10. The Dunbar Armored Robbery
Stolen: $18.9M
Six men pulled off what is now considered the largest cash theft in US history in 1997. Allen Pace, the company’s leader, turned out to be the worst “safety inspector” Dunbar Armored had ever engaged.
Pace planned ahead of time to dodge the surveillance cameras at the Dunbar facility in Los Angeles and enlisted the support of five boyhood friends to plunder the vault. They broke in, assaulted two security guards during their lunch periods, and placed $18.9 million into a U-Haul truck.
They almost got away with it if one of the robbers hadn’t been so negligent as to lend some of the stolen money to a buddy without first removing the original cash straps.