A man with 11 prior robbery convictions, who robbed three Nanaimo banks in 2018 and threatened to shoot a person in the face, will spend eight years behind bars.
Daniel William James Harlow, 46 when an arrest warrant was issued in February 2018, was sentenced in provincial court in Nanaimo on Tuesday, with Basil McCormick, Crown counsel, and Bobby Movassaghi, defence counsel, entering a joint submission to Judge Ted Gouge. Harlow was also charged in an Oct. 14, 2018 robbery in Surrey. He was sentenced to eight years concurrently for each robbery charge.
Harlow has been in custody since being arrested after a Nov. 1, 2018 robbery of a Nanaimo bank and will receive 407 days’ credit for time served and will remain in jail for another 83 months.
The first of the three robberies took place on Feb. 17, 2018 at the TD Canada Trust at Terminal Park in Nanaimo, according to McCormick. At about 3:40 p.m. that day, Harlow entered the bank and went to a teller and told her he had a gun, and demanded $3,000, unzipping his jacket slightly, implying he had a gun concealed. The teller said she wasn’t authorized to give that much money without approval. She put $200, along with a decoy and a dye pack, in a Ziploc-type bag. It exploded after Harlow left the bank and he was forced to dispose of the money in a garbage can.
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Another robbery took place at the CIBC at 6570 Island Highway on Oct. 29, 2018 at 3:20 p.m., when Harlow again approached a teller and demanded money. In this instance, McCormick said Harlow didn’t pass a note, produce a weapon, or threaten harm. He made off with $500.
Through video surveillance and interviews, police were able to piece together that Harlow had taken a taxi from the Wal-Mart to CIBC.
The Nov. 1, 2018 took place at the TD Canada Trust on Dufferin Crescent, said McCormick. Harlow approached the bank manager and handed him a note informing him it was a robbery and telling the manager not to mess with him. The manager put a dye pack with the money into a plastic bag, but Harlow removed them and said he was going to “shoot someone in the face,” and he had a gun. He fled with $400 and got into a taxi.
The manager and an employee, returning from a break, took photos and video recording. Police located the taxi and arrested Harlow. He was found in possession of a replica gun, bear spray and a knife, which were not used.
McCormick said a note was seized, which stated, “This is a robbery, do not show this to anybody. Do not dye pack or tracer pack or I will blow the head off of the first innocent people I see and then yours as well. I want $50,000 and I have a gun and I will kill you if you if I have to.”
McCormick said Harlow was out on bail when he committed the 2018 robberies.
Movassaghi told Gouge his client was addicted to drugs.
In addition to jail, Harlow will have to submit a DNA sample and will be banned for life from owning firearms.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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