Nationality United States Citizenship American Subject Crime | Ethnicity Serbian Period 1937-present Children Pavle Stanimirovic | |
Born March 19, 1937 (age 80)
Yugoslavia ( 1937-03-19 ) Occupation Reformed criminal, writer, journalist and artist | ||
Vojislav Stanimirović (born March 19, 1937) is a Serbian journalist and one-time crime figure, most famous for his leading role in the The Vizcaya Heist. He immigrated to the United States in 1962. Vojislav Stanimirovic was also later involved with YACS and the Pink Panthers among Serbian mafia figures. He is the father of Pavle Stanimirovic.
The Vizcaya Heist
On March 22, 1971, three individuals from New York City raided the Villa Vizcaya and stole approximately $1,500,000 in art work and silver items, some of which were of historical value. This trio of reputed jewel thieves was arrested on March 25, 1971. The New York Police Department raided the luxurious Manhattan apartment of Vojislav Stanimirović and his wife Branka, and arrested them. The couple's accomplice, Aleksandar Karanović, was also arrested, and all three were charged with suspicion of stolen property and possession of a dangerous weapon.
From the Stanimirovics' apartment approximately $250,000 of the stolen goods was recovered. Sergeant Connolly stated that included in the theft was a silver bowl that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte and was virtually priceless. According to Sergeant Connolly, the three perpetrators had been under surveillance for four months for unrelated mega jewel burglaries that they had carried out in the Manhattan Diamond District. NYPD Captain Thomas Kissane said that the vast majority of the precious items stolen from the Vizcaya were not ever recovered.