Attila Ambrus was born in Transylvania, a region of Central Romania. After years of juvenile delinquency, he escaped to Budapest, Hungary.
1989: The Berlin Wall fell, and then the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain fell, too. Hungary and many Eastern European nations turned to capitalism. The transition was chaotic.
Ambrus earned money through illegally smuggling animal pelts and by digging graves.
He tried out for Hungary’s national hockey team. Though he had no talent for the sport, he showed tenacity. So they hired him as a backup goalie, a position that paid almost nothing. They also made him clubhouse janitor. He cleaned the ice with the zamboni.
His teammates nicknamed him the Panther from Csik, named after his home county. He called himself the Chicky Panther.
Ambrus was a ridiculously inept goalie.
And he was perpetually broke. But he wanted to impress his fiancee.
So he started robbing banks.
Actually, this first robbery took place at a post office. Then he graduated to banks, more post offices, and even travel agencies.
Ambrus carried out his criminal career for five years without being caught.
He was known to find liquid courage before each heist by drinking whiskey. Victims could smell it on his breath.
The media dubbed him the Whiskey Robber.
Nobody recognized him despite being on the hockey team. That was in part because he rarely played, wasn’t popular, and he wore a mask and hockey gear when on the ice.
During the Soviet Union era, such brazen criminal activity was unknown. But some Hungarians rooted for him. The Whiskey Robber became a national folk hero.
Authorities finally captured him in January 1999, and his hockey teammates were shocked to learn that the Chicky Panther was the Whiskey Robber.
Ambrus went to prison. He was a model prisoner. Within months, though, he escaped.
Instead of going on the lam to another country, Ambrus hid out in downtown Budapest. He went back to robbing banks. They caught him again.
The Whiskey Robber became such a folk hero that songs were written about him, and a flag was created in his honor. It flew over the hockey arena for years afterward.
He was released from prison in 2012.
Ambrus took up pottery while incarcerated. His Instagram feed features his many works in ceramics.
A Hungarian movie was made about him in 2017.
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