One of the most notorious gangs that robbed 100 banks during the 1970s and early 1980 had a secret hideout — Oak Creek Canyon.
Patrick “Paddy” Mitchell, Stephen Reid and Lionel Wright became known as the Stopwatch Gang because they used a stopwatch to time their robberies, taking no longer than 90 to 120 seconds inside the bank.
Estimated figures of how much the men stole is around $15 million. They never fired a shot or harmed anyone, according to reports. The three always carried guns and used disguises like wigs, sunglasses and presidential likeness masks.
“Victims would comment on their courteous behavior,” said Karin Kwaitkowski, who is making a documentary about the Stopwatch Gang.
Kwaitkowski and her business partners — daughter Abby Kwaitkowski and Lora and Peter Carlson — will give a talk about the gang at the Sedona Heritage Museum on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 9 a.m.
“The Stopwatch Gang is considered the most successful bank robbers in North American history. The FBI hunted them for years, and they were right here,” Karin Kwaitkowski said. “The amount they stole is in question because they spent what they stole.”
When the Kwaitkowskis attended the Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking, Karin’s brother, Mark Round, learned in an online chat room that she lived in a town where the Stopwatch Gang hid out.
“He sent me an email, ‘You have to make a film about this amazing story,’” Kwaitkowski said. “I started to research it and found that amazing story.”
Kwaitkowski talked to her instructor, Bryan Reinhart, who said the story was the first thing she needed to work on once out of film school.
“We couldn’t make up a story this good. Almost no one in Sedona ever heard of them,” she said. “They were leading a double life and the neighbors were clueless. It seems these were gentlemen bandits.”
Kwaitkowski said everyone the team talked to still regards them with great fondness. A number have stayed in contact with them, including law enforcement.
While active and hiding out in Sedona, the three men never robbed a bank in Arizona, he said.
When word about the documentary spread, Kwaitkowski started receiving phone calls and emails from people who knew them. Inadvertently, Peter Carlson’s cell phone number was posted on the Internet and he received a call from gang member Reid.
“This is like a mystery we’re uncovering. Every time we talk to someone it becomes more intriguing,” Lora Carlson said. “When the gang lived in Sedona they told everyone they did light shows for rock bands. That explained why they would be gone months at a time and had a lot of money.”
The Stopwatch Gang planned the jobs around the armored car deliveries, which made the money more easily accessible and the job took less time.
After the robbery, the men emptied the bank bags, took off the clothes they wore and placed the items in a Dumpster to pick up later. On one occasion in 1980 someone apparently witnessed the drop.
“That’s what we’ve been told,” Karin Kwaitkowski said. “The pickup was late that day. That’s what tripped them up.”
On Oct. 31, 1980, FBI agents arrested the members of the Stopwatch Gang in Sedona at Slide Rock, she said.
As a further mystery, the gang’s jobs included a 1974 robbery of seven gold bars. Officials recovered six.
“My dream is to find the seventh bar. Neighbors told us they looked but didn’t find it,” she said.
The story is a part of Arizona and Sedona history. Kwaitkowski and her partners will have photographs, personal letters and testimonies on display during their Jan. 11 talk at the museum, 735 Jordan Road.
