2005 Ploiești shootout
| 2005 Ploiești shootout | |
|---|---|
| Location | Banca Dâmbovița regional cash-processing centre, Strada Depoului, Ploiești, Romania |
| Date | 30 June 2005 5:45 a.m. – 6:06 a.m.(EEST, UTC+03:00) |
| Target | Banca Dâmbovița regional cash-processing centre |
| Attack type | Cash-centre robbery and shootout |
| Weapons | Petru:
Iakob:
Emil: |
| Deaths | 10 (2 police officers and 8 cash-centre guards and employees) |
| Injured | 10 (5 police officers, 3 cash-centre guards and employees, and 2 perpetrators) |
| Perpetrators | Petru Ionuț, Iakob Ionuț, and Emil Ionuț |
| Motive | Robbery and test of Iakob's planning |
| Era | Vriend Era |
The 2005 Ploiești shootout was a robbery of Banca Dâmbovița's regional cash-processing centre in Ploiești, Romania, on 30 June 2005. Iakob Ionuț planned the attack and carried it out with Petru Ionuț and Emil Ionuț. They entered the centre at approximately 5:45 a.m. and stole cash worth 6 million new Romanian lei before becoming separated during a shootout with security guards and police. Ten people were killed and ten were wounded, including Petru and Emil. All three robbers escaped, and the case remained unsolved.
Preparation
Oskar Dirlewanger ordered the robbery as the third of three tests involving the Ionuț crew. Emil had been tested during the 2002 Bucharest bank robbery, and Petru planned the 2004 Brașov armored car robbery as the second operation. Iakob selected Banca Dâmbovița's cash centre on Strada Depoului in the Ploiești Sud industrial and railway district because it held its normal reserves together with new-leu banknotes awaiting release on 1 July. He intended to steal cash worth 30 million new lei, equivalent to 300 billion old lei.
Iakob planned to enter through a loading bay during the first outbound cash dispatch, take control of the receiving area, and advance into the counting hall before police arrived. He assigned himself to lead the entry and instructed Emil to secure the route between the loading bay and counting hall. Petru was responsible for the stolen white Renault Master and for moving the cash into it. Iakob arranged no second vehicle or separate escape transport. Petru opposed the plan because he considered the direct entry unsafe. Emil also doubted it but was drunk during the preparation and did little to challenge Iakob.
The three wore black clothing, balaclavas, gloves, and boots with heavy body armour. Iakob used an aramid torso vest and groin protector beneath a load-bearing ammunition vest, together with separate panels protecting his forearms, thighs, and shins. Petru wore rigid front and rear torso plates with upper-arm and thigh panels. Emil wore a heavy aramid torso vest with a rigid trauma plate and groin protection.
Iakob carried a PM md. 63 fitted with a 75-round drum magazine, while Petru carried the same rifle with standard magazines. Emil carried an RPK and a compact vz. 61 Škorpion behind his armour. Petru and Iakob retained their Makarov PM pistols from the 2002 robbery, while Emil carried his Luger P08.
Shootout
At approximately 5:45 a.m., the three entered through the loading area and moved into the dispatch section. An armed guard recognized the attack, triggered the alarm, and fired at Iakob. Iakob immediately returned fire and killed him. Two more guards emerged from the counting hall, and Emil opened fire with the RPK, killing one and seriously wounding the other. His gunfire forced the surviving guard back and allowed the robbers to reach the counting hall, where they took consignments prepared for dispatch. Petru began moving cash worth approximately 6 million new lei toward the Renault.
At approximately 5:49 a.m., the cash centre's security supervisor ambushed Petru from behind and disarmed him. Petru fought him at close range, overpowered him, and repeatedly punched him before drawing his Makarov PM and shooting him in the head. The killing was Petru's first documented murder. He suffered a grazing gunshot wound to the shoulder during the fighting.
