{"id":514706,"date":"2022-11-23T15:30:33","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T12:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/"},"modified":"2022-11-23T15:30:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T12:30:33","slug":"ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/","title":{"rendered":"#Ex-con reflects on heists and life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25e7e6ecd01\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25e7e6ecd01\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/#%E2%80%9CEx-con_reflects_on_heists_and_life%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Ex-con reflects on heists and life&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/#Juvenile_delinquent\" >Juvenile delinquent<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/#Seans_first_heist\" >Sean\u2019s first heist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/#Jobs_gone_awry\" >Jobs gone awry<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/#Crack_and_escorts\" >Crack and escorts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/#%E2%80%98I_wanna_die_free\" >\u2018I wanna die free\u2019<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CEx-con_reflects_on_heists_and_life%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Ex-con reflects on heists and life&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>Sean takes a quick hit of crack and a snort of heroin, a mixture that will make him feel invincible, like he\u2019s got all the power in the world, but it won\u2019t last long. He\u2019s about to rob a bank on Jamaica Avenue in Woodhaven and he estimates he has about two minutes to get in and out before the cops arrive. Outside a taxi is waiting for him, but since he has no money to pay for it, he\u2019s hoping that it won\u2019t leave before he gets back outside.<\/p>\n<p>He goes in, straight to the teller. \u201cGive me the f\u2013king money!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He points his 12-gauge shotgun to the bulletproof glass and shoves his .38 in the tray, his bloodshot eyes bulging out of his head. The teller looks scared but says nothing and starts to pack up the cash quickly. Sean grabs it and rushes to the door, looking for police. It\u2019s all quiet.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s 1997, he\u2019s 31 years old and he\u2019s just made $6,000.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Juvenile_delinquent\"><\/span><strong>Juvenile delinquent<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Sean Martin Dalton was born in 1966 into an Irish-Catholic working-class family in Woodhaven, Queens. The second of five children, his father, Maurice, was an FDNY firefighter and his mother, Noreen, a stay-at-home mom from Belfast, Ireland. He says he was always intrigued by money and from a young age he realized that \u201cmoney brought h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>iness. At first, it\u2019s candy from the corner store. Then it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a>, clothes, girls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He got his first job at 12, working at a pizzeria. He looked up to the wiseguys, mobsters and the older guys who were big shots in the neighborhood. It was the Gotti era of the 1970s, and Sean remembers seeing men beaten in the street by the mob.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"718\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-07.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Sean Dalton father\" class=\"wp-image-24758547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-07.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-07.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-07.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Dalton\u2019s father Maurice was an FDNY firefighter.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI seen John Gotti\u2019s son crack people\u2019s heads open, f\u2013king bust people up on Jamaica Avenue. They had to, you know? People deserved it \u2014 you take something, you pay for it. You don\u2019t pay? You pay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At 14, a man approached him and offered him a job selling pot in Forest Park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey ran it like a business, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. I was making $10 an hour. If I had a good day I\u2019d sell 200 dime bags. That\u2019s $2,000 a day. The guy was making a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-12.jpg?w=704\" alt=\"Sean Dalton\" class=\"wp-image-24758552\" width=\"360\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-12.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=715 720w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-12.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=536 540w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-12.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=358 360w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-12.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=179 180w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-12.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\"\/><figcaption>Dalton looked up to the wiseguys, mobsters and the older guys who were big shots in the neighborhood.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The park was full of drugs: Quaaludes, Valium, black beauties, heroin, acid, mescaline, angel dust. Sean tried it all. The drug market was known to police, and Sean says he\u2019d have to \u201crun through the woods at night, the cops creeping through the trees with their flashlights ready to tackle\u201d them to the ground.