Canada's "Phantom Bandit" Caught Stealing Liquor From Jewel
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man dubbed the "Phantom Bandit" for his ability to rob banks and then disappear was very much there when police arrested him for the alleged theft of nearly $1,000 in liquor from a Barrington grocery store.
Gilbert Galvan, 58, was one of Canada's most notorious bank robbers. In 1984, he escaped from a prison in Michigan, where he was serving time for embezzlement, and fled to Canada, where he robbed more than 50 banks in 14 cities over a three-year period, making off with about $2 million before he was captured.
Galvan was featured on the TV show "Masterminds," a series of true crime documentaries highlighting unique or elaborate crimes.
Now living in Lake Zurich, he was paroled last December, after serving a stint in federal prison for a bank robbery in McHenry County.
Barrington Police said, on Monday, he walked out of a Jewel-Osco store with a grocery cart full of liquor, without paying for the merchandise. He was arrested and charged with four counts of felony retail theft.
He was being held on $50,000 bail at the Lake County Jail.