At 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 9, a bank robber passed a teller a note telling her to hand over cash. At exactly the same time, another man was passing a similar note to a teller a block away.
The heists near at Highway 10 and 152 Street were six days in a spree of bank robberies that would eventually involve 21 banks between Sept 3 and Sept. 27 – the day Joseph Pouliout, 25, and Trevor Yokobouskis, 29, were arrested in Burnaby by Surrey RCMP’s Robbery unit.
Charges have been approved against the two, including 14 robbery charges against Pouliout (13 banks and one taxi cab) and eight robbery charges against Yokobouskis (all banks).
The alleged robberies span several jurisdictions including Vancouver (3 banks), Burnaby (3), Abbotsford (3), Coquitlam (2), Port Moody (1), Surrey (4 banks and the taxi), White Rock (1), Langley (1), Port Coquitlam (1) , Chilliwack (1) and the Kelowna (1).
“Surrey Detachment continues to be at the forefront when it comes to spearheading such large multi-jurisdictional cases,” said Surrey RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger. “With the assistance of our crime analysis experts and our partners in law enforcement, we were able to quickly identify linkages between these crimes and ultimately pinpoint the potential suspects.”
RCMP are reminding business owners, and their staff about important steps to take if they are robbed.
Always comply with the robber’s demands, but pay close attention to what they look like – without staring. Also pay attention to where they went, and preserve any potential evidence.
