shawn99
Feb 7th, 2009, 08:11 AM
They have close to 3 million in those trucks? G** DAMN. This is clearly an inside job, the guards are gona take a leave of absence and you'll see 'em chilling in Tahiti
Thieves crack electronic keypads to steal a 'significant amount' while guards in bank
Feb 07, 2009 04:30 AM
NICK AVELING
STAFF REPORTER
The armoured truck's guards were inside, feeding cash into the Richmond Hill bank's three ATMs. The thieves were outside, making quick work of the electronic keypad designed to keep them from entering the truck.
By the time the guards came back outside a short while later, the truck's back door was open and a "significant amount of money" was missing.
York Regional Police Det. Sgt. John Sheldon wouldn't comment on how much was stolen from the Garda Armoured Car Services truck, which was robbed outside an RBC bank on Yonge St. north of Stouffville Rd. shortly before 10:30 p.m. Thursday. He said it was "significantly less" than the $3 million reported by other media.
As for exactly how it was taken, Sheldon said the truck was "electronically opened."
"You have to press a keypad to get in," a Garda employee told the Star yesterday. "And inside the truck there's a safe, so you basically have to open two doors. The actual physical cash we put in the safe."
The employee said the safe is also protected by a keypad code, and that the number of guards in the truck depends on the amount they're protecting. "There can be two, and sometimes three to four."
Garda spokesperson John Gavaghan said his company was co-operating with police. He wouldn't comment on the truck's security features or his company's drop-off procedures.
Garda is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the recovery of the funds and the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
As of yesterday afternoon, police had no suspect or vehicle descriptions. Sheldon wasn't sure how many suspects might be involved.
The bank is located on a busy stretch of Yonge St., just across the street from a bar and down the road from a fast-food restaurant. Police are seeking the help of bar patrons, passing motorists and anyone else who might have information.
"We are extracting all the evidence that we can, video and otherwise," Sheldon told a news conference yesterday at the scene of the crime.
He said the guards themselves, as well as those affiliated with the bank, are considered "persons of interest."
"The two guards who were in the truck have fully co-operated with us," he said.
Gavaghan said no disciplinary action had been taken against them.
"That's what the investigation will ultimately determine," he said.
He said it's the first time a Garda truck has been robbed in the GTA.
But it's not the first time Toronto's armoured trucks have been targeted by thieves.
In 1995, a team of bandits pulled off what might still be the biggest heist in Toronto history, when they robbed $3.1 million and a cache of diamonds from a Loomis armoured car at gunpoint.
And in early 2007, two Group 4 Securicor trucks were also robbed at gunpoint.
No weapons were seen in Thursday's theft.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7241, or to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477
Thieves crack electronic keypads to steal a 'significant amount' while guards in bank
Feb 07, 2009 04:30 AM
NICK AVELING
STAFF REPORTER
The armoured truck's guards were inside, feeding cash into the Richmond Hill bank's three ATMs. The thieves were outside, making quick work of the electronic keypad designed to keep them from entering the truck.
By the time the guards came back outside a short while later, the truck's back door was open and a "significant amount of money" was missing.
York Regional Police Det. Sgt. John Sheldon wouldn't comment on how much was stolen from the Garda Armoured Car Services truck, which was robbed outside an RBC bank on Yonge St. north of Stouffville Rd. shortly before 10:30 p.m. Thursday. He said it was "significantly less" than the $3 million reported by other media.
As for exactly how it was taken, Sheldon said the truck was "electronically opened."
"You have to press a keypad to get in," a Garda employee told the Star yesterday. "And inside the truck there's a safe, so you basically have to open two doors. The actual physical cash we put in the safe."
The employee said the safe is also protected by a keypad code, and that the number of guards in the truck depends on the amount they're protecting. "There can be two, and sometimes three to four."
Garda spokesperson John Gavaghan said his company was co-operating with police. He wouldn't comment on the truck's security features or his company's drop-off procedures.
Garda is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the recovery of the funds and the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
As of yesterday afternoon, police had no suspect or vehicle descriptions. Sheldon wasn't sure how many suspects might be involved.
The bank is located on a busy stretch of Yonge St., just across the street from a bar and down the road from a fast-food restaurant. Police are seeking the help of bar patrons, passing motorists and anyone else who might have information.
"We are extracting all the evidence that we can, video and otherwise," Sheldon told a news conference yesterday at the scene of the crime.
He said the guards themselves, as well as those affiliated with the bank, are considered "persons of interest."
"The two guards who were in the truck have fully co-operated with us," he said.
Gavaghan said no disciplinary action had been taken against them.
"That's what the investigation will ultimately determine," he said.
He said it's the first time a Garda truck has been robbed in the GTA.
But it's not the first time Toronto's armoured trucks have been targeted by thieves.
In 1995, a team of bandits pulled off what might still be the biggest heist in Toronto history, when they robbed $3.1 million and a cache of diamonds from a Loomis armoured car at gunpoint.
And in early 2007, two Group 4 Securicor trucks were also robbed at gunpoint.
No weapons were seen in Thursday's theft.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7241, or to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477