<\/p>\n<p>The first time he was caught by the police, they took him in cuffs to his home where his father told them to \u201ctake him to f\u2013king jail \u2014 he wants to be a tough guy, let him go to jail,\u201d but his mother pleaded with them to leave him at home, which they did.<\/p>\n<p>The first time he went to court he was 17, but the drug dealers he worked for posted bail, helping him avoid Rikers. Despite this, he kept selling, getting high and missing his desk appearances, which resulted in bench warrants for his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>One day the warrant squad arrived, blocking the entrance to his father\u2019s house and Sean had to think quickly, so he grabbed his brother\u2019s mailman uniform and answered the door. \u201cCan I help you officer?\u201d The cop looked at the photo of the wanted picture and he looked at Sean. They looked just enough alike. Sean stared him down. The cop looked at the photo again and Sean said, \u201cYeah you\u2019re looking for my f\u2013king brother Sean. He\u2019s probably up in Forest Park selling drugs.\u201d The cop responded, \u201cYeah, we got a warrant for him,\u201d then left, taking one last look. Sean closed the door. \u201cI took the hat off and I f\u2013king ran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sean eluded the police a few more times over the years, but he eventually ended up in Rikers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRikers Island is the worst f\u2013king place in the world. The minute you enter that f\u2013king place, you have to turn into becoming a savage animal. If not, you are f\u2013king prey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a street kid, Sean had learned to fight and knew the rules of the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>: \u201cThe minute you got in there, you had your fights and that\u2019s it. You stood your ground.\u201d He didn\u2019t always win, but \u201cthere was nobody [he] wouldn\u2019t fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By 1989, Sean\u2019s drug use was becoming a liability and he owed money to dangerous people, so he left for Ireland, where he had family on his mother\u2019s side. He met a girl and got her pregnant, but had to flee the country after getting into a bar fight and beating a man nearly to death who was in the IRA. He was given 24 hours to leave Ireland or the IRA would blow his knee caps off with a pistol. He wouldn\u2019t meet his son, Ruairi, for another 12 years, when he came to visit his father in Staten Island\u2019s Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in 2002.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Seans_first_heist\"><\/span><strong>Sean\u2019s first heist<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The bank robbing began in 1993. He was broke and homeless. He was on drugs. Some days he\u2019d just ride the subways back and forth, sleeping on the benches. He went to stay with his cousin in the Rockaways for the weekend to get cleaned up, and on Monday she asked him what he was going to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to go rob a bank,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-06.jpg?w=683\" alt=\"Sean Dalton\" class=\"wp-image-24758546\" width=\"404\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-06.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=803 808w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-06.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=602 606w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-06.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=401 404w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-06.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=201 202w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-06.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 404px) 100vw, 404px\"\/><figcaption>He committed a string of 18 bank robberies over five years. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>She didn\u2019t believe him, but later that day he went around the corner and passed a note to the teller and she handed him the money. It was the beginning of a string of 18 bank robberies he committed over the next five years. He estimates he stole a total of $196,000, all of which he spent.<\/p>\n<p>He says he \u201cnever valued money\u201d and was always giving it away, spending it on lavish hotel rooms, drugs and escorts. \u201cI liked to stay at the Doral, the Waldorf, the Plaza. Five Star places that offered the best service from pillows to blow jobs. I didn\u2019t care about money \u2014 if it ran out I went to get more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In between robberies, he would check into Daytop Village, a rehab in the Rockaways, to avoid the police. \u201cSome people go away for 28 days, 90 days, 30 days. I went to treatment for 54 months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sean was able to stay clean for periods of time, though it didn\u2019t stick. He tried working at a law firm belonging to Douglas Menagh, a powerful Park Avenue lawyer who saw himself in Sean, but left after a few years. \u201cI felt trapped in an office, like a mouse\u201d and took a job cleaning sewers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh boy, it\u2019s big cash money \u2014 I used to rob people and made thousands of dollars. Terrible scandals \u2014 I feel very bad. But it was a great cash business \u2014 I\u2019d walk into people\u2019s houses and tell them they had bigger problems than they had. And I\u2019d make them pay me cash. And then I wouldn\u2019t give the correct amount to my boss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One day he got a call to unclog a sink on 115th Street in Queens in a shopping center. While clearing the line he looked up only to see his own wanted poster on the wall. It was a bank he had robbed two years earlier.