Paddy Mitchell was an infamous character from our past.
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John Curry has served in many roles as an honorary Rotarian, long-time citizen and journalist in Stittsville, and currently the editor of the Community Voice for Stittsville and Richmond. He has also researched famous and infamous colorful characters from Stittsville’s past and on November 20, 2019, he shared with Stittsville Rotarians the details of one of the most infamous.
Paddy Mitchell was the leader of the bank robbery trio which also included Lionel Wright and Stephen Reid. Operating in the 1970’s, together they earned a reputation for engineering the largest ever heist of gold valued at $750,000 from the Ottawa airport in 1974. As well, they became Canada’s most prolific bank robbers using the formula of extensive planning (researching all the details), guns and surprise in 140 robberies. Their attention to detail included completing the robbery within 2 minutes or less using a stopwatch, thereby earning them the title of the “Stopwatch Gang”. They were also known for non-violent methods and politeness to victims.
In the USA, they are credited with 100 bank robberies in the 1980’s, stealing approximately $15M and earning Paddy Mitchell #7 position on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.
Caught in 1980, Lionel and Stephen served 10 years prison time in Canada, while Paddy was sentenced in 1994 to serve 30 years in an American prison. He died there in 2007 at the age of 64 years.