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Suspected robber nabbed in Langley after holding up six banks in six days

30-year-old man now faces 14 criminal charges
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Langley RCMP arrested a suspect in a Lower Mainland bank robbing spree. (Langley Advance Times files)

Langley RCMP say a man arrested last month committed a string of six bank robberies in five days around the Lower Mainland before being arrested.

The spree began on Sept. 19 and was ended on Sept. 24 when Langley RCMP officers caught up with their suspect while he was fleeing a Langley bank.

According to Cpl. Holly Largy, spokesperson for the Langley RCMP, there had been robberies in Langley, Surrey, New Westminster, and Coquitlam.

The last incidents took place on the morning of Sept. 24.

A man walked into a Langley bank foyer wearing a balaclava, but fled when he realized the bank had not yet opened for business.

But the RCMP were alerted, and were in the area when a second bank reported a robbery just after 10 a.m.

The suspect was nabbed on his way out of the bank.

Police said the man didn’t produce a weapon during that robbery, but a search revealed he had a scratch awl and bear bangers in his possession.

No one was injured in any of the robberies.

Devon Skyler Beguin, 30, of no fixed address, has now been charged with 14 counts, including six robberies, one attempted robbery, six counts of wearing a mask with an intent to commit an offence, and one count of uttering threats.

Beguin has been in custody since his Sept. 24 arrest in Langley, and on Wednesday, Oct. 19 he was scheduled to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on the charges.

Persons charged with a criminal offence are considered not guilty until the charges are proven in court.

Online court records show that Beguin has been having run-ins with the justice system for years.

He’s been convicted of assaulting a peace officer, assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats, and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

Beguin pleaded guilty to three previous bank robberies that took place in 2016, and was handed a three-year sentence.

According to the sentencing ruling on those incidents, Beguin’s 2016 bank robberies were not very successful. He stole $200 in the first robbery, in which he wrote a note that said “there is a robbery.”

The note was written on the back of documents he had been given just days before, when he was released from custody for previous crimes. The paper contained Beguin’s name and photo.

After two more robberies, in which he stole $500 each, despite demanding up to $30,000, Beguin was arrested and swiftly confessed.

The judge in that case noted he had multiple psychiatric diagnoses, including schizophrenia and fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as substance abuse problems.

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Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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