Man charged in armed bank robbery, snowmobile getaway in Alberta

A Ponoka man has been charged in connection with an armed robbery in Alix, Alta., that happened on Dec. 20.

The alleged robber entered the ATB Financial with a long-barrelled firearm and a machete, and got away on a snowmobile with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

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On Dec. 23, police identified a man in custody for an unrelated investigation at the Ponoka RCMP detachment as the robbery suspect.

On Dec. 24, Bashaw, Ponoka and Maskwacis RCMP obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s rural property east of Ponoka and searched it into the hours of Dec. 25, according to police.

“Evidence linking the suspect to the armed robbery was collected,” RCMP said in a news release on Sunday, Dec. 29.

Michael Allan Richter, 40, was charged with 10 criminal offences in relation to the armed robbery, including robbery with a firearm, two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a firearm while prohibited and two counts of failing to comply with a probation order.

At the time of his arrest, Richter was wanted on outstanding warrants for other matters, police said. Richter was remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear at Red Deer Provincial Court on Jan. 2, 2020.