An inmate who escaped from a correctional facility in Dartmouth is facing new charges related to a bank robbery and restaurant dine-and-dash — allegedly committed while on the lam.
On Wednesday, Kings District RCMP said they had charged Ryan Taylor Wilband, 43, with robbery, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of property obtained by crime and theft under $5,000.
Wilband, who is originally from Greenwood, N.S., had escaped from the Central Nova Correctional Facility on Monday afternoon, according to Halifax Regional Police.
He was on remand at the facility for several charges, stemming from two bank robberies in May.
On Tuesday, RCMP responded to a report of an armed robbery at a bank on Central Avenue in Greenwood.
RCMP tell Global News the suspect had entered the bank armed with a knife and demanded cash from an employee. Once the suspect got the cash, he ran away.
RCMP say while investigating the robbery, officers discovered the same suspect recently been at a restaurant just outside the mall where the bank was located. The restaurant reported the suspect had eaten, but didn’t pay for his food.
About an hour later, officers arrested Wilband on Laurentian Place in nearby Kingston, N.S. RCMP say Wilband was on the street at the time, and the arrest happened without incident.
Wilband appeared in Kentville Provincial Court Wednesday and has been remanded into custody again. He is scheduled for court again on Aug. 31.
RCMP could not say how Wilband travelled from Dartmouth to Greenwood, which is about an hour-and-a-half drive away.
The Department of Justice is investigating the escape.