(This story was originally written and recorded for Retrocast #34, released on May 20, 2025.)

On Monday, January 18, 1965, brothers Joseph and Sebastian Palazola set out from Gloucester, Massachusetts, on a trip to Boston.  They were headed there because the 37-year-old Joseph had recently undergone surgery and was due for a follow-up appointment at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.

As a precaution against being exposed to anything that might make him sick, the decision was made for Joseph to wear a surgical mask throughout the entire hour-long road trip.

Just before noon, they made a quick stop at the Gloucester branch of the Cape Ann Bank and Trust Co., only to find that the bank wouldn’t open for another twenty minutes. Fearing that Joe would be late for his appointment in Boston, the two decided not to wait and continued on to the hospital.

As they passed through Peabody, which was about the halfway point on their journey, they heard a bulletin on the radio saying that a bank in Gloucester had been robbed.

Moments later, squad cars were coming at them in all directions, and Sebastian pulled the car to the side of the road. They were suddenly surrounded by police, pointing guns at them.

Joe, who was still wearing his surgical mask, yelled to his brother, “Hey, I think they want us. They think we are the holdup men.”

Sebastian tried to explain to the police that they had nothing to do with the robbery, but was told “not to make any funny moves.”

Joe later told a reporter, “Then they handcuffed us, and that was the worst, that and pointing guns at us.”

The two were then taken to the Peabody police station, where they were finally able to tell their story.  Once officers were able to confirm the details of their story, the brothers were released.

But Joe wasn’t upset with the police. “We probably looked like a bunch of gangsters anyway. And the policemen were just doing their jobs.”

Needless to say, Joe was about an hour late for his appointment. When he told of what had happened, Joe said the doctor “laughed like hell.”

So, did they ever catch the real bank robbers?

The answer is a definite no.  And that’s because there never was a bank robbery. 

Here’s what really happened: When the brothers decided to stop at that Gloucester bank, two highway workers saw Joe approach the bank wearing his surgical mask. When he got back into the car moments later, the workers incorrectly concluded that the bank had been robbed. They then alerted the police, providing them with a description of the suspects and their vehicle. When a State Trooper in Peabody saw the car pass by, he called in the alert, and shortly after that, a cavalry of cop cars swooped in to make the arrests. Oops…