This Week in Winchester History: Plane Crash and a Bank Robbery

This is a regular column with items drawn from past editions of the Winchester Star.

1911

Beach reopened

Sandy Beach opened for swimming this week. Last year, in 1910, it was closed because the state said it was not fit for swimming. Only children aged 15 and younger are allowed to swim in the water.

1961

Plane Crash

A Cessna 150 private plane flown by a Pennsylvania man was forced down on the 15th green of the . The pilot and one passenger were flying to Revere, but they were running low on fuel and the pilot decided he needed to land.

Originally the plane tried to land on the 10th green, but there were to many people there, so he went to the 15th. No one was injured in the crash.

Fire

The bath house at was destroyed by a fire.

Car Crashes

• Joseph Caputo, Jr., of Hillcrest Parkway, died when a sports car he was in lost control and crashed into a tree at the Route 28 rotary in Falmouth.
• Elizabeth Costello, a 21-year-old Winchester woman, who lived on Washington, died when her Volkswagen crashed into a car on 93 by Route 128 in Reading.

1986

Bank Robbery

Two men robbed the Washington Street branch of the at gunpoint and stole $15,000.

One of the men jumped over the counter, while the other, described as obese, pointed a gun at the employees.

said as many as four people were involved in Winchester's first bank robbery since March 22, 1980. The police recovered $10,000 after the holdup because that money was tainted with the explosion of dye packs. The officers also found a sawed off shotgun and a handgun used in the robbery.

All the information for this story came from the Winchester Star.