Eddie Dodson (December 24, 1948 – February 21, 2003) was known as the ''New York Yankees Bandit''. Before his death he was connected to 72
bank robberies.
Early life
Dodson was born in
Shelby, North Carolina, on December 24, 1948. Shortly after he was born his father died, leaving his mother and grandmother to raise him. His mother and grandmother were devout
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, and they attended church regularly.
Dodson graduated from high school in 1967 and considered himself a
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
. Shortly after graduating he started
selling illegal drugs and was eventually arrested in 1972.
[
]
Criminal history
Running from a possible conviction from the 1972 drug arrest, Dodson ended up in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where he opened an antique store/nightclub that eventually attracted many Hollywood celebrities. Dodson became a minor Los Angeles celebrity himself. Eventually his lawyer back in North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
managed to get his charges dropped. However, Dodson continued his drug use.[
In 1983, Dodson was unable to support his drug addiction financially, and he resorted to robbing banks. Within nine months, he had robbed 64 banks, which is the largest number of banks in the US robbed by a single person. His trademark ']NY Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
' baseball cap led to his nickname. In 1984, Dodson was finally arrested and convicted, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, he only served 10 years.[
When Dodson was released, he worked for a time as a caretaker for actor and director Jack Nicholson, but in time resumed his former drug use. One of his friends tried to help him get into rehabilitation, but he failed. In 1999, Dodson robbed eight more banks, which led to a conviction, and he was facing a penalty of 120 years. However, due to his diagnosis of ]Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...
, the courts sentenced him to only 46 months (6 of those months on a drug charge), because they did not think he had much longer to live. In 2003, Dodson died at UCLA Medical Center.[
]
In popular culture
In April 2015 the biographical crime film '' Electric Slide'' was released, starring Jim Sturgess as Eddie Dodson. The film is based on a Gear magazine article written by Timothy Ford, ''The Yankee Bandit: The Life and Times of Eddie Dodson, World’s Great Bank Robber''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Eddie
1948 births
2003 deaths
American bank robbers
American people convicted of drug offenses
Deaths from hepatitis
People from Shelby, North Carolina