this is Larry Lawton and he's an ex
jewel thief stop thief I was a robber
thief sounds like he went in that
person's house and robbed I just went
with a gun right to their face
Larry's a former career criminal once
considered the biggest jewel thief in
the United States in seven years I
robbed between fifteen and eighteen
million dollars and then served 12 years
in federal prison and today I'm gonna
break down what's right and wrong in
some of Hollywood's great movie heists
[Music]
we're about to watch a lot of crimes in
movies but let me be very clear I am in
no way endorsing or encouraging crime in
any way I'm an ex criminal and now I
work with police agencies to prevent
crime so I want that to be known right
off the bat let's look at some clips the
bank robbery when robert de niro takes
control or tries to calm everybody down
by telling them that their money is
insured he's right it's just like with
the robberies that I committed the
people's jewelry was insured so they got
their money
it wasn't the people who you're robbing
that were getting robbed the real people
are the insurance companies or losing
the money and again I'm not gonna say it
was right it's wrong but it's not their
stuff they're losing most of the people
I robbed did not hate me because they
actually sold their whole store one shot
for insurance at one time the feds
couldn't get the jewelry store people to
say anything bad against they got a
couple but the guy shot me
okay now the things that stuck out right
away on this clip is how much do you
think that money weighs cash is king
you'd like to rob cash but cash is heavy
they're flinging around that cash like
like it's feathers that cash is heavy
it's a gram per bill each one of those
bags is seventy pounds and they're
running through the streets like it's a
10 pound bag you know it's totally
unrealistic that's part of that struck
out of me right away cash is heavy
that's why people can rob a lot more in
diamonds you can get a diamond worth a
hundred thousand dollars that is the
size of a a penny
you know why cash is king because you
don't have to deal with a fence offense
is a middleman offense is the guy you
take whatever stolen object you have you
get cash from that person for that
stolen item and he then gets rid of it
so you'd have a fence for diamonds you'd
have a fence for VCRs you can have a
vents vents for clothes whatever you
steal you had need a fence not with cash
cash is king Thomas Crown Affair
what you see in here is a mega
millionaire stealing a million-dollar
page in a Thomas Crown Affair what does
he do he robs art why does he rob art
because he knows art so he knew the
value when you steal this painting is
considered to be the first impressionist
work in history it's worth a hundred
million bucks in my own career
I knew about diamonds why because I went
to the GI a Institute under the table to
know what I was doing the GI Institute
is a Gemological Institute of America
they actually show you how to grey
diamond great diamonds actually give
them what they call a birth certificate
so understanding what your robbing is
more important than sometimes the
robbery itself
why would I rob something not owed a
value of it morning mr. crown I'll be
back for your haystack in the Thomas
Crown Affair he gets very tight with
everybody and that's very common because
when I did my robberies I ended up
getting tight with the owner or the
salesperson in that jewelry store they
didn't know who I was but they got tight
with me they started talking about the
place and I would end up even sometimes
asking to use the bathroom in the back
and it's a shirt now I walk in the back
and know everything about the store
where the cameras work what I don't like
about what I'm seeing in this clip is
he's robbing for fun he's getting a
thrill I've known people who are very
wealthy who want something but they
don't do it themselves they hire other
people to do it are you trying to imply
that I had something to do with that
painting trying no way but would you go
if you were worth 10 million dollars
would you go rob something if you got 10
million in your house what are you gonna
rob another million for and go to prison
it just doesn't make sense
thrilled off more Tommy that's $100,000
on the goddamn golf swing beautiful
Saturday morning John
I had an opportunity to rob millions of
dollars in Rembrandt's and Picasso's and
I couldn't get two cents on the dollar
that means if I robbed a million dollar
picture I couldn't get twenty thousand
people don't understand when you rob
things rob something you can get rid of
if I rob right now a truckload of Apple
watches I can get rid of them tomorrow
if I rob the truckload of Picasso's how
am I gonna get rid of them can I'll take
the Apple watches over to Picasso as any
day it's not worth it you have to be
able to sell it the only way you can do
something like that is find someone who
wants something specific you set a price
for it and then steal it other than that
stay away you're better off robbing
hubcaps that's the truth the Italian Job
stealing a safe is not unrealistic in
fact I knew many people used to take
chains and pull ATM machines right out
of banks take them big heavy truck or
even take a bulldozer rob the bulldoze
and literally take a safe right out
throw in the back of a a 4x4 and they're
off and on so here's what I love about
this scene great timing
great misdirection mr. etches when you
send police or people or whether it is
to another area so you have time to do
what you're gonna do in your area in
fact I use misdirection some of my
robberies
I would actually light Molotov cocktails
at the end of other end of a mall or a
town and the cops and everybody's going
towards that and that's misdirection so
I know I have more time than the robbery
itself so that's done very well in this
movie with the misdirection when the
safe goes to the floor
[Music]
but the guards are in the idiots or
they're in on it because the 3,000
pounds safe going to two floors it's not
gonna end up in a 21 foot boat flying
through working out you know in this
clip also it's timing it so timing is
everything and knowing when and where
