Toronto police seek serial bank robber who flees on subway system
Posted May 13, 2015 12:29 pm.
Last Updated May 13, 2015 12:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto police and the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) are teaming up to try and collar a serial bank robber dubbed the Tunnel-rat bandit because he often escapes through Toronto’s subway system.
The CBA announced a reward of up to $10,000 Wednesday for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Police believe the suspect, described as a white man in his 30s, is responsible for eight Toronto bank robberies between January and March 2015.
In six of those robberies, the suspect escaped via subway, Insp. Mike Earl said at a morning news conference.
Two of the robberies happened on streets not accessible to the subway, he added.
“In each one of these occurrences the individual would enter the bank, approach a teller, present a note indicating that he was armed, and make a demand for money,” Earl explained.
Subway surveillance video shows the suspect with his face covered with a scarf coupled with a tuque or hat and hoodie, “making it very difficult to make out his total identity,” Earl said.
Police say he’s between five-foot-nine and six feet tall and has a narrow nose and dark hair.
He also wears a fake beard at times.
“We are looking for the public’s assistance in any information that can point us to the identity of this individual.”
Police are also trying to solve several other bank robberies unrelated to the Tunnel-rat bandit.
A black male called the Countdown bandit is believed responsible for four outstanding robberies and police are seeking two Asian males in an April bank robbery on Leslie Street.
