A 29-year-old Jasper man is facing charges after a bank was robbed and a cable van stolen in the western Alberta town. Around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, Jasper RCMP received a high priority call for a robbery in progress at the TD Bank on Patricia Street.
Police were told a suspect had handed a note to the bank teller stating that this was a robbery and to hand over all the cash in the till. He had fled with an unknown amount of cash by the time police arrived.
A short while later, police were called to a report of the theft of vehicle a few blocks east of the bank on Elm Avenue. Mounties said a Shaw Cable employee was working behind the Jasper Municipal Library when a man ran up to his van and jumped in it.
Police said the Shaw employee tried to intervene, but the suspect sped away, damaging an electrical box behind the library at the same time.
Police said they believed the same suspect was behind the robbery and carjacking. Jasper RCMP officers forwarded the description to RCMP in Hinton, which is about 80 kilometres east of Jasper.
An hour later, police in Hinton spotted the van and conducted a “high risk” traffic stop. The man driving the van co-operated and was taken into custody without incident, police said.
Mauro Parker,29, of Jasper, was charged with robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, mischief under $5,000, dangerous driving and breach of an undertaking.
Parker remains in police custody and is scheduled to appear at the Jasper Provincial Court on Thursday.
Jasper is 350 kilometres west of Edmonton in Jasper National Park.
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