Lasse

Lasse is a nineteen-year-old accomplice in the radio-store break-in at Islandstorget. He provides the older, licensed driver among the burglars, but his role in handling the stolen goods is limited: the job itself mattered more to the group than deciding what to do with its proceeds.

Identity and Background

Lasse is nineteen and works at LM Eriksson in Ulvsunda, sorting metal parts. Unlike the sixteen-year-old Tommy and Robban, he has a driver’s license and owns a white Saab-74. Tommy’s mother describes him as a little slow; the account offers no further background or explanation, leaving this characterization as part of how the others assess his reliability.

The Break-In and Its Spoils

Lasse takes part with Tommy and Robban in breaking into the radio store at Islandstorget. Before the burglary, they alter the Saab’s license plates with a marker. No one sees the getaway car, and the police investigation has no trace of the perpetrators or even a description of the vehicle.

The three hide the goods in an unused shelter room across from the basement storage area where they meet. They remove the chain with metal cutters and put a new lock on the room. Although they have secured the haul, they do not know what to do with most of it; the burglary itself had been the goal. Lasse sells one cassette to a friend at work for two hundred, but that is the only sale mentioned. The group decides to keep the goods out of sight and not let Lasse handle further selling, reflecting their doubts about his judgment rather than any failure of the break-in itself.

Later Appearance

Two weeks after the burglary, the police have other matters occupying them. When Lasse comes to Tommy’s home with Robban around half past five, he appears nervous, sucking on his lips, while Tommy sits back in an armchair looking unconcerned. Robban grins and thumps Lasse on the back, explaining that Lasse needs another tape. Asked how it happened, Lasse leans his tall body forward, folding at the middle like a jackknife, before Tommy puts away the magazine and meets his gaze. The brief encounter returns attention to the practical business of the stolen goods and to Lasse’s uneasy position within the group.