Page 170 - Panic Button News Today

It was up on the underside of the desk. but it was a fairly long desk and the computer was all the way over to the left and it was almost all the way over to the right. so it wasnt just within arms reach. >> reporter: still, rick abbot never found any reason to use that panic button. that is until the night of march 18th. that night was unusual from the moment rick arrived at work. he learned his usual partner had called in sick. they couldnt find anyone else, so they paired him with a daytime g...

Pull it off without inside information? suspicion still surrounds the men on guard that night. night watchman rick abbot said while he doesnt know of anyone in the museum who would have knowingly tipped the criminals to the laxed security set-up, he admits it was a topic he and other guards spoke about auchb. >> we talked about in terms if the place got robbed or when it would get robbed. the security was very much a concern. we knew there were no alarms on the paintings. there was no alarms tha...

Different other than i didnt have any white hair then. and, you know, i had my berkley college tie-dye on. i did have the gardener security shirt on, but it was over my tie dye and i said okay, i know how this looks. it looks like i put these guard clothes on over my street clothes. >> here, rick makes another grave mistake. he steps away from the security desk and away from the panic button. his only way to contact the outside world. his only way to prevent what was about to happen. so i came o...

>> boring. yeah, sit around, walk around, basically. one guy would go up and start his rounds, and then when he came back, the other would get behind the desk and the other person would go up. >> on this night, things would be far from boring. during the night shift, there is always one guard manning the computer at the security desk by the side door. the employee entrance, which was the only way into the museum at night. that door was locked. so anyone who wanted to get into the museum would ha...

And ive seen a lot of people questioning well, what were they doing? they were probably waiting to see if we did press the panic button. they were probably waiting to see if the cops were going to show up. >> according to the f.b.i., nearly nine of every ten museum heists have an inside component. rick abbot, the guard who left the thieves in was interrogated for days. he also took lie detector tests. he was never charged with anything. and when we talked with him, he maintained he had nothing...

And he had no idea what was happening upstairs. all that he knew was that his museum was unguarded and about to be robbed. it all happened so fast, he never had a chance to hit the one panic button by the guard desk. he knew no one was coming to help. did the thieves know that as well? it appears they did. since they were in no rush to get out. >> the path is interesting. they took the guards, after they handcuffed them and taped them and brought them into the basement, about 24 minutes elapse...

College tie-dye on. i did have the gardener security shirt on, but it was over my tie dye and i said okay, i know how this looks. it looks like i put these guard clothes on over my street clothes. >> here, rick makes another grave mistake. he steps away from the security desk and away from the panic button. his only way to contact the outside world. his only way to prevent what was about to happen. so i came out from behind the desk and i gave him my drivers license and i gave him my security id...

Works of art, it became priority number one for investigators working the case. their goal has always been to return the stolen artwork to where it belongs. but even if they do one day, what may always haunt them is how the thieves knew the museum was so vulnerable. >> for 23 years, these empty frames have hung on the walls of the isabella stewart gardener museum. but they are more than just evidence of a remarkable crime. they are a sign of hope. place holders for when the paintings return. all...

>> you know, those things like a panic button at a bank. it was up on the underside of the desk. but it was a fairly long desk and the computer was all the way over to the left and it was almost all the way over to the right. so it wasnt just within arms reach. >> reporter: still, rick abbot never found any reason to use that panic button. that is until the night of march 18th. that night was unusual from the moment rick arrived at work. he learned his usual partner had called in sick. they coul...

Looked the way i looked. i dont look substantially different other than i didnt have any white hair then. and, you know, i had my berkley college tie-dye on. i did have the gardener security shirt on, but it was over my tie dye and i said okay, i know how this looks. it looks like i put these guard clothes on over my street clothes. >> here, rick makes another grave mistake. he steps away from the security desk and away from the panic button. his only way to contact the outside world. his only w...