Attila Ambrus

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The native form of this personal name is Ambrus Attila. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Attila Ambrus
Ambrus in 2013
Born (1967-10-06) October 6, 1967 (age 56)
Fitod, Harghita County, Romania
NationalityHungarian
Other namesThe Whiskey Robber, The Panther from Csík
Titlebank robber

Attila Ambrus (born October 6, 1967), alias The Whiskey Robber, is a Hungarian former

A Viszkis directed by Nimród Antal
.

Life and career

Ambrus was born in a Székely Hungarian family in Fitod, a small village in eastern Transylvania, Romania, right outside Miercurea Ciuc (Csíkszereda).[1]

Ambrus had trouble with the law from a young age for committing petty thefts. In 1988, Ambrus illegally crossed Romania's borders by riding underneath a freight train and applied for political asylum and citizenship in Hungary, the latter of which he obtained in 1994.[1]

Ambrus made a living through a variety of odd jobs, including being a gravedigger and a pelt smuggler, after which he tried out for the professional hockey team

forints (about half a million US dollars).[1]

Ambrus became known as "The Whiskey Robber", because he was often seen drinking

whiskey at a nearby pub prior to the robbery. While he later carried a gun, Ambrus never harmed anyone in his robberies, and was famous for his outlandish disguises, for presenting female tellers with flowers prior to robberies, and for sending the police bottles of wine. Immensely popular at the time of his arrest on January 15, 1999, a flag honoring the Whiskey Robber was flown at the UTE stadium for years afterwards.[1]

Ambrus escaped from prison on July 10, 1999, using a rope made of shredded sheets, electric cords, and shoe laces. Nobody had ever escaped from that prison before. He evaded police custody for three months while living in a downtown Budapest apartment and was caught again after another robbery when police located his hideout after Ambrus accidentally left a piece of evidence behind at the crime scene.[1] Ambrus was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum security prison. He was released early on parole because of good behavior on January 31, 2012.[2]

Ambrus' accomplice on one of his earlier heists, Károly Antal (also a Romanian of Hungarian ethnicity), was caught at the Romanian-Hungarian border in 2004 and was sentenced to two and a half years of prison. His accomplice on most of his latter heists, Gábor Orbán, served an eight-year sentence in a medium security prison.[1]

While in prison Ambrus took up pottery and after being released from jail in 2012 he continued pottery production in his native country, Romania, in Miercurea Ciuc. He has been the subject of six songs.[clarification needed]

In other media

Promotion for A Viszkis in downtown Budapest

Ambrus was the subject of the award-winning book, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber (2004) by

Black List of best unproduced scripts of the year.[4]

His story was adapted to film by Nimród Antal; the film, titled The Whiskey Bandit (Hungarian: A Viszkis), was released in November 2017.[5]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-316-01073-1
    .
  2. ^ "Hajnalban szabadult Ambrus Attila, a viszkis rabló". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). 31 January 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  3. ^ MOTOKO RICH (July 5, 2006). "Authors Take a New Approach to Audio Books: Do It Yourself". The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  4. ^ Jessica Anthony (July 10, 2009). "The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: The Rumpus Interview with Julian Rubinstein". The Rumpus. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  5. ^ Bálint, Kovács (21 August 2017). "Kirúgja az ember alól a széket A Viszkis első előzetese".

External links

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