On an afternoon like any other, two University of Calgary students made a foray into the world of crime fighting.
Lucas Ferguson and Chris Boulanger witnessed a bank robbery at the Varsity branch of the CIBC on Mon., Oct 1 and followed the fleeing suspect until Calgary Police arrived on scene.
"Very seldom are we fortunate enough to have things unfold as they did," said Staff Sergeant Tom Marriott of the Calgary Police Robbery Division. "This is the second really big arrest we’ve had of a bank robber in the last two months with the help of citizens."
Boulanger, in his third year of an Economics degree, went into the CIBC while Ferguson waited in their vehicle. Boulanger noticed a bank robbery was in progress and ran next door to call 911.
"Chris comes running back to the car yelling that the place is being robbed," said Ferguson, a second-year History student. "I’m thinking I’m going to tackle this guy when he runs out."
"I ran next door to the dry cleaner and the lady forgot how to call 911," added Boulanger. "She looked at the phone and stared at me."
While Boulanger contacted police, Ferguson watched the bank.
"I saw the guy run out. He had a gun and a bag of money. He took off a ski mask, looked right at me and started running away," he said. "We jumped in the car and followed him."
The pair tailed the suspect across Shaganappi Trail and saw him stash the loot as well as his clothes. Eventually they were able to alert the authorities to the suspect’s location.
"We were pretty jacked on adrenaline," said Ferguson. "I totally wanted to get him but Chris said not to because he could shoot me. Chris could have saved my life."
"We had a good mix of level-headedness and stupidity," smiled Boulanger.
Dinos football Head Coach Tony Fasano praised the pair’s resolve.
"I called them Batman and Robin in our meeting yesterday," he said. "From my understanding, they saw some conspicuous thing and didn’t run away from it. Instead they tried to do something positive."
"The actions of these two individuals directly resulted in the capture of a bank robber," agreed Sgt. Marriott. "They conducted themselves very intelligently, not putting themselves in harm’s way."
The pair were modest in accepting acclamation for their actions, shrugging off calls of "hero" and talk of commendations.
"It made for a pretty interesting Monday afternoon," said Ferguson. "I phoned [the coach] from the police car to tell him we would be late for practice. He laughed at us."