In 1972, John Wojtowicz attempted to rob a bank in Flatbush, New York with the help of Sal Naturile , who was killed at the end of the job. The pair held seven Chase Manhattan bank employees hostage for 14 hours. John was robbing the bank in an effort to finance his boyfriend Ernest Aron's sex-change operation. Aron died of AIDS in 1987.

The story of the robbery was made into the movie Dog Day Afternoon in 1975, starring Al Pacino as Wojtowicz. John Cazale, Pacino's co-star in The Godfather, played Naturile.