By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
The Osoyoos branch of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash Monday afternoon.
Osoyoos RCMP commander Sgt. Jason Bayda said the detachment received a call at 2:15 p.m. on Monday Dec. 5 alerting them of the robbery.
According to Bayda a lone male wearing a surgical mask and dressed in all black including a black hoodie pulled over his head walked up to one of the tellers and demanded all the cash be handed over.
The perpetrator – described as male, six feet in height with “piercing blue” eyes – did not threaten that he had any kind of weapon nor did he visibly wield one.
He was given an undisclosed amount of cash and departed the bank on foot heading east on Main St.
Bayda said the detachment is awaiting video footage from the bank as it was not immediately available due to the fact it is not stored onsite, but in a central location.
“It’s not an event that happens in Osoyoos very often at all, but banks do still get robbed all over the place so its not something that’s totally gone away,” Bayda noted.
He also noted that with Christmas fast approaching there is typically an uptick in crime.
“Things start happening when you get close to Christmas,” he said adding this can be people needing money to support addictions or “there’s someone who can’t support their family over Christmas and they’re looking for quick money to buy presents.”
“You just never know until you catch the person and find out what the reasons are. I’ve found over 20-plus years of policing that around Christmas time we get a lot of unusual calls and people involved in things they wouldn’t ordinarily be involved with,” he said.
“There are a lot of financial pressures, a lot of stressors on people around Christmas,” Bayda added.
