Johnson Janklow Abdallah’s Law Offices Featured in PBS Documentary about Dillinger Robbery at Security National Bank Building
Feb 1, 15
The law offices of Johnson Janklow Abdallah were recently featured in a documentary that aired on South Dakota Public Broadcasting about the infamous robbery of the historic Security National Bank Building in downtown Sioux Falls by the Dillinger Gang.
John Herbert DillingerOn March 6, 1934, John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and the rest of the Dillinger Gang marched into Security National Bank on the corner of Ninth Street and Main Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls armed with submachine guns and demanding money.
After one of the bank employees sounded an alarm, mayhem ensued. Baby Face Nelson shot and wounded an approaching police officer through the plate glass window located in what is now Johnson Abdallahs's Falls Conference Room facing Ninth Street.
The bank robbers made off with more than $50,000 in cash, taking hostages and positioning them on the outer floorboards of the getaway car for protection as they made their escape. The hostages were later released unharmed outside of town.
Approximately four months later, on July 22, 1934, Dillinger ignored a command to surrender and was gunned down by FBI agents outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago, betrayed by the "Lady in Red." The money from the Sioux Falls robbery was never recovered.
The original bank vault, with its twelve-foot high and three-foot thick circular door is still intact at the JHA offices. The Sioux Falls robbery is also famously depicted in the film Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger.
An interview with Johnson Abdallah's managing partner, Scott A. Abdallah, is featured in the PBS documentary.
To watch the PBS broadcast, please click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DDDIxFgahk&feature=em-share_video_user
You can read more about the infamous bank robbery here:
