Police Officer Claude J. Profili, Sr.

Claude J. Profili, Sr.

Police Officer Claude Profili was shot and killed after responding to a bank alarm call at the Maryland National Bank at Franklin Street and Franklintown Road. The bank had been known for numerous false hold-up alarms in the past.

Officer Profili approached the bank with two sets of double doors in the front with his weapon drawn. As he entered the first set of double doors, a suspect opened the second set of double doors and fired one shot into his forehead above the left eye. Officer Profili then fell back down the steps and into the street.

Four suspects fled the scene with $23,466. One was apprehended within 48 hours. The other three were apprehended several days later by FBI agents. One was captured in Las Vegas, Nevada, another in Ozark, Arkansas, and the third in Denver, Colorado. Officer Profili was rushed to the hospital where he died eight days later from his wound.

The three apprehended later, 25, 30, and 30, were convicted of Officer Profili's murder and sentenced to life on July 2nd, 1964. The youngest one's sentence was reduced to 20 years in 1969. He was paroled and transferred to a federal prison to serve 44 years for his role in several bank robberies.

Officer Profili was a United States Navy WWII veteran and had served with the Baltimore City Police Department for 12 years. He was survived by his wife and two children.