North Vancouver RCMP have arrested the man they say robbed a Lynn Valley bank last month as well as eight other banks across the Lower Mainland and Alberta.
On the afternoon of June 28, a suspect held up the CIBC at Lynn Valley Centre at gunpoint. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the man fled in a getaway car.
Witnesses from the scene provided a description of the car, which police were able to track down abandoned. Inside, RCMP forensics investigators lifted a fingerprint that was on file with Calgary Police Service’s database, along with a photo of the suspect.
By this point, police agencies around the Lower Mainland were beginning to compare notes on a string of robberies with a similar M.O. during the previous week.
Specifically, the same man was caught on surveillance cameras during a bank heist in Calgary on June 19. As police agencies shared the security images among them, they linked the suspect to other bank robberies in Abbotsford on June 21, Burnaby and Vancouver on June 23, New Westminster on June 27, two in Burnaby and Vancouver again on June 27, and West Vancouver on June 28.
“We became quite certain this was a prolific offender with not much intention on disguising himself. Once the picture showed up, we all just started sharing our investigation and determined it’s the same guy,” De Jong said. “That’s something people may not realize. Banks have very sophisticated security systems. … If you’re going to walk into a bank, you’re going to be videoed and photographed.”
By the time police caught up with him in Vancouver on June 30, the suspect was just boarding a bus back to Alberta.
“We, in conjunction with (VPD,) scooped him,” De Jong said.
Investigators aren’t saying whether or not the suspect had the gun and cash on him when he was picked up. Nobody was hurt in any of the alleged stickups, De Jong said.
The Crown has sworn one charge of robbery against 25-year-old Mikael Macek of no fixed address for the incident in North Vancouver. Macek is in custody until his next court appearance on Friday. In the meantime, it will be up to the police agencies to submit reports to the Crown for further charges, said De Jong, who praised the joint investigation by the six police departments.
