THUNDER BAY — As Thunder Bay Police continue to probe a Sunday night heist at a Royal Bank branch, evidence at the scene points to meticulous planning by thieves who were well-equipped to carry out the crime.
They appear to have got into the bank through a hole in an interior wall.
The break-in at the RBC Grandview Mall location was reported just after 6:30 a.m. Monday.
Police have said the thieves got away with cash, but have not revealed how much money was taken.
The culprits chose to conduct the operation in the middle of the season's first snowstorm.
Neither police nor RBC have disclosed how they gained entry, but there are visible clues.
At the rear of the mall, a power tool appears to have been used to cut into the lock of an exterior door to a vacant retail space adjacent to the bank.
A police vehicle was parked in the alleyway outside the door much of the day on Monday.
After getting access to the empty store, the thieves then used equipment to break through an interior wall between it and the bank.
That left a hole in the concrete blocks that was just large enough for a person to crawl through.
The Thunder Bay Police Service so far has declined to reveal any of its own conclusions about how the operation was conducted, or precisely where the thieves got the money.
One of the bank's ATMs was under inspection Monday by a worker while a police officer stood by.
A police spokesperson would only say Tuesday morning that the TBPS Break, Enter and Robbery Unit continues to work on the case.
