A man dubbed the “Vaulter Bandit” for his practice of leaping over bank counters during robberies has been arrested in Switzerland.
The 53-year-old suspect was taken into custody by plainclothes officers while driving in Geneva on Tuesday afternoon.
At the time of his arrest, the French-American citizen was wanted on an international arrest warrant for 22 bank robberies committed in Toronto, York Region, Peel Region, Hamilton, Ottawa and Calgary over the last five years.
The warrant was issued after York Regional Police identified the suspect and determined that he was residing in France.
“We received some information that this guy would be in Geneva for several hours and so we just surveyed him and when it was the best moment to arrest him we arrested him,” Geneva Police Spokesperson Jean-Phillipe Brandt told CP24 on Wednesday. “It happened in a very peaceful way. It was a very discreet and very calm situation.
Police previously said that the first 14 of the Vaulter Bandit’s robberies occurred in the GTHA between Feb. 2010 and Feb. 2011 with the next four taking place in the Calgary area over a 10-day span in February, 2011.
In the early robberies, police said the suspect made a habit of hurling himself over bank counters and demanding money, earning his nickname in the process. The robberies, however, got more brazen and violent as time passed.
In the most recent robbery linked to the “Vaulter Bandit” in May, police said a man wearing a construction vest and hard hat entered a TD Bank branch on Dundas Street near Dixie Road in Mississauga, brandished a firearm and demanded money before pushing three staff members inside a vault and locking it. The suspect then allegedly told two female employees to "have a nice Mother's Day" before fleeing.
“The vaulter is dubbed that because of the way he initially did the robberies. He would enter banks, hop over the counter, grab money and head right back out. Over the course of time, though, the robberies changed and he would arrive at the banks as they were opening and take employees down to the vault (at gunpoint) and get money from there,” York Regional Police Const. Andy Pattenden told CP24 on Wednesday afternoon.
The Canadian Bankers Association had previously offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s capture. An official with the CBA said a reward is based on a conviction in the case. They are still trying to determine whether or not it was a tip from the public that led to the arrest.
Jeffrey James Shuman, 53, is currently in custody in Geneva and is expected to face extradition to Canada.
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