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Mad Hatters Join A Long History Of Cap-Loving Criminal Suspects
June 01, 2011 posted by Steve Brownstein
by Joe Swickard
Clothes may make the man, but hats can make the hoodlums.
The Mad Hatters, a gang of grannies who authorities say have been ripping off unsuspecting shoppers throughout metro Detroit, are the latest suspects to get tagged by their toppers.
The crew of older women -- at least six, if not more -- got their nickname from law enforcement because they're all wearing hats in surveillance photos.
True crime files are brimming with accounts of hatted heisters, bank robbers, thieves and stickup artists who get identified by their headgear.
"Yep, we had the Heavy D Bandit," said FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold. "He got that name because he was wearing the cap with the Old English D when he robbed banks."
Heavy D -- actually Alvin Murray -- was sent to prison for 14 years following his arrest in 2008 as he approached a bank in Dearborn. The FBI said he pulled 14 robberies or attempted robberies between May and July that year.
Even a taste for a variety of caps will get you noticed.
Authorities said Anthony Wilson switched his allegiance from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Red Wings to the Oakland A's and even the Ralph Lauren Polo pony, but still got indicted by a federal grand jury for a string of bank robberies from late 2010 through early this year.
As for the Mad Hatters, the larcenous ladies are still on the lam.
Al Capone was so fedora-ble in his wide brim hats that it almost made bareheaded bad guys and gals outlaw outcasts.
And now, Detroit-area authorities are on the lookout as Sterling Heights police reported Thursday that local shoppers are being targeted by a gang of older women who swipe wallets and other valuables from handbags and unattended shopping carts.
The suspects' penchant for headgear has earned them the label of the Mad Hatters.
But noted local milliner Luke Song said thefts aren't the only offenses: The women's taste in headwear is close to criminal, said the man who designed Aretha Franklin's famous bejeweled-and-bowed hat for President Barack Obama's inauguration.
"Just casual hats," said Song of Mr. Song Millinery in Southfield. His professional eye said the hats are not very high quality, probably mass produced with a $10 price tag.
Maybe, he said, the hats are the "ladies' version of the ski mask."
Song said he didn't recognize any of the hats as coming from his shop: "I can spot my hats anywhere. It's very hard to commit a crime in one of my hats and not get implicated."
He said a woman's hat is very personal: "It's as distinguishable as a fingerprint."
It could be that hats are all the rage now, from high crimes to high fashion.
Two examples of hat heaven are the 137th Kentucky Derby today and last week's wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton.
"Derby attendees spend as much time and money on their race-day apparel as they do at the betting window -- maybe more!" gushed the Kentucky Derby Web site, which includes 66 pictures of Derby fashionistas wearing their boldest brims.
But in Sterling Heights on Friday, some ladies were frazzled by the heists and shocked by the alleged culprits.
"It's unbelievable. I could not believe it when I heard it," said Genevieve Bonislawski, 87, of Sterling Heights as she left a Meijer store pushing a cart with flowers and gardening supplies.
Bonislawski said she didn't see anyone wearing a hat, but when she does, she's going to think of the Mad Hatters.
But Darlene Kuttruff, 64, of Sterling Heights said she wasn't surprised. She said she works in a Sterling Heights card shop and often sees elderly people trying to steal.
"I don't know if it's a case of the economy, or if it's a case of merely to take what (they) want," she said.
A bad economy and a gambling problem pushed 71-year-old Edmond F. Ketzler into bank robbery.
But it was his sporty tweed hat and camel coat shown on security cameras in Troy last year that got him caught.
Ketzler's son recognized him when the security camera pictures were featured in news media reports and accompanied him to the police station when he surrendered. Ketzler is serving a five-year probationary sentence.
While police in some communities surrounding Sterling Heights said the Mad Hatters have not thrown their hat into their criminal rings, Clinton Township police forwarded the name of an elderly woman with an extensive criminal record who was caught last year. She wore a hat and stole from shopping carts and still is in custody, township police Capt. Richard Maierle said.
Maierle said that a few years ago, police investigated middle-aged to elderly women wearing hats who stole purses from stores. He didn't recall any arrests, and the women operated alone.
Bill McGraw, Compuware's director of media relations, said a legendary crime-fighter's costume was misappropriated on a misty night near the Fisher Theatre in 1975.
McGraw was walking, "and I swear it was a foggy night; here comes this guy dressed like Sherlock Holmes, in a deerstalker hat and cape. He said, 'It's a stickup,' but he didn't have a British accent."
The villain was taken aback when McGraw offered him all he had -- a Heineken beer, a small yogurt and some change.
"He said, 'There's too many people ripping off people here' " and walked off into the night, McGraw said.
