Calgary police are appealing for tips from the public in connection with a bank robbery case that has remained unsolved for the past six years.

At about 7:20 a.m. on February 7, 2009, a man walked into the TD Canada Trust bank at 3012 17 Avenue S.E. in Forest Lawn shortly after a staff member unlocked the entrance. The bank was not open at the time the incident occurred.

The suspect then pulled out a handgun, forcing staff members to open the vault where the offender stole a substantial amount of money.

The staff members were then locked inside the vault and the suspect made his escape.

No one was injured in the incident, but the employees were extremely shaken.

Investigators have released new CCTV images and video of the incident in an attempt to gather new information from someone who may have seen something else.

Police also believe that the offender may have had inside knowledge from an employee about the bank’s opening procedures, which likely helped him to commit the crime.

Detective Stu Keown, with the Calgary Police Robbery Unit, says they were put on the trail about inside information because each bank has specific opening information.

"The information provided in this particular bank robbery was specific to TD Canada Trust. We can't get into what it was or how  we obtained it, however we are satisified that it's inside knowledge specific to someone from TD Canada Trust," Keown says.

Keown says that there is no clear evidence this incident is linked to any other bank robbery in the city, but he adds that some similar circumstances were shared with this incident and the robbery of a BMO location on 4 Street a few weeks ago.

"That one was similar in some regards and quite a bit different in others. The main difference between the two was that this one was opening while that one was just before closing. Both, we believe there was some inside knowledge."

He says further that to complete a robbery like this without inside knowledge, it is very difficult. "Technically, the bank is still closed. This happened at 7:20 and the bank didn't open until 8 o'clock."

Keown says bank robberies like this. involving a vault as a target, is very rare. He says the amount of money stolen was substantially more than your regular, run-of-the-mill type of robbery.

The suspect is described as:

  • Caucasian
  • 6’
  • 170 to 190 lbs (77 to 86 kg)

He was seen wearing blue coveralls, a white hard hat, and a black ski mask.

Keown says that the police have been investigating this case on and off for the past six years. "I keep in contact with the victims and speak to them, even recently within the past few months."

He says that it's important to keep a case like this in the public eye because he is sure there are people out there with information that will help investigators.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Calgary Police Service Robbery Unit at 403-428-8787 or Crime Stoppers anonymously using any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477

TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org

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