Pat Diepenhorst and Cynthia Sorensen on the 1991 Saugatuck Bank RobberyEntry/Object ID
2024.41.215Scope and Content
THE 1991 SAUGATUCK BANK ROBBERY A RECALL OF THE EVENT WITH PAT DIEPENHORST AND CYNTHIA SORENSEN It was 8:10 on September 6, 1991, when Pat Diepenhorst, having arrived at the bank only 10 minutes before, heard sounds at the front door. She and Frank Wicks were had met in the parking lot to open the bank together. Suddenly, three well-dressed men crossed the bank floor heading for the office area. Except for their clear plastic masks they could have been businessmen. As she called to alert Frank Wicks, one of these men stepped off from the group, leapt over the barrier to the bank interior and quickly walked toward her. “Get down on the floor” he ordered. Pat, trying to ignore the command, continued to walk away until the man forcibly stopped her and physically forced her to kneel and then lay down. During the ensuing 10 minutes, Pat heard bags being filled and shuffling coming from the vault. She never actually saw from her vantage anyone show a gun, but the men were clearly armed. The man who forced her to the floor was pacing near her, possibly serving as a lookout. All Pat could see from her floor position was the lower part of his leg. After what seemed a long time, she head someone say, “Let’s go!” and the men exited the bank to their waiting getaway car and driver. Pat rose and called for Frank. There was no answer. She worried that the robbers had taken him with them, perhaps as a hostage. Frank finally responded after using the phone in the vault to call the police. In a short time the bank was swarming with police detectives from the area. Cynthia Sorensen arrived for work at the bank about the same time. Both she and Pat were not allowed to leave or make calls from the bank all day and were subsequently required to take routine lie detector tests. Both Pat and Cynthia had been employees of the bank for many years, but clear images of this infamous day remain with them to the present. This compelling video interview provides some important details of the then only Saugatuck-Douglas area bank as well as the fallout of the 1991 robbery, the biggest in Michigan history. Most interesting was the emotion and new insights that the revisiting of the event brought out. Three of the robbers were arrested within 5 years, including Francis Mazza, Eugene DeRoy and Robert “The Beak” Siegel (cousin of famed Las Vegas founder Bugsy Siegel). It wasn’t until 17 years after the robbery that Carmine Jannece was arrested at age 84 in a Chicago suburb. Pat and Cynthia also describe the development of the bank, its personnel and their work roles through the many years they both worked there. A video of the interview is available, but only one still photo.Collection
True crime, BanksCataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2024.41Acquisition Method
Found in CollectionCredit Line
To view this recording, scroll down to the bottom of this entry and click the blue web link. This video was created by Saugatuck-Douglas History Center volunteers or was donated to the Center in a good faith effort to preserve local history. If you feel this content should not be available to the public — or have additional information that will add context to this interview — please contact the SDHC Archives at archives@mysdhistory.org.Oral History Details
Interviewee
Diepenhorst, Pat (Meyer), Sorensen, Cynthia A.Interviewer
Shack, JohnInterview Date
Feb 24, 2010Location
Oral History DVD/CDs
AWS/VidArch SSD/DVD originals drawer