The first American bank heist occurred on August 31, 1798 when Isaac Davis and Thomas Cunningham decided to rob The Bank of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Davis was a member of the Carpenters’ Company, the association that owned the building, and Cunningham was a porter at the bank. Patrick Lyon, a blacksmith who had forged the vault doors and fitted the locks just weeks before the robbery, was initially a suspect in the heist. However, he had left Philadelphia for Delaware five days before the robbery to escape a yellow fever epidemic. He returned to Philadelphia to plead his case but was imprisoned anyway because a police officer named John Haines wanted to collect the $2,000 reward. Davis and Cunningham were eventually caught. Davis admitted to the crime but was let go in a deal arranged by his uncle, who was a powerful judge. Cunningham died of yellow fever several days after the heist. Meanwhile, Lyons remained in jail for nearly a near before being cleared by a grand jury. He sued the president of the Bank of Pennsylvania, two other bank officials, Haines, and an alderman for damages over false imprisonment. He was awarded $12,000 ($258,000 today). Meanwhile, even though Davis returned the money, he got off scot-free.