people are gonna be and come to the
place is important so how do you do that
it's easy way to do that you can light
their Alamo if you can start a little
fire or something right next to it throw
a brick through a window with an alarm
and see if they all how long it takes
the police to come there that's called a
false alarm
but you're still gonna get response time
I used to know how many police cars the
place had and how many cops were on you
can call and notice eyes at a police
department and just do the numbers so
now if they have 21 patrol divisions you
probably have three shifts so at the
most you're gonna have a seven cop cars
in any given area so how do you know a
cop's not patrolling in that area right
then and there and you do it the cop
shows up within 10 seconds 27 because
he's right there you better know where
the cops are as where you go to
misdirection
you know it in this movie right in the
beginning right after the Italian job
they get away and they were out
somewhere celebrating and and one
character kills the rest of the people
Steve what the hell are you doing I mean
if he plans my own and in reality that
is more common or would happen with that
kind of money trust everyone just don't
trust the devil inside the great movie
but why don't you just go with these
guys in there knock on a door get in
there somehow they were in the floor
below they were painting some dynamite
on the on the walls you can't get into
that top floor come on that's the law in
mid listening listen I robbed B I used
to rob drug dealers I used to tie them
all up we'd walk out with a million
dollars in cash and the dope so I mean I
was a bad guy all around but I don't do
that anymore
let's take a look at the movie snack
so what we're seeing here is four men
walking in dressed as Hasidic Jews to
rob a wholesaler I knew a guy who did
this he dressed up as acidic Jew here in
Brooklyn and then robbed the the people
who take their diamonds to Temple to
bless him
[Music]
these four guys go in through a buzz
door the buzzer doors were good for me
the professional criminal not for the
smashing grab when I went into a buzz
door I was never surprised after that
because I would end up bussing the
person in and taking them down you don't
want someone just walking in and then
walking out in those buzzes you also
have to buzz out once you're in there
your mind you can't even run out of the
store it buzzes it locks they're looking
for a specific diamond and if you notice
it's not in the safe a lot of times a
specific diamond or very high-end stuff
might be in a full floorboard or a safe
that's hidden in a drawer it does not
have to be in the actual safe itself a
lot of times that's the the jewelry
owners trying to not put all their eggs
in one basket so if that's safe they get
robbed maybe that higher-end stuff
doesn't get robbed because a lot of
people don't know that but when you case
a store you'll figure that out this clip
was actually very very realistic there's
not much wrong except they would all
carry their own gun I didn't see why
they were all four guns on one guy that
made no sense they're walking in as it
is so if one guy goes off and hits a
buzzer they're gonna pat him down anyway
what I don't like about what I'm seeing
in this clip is how they used violence
in all of my robberies I've never used
violence didn't need to in robberies you
don't need to use violence you need
intimidation and it's wrong I want to
emphasize that I didn't hurt anybody in
a robbery but I scared people and that's
wrong so I gave scarred them sometimes
for life which is wrong but I never had
to physically hurt somebody ever in a
robbery Ocean's eleven so there's a
couple of things this movie does really
well casing the joint and getting inside
information first task reconnaissance
you know everything that's going on in
all three casinos from the rotation of
the dealers
of every cash cart I know everything
about every guard every watch or anyone
with the security pass casing the joint
is when you take the whole entire theft
you're gonna do and get every detail
when you know that the Sun comes up and
there's glare on the window at a
specific time when you know when the
mailman comes by when the most people
are gonna be in the place what time they
open where they park their cars when I
was casing jewelry stores I wouldn't
know what time the Sun come up so I'd
get the maximum glare so nobody can look
in casing a joint encompasses total
control of the robbery and you can see
in this clip they're doing exactly that
you could see they have inside
information they have a dealer who knows
the ins and outs of that casino and is
watching at all times when you get
inside information you might have to do
it a couple of ways in the clip you're
looking at the girl got money thanks but
in reality it will be blackmail and
that's what usually gets people when you
blackmail somebody it's not just about
getting the dirt on them it's getting
dirt that's gonna hurt somebody and
that's what's important because money
will get somebody motivated only so much
but blackmail will keep them quiet
forever in reality if a reward came out
a person who just did something for X
amount of dollars can get more money by
telling everybody what really happened
but if the person was blackmailed you
got them forever and it could be really
something as small as gambling or it
could be something sexual but once you
have a motive blackmail it's more
powerful than money in the Ocean's
eleven movies all of them the ocean
movies there's just too many people
involved you'd need at least a dozen
guys doing a combination of cons when
you have 12 people who directly know
about what's going on there's gonna be a
snitch somewhere and they're gonna get
the reward also so even on a mega money
if you have 4050 million dollars and you
split it up twelve ways and they come up
with a five million dollar reward you
can get more money by snitching and the
snitches somebody's gonna snitch
somewhere along the line or somebody was
in bed with their wife and they told him
what's going on and the wife doesn't
like him anymore when I was in Robin
nobody knew who my friends