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"998\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-11.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"sean dalton\" class=\"wp-image-24758551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-11.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-11.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-11.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>\nSean, center, and his mom, Noreen, right, at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in 1998.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI thought I was the stupidest f\u2013king criminal in the world. I\u2019m going to get caught doing the right thing.\u201d He called his boss and tried to get out of doing the job, but his boss said no. No one noticed, and so he finished the job and left.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Jobs_gone_awry\"><\/span><strong>Jobs gone awry<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Not all the robberies went smoothly. At Queens County Savings Bank on the corner of Jamaica Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard, he\u2019d just smoked some crack and was making his way to the teller window when he heard his name. \u201cSean . . . Sean . . .\u201d It was his elderly childhood neighbor, Mrs. Christof, asking him to help her carry her groceries out the door. He pretended to not know her and rushed to the teller.<\/p>\n<p>When he got to the window, he passed the teller a note for the money and made his way to the exit door. It was locked. Panicked, he was about to draw his .38 to blast through the bottom panel of the glass door and crawl out when the bank manager approached him. \u201cSir, is there a problem?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to get out of here,\u201d Sean replied, hand on the gun in his pocket. The manager unlocked the door and let him out, not knowing he had just been robbed.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"835\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-08.jpg?w=835\" alt=\"sean dalton\" class=\"wp-image-24758548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1670 1670w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1253 1252w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=835 835w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=418 417w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-08.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 835px) 100vw, 835px\"\/><figcaption>Dalton didn\u2019t meet his son Ruairi, for another 12 years.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sean began dating a woman who worked as a teller at a bank and he would ask her questions: How much money they had at the window, how the dye packs worked and the bank protocols (they were supposed to surrender the money, not try and fight).<\/p>\n<p>Sean\u2019s brother Michael was in the NYPD, and Sean talked to Michael\u2019s friends who worked in the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn about the sectors the police work in to get a better idea of how the response times would vary and how to slow them down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you know how many cops are in what sector and you send them somewhere else now you got another two minutes, and that\u2019s everything. Yeah, a minute is everything.\u201d<br \/>One day he wandered into a bank on Myrtle Avenue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was f\u2013ked up on drugs. It was a bad choice because it was in a black neighborhood. It\u2019s not like today. Back then it was very segregated. And to have a white guy come in a bank in a black neighborhood, that should be a red flag right there. You know, what the f\u2013k is this guy doing here? You know I didn\u2019t belong in that bank in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The teller handed over the money, but it was only 1\u2019s and 5\u2019s. \u201cI f\u2013king screamed at her, \u2018Give me the f\u2013king money!\u2019 And she screamed back, \u2018You robbed the wrong f\u2013king bank!\u2019 So I left there with like $600.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Later that day he robbed another bank and got nothing when the teller refused to cooperate, and he had to leave before the cops showed up.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Crack_and_escorts\"><\/span><strong>Crack and escorts<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>By 1997 he was smoking $500 worth of crack and doing $100 of heroin every day. \u201cIt makes you feel invincible, like you can leap from building to building, but you can\u2019t. And it\u2019s a quick high. It\u2019s gone in a second.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was taking its toll. He knew the cops were after him, and it was just a matter of time before he was caught. He\u2019d check into multiple hotels at a time to evade capture. \u201cI used to have five, six hotel keys in my pocket. I\u2019d be bouncing in and out of hotel rooms like I owned them.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"993\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-09.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Sean, left, at Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in 2002.\" class=\"wp-image-24758549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-09.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-09.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-09.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>He estimates he stole a total of $196,000, all of which he spent.