Alleged bank robber was being sought by other prairie police departments, more charges possible
A former journalist and college instructor from Winnipeg is in custody after two banks in Medicine Hat were held up late last week, and now police are investigating if there is a connection to at least one other crime.
Insp. Joe West told the News that Stephen Vogelsang, 53, was taken into custody without incident this weekend after local officers spotted a blue Ford truck at a local hotel.
That truck matched the description used in robbery of a local bank in the afternoon of Oct. 19 and then another bank the next morning.
At the time, said West, witnesses were able to give a partial description of the vehicle. When local police sent out the details to other agencies across the prairies, at least one responded saying they were searching for a similar vehicle.
“There could be more charges laid, but we’re investigating that with at least one other jurisdiction,” said West. He could not provide any information about why the man was in Medicine Hat, or speculate about his circumstances.
“These are questions that our investigators are looking into.”
Vogelsang, a former CTV Winnipeg news director and sports anchor, is charged with two counts of robbery. He is scheduled to appear in Medicine Hat provincial court Tuesday morning.
Investigators said in both robberies, the same man entered the bank and demanded money, leaving each scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Vogelsang was a journalism instructor at Red River College in Winnipeg from 2002 until 2011.
Before that, he worked as a sports anchor at CKY — now CTV — before becoming news director.