CRIME: Record Haul

Over Reno's police radio one afternoon last week came a routine alarm: "Housebreak at Mt. Rose and Forest." Within minutes, the cops were pulling up at a massive, castlelike mansion owned by La Verne Redfield, 54, an obscure stock and real-estate operator who was locally known to be wealthy and somewhat eccentric. Events quickly proved that he was all of that and then some.

Redfield led the police to a second-floor bedroom closet and announced that a 400-lb. safe was gone. In it, said Redfield, were $250,000 in cash, about $100,000 worth of jewelry and $2,000,000 in negotiable securities. Still in the closet was a battered suitcase that the thieves had missed. While the cops' eyes popped, Redfield opened it and riffled through another $1,000,000 worth of securities. "Guess it's all there," he said.

If Redfield's story is true, it was probably the biggest robbery of all time.

The thieves apparently entered through a back door, tossed a ham hock from the refrigerator to a watchdog (he was still gnawing contentedly when the police arrived), greased the bottom of the safe with a cake of soap and dragged it away. The money included two $10,000 and 200 $1,000 bills. At week's end, the cops were baffled.

Redfield turned out to be an Idaho native who made most of his money in Los Angeles oil stocks, moved in 1935 to Reno, where he lives parsimoniously except for frequent flings at roulette. He does his own shopping with a market basket, dresses in faded blue jeans and a lumberjack shirt.

"All this publicity is amazing," he told reporters. "I can't understand all the fuss over a little thing like this." He refused to tell them the name of his dog, called the question "an intrusion of the dog's privacy." Noting that he still had the salvaged $1,000,000, Redfield added: "Just say that I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me."