A Monday morning robbery at the TD bank at Willingdon Avenue and Lougheed Highway turned into a chase that led to one man being arrested and the police on the hunt for a second suspect.
Just before 11 a.m., a man entered the bank branch, produced a handgun and demanded money. He then fled the bank with an undetermined amount of cash.
While the robbery was in progress, police officers from the Burnaby RCMP's integrated road safety unit were in the area and witnessed the robbery in progress through the bank's window. They saw the man run out the back door of the bank and jump into a stolen Honda Accord sedan being driven by a second man.
The Accord managed to get away, but was soon involved in a minor collision with a rented U-Haul van near the intersection of Esmond Avenue and Pender Street. The bumper from the stolen car became locked with the bumper on the rental van and the two robbery suspects ran from the scene while being chased by two men from the rental van.
The two men from the rental van, thinking only that the two men were running from the traffic accident, were able to catch and detain one of the men, who was taken to Burnaby Hospital for minor injuries. The second man was able to escape and remains at-large.
Police are asking for the public's assistance in locating a man wearing camouflage pants who was last seen in the Boundary Road and East Pender Street area of Burnaby. Anyone with information is asked to call the Burnaby RCMP main detachment at 604-294-7922.
