Revisiting One of Grand Rapids’ Oddest Bank Robberies: The Bank Vault Stripper

Bank robberies have been the source of fiction and folklore for years. From the days of Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor, to elaborate works of fiction like Ocean's 11 (which made robberies look cool). Real-life robberies have even been enshrined on screen in movies like  Dog Day Afternoon.

But in reality, robberies can be traumatizing and even violent affairs that shouldn't be glorified. As society has become more and more cashless, bank robberies have drastically decreased, according to FBI bank crime statistics.

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But during the 1980s, it was still a common occurrence, like one pretty peculiar string of robberies that happened in Grand Rapids that required FBI assistance because of one robber's curious MO: forcing hostages to strip naked. 

A Grand Rapids Thief & His Strange MO

Recently, I was scrolling on Reddit and came across a thread discussing a passage from former FBI profiler John Douglas' book Mindhunter that mentioned a curious case of bank robberies that took place in Grand Rapids.

READ MORE: Death By Falling Piano: The Cartoonish But Real Death Of A Grand Rapids Man

When discussing the difference between a criminal's MO (modus operandi, or a recognizable quirk the criminal does to accomplish their crime) and a "signature" (a psychological need the criminal does during their crime), Douglas used this Grand Rapids crime as a distinguishing example of a criminal's MO:

From Chapter 13, page 210

Grand Rapids, Michigan. I flew out to provide on-site consultation in the case. This guy also made everyone in the bank undress, but he didn’t take pictures. He did it so the witnesses would be so preoccupied and embarrassed that they wouldn’t be looking at him and so couldn’t make a positive ID later on. This was a means toward successfully robbing the bank. This was MO."

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During the years 1987 and 1988, Mitchel Lucas robbed three bank for $3,165, $3,413, and $17,619. His "MO," as Douglas refers to it, was to herd the tellers into the vault or break room and make them disrobe. It isn't known just how effective the strategy was, but it ultimately came back to haunt him.

Later in his trial, he was denied a reduced sentence due to the "psychological injuries" he caused the tellers, with one teller testifying that she felt "very dirty," "guilty," and "gross" after being forced to stand naked with her coworkers in a vault. Ultimately this, coupled with the expenses it cost the police and community, resulted in him being sentenced outside the usual guidelines to 15 to 40 years.

It's an incredibly bizarre case, and for it to be referenced in Mindhunter emphasizes that.