Five officers with the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) received Awards of Valour on Thursday during a ceremony in Victoria.
Constables Kim Harder, Alex Odintsov, Kiyomi Parsons, Andrew Poulin and Alex Wood received the award for their role in apprehending a man who attempted to rob the TD Bank on Whatcom Road in February 2014.
The man, 37-year-old Jesse Damond Morton, used a sledgehammer to break through a window of the bank at about 7:30 a.m., before the business had opened to the public.
Staff called police, who had several units close by, including officers in an unmarked vehicle less than 100 metres from the bank.
An officer saw Morton fleeing with a bag over his shoulder and arrested him. Morton was found to be carrying a handgun and an assault rifle, both loaded.
He was sentenced in November 2014 to 46 months in jail for the robbery in Abbotsford, as well as two others robberies in Langley and Surrey.
The five APD officers were among 22 across the province to receive the Awards of Valour – the highest award for a police officer in B.C. – at the 35th annual Police Honours Night hosted by the provincial government.
Another 44 officers received meritorious service honours, which recognize exemplary performance that exceeds expectations.
Recipients are selected by a committee of representatives from the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ministry of Justice’s police services division.