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After robbing a Banco Popular, Sean netted $22,000, his biggest take. He went straight to Atlantic City, hiring escorts, spending thousands on drinks, fancy restaurants and, of course, drugs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to Atlantic City in a stretch limousine and came home on a f\u2013king bus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The end of his run came down to a hotel clerk at the Doral. The police had been circulating his picture and knew his penchant for five-star hotels, so it was only a matter of time before someone recognized him.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-10.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Sean, second from right, and his brother Michael, far left, after he was released from prison.&#10;\" class=\"wp-image-24758550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-10.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-10.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-10.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Dalton and his brother Michael, far left, after he was released from prison.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Jan. 30, 1998, Sean checked in, went up to his room and turned on the TV only to see his face on the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> and the building surrounded. News crews had learned of the raid by listening to police scanners and had gone to the hotel, arriving before some of the police themselves. Sean heard the chopper outside \u2014 they were closing in.<\/p>\n<p>An NYPD Emergency Service Unit banged at the door and someone shouted \u201cSean open up! We\u2019re going to send the dog in!\u201d Sean, sniffing at his bag of heroin and smoking a crack stem, yelled back, \u201cI\u2019ll f\u2013king shoot it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It got quiet. Then more banging on the door and a voice, this time quieter, \u201cSean . . . open the door . . . it\u2019s Dennis.\u201d Sean paused. It was his brother\u2019s old partner. They\u2019d had dinner two months before at Sean\u2019s mother\u2019s house. Dennis had just been made sergeant of Midtown Detectives Squad. Sean knew it was over. \u201cGive me five minutes,\u201d Sean said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-04.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Sean Dalton, 56, with his son Ruairi, 32, in Woodhaven, Queens. \" class=\"wp-image-24758544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-04.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-04.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-04.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Sean Dalton, 56, with his son Ruairi, 32, in Woodhaven, Queens. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou have one minute,\u201d Dennis replied. Sean threw the rest of the drugs in the toilet and opened the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou got any weapons?\u201d Dennis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA ton,\u201d Sean replied.<\/p>\n<p>He had a 12-gauge shotgun, a .38, knives, handcuffs, Mace, a bat \u2014 \u201cI was like a cartoon character the more you shake him the more comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-03.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"sean dalton\" class=\"wp-image-24758541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-03.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-03.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-03.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Dalton says he doesn\u2019t regret the past. \u201cIt was some ride man. That life I lived, it was a f\u2013king ride.\u201d<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The police took him to One Police Plaza, where he was booked, and then to Queens Criminal Court for his first of many arraignments.<\/p>\n<p>His brother Michael, a sergeant in Brooklyn North Narcotics, was waiting for him underneath the courtroom and got him out of the main holding cell and into a smaller, single-person cell. He told Sean to write him a letter if he needed money, clothes, but he could not have any contact with him and he could never visit him because of his job with the NYPD. Sean asked if Michael could get him a pack of cigarettes, some gum and an orange juice. When Michael returned, Sean was high again, having smuggled the last of his crack into the holding cell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Michael asked. \u201cBetter I smoke it now than they find it and throw it away,\u201d Sean replied.<\/p>\n<p>Michael wasn\u2019t surprised or even hurt, he knew his brother, gave him a blank stare and walked away.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-02.jpg?w=683\" alt=\"sean dalton\" class=\"wp-image-24758539\" width=\"361\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-02.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=717 722w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-02.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=538 541w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-02.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=359 361w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-02.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=179 180w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-02.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\"\/><figcaption>\u201cThere ain\u2019t much time left. I wanna die free. It may not be everything that I once had, but it\u2019s mine.\u201d<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>When Sean made it to his arraignment, he was so high he asked the judge if he could be let out to go to the bank to get the bail money. His own lawyer told the judge he should be remanded.