Jay Bank Robbery, Part II

Whether through rumors, scuttlebutt, or maybe the indiscreet whispers of one of the participants, by late summer 1963, Pensacola Police Chief D.P. Caldwell felt he knew who committed the robbery of the Bank of Jay.  

            Getting enough evidence to prove it however, was a different story. On the 25^th of October, Chief Caldwell suspended, and asked for dismissal of Officers Luther Ingram, and Louis J. (Jimmy) Dees. The two officers had been partners for years, and Ingram once lived next door to Dees, in a house owned by Dees.

            The charges levied against Dees were, 1-holding ownership of a bar. 2- failure to reside within city limits, and 3- failure to be qualified as a registered voter.  Ingram was charged with Insubordination, and failing to obey a lawful order.

            On the 25^th of October, Jay bank officials, Price Malone, and Jesse Golden traveled to the office of Police Chief Caldwell to view two line-ups. One line-up had Officer Ingram, and three other officers. Golden told the Chief that Ingram looked very much like the man in the hold-up, but couldn’t positively identify him. Malone said he would be willing to testify that Ingram was the man who held a gun on him during the robbery.

            An hour after his line-up, Ingram was called back to the Chief’s office and told to put on a raincoat, and dark glasses of the type that the bank robbers wore.  Ingram requested to confer with his lawyers, Forsythe Caro, and Joe Harrell.  He then refused to don the items requested and was suspended from the force.  Officials would not say who was in the other line-up, but it is interesting to note that Ingram’s partner, Dees was suspended the same day. 

            There was a hearing on November 26^th, where Ingram was found guilty of insubordination by a 2-1 vote of the City Service Board.  At his hearing Ingram testified that he refused to wear the items in the line-up because he knew he was a suspect in the robbery, and he knew that the two bank officials from Jay were there to view him. He also claimed to have heard from a relative in Jay that the bank officials had mistakenly identified another suspect in Jacksonville. Ex-Santa Rosa County Sheriff Henry Clay Mitchell spoke on Ingram’s behalf by stating that he did not believe a person should be ordered to “don the garb” of a robber and appear before witnesses. 

            The decision by the City Service Board was eventually overturned and Ingram returned to the Pensacola Police Department. He eventually resigned in November of 1972.  He had been suspended many times in his 16-year career and Caldwell tried more than once to get him dismissed from the force. It has been told to me by an ex-officer of the Pensacola Police Dept., that for the rest of his time on the force, Ingram would never don a raincoat. Not even while investigating auto accidents in the rain.  Ingram passed away at the age of 51 on April 8, 1983.

            Louis J. (Jimmy) Dees resigned from the force that day of the line-up in November 1963. He was the owner of the Liberty Bar, located at Zaragoza, and Baylen.  In 1970 he bought the Castle Lounge at 500 East Gregory St. He sold it and moved to the Atlanta area in 1978, but later returned to buy Al’s Bar and Package Store on Gulf Beach Highway. He passed away in December 2005.

            The Robbery of the Bank of Jay was never officially solved. No one was prosecuted for it, and no one was formally accused of committing it.  The Pensacola Police Chief, D.P. Caldwell definitely was convinced of the officer’s involvement, and tried to use any reason to get them off the force.

            A week after the Robbery in Jay, Officer Ingram was awarded “Policeman-of-the-Month” by the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce.

            During the time Jimmy Dees owned the Castle Lounge, an unknown person placed a sign out front that read, “Financed by the Bank of Jay”.

            Officers Ingram, and Dees were not prosecuted for the robbery, and Ingram returned to the force for another 9 years before resigning.  

I was talking to an ex-Pensacola Police Officer who was in attendance at the Jay Historical Society when I gave a talk about the Bank robbery. He told me that when the FBI had the Loot burial site staked out, a PPD patrol car slowly approached and parked right next to where the loot was stashed. In the car was Luther Ingram, and a young lady. The FBI gave up on their stake-out.