Ontario police say they have made four arrests and are seeking a fifth man in connection to a string of bank robberies that occurred across the province over a 16-month period.
OPP said the arrests were made as the result of Project Opal, a multi-jurisdictional task force that looked into the robberies, which happened between Dec. 8, 2022, and March 16, 2024.
The incidents occurred in smaller locales such as Arkona, Feversham and Arnprior — as well as larger towns and cities like Belleville, Newmarket, Pickering and Niagara Falls.
The thieves made off with more than $2 million in reported losses, which has yet to be recovered, according to police.
“The similarities among these robberies were clear. Each involved two to three individuals entering a bank before close,” OPP Det. Insp. Brian McDermott told reporters on Tuesday morning.
“The occupants were controlled through the use of firearms to threaten and intimidate. Disguises were used to conceal the suspect’s faces and gloves were worn to prevent fingerprints.”
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He said that in a number of cases, people who were in the banks at the time were tied up and “left terrified.”
The OPP says that the similarities in the cases quickly led to police in a number of jurisdictions to recognize that they were likely connected.
“Each police service began thoroughly investigating the circumstances of their respective incident,” OPP Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns said.
“They quickly determined that these occurrences were not isolated events, rather, these interconnected robberies pointed to a larger, more coordinated operation.”
Police say that three of the suspects were arrested on June 21 in Field, Ont., as they were allegedly about to attempt a ninth heist in the small community located about an hour east of Sudbury.
Officers “the occupants of the bank were safe before conducting the arrest,” McDermott said.
Police said that a fourth member of the heist crew was arrested in Vaughan on Sept. 25, while a fifth suspect, Akeem Williams, 32, of Ajax, remains at large.
“If you see him, do not approach him,” McDermott warned of the outstanding suspect who is wanted on a number of robbery and weapons charges.
The four men who have already been captured and charged hail from Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa and Cobourg and range in age from 24 to 32.
In total, the five men are facing 53 charges including robbery with violence, forcible confinement and point firearm.
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