Five men have been arrested in connection with a “highly sophisticated” bank robbery in Burlington, Halton Regional Police say.
The men are alleged to have stolen about $300,000 in cash and jewelry from security deposit boxes within the vault of a TD Bank on Fairview Street at Walkers Line at around 1 a.m. Monday.
According to police, the suspects broke into an abandoned office space above the bank several days before the robbery and were able to gain entrance to the vault by using “heavy tools” to break through a concrete floor.
“They used sophisticated electrical equipment to bypass the bank’s alarm system and then forced entry into the vault of the bank through a two-foot thick reinforced concrete ceiling, where they began removing money and valuables,” Deputy Chief Andrew Fletcher told reporters Wednesday morning. “There is no question that a great deal of effort and planning went into this offence and based on the level of sophistication the individuals involved are clearly not amateurs.”
Officers responding to an alarm call arrested the suspects in a field a short distance from the bank.
According to Fletcher, the suspects were found to be in possession of several radios and two duffel bags filled with money and jewelry that was later determined to have been taken from the bank.
Though the suspects are not known to Halton police, Fletcher said detectives are investigating the possibility that they may have committed similar crimes in other jurisdictions.
“I can’t get into specific details, but we are working with other police agencies in Ontario and elsewhere to determine the magnitude of the crimes that these individuals are responsible for,” Fletcher said.
John Hickey, 44, of Caledon, Aldo Simoni, 31, of Scarborough, Alexander Papic, 48, of no fixed address, Mentor Vishjay, 36, of no fixed address and Besim Rugova, 21, of no fixed address are all charged with break and enter and possession of break-in instruments.
The suspects appeared in court Monday and have been remanded into custody until Thursday.
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