Sylvania-Then & Now: History of one of Sylvania's bank robberies

Sylvania-Then and Now: History of one of Sylvania's bank robberies. . , By Gayleen Gindy , In my last article we finished the histories about our downtown Main Street buildings and businesses, ending with today's Key Bank building, located on the northeast corner of Main and Monroe streets., Now I would like to tell you the facts about the day that this bank, then known as the Farmers and Merchants Bank, was robbed by the infamous Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd and his gang., It was shortly before noon on Feb. 5, 1930, when Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd and four of his "gang" cruised into Sylvania in a black Studebaker sedan with Michigan license plates, and pulled up in front of Sylvania's Farmers and Merchants bank. All five were well dressed, and none of them wore masks. Floyd and three other men piled out of the vehicle and rushed through the front entrance of the bank. All the men were armed with revolvers, and at least two of them carried a pistol in each hand. Two of the bandits stood just inside the door, while Floyd immediately headed toward the rear of the bank, where the vault was located, and the fourth man walked over and started threatening the employees behind the caged railing and shouted, "Stick 'em up! We're not fooling, "while the driver remained behind the wheel of their "machine" parked just outside the front door., Ries to chase Floyd., By that afternoon, the headlines of the Toledo Blade dated Feb. 5, 1930, read: "Cashier Saves Thousands In Sylvania Bank Holdup." The report was that John C. Iffland, cashier at the Farmers and Merchants Bank, prevented a couple of bandits from obtaining thousands of dollars that were on deposit at the band Iffland said that he noticed two men holding guns walking toward the vault, and he instinctively slammed the huge vault door shut and twisted the dial, which automatically closed a time controlled lock that could not be opened again until 5 p.m. When Pretty Boy Floyd asked him to open the vault, and he reported that he couldn't, Floyd was furious and ordered him to open the vault. Iffland told him that was impossible because of the time lock. Floyd said, "I'll give you two minutes to open the safe." Iffland replied with the same answer and then Floyd lost his temper. He struck Iffland on the head with the barrel of his gun and Iffland fell to the floor. Then Floyd kicked him and ordered him not to move. At that time another bandit marched the second teller to the vault and with his gun at his back demanded that he open it, but again they were told that it could not be done., 1930 Farmers and Merchant Bank robbed by Floyd., Back in the lobby area, two of the bandits ordered the bank employees and customers to line up with their backs against the windows(along Monroe Street) and they told them to keep their arms in the air where they could see them. This ended up being a fatal mistake because Edwin Howard, who owned the gas station directly across the street, and who was also the vice president of this bank, observed this through the window, and he ran to the phone and turned in a fire alarm. The operator then set off the fire alarm siren on the council building, which was directly across Main Street. Upon hearing the ear piercing alarm, the robbers aborted their plans. Floyd yelled"let's get out of here!" and they all raced to the door and quickly entered their getaway car, but it was reported that one of the bandits was able to scoop up some cash in the tellers cages. Howard had grabbed his shotgun and as they were pulling away he opened fire on the moving vehicle, but missed them. In the meantime,' our local volunteer fire chief, Ralph Van Glahn, who also doubled as a township constable, jumped in the only piece of fire equipment that the village owned, which was parked behind the council building, within view of this bank (see photo of the fire truck). VanGlahn raced out toward the bank with red lights and siren blowing. Harry Ries, the assistant fire chief, who worked in the tire and battery shop just down the street from the bank, grabbed Howard's shotgun and leaped onto the fire truck as it was pulling out. The getaway car was turning off Main Street and heading east on Monroe Street, and they chased the bandits down Monroe Street to Dynamite Road (today Sylvania Avenue), then to Central Avenue, and back to Monroe Street. Along the way, Ries unloaded hundreds of feet of fire hose in order to lighten the load of the fire truck, and increase speed. But the Studebaker out maneuvered the fire truck and disappeared into heavy traffic in the Auburndale district. But all was not lost because Ries was able to get the Michigan license number from the bandit's vehicle and he turned it over to authorities., It was in May of 1930 that the Toledo News Bee newspaper reported: "Sylvania Bank Holdup Solved." It reported that it had positively identified the bandits of the Farmers and Merchants Bank robbery, with the help of two bank employees and two customers who were able to positively identify them. Floyd was going under the alias of Frank Mitchell. He was eventually caught and convicted of the robbery of Sylvania's Farmers and Merchants Bank and sentenced on Nov. 24, 1930 to 12 to 15 years in the Ohio State penitentiary, but he escaped authorities before they could take him to jail. They recaptured him and as the deputy sheriffs were taking him to the penitentiary in Columbus, he asked to use the restroom and then he leaped from the moving train and escaped., 1916 Bank vault under construction, Floyd went on to rob many more banks, murdered the Wood County Sheriff, and was suspected of numerous other murders during the next four years. His criminal exploits gained widespread press coverage and after the death of John Dillinger in July of 1934. "Pretty Boy" Floyd was named Public Enemy No. 1 by the FBI But like most other prominent outlaws of that time, he was killed on Oct 22. 1934, in a com field in Columbiana County, East Liverpool, Ohio, by local law officers and FBI agents. It was reported that Melvin Purvis, who headed the manhunt for Floyd.rolled him over and Floyd and these were his last words asked him if he was Pretty Boy Floyd, a nickname that he hated. Floyd replied: "I am Charles Arthur Floyd," and these were his last words., Next time I will tell you about another bank robbery that occurred four years later in downtown Sylvania.