Columnist Jeff German: Federal agents get break in big-time bank robbery probe

Thursday, Feb. 19, 1998 | 10:53 a.m.

IT HAS TAKEN awhile, but justice may have caught up with the Trench Coat Robbers.

The indictment of William Arthur Kirkpatrick in Minneapolis last week signals a break in the federal investigation of one of the most prolific bank robbery rings in the nation's history.

Kirkpatrick, of Hovland, Minn., was charged with several counts of bank robbery and money laundering.

Federal authorities in Las Vegas and elsewhere in the country believe Kirkpatrick's group may have gotten away with $9 million in cash from as many as 30 heists in the past 15 years.

Last February's record-setting $4.5 million holdup in Lakewood, Wash., is said to be among them.

The 1991 robbery of a Green Valley bank also has been linked to the Trench Coat Robbers. In that caper, the bandits took $138,000 and a hostage and led police on a high-speed chase in which gunfire was exchanged. The hostage was released unharmed after the suspects eluded officers.

The robbers earned their nickname because they wore trench coats while committing the crimes.

In recent months, the stepped-up investigation has attracted national attention with profiles on "America's Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries."

Kirkpatrick, meanwhile, is well known to federal lawmen in Las Vegas.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom O'Connell has been spearheading the investigation into his activities here.

In December, FBI agents raided a storage site linked to Kirkpatrick and found firearms, smoke grenades, a bullet-proof vest, a police scanner and fake beards and mustaches.

A month earlier, Kirkpatrick was pulled over by a state trooper outside Lincoln, Neb., and arrested after the trooper found $1.8 million and items that could be used in a bank robbery.

Four days before his arrest, records show, Kirkpatrick had logged into the Las Vegas storage facility and later left town in a rented car.

Today, Kirkpatrick remains in jail in Nebraska, waiting to face the Minnesota charges.

His indictment has boosted the morale of federal investigators looking to end the 15-year crime spree of the Trench Coat Robbers.

These days, it's unwise predicting what office Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren will seek this year.

Two weeks ago, Hammargren was talking like a candidate for governor.

But this week, fresh from a meeting in Washington, D.C., with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Congress is on Hammargren's mind.

Hammargren is looking at running against Regent Shelley Berkley, the leading Democrat in the race to succeed Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev.

It's a match-up that would be intriguing to political pundits, but a nightmare for such power brokers as Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn.

Hammargren and Berkley are the last two people Wynn would like to see carrying out Ensign's unfinished work in Washington.

Both were allies on the Board of Regents during the feud between former UNLV President Bob Maxson and ex-Rebel basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.

And both incurred Wynn's wrath by backing Tarkanian over Maxson.

But never fear, Mr. Wynn. There's still a strong chance that a Hammargren-Berkley race won't ever take place.

Next week, Hammargren might decide to follow John Glenn into space.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has raised $150,000 from an innovative campaign fund-raiser in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Democratic and Republican donors from across the country paid big bucks to attend a series of star-studded events here that culminated with a reception at the All-Star Cafe with tennis great Andre Agassi.

Donors also got a chance to see Siegfried & Roy perform at The Mirage and meet the illusionists at a reception after the show.

The weekend also included a round of golf, a lunch at Spago and a conference in which the likes of Gov. Bob Miller and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., helped Reid lead a discussion of key issues affecting Nevada.

Reid's guests stayed at the MGM Grand, one of the senator's stronger campaign supporters.