RCMP cruisers on Main Street (Courtesy Wade Perry)
A 35-year-old man has been charged in connection with two bank robberies in Moncton one week apart.
On May 30 around 12:10 p.m., Codiac RCMP say a man entered the RBC branch on Mountain Road and Macbeath Avenue demanded money from a teller and fled with some cash before officers arrived.
Nobody was hurt during the incident.
On Monday around 12:30 p.m., police say a man armed with a knife entered the BMO branch on Main Street and demanded money from a teller.
He was unsuccessful and fled before officers arrived but he was later apprehended.
Through the investigation, police confirmed the same individual was involved in both incidents.
David Jeremy Byrd, 35, originally from Richmond, B.C., but living in Moncton, appeared in Moncton Provincial Court by way of tele-remand and was charged with two counts of robbery.
He was remanded into custody and is scheduled to return to court on June 8.
In his regular update to city council on Monday night, Codiac RCMP Inspector Ben Jolette spoke about the attempted robbery at BMO, next door to city hall.
“Everybody that was in the office took off. It took a matter of minutes and he was in the back seat of a police car, so I’m happy that no one got hurt.”
Although the individual was in custody, Jolette added police can sometimes get frustrated by the system.
“We arrest people, we prepare a court document and we bring them to court. And this very same person gets released and commits a similar offense the next day, the next week and the next month.”
CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, Monday’s robbery was incorrectly identified as being at the RBC branch in Blue Cross Centre.
