VETERAN BANK ROBBER SUSPECTED IN CRIME

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993                   TAG: 9301240051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH                                LENGTH: Short
VETERAN BANK ROBBER SUSPECTED IN CRIME
A 73-year-old bank robber who took part in a notorious 1959 gun battle with 200 police officers is suspected of striking again last fall, authorities said.
Joseph Gaito was arraigned Friday on bank robbery charges after employees of the downtown Pittsburgh Equibank identified him in police photos, authorities said.
Gaito was one of the "Chicken Hill Bandits" who stole $27,000 from a bank on July 23, 1959. After a chase, Gaito and an accomplice were cornered by city, suburban and state police and FBI agents on Chicken Hill, a tree-covered ridge.
Gunfire lasted for an hour until Gaito, who was shot in the hip, and his unharmed accomplice surrendered. Two police officers were wounded.
Gaito served 17 years in prison before his parole in 1976. In 1987, he was convicted of burglary and conspiracy in a plot to steal $200,000 in coins. He said he was paroled three years ago in that case.
He denied any role in the Nov. 10 bank robbery in which the robber got tellers to hand over cash by threatening to detonate a bomb.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB