Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber: The True Story of Leslie Ibsen Rogge, One of the FBI's Most Elusive Criminals

by Dane Batty

What do you think of when you hear about someone on the FBI's Most Wanted List? Hardened criminals, without morals or any sense of right and wrong, ready to solve a dispute with a gun, right? But what if things weren't that cut and dried? What if the nice guy you hired to hook up your cable was Number Seven on the FBI's list? Les Rogge looks and acts just like your next-door neighbor. Yet in twenty years he may have robbed more banks than Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde put together—without firing a shot. Caught and put in jail twice, he escaped—and went sailing around the Caribbean with his wife and dog! In Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber: The True Story of Leslie Ibsen Rogge, One of the FBI's Most Elusive Criminals, Les details his adventures from Alaska to Antigua, the Chesapeake to Cancun, in everything from a converted shrimp boat at an abandoned marina to an R.V. at a Mayan ruin—and hundreds of vehicles and venues in between. But it all came to a halt when a fourteen-year-old in Guatemala forced him to turn himself in. Few felons have been as forthcoming about their successes, failures, robbery techniques, passion for sailing vessels... and love for his wife.

Genres: True Crime, Biography

218 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2010

About the author

Dane Batty is a biographer and designer and holds an MBA from George Fox University. He lives near Portland, Oregon with his family.

He is the author of two biographies, Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber & Heist and High.

Reviews

[Carol Bridgestock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working for the police force for 17 years it was nice to read a book from 'the otherside'. Dane - you did an excellent job! Well done! Terrific read.

[Evangeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before I began reading Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber, I read what other reviewers were saying about it. Many of them were effusive about how they felt sympathy for Leslie after reading the book. After completing the book, I found that I couldn't feel the same way. I'll expound more about that, but first, let me do justice to the stories contained in the book.

It's not about the way the stories were told. In fact, the stories is highly entertaining and fascinating. It's not often you get to read of the techniques a robber use to rob a bank of thousands of dollars. And without even firing a single shot! That is quite a feat although I can't really believe that Leslie would not resort to violence if bank staff had alerted the police while he was in the midst of robbing. I can't buy his "I'd just walk away", not after reading his criminal exploits. The stories in Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber are some of the most interesting stories I've ever read in non-fiction books. Leslie gives a no holds barred look into the lifestyle of a serial bank robber. He details the tactics he used when robbing banks, and one thing I'm sure is that I hope that a wannabe robber doesn't pick up this book and improvise on the tactics for his own usage!

In Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber, all is done to ensure that readers will have a measure of sympathy towards Leslie. This and the "gentleman" title of the book is a strong negative point for me. I can never understand how Leslie can be considered a gentleman bank robber. He preyed on female bank officers. How does that make him gentlemanly? Women are more easily frightened than man, and I can just imagine the trauma his victims went through. I could also not feel a teeny bit of sympathy for him because he robbed to obtain easy money. There's nothing respectable about that. Disabled people beg by the roadside to earn honest money. Leslie, as a person who isn't disabled, should feel ashamed of himself for not wanting to work hard to provide for himself the good lifestyle he enjoyed.

At the conclusion of the book, I couldn't help but feel pity. I pitied Leslie that he isn't sorry for the atrocities of his so-called harmless crimes. How hard can a criminal be to defend himself on the basis that he did not use violence? I pitied his victims. The shock and fear they must have felt is enough to make a gentlemanly man feel sorry. I pitied his family. Up to now, I still cannot figure how they can be accepting of his acts. I know that condemnation from their part would lead him to nowhere, but how his wife could live with the fact that her husband hurt other women indirectly is beyond me.

I don't know much about the laws of United States, but I couldn't help wondering why those who knew what he was doing could not be brought to court for perverting the course of justice. I know things aren't that simple, but if you know your husband or family member or friend is robbing banks, and you intentionally keep that a secret, aren't you aiding and abetting him? What happened to their consciences? Did Leslie hold such sway and influence over them that they were willing to protect a criminal who was no. 7 on the FBI's Most Wanted List?

Do I regret reading Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber? No. Yet, reading it has left behind an unpleasant taste. If Leslie is released today, would he continue the criminal lifestyle? After reading the unrepentant overtones in the book, I'm not sure that he wouldn't. I hope and wish that no one is inspired to go on robbing sprees after reading this book. The book sure does make the criminal lifestyle sound thrilling and fun. I am willing to forgo reading a book glamorizing a robber's life since the last thing we need is more robbers because of one entertaining book written mostly by an ungentlemanly robber who used ingenuity.

[JudithAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Leslie Rogge, the uncle of the author, who robbed many banks during his criminal career and evaded the FBI for many years.

A small part of the book is devoted to his early years and his for few bank robberies. The book decribes in detail how he went about robbing banks – always dressed to the nines and at his most politest. While he had a gun (that he would show, but never used) he was always sorry for the employees that had to go through the ordeal of the robbery and in some cases, may have got fired because of it.

Then there is a large part where Leslie has a boat and travels around with his girlfriend and her little boy.The FBI comes closer every time but his eventual arrest takes longer than you’d expect. Oh, and he did escape from prison a few times, too.

I liked Leslie and his clever ways. Everyone likes Leslie, apparently, and that’s how he managed to have a wonderful life outside prison (and to be assisted in escaping prison). For instance, he managed to talk the police into destroying evidence (it sounded like a very logical thing to do, in this particular case), as a result of which he couldn’t be convicted. How about that?

On the other hand, while the book started off really interesting, I found the middle bit boring. Leslie buys cars, later boats, and we get details on makes and how much work he needed to do on them. Then he and his girlfriend set off by boat, meet people on the way, etc. The ending, with the FBI hot on his tail, made a good read again.

The book was a chronological story about Lesle’s life but there wasn’t much reflection. I would have liked to know what his justification was for robbing banks, what he thought of being in prison, about leaving his two children (with his previous wife, who doesn’t grant him access). Also, more general, I would have liked to get an idea of what Leslie actually thought of all of his adventures.

The book doesn’t glorify crime but it doesn’t condemn it either. It evokes a good chuckle about Leslie’s criminal antics but not everyone may approve of this.

In conclusion, the book is a mixed experience for me – some of it was good fun to read, some I found rather boring, and I felt I missed some self-reflection.

[Aaron Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought the book after reading the first chapter, expecting the rest of the book to be like... the first chapter. But it wasn't, we only get more detail on one or two other bank robberies. Most of the rest are just referenced, but we don't get a lot of detail, like "I got 87,000 from that one..." .

Most of the story is about his adventures while on the run, which is fine - it just isn't what I was expecting.

The stories of people he met and adventures they had while on the run are really entertaining though, especially the boating stories. I would have liked to hear more about specific bank robberies though, those are fun to read about.

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and then some

This is the kind of true crime story that you seldom get to read since it is essentially written by the perp himself, and perps usually don't bother putting their tale to print because convicted felons by law can't benefit financially from their stories.

I say "essentially" since onetime top ten most wanted criminal, "gentleman" bank robber Leslie Ibsen Rogge's writings have been organized, edited and annotated by his--let's face it--adoring nephew Dane Batty. Batty writes an intro, and comes on page from time to time to give some information or to set a scene amidst the fascinating narrative written by Rogge. I read the book in two settings. More devoted true crime readers will stay up until two in the morning and do it in one setting!

So here we have a guy who has several gifts. Obviously he has the gift of gab and is really a first class con artist as he proves again and again by talking people into doing things they normally would never do. Rogge is especially good at negotiating "deals" with cars, boats, house trailers--anything that can be traded or resold. He talks one idiot into helping him escape for a promise of $50,000 that Rogge says he has buried in California and will send to him (right). He talks his way across borders and out of scrapes and into the hearts of strangers. But he saves his best spiel for bank managers--always female, by the way, since Rogge realized (correctly) that they are less likely to feel the urge to play hero and try to stop the robbery in progress. His MO was to call ahead and arrange a meeting with the bank manager. He would arrive in a nice neat suit and tie with a fancy briefcase, sit down, take out a robbery note and hand it to the manager. He would say something like "don't turn this into a homicide" and part his suit coat enough to show a gun handle. He would set a police scanner on the desk and advise against tripping any alarms under the threat of getting shot. Amazingly enough this worked almost thirty times to the tune of over $2-million.

Another of Rogge's gifts is that of the consummate handyman. He's the kind of guy who can figure out how to operate or fix just about anything mechanical or electrical. He taught himself how to hot wire cars and drive them when he was just a kid. Later apparently taught himself how to fly airplanes and sail sailboats. He managed to fix boat and car engines, even airplane and one helicopter engine with no formal training. Too bad he didn't just concentrate on using that one skill. Actually he does, near the end of the book, while on the run in Guatemala. He becomes "Mr. Fix It" in the ex-pat gringo community in Antigua, where he and his common law wife Judy are living an idyllic life. At this point one begins to feel real sympathy for Rogge. He has given up robbing banks and is ripping off no one because in such a tight knit ex-pat community everybody knows everybody and you can't afford to get a bad rep.

A third Rogge gift is just pure ballsyness. He literally has the nerves of a burglar. In a sense his bank robberies were more con jobs and burglaries than holdups. He conned his way inside, had what he wanted put in bags and he carried it out. The key was his very careful casing of the banks and his careful planning of how to get away. He always had at least two vehicles for the escape. One was the getaway car (usually stolen), which he and his sometimes accomplice would quickly abandon for the second vehicle which might be an SUV, a motor home, a boat or even an airplane. He would listen on the police scanner (which he had practiced listening to days before the robbery) to know just what the police were up too, when the alarm had sounded and where the police thought he was going.

Finally Rogge had great natural social skills. He knew how to make people like him and trust him. Nobody ever turned him in, not even for the $25,000 reward money. Friends sent him money when he was in need and helped him out when he was on the run, no questions asked. Les Rogge is the classic example of a criminal who could have been a great success in life pursuing any one of a number of other careers.

Another of the ironies of his life is that he often got into trouble for his generosity. Once he befriended an out-of-work hitchhiker who went on to steal his money and his car. And friends would sometimes inadvertently help the FBI reconnect to his trail. In the final insult, he helps a kid in Guatemala set up his computer connection only to have the kid spot him on the Internet as one of America's Most Wanted. The kid clicks on a site, the FBI is alerted and the kid tells all he knows and not long after Rogge (in order to save his beloved Judy from an aiding and abetting charge) turns himself in.

This is not your polished Ann Rule or Edward Humes true crime sort of tale, but for all that it is just as interesting as something from the masters of the genre. Dane Batty has done a great (if somewhat amateurish) job of allowing his uncle to present himself in a way that turns his first-person escapades into a rounded tale of human strength and weakness, of a life well and poorly spent, about a man part hero and part villain. The only weakness in the book is what is missing. Relying almost entirely on Rogge's recounting of events ensures that the deeper, darker side of his life reminds untold.

--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read following Les Rogge's exploits into bank robbing. Bane builds his uncle up to be a very likeable and resourceful character. It is hard not to root for Les as he is running from the FBI. Unfortunately for Les the fun ends when he gives himself up to the FBI. Hopefully when Les gets out in 2047 he will continue this amazing story. I would love to hear how the story ends.

I won this book through a GoodReads giveaway.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book as a memoir. If you are looking for detailed accounts of the crimes this book isn't that. If you want to read about the lifetime of a criminal this is a good book. While I can't share the author's view on his uncle, I can understand how a boy can admire an unusual relative. I received a copy thru Goodreads First Reads.

[rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining account of a very successful bank robber who was on the run throughout the 70's, 80's, and 90's. I blew through this in an afternoon on vacation and enjoyed it just as if I'd gone to see an action movie or something similar. Highly enjoyable, but not particularly lasting.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this through Goodreads. This author did an excellent job of telling a fascinating story, that was very entertaining. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from Dane Batty.

[Carol K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book which I won on Goodreads was an interesting and enjoyable read...I always like real life stories, I liked the inclusion of input from family and friends in addition to the subject.

[David1963-Amazonprime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dane Batty's portrayal is criminal !!

First of all, just poor writing skills by author.
And, constantly glamorizing his relative this thief, whom is morally bereft, caused so much harm and grief to so many people. The author should experience being a victim of burglary!

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dane Batty is the Nephew of Leslie Ibsen Rogge. Dane Batty collected up the letters written to his Mother by Leslie Ibsen Rogge for this book. Leslie Rogge was doing time for robbing thirty banks over a span of twenty years when he wrote the letters.
Leslie Rogge is very straight forward about trying to keep ahead of the FBI and how he got away with the robberies.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for the book. All I could think about while reading is why is he robbing banks and stealing cars.Why didn't he get a job, instead of taking from others. The book made him out to be a smug thug.