Alan William Golder (born August 9, 1955), also known as the "Dinnertime Bandit", is an American

burglar Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murd ...

who specialized in stealing

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...

from

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

s, while their owners were inside their residences eating

dinner Dinner usually refers to what is in many Western cultures the largest and most formal meal of the day, which is eaten in the evening. Historically, the largest meal used to be eaten around midday, and called dinner. Especially among the elite, ...

. Golder grew up in Lynbrook, New York, where his criminal career began at an early age, first stealing bicycles, then robbing stores. In 1978, an accomplice of Golder's killed Lawrence Lever during a robbery; Golder was subsequently arrested and served 15 years in prison, after cooperating with police and naming other criminals, including members of the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

. During his time in prison, he sold an alleged

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

story to

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

for $25,000, claiming to have robbed numerous celebrities; however his attorney claims he fabricated much of it. Released in 1996, Golder resumed burglary almost immediately. In 1998 he fled to Europe after being named in a warrant, where he is suspected to have continued committing burglaries. Arrested in

Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

on December 14, 2006, Golder was extradited to the US in 2007 and was charged with 40 counts of burglary. Golder was convicted in Connecticut in August 2008, on 2 counts of burglary, a kidnapping charge and a larceny charge; the kidnapping charge was due to Golder having tied up a woman during a burglary. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison.

References

American people convicted of burglary Living people 1955 births Prisoners and detainees of Connecticut American prisoners and detainees People extradited from Belgium People extradited to the United States {{US-crime-bio-stub