Man charged in rash of bank robberies in southern Sask.
Several months after a string of bank robberies was reported in southern Saskatchewan, RCMP have laid charges against a 20-yearold Regina man.
Between Nov. 9 and 26, financial institutions were robbed in Grenfell, Vibank, Sedley and Lang. In each instance, a man wearing a disguise was reported to have approached an employee, demanding and receiving cash before running away.
No physical injuries were reported.
A number of RCMP detachments conducted a large-scale investigation and laid charges Thursday against Timothy Holowachuk in Regina.
Holowachuk made his first appearance at Regina Provincial Court on Friday morning, facing four counts of robbery — alleging he used threats of violence in the course of making off with money from the financial institutions — and four counts of wearing a disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Holowachuk listened quietly as Judge Leslie Halliday read the charges before answering, “Yes, please,” when asked if he wanted a lawyer to represent him.
The Crown opposed his release and his charges were set to Feb. 29.
The reason for the longer-thanusual adjournment following a first appearance was to allow time for information about the charges to make its way from the RCMP to the Crown and, from there, to the defence.
Crown prosecutor Mitchell Miller said he also expects a similar charge to make its way from Manitoba in relation to a robbery alleged to have occurred in Oak Lake in the southwest corner of that province. As of early Friday afternoon an additional charge had not been laid against Holowachuk.
In a news release issued Friday, the RCMP touted the investigation into the Saskatchewan incidents as a “bona fide collaborative effort between our partners in the banking industry, vigilant community members and law enforcement.”
“The RCMP takes these matters very seriously and considers them a serious interruption in the safe communities that we try to provide.”