A suspect wanted in relation to the robbery of an 89-year-old woman earlier this month outside of an Abbotsford bank was arrested Monday night.
Nathaniel Albert Landriault, 25, was taken into custody in the area of Maclure Road and Trethewey Street, and he was charged yesterday with one count of robbery.
Abbotsford Police Const. Ian MacDonald said the arrest came as a result of “a couple of dozen” tips about the man’s identity after police released photos of him yesterday.
The man was wanted in connection to a robbery that occurred at about 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 14 outside a bank in the 32700 block of South Fraser Way.
The senior woman was with her daughter and was attempting to get into the passenger side of their vehicle, when a man grabbed her black purse, pulling her to the ground in the process.
The culprit then ran northbound from the parking lot. Several people came to assist the victim as her daughter called police.
The victim was transported to hospital for treatment of various injuries, including scrapes and abrasions.
The suspect had been in the bank just prior to the robbery, and police obtained photos of him from video surveillance in the bank and from a nearby business as he was running from the scene.
MacDonald said after police released the photos to the media, they received numerous tips from people who either knew the man personally or had seen other pictures of him on social media.
Police then attended areas that he was known to frequent, and at about 9 p.m. on Monday, an officer spotted a man matching his description in the area of Maclure and Trethewey.
The officer pulled over to talk to the suspect, who then ran off. Several other patrol units and a K9 unit were dispatched to the area, and they were soon able to catch the man, who was arrested and made his first court appearance today (Tuesday).
The man has previous convictions for theft and drugs, MacDonald said.