<\/p>\n<p>The next few years, Sean bounced between Rikers, Shawangunk Detention Center and criminal courts in multiple jurisdictions. He was detoxing, taking methadone to ease off the heroin, but the crack was the worst of it. He had terrifying, hallucinatory dreams for four years that he was high on crack again, only to wake up in a panic, sweating, alone in the dark. He knew how to carry himself from his years as a street kid, and he mostly kept to himself. \u201cThe bigger the circle, the bigger the problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His first long stay was at Shawangunk, a maximum security prison north of the city, where he was greeted by fellow inmates who delivered him soap, coffee and deodorant, a gift from Joe Sullivan a fellow white Irish Catholic inmate from Queens who was the \u201cshot caller,\u201d a prison gang leader of sorts who \u201chas the keys.\u201d The shot caller would settle scores and keep the gangs in line across the state prisons.<\/p>\n<p>The violence was real. \u201cIf you think somebody\u2019s looking to slap you, they\u2019re not. They\u2019re looking to stab you. They\u2019re looking to kill you. A fight is not a fistfight. Every fight is a fight to the death.\u201d Sean learned how to exist in prison by lifting weights and reading. \u201cI matured in prison. When I was a kid I would say \u2018F\u2013k it\u2019 and I meant it. Every day I was ready to die. You can\u2019t be a coward if you\u2019re going to be in this game. You\u2019re gonna make money, and you probably will die. Very few live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sean found his niche in a small group of guys who liked to lift weights, smoke cigars and eat well. Using an underground network he was even able to smuggle fancy Thanksgiving dinners into prison. Other days just a meal from McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>He focused on trying to avoid time getting added to his sentence. \u201cYou adapt, you know. You never really get comfortable but . . . it becomes your home. And I knew I had a chance of possibly making it out of there. I told myself one day I\u2019m gonna be free again.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98I_wanna_die_free\"><\/span><strong>\u2018I wanna die free\u2019<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Sean Dalton served 10 years and three months in prison and became a free man in 2008 at age 41.<\/p>\n<p>Today he has the same union job with Local 638 Steamfitters United Plumbing Mechanical he got through his brother-in-law who hired him when he got out 16 years ago. He likes working outside and says he fits right in with the guys from the other unions on work sites.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-05.jpg?w=683\" alt=\"sean dalton\" class=\"wp-image-24758545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-05.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1366 1366w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-05.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-05.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=683 683w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-05.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=341 341w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\"\/><figcaption>The police had been circulating his picture and knew his penchant for five-star hotels.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLocal 79 is mostly criminals, ex-cons,\u201d Sean says with a belly laugh. \u201cTough motherf\u2013kers who can do hard work and not tolerate s\u2013t. I feel comfortable. You mouth off, you very well might get punched in the mouth. No children there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He lives a more modest life than his bank robbing days, but he says he has what he needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere ain\u2019t much time left. I wanna die free. It may not be everything that I once had, but it\u2019s mine. I worked for it. I don\u2019t say \u2018f\u2013k it\u2019 no more. I just wanna make a few dollars and go fishin\u2019. Make a few dollars and enjoy what little of life I have left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He says he doesn\u2019t regret the past. \u201cIt was some ride man. That life I lived, it was a f\u2013king ride. The story, the people, it never ended. It just never ended. It was drugs every day, money every day. It just never ended. You know, people ask, \u2018Do you regret what you do?\u2019 Yeah, I regret what I did. But I wouldn\u2019t change it for the world. Because I\u2019m the type of person who believes if you change something you might not be here today. And I\u2019m here today for a reason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I did rob those banks, and I did get away. And the cops didn\u2019t kill me. And I went to prison, and I served my time. And I\u2019m still here today. I pick and choose what I want to do today. You know, I pick and choose my fights.\u201d\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/11\/23\/confessions-of-a-bank-robber-ex-con-reflects-on-heists-and-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Ex-con reflects on heists and life&#8221; Sean takes a quick hit of crack and a snort of heroin, a mixture that will make him feel invincible, like he\u2019s got all the power in the world, but it won\u2019t last long. He\u2019s about to rob a bank on Jamaica Avenue in Woodhaven and he estimates he&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":514707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/11\/ban-robber-confessions-comp1.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[136078,82834,4998,6864,11247,72722,136099],"class_list":["post-514706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-23-22","tag-bank-robberies","tag-crime","tag-drugs","tag-queens","tag-robberies","tag-woodhaven"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}