Investigators are looking at a possible connection between a credit union robbery in Vernon and a bank robbery a week earlier in Princeton.
The Interior Savings Credit Union in the 4300 block of 32nd Street was robbed at 4:40 p.m. Dec. 9 by a male suspect who produced a gun and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Princeton’s CIBC was robbed shortly after 2:30 p.m. Dec. 1 by a man wielding a gun, who then fled the downtown bank with an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect in both cases remains at large.
“There are similarities to the robbery in Princeton,” said Vernon RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk on Monday. “There is a possibility the two robberies could be tied into one. There is a possibility it could be a travelling criminal. Our investigators have been in touch with those in Princeton.”
The suspect in the Vernon robbery is described as 25 to 35-years-old, approximately five-foot-10 or six-feet tall. He was wearing black sunglasses, had about a three-day growth of beard, and had on a grey top with an orange-grey-white plaid shirt under it. He was wearing grey sweat pants, brown shoes, a dark toque and black leather gloves. The suspect in Princeton is described as a Caucasian man, late 20s to early 30s, five-foot-10 to six-feet tall, sandy coloured hair, medium athletic build, wearing a black Vancouver Canucks toque, a dark jacket, cargo pants and sunglasses.
In both cases, a police service dog unit was called out but no trace of the suspect could be found.
Anyone with information regarding the suspect or either incident is urged to call the Vernon RCMP at 250-545-7171, Princeton RCMP at 250-295-6911, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
-With files from the Similkameen Spotlight