Petru then saw Iakob firing at unarmed employees in the counting hall. Two rounds struck Iakob's armour without penetrating it. Enraged by the impacts, he intensified his fire, killing three employees and wounding two others. The first municipal police patrol arrived from Ploiești Urban Police Section 4 at approximately 5:50 a.m. Its two officers entered the vehicle court, where Iakob fired through the open loading bay, killing one and seriously wounding the other.
At approximately 5:52 a.m., Emil continued firing inside the counting hall while expecting Iakob to cover the route behind him. Once the stolen cash had been loaded, Iakob abandoned his position, returned to Petru, and ordered him to leave without warning Emil. Surviving guards moved back into the connecting corridor and cut Emil off from the loading bay. Police reinforcements reached the centre at approximately 5:53 a.m. as Petru drove the Renault out of the vehicle court. Iakob fired from the rear of the van and wounded two officers.
Escape
Police rounds struck the Renault's rear doors and body panels but left its engine, radiator, and tyres functional. Iakob's fire stopped an immediate pursuit, and Petru drove toward a disused vehicle-repair workshop near Brazi. The police response divided when Emil emerged from the opposite side of the cash centre three minutes later.
Cut off from the loading bay, Emil fought toward the staff exit. He killed a security officer blocking the corridor, then killed an employee and took his 1998 Dacia 1310. Emil left the centre at approximately 5:56 a.m. and sped along Strada Depoului while firing the RPK through the front windscreen at police officers ahead of him. Gunfire struck him in an arm, a thigh, and the lower leg, while his armour stopped additional rounds.
At approximately 5:59 a.m., police fire ruptured a front tyre and damaged the Dacia's cooling system. Emil lost control, struck the kerb, and collided with a parked delivery truck. He left the immobilized car and emptied the RPK's final drum magazine at the officers behind him, surrounding vehicles, and nearby buildings, killing one police officer and wounding two others.
With the RPK empty, Emil abandoned it and brought forward the vz. 61 Škorpion. At approximately 6:00 a.m., he pointed the weapon at a man driving a 1969 Dodge Charger to work and ordered him out. Emil took the Charger and cleared the immediate pursuit area by approximately 6:06 a.m. before driving toward the same Brazi workshop as Petru and Iakob.
Petru and Iakob reached the workshop at approximately 6:08 a.m. and unloaded the stolen cash. Emil arrived in the Charger at approximately 6:15 a.m., accused Iakob of deliberately abandoning him, and shoved him. Iakob moved toward Emil, but Petru physically separated them before either man landed a blow. Emil initially refused treatment until Petru ordered him to sit down. Graham Mercer, a British doctor working for the Bucharest Butchers, reached the workshop later that morning and treated Emil's three gunshot wounds and Petru's shoulder graze.
Aftermath
The Renault Master was dismantled inside the workshop later that day. Andrei Miclescu, a Bucharest Butchers member who worked on vehicles, repainted the Dodge Charger and replaced its registration plates. Police recovered the Charger later but did not connect it to the Ionuț crew. The RPK and empty drum magazine recovered beside the wrecked Dacia became the investigation's principal ballistic evidence.
Iakob told Dirlewanger that Emil had ignored the plan, advanced too far, and caused the separation. Emil denied the accusation, and the two argued again in front of Dirlewanger. Dirlewanger judged Iakob's planning a failure because the crew obtained 20% of the intended amount and nearly lost Emil. He approved of the violence during the shootout and blamed Emil for failing to remain with Petru and Iakob. Dirlewanger retained the entire 6 million lei.
Police Chief Commissioner Lucian Mureșan obstructed attempts to connect the recovered evidence to Petru, Iakob, and Emil while allowing the public murder and robbery investigation to continue. The RPK, wrecked Dacia, and repainted Charger were never connected to the three men, and the case remained officially unsolved. The eight wounded guards, employees, and police officers eventually recovered, as did Petru and Emil.
The attack led to nationwide changes at Romanian cash-processing centres. Armed staffing was increased, vehicle courts were reinforced, and alarm and police-response procedures were revised.