A serial bank robber whose record stretches back more than two decades has been sent to jail for three and a half years after committing his 24th robbery.
Karl Eugene Decker, 45, walked into the Scotiabank at 1500 Marine Drive in North Vancouver last July and demanded cash from the teller, saying "This is a robbery. Give me all your money."
Decker didn't wear a mask, produce a weapon or threaten any violence, but made off with about $4,200 from two tills. He then took off, but not before staff took down the licence plate and description of his getaway car - a blue Jeep that turned out to be stolen.
RCMP rushed to the scene and radioed the information to neighbouring jurisdictions. About 25 minutes later, a Vancouver patrol car spotted the Jeep on Kingsway near 12th Avenue. The officer pulled the man over and ordered him to the ground at gunpoint. A search of the Jeep turned up the stolen cash.
Decker already has an extensive history of bank robbery stretching back to 1993 with 23 previous charges connected to sprees in Toronto, Ottawa, Gatineau and Vancouver.
He is a heroin addict who has spent almost all of his adult life in jail. He was on parole for robberies committed in Ontario and Quebec and was the subject of a Canada-wide warrant for walking away from a Vancouver halfway house when he pulled off the latest heist.
Judge Carol Baird Ellan sentenced him to three and a half years in jail after giving him credit for almost seven months that he has spent in custody since his arrest.
Crown counsel Lisa Falloon had asked for a sentence of between five and six years.
