Business: Stickup Surge

Even bank robbers need more

Everybody is struggling to keep pace with inflation, even the lowly bank robber. That is probably why the number of bank heists has roughly doubled in the past year in Atlanta, Washington and San Francisco. The FBI estimates that more than 4,600 bank robberies took place nationwide in 1978, up from 3,988 in 1977. Says Boris Melnikoff, director of security for the First National Bank of Atlanta, which was knocked over eleven times last year: "We blame it on the economy. We have a product that is very marketable....

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