NOKAS robbery
Encyclopedia
NOKAS robbery is the commonly used name for the robbery of a Nokas Cash Handling
(NOKAS
) cash counting center in Kongensgate in Stavanger
, Norway, on 5 April 2004, at approximately 8am.
The robbers were equipped with bulletproof vest
s, helmet
s, ski masks, gloves and coveralls, and were armed with AG3s, MP5s
, Kalashnikov automatic rifles, M1 carbine
and a .45 ACP pistol. While the counting center was attacked, the parking lot exit from Stavanger Police HQ was blocked with a Volvo lorry, set on fire. Getaway cars were parked in Sørmarka outside Stavanger. A glass pane in the counting center was crushed by a sledgehammer
, battering ram and 113 shots fired with automatic weapons. Several of the employees managed to escape and at least seven robbers entered the counting center. Meanwhile, several of the robbers guard out by the Cathedral Square. Several shots were fired at the police. Police Lieutenant Arne Sigve Klungland was shot dead. The perpetrators escaped with 57.4 million kroner in service revenue, making it Norway's largest ever robbery. 51 million are still to be found.
The robbery is the basis for a movie titled Nokas, premiered on 1 October 2010.
The robbers get dressed for the robbery.
03.50 AM
The robbers meet at their first meeting place 13 km away from NOKAS.
05.10 AM
A few of the robbers stop at Rosenberg verft 5 km from NOKAS, because there is a patrol patrolling the streets.
07.10 AM
The robbers leave Rosenberg verft.
07.23 AM
The robbers meet at their last meeting place 200 m away from NOKAS.
07.57 AM
The robbers arrive outside the NOKAS building.
The robbers try to enter the NOKAS building through a window.
08.02 AM
The alarm goes off at the Stavanger
police department.
08.06 AM
The first police patrol arrives at the scene, and is met by several heavily armed robbers. The police are heavily undermanned for a long while. Just prior to the robbery the robbers had blocked the garage exit at the Stavanger police department with a burning truck.
08.08 AM
The robbers enter the building.
08.11 AM
A police officer is taken hostage.
08.12 AM
The shoot-out starts.
08.13 AM
A man in a yellow jacket is taken hostage.
08.14 AM
Police officer Arne Sigve Klungland is shot at by robber Kjell Alrich Schumann
.
08.17 AM
The robbers escape with the money in a getaway car.
While they were leaving, the robbers fired several shots with assault rifles, while the police officers only carried service pistols and revolvers. Shortly after, police officer Arne Sigve Klungland was found dead in his police command vehicle, killed by a shot to the head from the earlier shoot-out.
The robbers stop near the Car exchange site in Sørmarka.
08.30 AM
The three vehicles are set on fire in the parking lot at the Car exchange site in Sørmarka, south-west of Stavanger.
08.31 AM
The robbers get away in other cars.
, received the highest sentence of 21 years. In the final appeal on 19 January 2007, twelve of the thirteen charged were found guilty. The thirteenth, Thomas Thendrup, was acquitted by the jury. However, the acquittal
was overturned by the three judges presiding over the case, causing a huge controversy and a following public debate on the current justice system in Norway.
On 29 June 2007, the Norwegian Supreme Court strengthened the sentences of the convicted, adding a total of 27 years in prison.
Another robber claiming innocence for the robbery, Ikmet Kodzadziku, maintains that he was in Stavanger at the time but claims that he was closing a drug deal at that time. In the media, he stated that he "got the right sentence, but for the wrong crime."
The case is assumed to have cost the Norwegian
state 160 million NOK.
From 1994 to 2004 the Norwegian police fired approximately 79 shots; 48 of these were fired during the Nokas Robbery in 2004.
Norsk Kontantservice
Nokas Cash Handling is a Norwegian company offering management, control and distribution of cash to Norwegian banks. The company is owned 100% by Nokas AS and headquartered in Oslo...
(NOKAS
NOKAS
Nokas AS is a Norwegian security company established in 1987 as Vakt Service AS. The company is headquartered in Tonsberg . The largest shareholders is Orkla ASA and Wang Invest AS who are owned by Heine Wang, who is the company's CEO...
) cash counting center in Kongensgate in Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
, Norway, on 5 April 2004, at approximately 8am.
The robbers were equipped with bulletproof vest
Bulletproof vest
A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...
s, helmet
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
s, ski masks, gloves and coveralls, and were armed with AG3s, MP5s
Heckler & Koch MP5
The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
, Kalashnikov automatic rifles, M1 carbine
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
and a .45 ACP pistol. While the counting center was attacked, the parking lot exit from Stavanger Police HQ was blocked with a Volvo lorry, set on fire. Getaway cars were parked in Sørmarka outside Stavanger. A glass pane in the counting center was crushed by a sledgehammer
Sledgehammer
A sledgehammer is a tool consisting of a large, flat head attached to a lever . The head is typically made of metal. The sledgehammer can apply more impulse than other hammers, due to its large size. Along with the mallet, it shares the ability to distribute force over a wide area...
, battering ram and 113 shots fired with automatic weapons. Several of the employees managed to escape and at least seven robbers entered the counting center. Meanwhile, several of the robbers guard out by the Cathedral Square. Several shots were fired at the police. Police Lieutenant Arne Sigve Klungland was shot dead. The perpetrators escaped with 57.4 million kroner in service revenue, making it Norway's largest ever robbery. 51 million are still to be found.
The robbery is the basis for a movie titled Nokas, premiered on 1 October 2010.
Before the robbery
03.10 AMThe robbers get dressed for the robbery.
03.50 AM
The robbers meet at their first meeting place 13 km away from NOKAS.
05.10 AM
A few of the robbers stop at Rosenberg verft 5 km from NOKAS, because there is a patrol patrolling the streets.
07.10 AM
The robbers leave Rosenberg verft.
07.23 AM
The robbers meet at their last meeting place 200 m away from NOKAS.
07.57 AM
The robbers arrive outside the NOKAS building.
During the robbery
Approx. 07.58 AMThe robbers try to enter the NOKAS building through a window.
08.02 AM
The alarm goes off at the Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
police department.
08.06 AM
The first police patrol arrives at the scene, and is met by several heavily armed robbers. The police are heavily undermanned for a long while. Just prior to the robbery the robbers had blocked the garage exit at the Stavanger police department with a burning truck.
08.08 AM
The robbers enter the building.
08.11 AM
A police officer is taken hostage.
08.12 AM
The shoot-out starts.
08.13 AM
A man in a yellow jacket is taken hostage.
08.14 AM
Police officer Arne Sigve Klungland is shot at by robber Kjell Alrich Schumann
Kjell Alrich Schumann
Kjell Alrich Schumann is a Norwegian Army soldier convicted of killing a police officer during the NOKAS robbery.He confessed on September 27, 2006 that he killed police officer Arne Sigve Klungland during the NOKAS robbery....
.
08.17 AM
The robbers escape with the money in a getaway car.
While they were leaving, the robbers fired several shots with assault rifles, while the police officers only carried service pistols and revolvers. Shortly after, police officer Arne Sigve Klungland was found dead in his police command vehicle, killed by a shot to the head from the earlier shoot-out.
After the robbery
08.25 AMThe robbers stop near the Car exchange site in Sørmarka.
08.30 AM
The three vehicles are set on fire in the parking lot at the Car exchange site in Sørmarka, south-west of Stavanger.
08.31 AM
The robbers get away in other cars.
Trial and verdict
The thirteen men involved in the NOKAS robbery were convicted and sentenced to a total of 181 years in prison on 10 March 2006. The man whom many think was their leader, David ToskaDavid Toska
David Aleksander Toska was the alleged "mastermind" behind the "NOKAS robbery" in Stavanger on 5 April 2004, one of the most profiled criminal cases in modern Norwegian history. The robbery resulted in the killing of a police-officer, a very rare occurrence in Norway.Toska was born in Bergen and...
, received the highest sentence of 21 years. In the final appeal on 19 January 2007, twelve of the thirteen charged were found guilty. The thirteenth, Thomas Thendrup, was acquitted by the jury. However, the acquittal
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
was overturned by the three judges presiding over the case, causing a huge controversy and a following public debate on the current justice system in Norway.
On 29 June 2007, the Norwegian Supreme Court strengthened the sentences of the convicted, adding a total of 27 years in prison.
Another robber claiming innocence for the robbery, Ikmet Kodzadziku, maintains that he was in Stavanger at the time but claims that he was closing a drug deal at that time. In the media, he stated that he "got the right sentence, but for the wrong crime."
The case is assumed to have cost the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
state 160 million NOK.
From 1994 to 2004 the Norwegian police fired approximately 79 shots; 48 of these were fired during the Nokas Robbery in 2004.