{"id":1662,"date":"2013-06-24T10:01:43","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T10:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1662"},"modified":"2015-01-08T17:54:41","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T22:54:41","slug":"the-battle-of-chicken-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/06\/24\/the-battle-of-chicken-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"The Battle of Chicken Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Overall <\/a>
Overall scene at Banksville Circle. (Sun-Telegraph photo by Gaye Zold) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Police <\/a>
Police take cover behind patrol cars as bullets fly from hillside overlooking Banksville Circle. (Sun-Telegraph) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Asst. <\/a>
Asst. Police Supt. Lawrence J. Maloney and police try to sight bandits on hillside. (Sun-Telegraph) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Crowd <\/a>
Crowd gathers outside Peoples First National Bank branch at Hays following robbery. (Sun-Telegraph) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Police <\/a>
Police return fire from behind utility pole. (Sun-Telegraph photo by Gaye Zold) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

One of Pittsburgh\u2019s most famous bank robberies began in swashbuckling style, with a gun-wielding bandit leaping onto a counter and then springing over iron grillwork so he could get inside a teller\u2019s cage. A second bandit whipped out a rifle and barked at customers to stay put.<\/p>\n

This happened in Hays on a hot, muggy day in 1959, when Pittsburgh was in its industrial prime. An \u201ciodine-colored\u201d sky hovered over the city, the Post-Gazette later reported.<\/p>\n

With $27,000 in loot, the robbers roared off in a getaway car. Police gave chase. The pursuit wound through the South Hills, along Castle Shannon Road, then Scott Road. At Greentree Road, the bandits roared through a roadblock while police blasted away, firing eight shots at the holdup crew.<\/p>\n

The desperate robbers ditched their car on a dirt road called Junius Street on the West End and ran up a wooded hillside. Police were right behind them.<\/p>\n

A Junius Street resident identified as Mrs. Robert Patterson was keeping an eye on neighborhood children playing outside when gunfire erupted behind her house. Take cover, she hollered at the kids. Bullets whizzed through the air. So began the Battle of Chicken Hill.<\/p>\n

At least 200 law enforcement officers from several departments converged on the scene. Officials called for machine guns and the city\u2019s \u201cace sharpshooters.\u201d A helicopter hovered overhead.<\/p>\n

Two policemen dropped with gunshot wounds. One, Anthony Paga, was injured so severely that a priest administered last rites on the scene. Paga later recovered and was given commendations for his courage that day.<\/p>\n

Spectators clustered along the berm of the Parkway West and Saw Mill Run Boulevard. They had a great view as police closed in on the robbers. A breeze occasionally moved foliage enough to reveal the face of one of the gunmen. Residents on Wabash Avenue ran inside their homes to get cameras while gunshots echoed from the hill.<\/p>\n

Finally, one bandit, Joseph Gaito, came staggering down the hill with his hands on his head. He\u2019d suffered a bullet wound to the hip. Gaito was the swashbuckling robber. His partner Edward Kern was brought down in shackles a short time later.<\/p>\n

Gaito, newsmen soon learned, was free on bail, awaiting trial on charges that he\u2019d shot a Dormont police officer. He\u2019d spend 17 years in prison on the bank robbery charges and become infamous as the \u201cChicken Hill Bandit.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his release from prison, Gaito continually made news. He\u00a0was a suspect in the 1976 unsolved shooting deaths of his estranged wife and her lover, and in the 1982 robbery of a North Side supermarket. In 1993, a 73-year-old Gaito was accused of robbing a Downtown bank, but a jury found insufficient evidence to convict him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This happened in Hays on a hot, muggy day in 1959, when Pittsburgh was in its industrial prime.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe Battle of Chicken Hill<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[947],"tags":[975,1189,1032,1048],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/tumblr_morlgyiv3h1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C752&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1593,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/07\/15\/stunning-new-pictures-from-chicken-hill\/","url_meta":{"origin":1662,"position":0},"title":"Stunning new pictures from Chicken Hill","date":"July 15, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"While refiling those pictures, we discovered a second envelope. And we were amazed by the photographs found inside.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tumblr_mptz4mLurf1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C812&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9921,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2021\/03\/09\/the-nations-first-armored-car-robbery-took-place-here-in-1927\/","url_meta":{"origin":1662,"position":1},"title":"The nation’s first armored car robbery took place here in 1927","date":"March 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"By Steve Mellon\/Post-Gazette William Tarr worked as a chauffeur and a salesman before landing a job as a driver for the Brinks Express Co. in the 1920s. It was a dangerous gig. The Brinks company delivered payroll to coal mining companies in the South Hills. 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