and that's important I did that on
purpose so if anything happened nobody
can get to the next person even my own
crew didn't know what I was doing as far
as where the money was coming from or
who how we would get rid of the diamonds
and that's important in this clip here
everybody knows everything and that
wouldn't happen in real life
never the less people to know the better
and that's how robbed we should go you
know have I ever thought about robbing
casinos I think I thought about robbed
and everything if you did anything in
this movie you'd cut down an amount of
people and you might get into the cages
but if you ever notice any casino where
the cages are they're in the center of
the casino away from any exits so
there's no way you can get into them
believe me I look let's take a look at a
robbery gone wrong in hell or high water
got the code ribbit
what you're looking at in this clip is
two brothers who robbed a bank in a
rural town early in the morning oh
you're guilty of right now is being
stupid just leave and that's all a
little big
the woman is actually giving them some
gruff back and you would see that people
react to robberies in different ways
some people cry some people laugh some
people curse you out
some people stay silent you have all
different reactions you see these guys
use gloves I used gloves or you can also
use Krazy Glue and literally cover your
fingertips and Krazy Glue and then you
don't have any gloves and they and you
won't get prints out either also they
didn't cover their eyes if you ever
noticed somebody who really robbed
something if they put pantyhose over
their head it disfigures their whole
entire face and you could still see but
you couldn't describe a person's eyes if
you left your eyes open a person will
look right at your eyes and they'll
recognize those eyes again and it's a
quick disguise Wham put it right over
your head
and you're gone and nobody can recognize
you you're done that's one way to do it
I'll bet we'll get people who do that
yeah you guys are gonna go home and find
a pair of pants from your mother and
yeah
hey mom I need a pair of pantyhose
you had one guy who was a little out of
control but that's actually what made
the robbery work because
unpredictability if person doesn't know
what you're gonna do they're gonna give
you whatever you need to get out of
there and that's the smart way to do it
anyway if you're getting robbed
don't get hurt I've got the code
they should have cased it they should
have known about the safe and who can
get into the safe in it what time you
can get into the safe
also most safes have time locks it can
only be open at a certain time and
that's very common damn it
y'all are new at this I'm guessing
obviously there's a couple of things
banks do from dye packs to GPS is in the
money and they'll give a certain pack of
money that has a dye pack and once it
leaves the store it blows and all that
money is done people in banks are
trained to do exactly what they're told
and give away the money because it's all
insured also in banks if you ever
noticed when you go into your next bank
look at the door there's actually a hate
marker in every Bank right at the door
so when you walk out you'll see it and
your and they can tell you how tall you
were most people who rob banks don't rob
one bank they do a lot more obviously
with the bank it's the FBI so you will
eventually get caught I always say the
best from the best the FBI and the FBI
they are all the money in the world and
all the time in the world you will get
caught the convenience store robbery in
Fast Times at Ridgemont I a great movie
you guys watch that movie it's a great
movie we've been following a lot of
clips with professional criminals people
who plan it out people who know what
they're doing casing a joint so to speak
in this clip you see the exact opposite
of a professional the manager or that
store clerk would never have access to a
safe and a safe wouldn't be there right
behind the post this is on the counter
as well it would be a drop safe all
convenience stores 7-eleven the
I was they all have what they call it
drop safe which has a opening on the top
that can handle an envelope in cash and
every hundred dollars usually in a cash
register after they have a hundred
dollars they they drop that and you
can't get into that drop safe they'll
have a lock that's only open usually by
the owner or a manager who comes in
later at to empty that check the
receipts that's what they do he walks in
he sprays paint over the camera like the
camera didn't see him already in today's
world we have cameras that have off-site
monitoring and a straight live feeds to
another area back in the 80s when this
movie was made they didn't have that and
they would have had a tape machine in
the back office and in the back office
you can actually go in there as a
criminal and take the tape out and they
wouldn't have any kind of feet of you
you see the manager grab coffee throw it
in the face of the criminal obviously is
defending himself and he's allowed to do
that of course and he is encouraged not
to do that though most police don't want
you to get involved and want you to give
the money away as quick as you can and
get rid of him and observe as much as
you can because you don't want to get
killed nobody wants to get hurt the
first action of everybody involved
should be safety and that goes to safety
of your customers if this guy's armed
and you did something and he shot you
and then Spicoli walked out of the
bathroom and then got shot as well
you're talking about a very dangerous
situation it could have been you also
saw the getaway driver take off believe
it or not with drug addicts that
probably be pretty common and the one
who got caught would be telling on the
one who didn't get caught that would be
pretty common too especially with drug
dealers drug addicts the clips you just
saw I don't ever want people to believe
that I'm endorsing crime in any way
people don't think criminals should be
smarter but most of them are and that's
why they go to prison and in my case the
FBI was very good
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