A convicted killer from Edmonton accused of doing thousands of dollars of damage to a Vancouver bank last month is back in custody, after allegedly smashing nearly two dozen windows at the same financial institution.
Curtis George McCallum, 47, who was convicted of manslaughter in the 2006 killing of his aunt, was arrested Wednesday night after allegedly smashing an estimated 20 window panes at the TD bank branch at Hastings and Abbott streets.
Witness Scott Taylor told Global News he was coming out of the Nester’s Market when he saw the incident happen.
“All of a sudden, a guy comes out, two bricks in each hand, just wings them at the window, smashes them — it sounds like a gunshot going off,” he told Global News.
“It was startling and initially I thought he’s robbing the bank … then when he got through the window, he picked up the rocks again and did it again.”
Taylor said he didn’t know what to do in the situation. He said he told the man to stop, but decided against physically intervening and opted to film the incident instead, so that there would be evidence.
“He proceeded to smash every window along the side,” he said.
“It was very upsetting, I was pretty angry about the whole thing, but also depressed. What do you do about this? We see so many of these things happen all the time — and to see this happen in Gastown, it’s already a place that’s under stress, it has problems and this doesn’t help.”
Each windowpane at the branch is worth an estimated $10,000. Police responded and arrested him at the scene.
It is the second time in as many months McCallum is accused of smashing windows at the bank branch.
On Sept. 12, he was arrested after allegedly using a brick to smash multiple, causing nearly $70,000 in damage.
McCallum was charged with mischief to property over $5,000 in that incident.
Vancouver police say he has now been charged with a second count of the same offence, and that he remains in custody pending a Friday court appearance.