THUNDER BAY – The Bay Credit Union had never been robbed in its 70-year history until Thursday.
Its CEO is calling the incident "a sign of the times.”
Around 4 p.m. Thursday, a heavily-disguised man dressed as a construction worker walked into the credit union’s teller area demanding money and exclaiming “this is no joke.”
The first-ever Bay Credit Union thief escaped on a bicycle with a small amount of cash.
“It's a sign of the times in my mind,” said CEO Lynne LeGros.
“In my mind the violence in this city has gotten a little bit out of hand, if I can say. The police are very, very heavily taxed and everybody knows that. Obviously, it has been escalating from all the Mac’s (convenience store robberies) and everything else and it’s escalating into other areas.”
The credit union’s administration is now reflecting on changes that may need to be made to security in the robbery’s aftermath.
LeGros called counselling services immediately after calling police. She said to the staff’s credit, every employee who was scheduled to work on Friday showed up.
She lamented the human cost of the experience as the real loss for the branch.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s the human casualty more than anything else that I’m concerned about. People who do this don’t realize what they’re doing to people,” LeGros said.
“I really hope they get him and I have full confidence that they’re going to.”
