Arrests made in 4th straight robbery with heavy equipment
CBC News | Posted: January 19, 2019 10:46 AM | Last Updated: January 19, 2019
BMO latest target, following robberies at TD, Sobeys and Scotiabank
Police have arrested two men in St. John's after a front-end loader tore into a bank early Saturday morning, marking the fourth time in a week that heavy equipment was used to break into a business on the northeast Avalon.
The machine was ditched outside the BMO branch on Newfoundland Drive, in the city's east end.
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The loader was used to gain access to an automated teller machine.
The robbery triggered an alarm at 4:35 a.m. that brought the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to the scene.
Following the break-in, officers stopped a vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway and arrested two men in connection with the crime, police said.
Jamie Kennedy, 40, and Cory Quilty, 41, were both charged with break and enter, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and other firearms offences.
In addition Kennedy was also charged with possession of property obtained by crime and public mischief, while Quilty is charged with possession of a weapon obtained by crime.
Both men appeared in provincial court Saturday.
String of break-ins
It's the fourth daring crime in a string of unusual break-ins involving different kinds of heavy equipment.
Last Sunday, a front-end loader was used to cut open a TD Bank branch on Elizabeth Avenue in St. John's.
On Monday, a backhoe was used to smash through four windows at Sobeys on Kelsey Drive, where an ATM was stolen.
Then on Friday, an excavator was used to rob a Scotiabank branch in the Long Pond area of Conception Bay South.
Saturday's crime drew a variety of responses on social media: